Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 85

85 Adopted by an Alpha, Betrayed by a Mate 3

Arya’s POV

The moment I was alone, my lungs finally released a breath I’d been holding for what felt like weeks

I exhaled.

Then again.

My shoulders sagged.

And the tears came.

Not soft, delicate tears.

Hot, ugly ones.

They spilled fast and heavy like my body had been waiting for one safe place to break.

I didn’t cover my face.

I didn’t swallow them back.

Let them fall.

I moved to the bathroom, still crying, still breathing hard, and turned on the water.

Hot.

Steam rose quickly.

I stripped my clothes off and stared at my body for one brief second.

Bruises.

Faint cuts.

Healing marks.

Proof.

Proof of everything.

I stepped into the bath and sank down slowly.

The heat wrapped around me.

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And the memories hit.

Not like a gentle wave.

Like fists.

Marcel arriving at our pack, the way his presence filled space like ownership.

James’s face shifting the moment he spoke, ambition lighting in his eyes like sickness.

Leah’s entrance, the way the pack bent around her like she was inevitable.

The cell.

The silver.

The humiliation.

The yard.

The whip.

The laughter.

My baby.

Lesley’s voice, gentle and careful, telling me I’d lost the baby.

The pain going white.

The rage coming after.

James’s hands on my shoulders, shaking me like love could justify what he’d done.

James’s knife.

James cutting the bond.

James turning me into a rogue.

My body shook in the water.

I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the sound that tried to come out.

But I couldn’t stop the tears.

I cried for my baby.

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< 85 Adopted by an Alpha, Betrayed by a Mate X

I cried for the life ripped out of me.

* Gert 28-

= Ment

I cried for the fact that my body had been a battleground and my child had died inside it.

I cried for the days I believed James when he said we were building something together.

I cried for the nights I lay beside him and thought the world couldn’t touch us.

I cried for the home we built.

The land we fought for.

The pack we led.

The people we fed.

The trust I gave.

Because I loved him.

Truly.

I loved him enough to bleed beside him.

Enough to stand in front of his enemies without hesitation.

And when it came down to it, he didn’t choose me.

He chose power.

He chose recognition.

He chose a deal that required my erasure.

My tears fell harder.

Then anger burned through them, sharp and clean.

He didn’t deserve these tears.

He didn’t deserve any part of me anymore.

And yet I cried anyway, not because he was worth mourning, but because the life we could have had

was dead.

The family we could have had was dead.

We could have built slowly.

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< 85 Adopted by an Alpha, Betrayed by a Mate 3

We could have grown strong.

We could have earned recognition without selling our throats to someone else’s politics

But he didn’t want to wait

He wanted status now.

He wanted safety now.

He wanted approval now.

So he traded me like a coin.

Men

I sank deeper into the water and cried until my chest hurt and my throat burned and my body began to

feel empty.

When the tears slowed, I wiped my face roughly and forced myself to breathe.

Breaking was fine.

For a moment.

But I wasn’t here to become soft.

I was here to survive.

I got out of the bath.

I dried myself.

I dressed in clean clothes the maids had laid out, soft fabric, warm, comfortable.

I kept my neckline high.

I kept my neck covered.

Not because I was ashamed.

Because I wasn’t ready for that conversation yet.

I wasn’t ready to see Maxwell’s face when he saw the mark properly

I wasn’t ready to test whether his acceptance would survive the sight of it.

I wasn’t ready to find out if “adopted daughter” could withstand politics.

A soft knock came.

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