Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 145

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Chapter

Chapter 145

Third-person POV

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By the time Knox finally arrived back at the small house, Luna had completely fallen asleep in his arms. At first, he had assumed that she was only resting her eyes because she had been exhausted after everything he had put her through under the waterfall, but after several minutes of carrying her through the forest without hearing a single complaint or question from her again, like he had asked of her, he had glanced down only to find her breathing slow and even and her face peaceful in a way that he had never seen before.

For the first time since he had seen her today, there was no worry written across her features. There was no panic about her race, no frustration over her uncontrollable strength, no irritation directed at one of his friends, and no sadness from everything that had happened throughout the day. She simply looked like someone who had finally found a brief moment of peace after carrying far too much weight on her shoulders.

Knox quietly shook his head to himself. He still could not believe that she haff managed to fall asleep while he was carrying her through the woods. Most people would have been uncomfortable sleeping in the arms of someone they barely knew yet Luna had foolishly trusted him enough without even realizing it. He carefully pushed open the front door of the house with his shoulder before stepping inside, making sure not to disturb her as he walked across the wooden floor toward the bed that occupied one side of the single-room cabin.

The place was simple and quiet, just the way he preferred it, and as gently as he could, he leaned forward to lower her onto the mattress, hoping she would stay asleep long enough for him to grab a blanket.

Unfortunately, the moment her back touched the bed, Luna stirred almost immediately. Her brows furrowed before her eyes slowly fluttered open, and for several confused seconds she simply stared upward without understanding where she was. Then her gaze shifted forward, and because Knox had still been bent over while carefully laying her down, his face was much closer to hers than either of them realized.

The sudden closeness startled her awake completely. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she instinctively pulled herself backward across the mattress while trying to remember how she had ended up in such a strange room with Knox hovering over her. The confusion on her face lasted only a few moments before panic threatened to take over, making Knox straighten immediately and take several steps backward to give her all the space she needed. He raised both hands slighty making it obvious that he meant no harm, and his usually calm expression softened just enough to reassure her that nothing strange had happened while she had been asleep.

“You fell asleep on the way back,” he explained calmly. “I was just putting you on the bed. Sorry for waking you

As soon as she heard his explanation, Luna blinked several times before everything slowly came back to her. She remembered closing her eyes after he all but told her to shut up. She remembered listening to his heartbest and thing herself that she was only going to rest for a few seconds, but apparently those few seconds had rure, to an ax Blade High Embarrassment immediately spread across her face as she sat upright on the bed, rubbing one hand against the back of her neck while avoiding looking directly at him.

Out of all the things she had expected to do today, falling asleep in Knox’s arms had certainly not been one of them. She let out a quiet sigh before finally looking back at him with an apologetic smile, feeling far more guilty than startled now that she understood what had happened.

“No,” she responded awkwardly. “I should be the one apologizing. I can’t believe I actually fell asleep and made you carry all the way here.”

Knox simply shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal, he replied.

Luna wasn’t entirely convinced that carrying another grown adult through an entire forest wasn’t a big deal but she decided not to argue with him. Instead, she finally took the opportunity to properly look around the room she was sitting in. It was much smaller than she had expected, especially considering that the little house had looked slightly bigger from outside

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the plair was copy rather than luxurious. There was only one comfortable bedt positioned against the Lable with two chairs beside it, a compart refrigerator forked neatly in one corner and a tangy kerturn essentials

Everything looked clean, organized, and surprisingly warm despite how isolated the plane was There were of regensive decorations, no giant television, and nothing that screarsed wealth despre Knox drafty coming from new of the rese families, according to Blackridge myth The simplicny of the cabta somehow suited him perfervit Set pe

and free from unnecessary distractions, and Luna found herself wondering how often he came here by burst and why that place seemed so important to him.

You can rest a little longer if you want,” Knox said after noticing her looking around at Id suggest changing outdoor wet clothes first, and you should probably dry your hair too You’ll be more comfortable”

Luna looked down at herself and immediately realized he was right. Her sports bra and pants were still wet from the waterfall, and her hair clung messily to her shoulders and neck. Now that she wasn’t moving around anymore that was was beginning to feel even colder against her skin. She sighed quietly before looking back at Knox with an awkward expression, realizing there was one small problem with his suggestion.

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‘I didn’t exactly plan on coming here today,” she reminded him. ‘So I don’t have anything to change into

Knox didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he calmly walked toward a small wardrobe standing near the corner of the room Luna hadn’t even noticed it before because it blended so naturally into the wooden walls. He opened the doors without saying anything, revealing several neatly folded shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, and other clothes arranged inside Once be stepped aside, he simply gestured toward the wardrobe before looking back at her.

“They’re clean,” he said. “You can wear whichever ones you want.”

Luna climbed off the bed and slowly walked toward the wardrobe. The moment she looked inside, she realized every singe item hanging there belonged to Knox. Just by looking at them, she could already tell they would be ridiculously overssons on her much smaller frame, but at the same time, she had to admit they were still far better than remaining soaked in her own clothes for the rest of the evening.

She reached toward one of the hoodies before stopping herself, deciding a simple shirt would probably be enough for As she sorted through the neatly folded clothes, another realization suddenly dawned on her. Knox hadn’t moved. He was still standing inside the room behind her. She slowly turned around until she was facing him again, one evebrow set suspiciously while he looked back at her with complete confusion, clearly unaware of what was bothering her

‘Are you seriously going to stand there and watch me get changed?” she asked.

For the first time since bringing her to the cabin, genuine embarrassmen crossed Knoxs face. It took han xox realize exactly what she meant. He cleared his throat awkwardly before rubing the back of his neck and g turning toward the door, mentally wondering how he had overlooked something so obvious

‘Right,” he said quickly. “Sorry.”

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He reached for the door handle before glancing back at her briefly. “Take your time,” he added. Tll go back to the watertall and get your things.”

Luna nodded as he started walking toward the exit, but just before he reached the door, something caught her alfentsar te was still shirtless, and even though she had a feeling he was comfortable being shirtless, the thought of ham walking the way back through the woods without one while telling her moments ago that she shouldn’t remain in wet clothes bhee also she might get sick felt strangely unfair. Before she could think twice about it, she reached into the wardrobe again, grabbed one of the clean shirts hanging inside, and called his name just as he was about to step outside

“Knox.”

He paused immediately before turning around

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thout saying other word. Luna waved the thirt once before tossing it across the room toward trim Knox reactest H instantly, catching it easily with one hand before looking down at it in slight confusion. Then he looked back at her Nially understanding why the had stopped him. Luna folded her arms across her chest and tried to wired as casual as perchole

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