Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 143

1:40 am P P

Chapte

Chapter 143

Third-person POV

Knox stood a short distance away from the waterfall with his arms folded across his chest as he watched Luna continue her attempt to run in place under the crushing force of the water. The exercise looked ridiculous to anyone who did not understand what he was trying to accomplish, and Luna’s movements were awkward and inconsistent.

Sometimes she managed to maintain a decent rhythm for a few seconds before the force of the water broke her concentration. Other times she stumbled entirely and had to fight just to keep herself standing. Despite that. Knox made absolutely no move to help her. The urge was there. Every time he saw her lose ner balance, every time he saw frustration flash across her face, and every time she looked seconds away from giving up entirely, he had to consciously stop himself From stepping in.

He knew that if he interfered too much, the entire lesson would become meaningless. Luna needed to discover for herself hat she could remain in control even when everything around her was trying to throw her off balance. The entire point of bringing her here was to force her to stop focusing on fear and start focusing on herself. If he constantly held her hand hrough the process, then she would only end up depending on him instead of learning what she needed to learn.

Truthfully, Knox still wasn’t entirely sure why he had gotten involved in the first place. Wher. Jace had first mentioned

una’s problems with her abilities, his immediate reaction had been to stay out of it. That was usually his solution to most problems. He minded his business, stayed out of drama, and avoided emotional situations whenever possible. Life was impler that way. The last thing he needed was to get dragged into the growing chaos surrounding Luta and the other guys.

Between Jace’s deeper bond with her, Orion’s jealousy. Ryder’s obvious interest, and Theo’s constant inability to behave like i normal person, there was already enough drama surrounding her to last several lifetimes, and Knox had every intention of teeping his distance and continuing his life exactly the way it had been before Luna arrived at Blackridge.

Jnfortunately, things had not gone according to plan. The moment he had seen Luna earlier that day after whatever had happened between her and Theo, something had shifted inside him. He had seen the way she looked as she walked away rom the football field. He had seen how exhausted she looked, how overwhelmed she looked, and how close she seemed to completely breaking under the weight of everything happening around her, and despite every logical reason telling him to tay out of it, he had found himself caring.

The realization annoyed him more than he cared to admit. He was not the nurturing type. He wasn’t the one people came to when they wanted comfort. If anything, most people avoided him because of how blunt and detached he could be. Yet eeing Luna looking so defeated had bothered him enough that he found himself following her when she left campus. He had watched from a distance while she wandered aimlessly near the road looking completely lost in her own thoughts. He had watched her laugh to herself like someone on the verge of losing her mind and then wipe tears from her eves seconds

ater.

Even now, remembering the sight made something uncomfortable settle in his chest. It had been obvious that she was carrying too much. The race alone was enough pressure for any normal athlete, adding werewolf abilities she couldn’t control, public rumors, mate drama, and whatever Theo had done on top of that was enough to overwhelm anyone Knox had simply reached a point where ignoring it felt wrong. So against his better judgment, he had approached her, thrown her ɔnto his motorcycle despite her protests, and dragged her here. Looking back now, he still wasn’t sure whether that had been a brilliant decision or an incredibly stupid one.

the

The most surprising part was that he had brought her here at all. This place wasn’t just some random location hidde woods. It was his place, hus sanctuary, and the one place he came whenever he wanted to be alone. No pack politics, no expectations, no responsibilities, and no people, just peace. He had never brought anyone here before not even his friends. and certainly not a girl.

Yet the moment he had decided that Luna needed help, this had been the first place that came to mind. The realization was uncomfortable because it forced him to acknowledge something he had spent weeks pretending didn’t matter. Luna being his mate affected him whether he liked it or not. He could tell himself a hundred times that he wasn’t interested in

1/3

8:40 am P P

Chapte

impeting with the others. He could remind himself daily that getting involved with her would only complicate has lite None of t changed the fact that when she was hurting. he noticed. When she struggled, he wanted to help When she looked defeated, he found himself wanting to fix it. Whether he acted on those feelings often or not was irrelevant. The feelings existed, and judging by how far out of his way he had gone today, they were only going to become harder to ignore

Eventually. Knox noticed the signs he had been waiting for Luna’s movements had become slower. Her concentration was fading, and the rhythm she had worked so hard to maintain was beginning to break apart. Even her posture was changing which meant that exhaustion was finally catching up to her. The fact that she had lasted this long actually impressed him Most newly awakened werewolves would have quit long ago.

Luna, however, was stubborn enough to keep going long after her body wanted to stop Knox waited another minute just to be sure before finally speaking.

“You can stop now,” he called out.

His voice barely carried over the roar of the waterfall, but Luna heard him immediately. The relief that appeared on her face was almost comical.

For a second she simply stood there breathing heavily. Then she started trying to make her way out of the water, but unfortunately, the moment she attempted to move, her legs betrayed her completely.

The strain of fighting the current for so long had finally caught up to her. Every muscle in her lower body screamed in protest, and instead of taking a step forward, she nearly collapsed.

She caught herself just before she fell, but it was obvious she was running on pure determination at that point. She looked up at Knox, and the exhaustion on her face was impossible to miss.

“I can’t move my legs, she admitted.

The words sounded almost defeated. Before she could say anything else, Knox was already moving, and in the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between them. Without hesitation, he slipped one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, then he lifted her effortlessly.

The action was so quick that Luna barely had time to react. One moment she had been standing in the water, and the next she was being carried.

Knox didn’t struggle in the slightest. He simply turned around and started walking toward the shore as though carrying another person weighed absolutely nothing.

Luna was too exhausted to protest. Normally she would have complained, she would have demanded to be put down, and she would have argued simply on principle, but right now, however, she barely had enough energy to think

The relief of no longer forcing her aching legs to support her weight was too great, so instead of fighting him, she allowed herself to relax. Slowly, her arms wrapped around his neck for balance, then she rested her head against hum

The position felt strangely comfortable, far more comfortable than either of them probably wanted to acknowledge. Knox kept walking without commenting on it, and the steady beat of his heart was easy to hear from where she rested against his

chest.

For some reason, the sound was calming. After the day she had experienced, it was almost comforting to focus on something so simple and steady. She closed her eyes briefly and told herself not to think too much about it. She didn’t to think about the fact that she was currently being carried by one of her mates, think about how safe she felt, or think about how easy it would be to simply stay where she was for a few minutes longer.

Thinking about any of those things would only create more problems. Unfortunately, the attempt to distract herself led het attention elsewhere. As her head rested against Knox’s chest, she noticed something strange

2.3

8:40 am PPD

Chapte

019

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify