Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 430

AELIANA

“Riley?”

I blink, so startled by that voice that a cold chill runs down my spine. I look around the room, and nothing is familiar. It’s too dim, too wrong. Something tells me I shouldn't be here, and the naked man bound to the chair is proof enough. “Fuck, are you okay, baby?” Someone asks, the voice all too clear and familiar now.

Audrey.

She’s the only thing familiar here in this haze. She’s standing beside me in her underwear. My gaze shifts between her and that man, my knees buckling from the sight. What is this? Who—

“What is it?” Audrey asks, her hand heavy on my shoulder, and only now do I notice it.

“Go…” I remember. “I need to go,” I tell her, scrambling for the door.

Only when I start moving do I realise I’m half-dressed myself. The cold breeze makes me tug at the dress, shirt? That I’m wearing, something I wasn’t wearing before.

I stumble out of the room, just falling in any direction I can. My mind feels like a shattered mirror, except it reflects nothing at all. I can barely see, my vision is hazy, and my legs feel wobbly. “Let me help you, Luna,” someone says, catching me when I stumble over the flat floor.

“No, no, don’t touch me,” I beg, shaking my head. “Please don’t—” I rasp, trying to move again, balancing on what I think is a wall, but my face almost meets the floor. The man saves me again.

“Luna, are you okay?”

“I need to get out of here,” I tell him, trying to talk myself into accepting his help, but I can’t. My body recoils at his touch.

Everything feels weird.

my belly, my legs, the dull noises and laughter I keep hearing. Nothing makes sense, all I know is that I have to go, I need to leave, I need to go before Dr James finds me again.

“Get away from her,” someone roars, the vibrating command behind those words also familiar.

“Alpha Kingston, I found her over there and—”

“King?” I look up, balancing against the wall.

The more I look at him, the more my vision blurs despite how hard I try to keep my eyes open. “What is wrong with Aeliana?” He scolds, “What have you done?”

“Huh…what do you mean?” I blink, trying to see him.

“Who did you sleep with?”

Every word coming out of his mouth registers as noise in my mind. Angry noise. “I need to go,” I swallow, trying to move, but my legs fail me again.

His arms should feel safe, calming, but the fear within me refuses to subside. “No,” I pull away, tears blurring my vision now. “Nothing is okay, no. It’s never okay.”

“Riley,” he coos. “I need you to calm down, take a breath.” He says, his gaze unwavering.

I pause. “Who—who is Riley?” I ask, Audrey said it too, and he said it again and again.

“You?” He frowns, his voice unsure. He goes quiet for a moment, his touch rigid. “What is your name?”

“Blood,” I gasp, my gaze dropping.

“No, no.” Kingston lifts my chin. “It’s okay, it was just an accident. I’m not hurt.”

“You’re bleeding,” I say with a slight tremor. The blood is making me woozy. There is so much of it, on my hand, on the floor.

“Fuck,” he hisses. “I’ve got you.” He says, slowly lowering us to the floor. My vision dots black. I scream, grabbing his arm.

“She’s going to take me again,” I cry out.

“No is going to take you,” Kingston says, his voice not at all reassuring. He doesn’t know what he is talking about, he wasn't there, no one was. I was alone. I’m so scared to go back there again. I don’t want to go back in that room. “You’re with me. I’ve got you, Aelia—Riley, I’ve got you.”