Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 196

196 What Family Feels Like 2

Arya’s POVO

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Dinner with Maxwell and David had started feeling like something my body recognised

before my mind fully caught up to it. The table was not lavish tonight. That told me

something on its own. Maxwell did not like excess when the pack was under pressure,

and Dragonclaw followed the mood of its Alpha more closely than most houses did. The

meal was warm, solid, practical. Meat stew. Fresh bread. Roasted roots. Bitter greens.

Wine on the table, but no one pushing it. The lamps burned lower. The servants moved

quietly and left as soon as the plates were set down.

Maxwell sat at the head of the table. David took his usual seat with that loose careless

way some men have when they only look relaxed because they were raised near danger.

And I sat to Maxwell’s right now as naturally as if I had always done it. That still startled

me if I thought about it too long. So I tried not to.

I had barely lifted my spoon when Maxwell spoke.

“We got Sofia out.”

The words changed the room at once.

I looked up. David did too, though unlike me he was already halfway through tearing

bread apart and looked more annoyed than surprised that Maxwell had chosen to say it

here instead of in the study.

“Suri’s team?” I asked.

Maxwell nodded once.

“They moved cleaner than expected. She was under light watch, not full confinement.

Boris probably didn’t think Cale would break quickly enough for it to matter.”

That sounded like the kind of arrogance men like Boris carried. They always thought fear

bought them more time than it really did.

“And Cale?” I asked.

Maxwell reached for his cup before answering.

“I set him free.”

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The room held still.

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I stared at him for one full heartbeat, then another. It was not that I had not known it was

possible. Maxwell had agreed to protect him if he talked. He was a man of his word. I

had seen that already in small things and bigger ones. Still, hearing it said plainly did

something to me.

David muttered,

“With enough warning in his bones that he won’t mistake mercy for safety.”

Maxwell did not deny it.

I set my spoon down.

“Do you feel that was right?” I asked.

The question came out more honestly than I meant it to. Not accusation. Not challenge. Real curiosity. Because I wanted to understand him properly. Cale had ridden with

wolves sent to kill us. He had carried orders that could have ended Dragonclaw’s line in

one roadside ambush. And still Maxwell had let him live because he had given truth and

because Maxwell had given his word.

Maxwell looked at me steadily.

“Yes.”

Just that at first. No performance. No long speech. Just yes.

Then he leaned back a little and added.

“I’m a man of my word, Arya. If I promise a soldier life for information and he gives it, I do not kill him afterwards because vengeance feels satisfying.”

Soldier.

Not assassin.

Not innocent either.

A soldier.

That distinction mattered.

He went on, his voice calm and exact.

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“I won’t kill a man for nothing. There is enough useless death in pack politics already.”

Something shifted in me then. Not because I had doubted his honour before. Because I

understood another side of it now. Maxwell had not spared Cale because he was soft.

He had spared him because his principles did not bend just because cruelty would have

been easier.

I respected him before.

I respected him more after that.

Not the kind of respect tied to power or gratitude.

The heavier kind.

The kind that comes when you realise someone could be crueler and chooses not to.

David huffed softly, tearing his bread into pieces smaller than necessary.

“He still nearly got us all killed.”

“Yes,” Maxwell said. “And now he lives knowing exactly which Alpha kept his word and

which one used him.”

David went quiet after that.

I thought of Sofia somewhere under Dragonclaw protection now, probably frightened, probably confused, maybe not yet fully understanding how close her mate had come to losing everything and what had bought him breath again. Then I thought of James. Of

how different men looked once they were forced to stand beside their own choices

instead of simply making them.

I took another sip of water and let the silence sit for a few beats.

Dinner went on.

David complained half-seriously about the lack of spice in the stew. Maxwell told him he

was welcome to cook for the house tomorrow if he found the kitchen so offensive. David

said that sounded like an abuse of Alpha power. I almost smiled into my cup.

Then Maxwell did something I was not ready for.

He set down his knife and fork, looked at me across the candlelight, and said,

<196 What Family Feels Like 2

“I’m not going to rush you.”

My hand paused over the bread.

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David looked up too, instantly alert in that way wolves get when something turns

personal enough that they pretend not to listen while hearing every word.

Maxwell’s face stayed calm, but something warmer had entered it.

“I know what this is,” he said. “I know what trust costs you. So I’m not asking for more

than you can give.”

My throat tightened before I could stop it.

He kept going, gentle in a way that felt more dangerous than command ever did.

“But I hope one day you’ll call me Dad.”

I do not know what showed on my face in that moment. Shock, yes. Something softer

too. Something too raw. Because the words hit me so hard my eyes stung before tears

could even form properly. Not because I did not want that. Because some hidden starving part of me wanted it too much and too fast and did not know what to do with

wanting it.

My face got warm.

Actually warm.

A blush.

Like some silly sheltered girl instead of a woman carved open by blood and betrayal.

David noticed immediately and, of course, did the thing David always did when a room

got too emotional.

He attacked the nearest easier target.

“There it is,” he said with a grin. “She can survive a road ambush and slap Gail in public,

but one soft word and she blushes. Lev would enjoy knowing that.”

I stared at him.

“David.”

He lifted both hands.

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<196 What Family Feels Like 2

“I’m just saying. I’m sure you miss him.”

My mouth opened.

Closed.

Maxwell actually laughed then, a low sound that changed the whole table.

David leaned back, pleased with himself now.

“No, really. The way she looked when his name came up at Blackbirth,

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“Say one more word,” I warned.

He grinned wider.