Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 82

I barely saw Nathan after we left the hospital.

We moved back into the pack house that same night, but the warmth was gone. The hallways felt cold and empty. It felt like the land itself was waiting for a ghost to return.

Nathan spent every waking second searching for his father’s body. He was constantly sending out scouts or

istening to reports from the guards.

Every morning, long before the sun came up, he disappeared into meetings with Marcus, Beta Blake, and the

Council.

Every night, he returned a mess.

Sometimes he was covered in blood from the training grounds. Sometimes he smelled like whiskey, woodsmoke,

and pure stress.

But no matter how late it was–he always came to me.

Even if it was only for a few minutes.

He would press a kiss to my forehead and hold me a little too tight, his grip bordering on desperate.

“Still here, little wolf,” he’d whisper into my hair.

Then he was gone again before the first light of dawn.

He usually left small scraps of paper on my nightstand.

Eat something today. Don’t skip training. Try not to terrify Doctor Reed again. Miss you already.

I kept every single one.

A week crawled by–slow, bitter, and dark.

Meredyth rarely left her room. The powerful, elegant Luna I used to look up to was fading away. She stopped wearing makeup. She stopped brushing her hair. Sometimes I’d find her wandering the halls in her silk pajamas, her eyes red and fixed on things only she could see.

One evening, while I was helping her brush her hair, she finally spoke. Her voice was barely a thread.

“I didn’t want to survive.”

My hands locked in place.

Meredyth stared at herself in the mirror.

“I’m grateful you saved me,” she whispered. “I really am.”

5:59 pm

Her lips started to shake.

–“But a part of me wishes I had stayed with him.”

A sharp, cold ache flared in my gut.

She gave me a small, broken smile through the reflection.

“You’ll be a wonderful Luna one day, Emily. The pack will move on. Nathan will move on.”

Her eyes grew glassy.

“And I…” she swallowed, the sound thick and painful. “I’m just so tired.”

I didn’t have any words. How do you argue with a woman who feels like half of her soul was ripped out?

So instead I just wrapped my arms around her.

And Meredyth finally broke. She didn’t cry like a Luna. She cried like a woman who had seen her entire world burn o the ground.

Liam was around the house more, too. Sometimes I’d find him standing like a shadow outside his father’s office. Other times, he was just staring at old photos or sinking into a bottle of bourbon.

Marcus and Poppy were there almost every day. Marcus had his own pack to lead, but he hated being away from ier for even an hour. The bond between them was so strong it was almost painful to see.

Life didn’t stop for our grief. That was the cruelest part/

Tonight was one of those nights where sleep just wouldn’t come. So I went downstairs. The house was dark, except for the glow from the fireplace. Liam was sitting there with a half–empty glass and a chessboard in front of

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He looked up, his eyes bloodshot. “Play with me?”

I blinked. “You play chess?”

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A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Usually with Father. Or my sister.” The smile died as quickly as it came. “But

hey’re both dead now.”

The words hit harder than he probably intended. I walked over quietly and sat across from him.

“I don’t really know how to play.”

“That’s fine.” He pushed a pawn forward. “I’ll teach you.”

He was patient. He moved slowly, explaining the rules while the bourbon vanished from his glass.

For the first time in a while, the house didn’t feel so empty. Almost.

“So, your sister…” I said, moving my knight to the wrong spot again.

5:59 pm

Hani reached out and fixed the piece for me. “She died at a ceremony in another pack.”

“What happened?”

“Rogues.”

Liam leaned back. His face went hard, and his hand gripped his glass until his knuckles turned white.

“They attacked during the ritual. She and her mate, they weren’t even fully bonded before those bastards tore

him apart right in front of her.”

A chill ran down my back. “And then?”

His eyes turned pitch black. “She died trying to reach him.”

The wood in the fireplace popped, the only sound between us.

Liam stared at the board, his eyes far away.

Liam picked up the queen and suddenly broke into tears.

“I don’t remember her voice anymore,” he whispered. “I keep trying to hear it in my head… but I can’t.”

I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, just trying to be there for him.

But he stood up fast, wiping the tears from his cheeks. He walked over to the table, poured more bourbon into his

glass, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Then, he slammed the glass into the fireplace. The glass shattered, and the flames flared up for a second.

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