Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Chapter 166

Luna’s POV

5 your

The hospital room became strangely quiet after everyone finally left. The loud voices, the teasing, the worried question and the constant feeling of being surrounded all disappeared the moment the door clicked shut behind them. For the time since waking up, I was completely alone, and I honestly didn’t mind it. As much as I cared about all of them, my b needed a little peace after everything that had happened over the last few hours. Between waking up in a hospital, reali somehow felt better than ever, and then my private conversation with Jace, my mind felt completely full.

I leaned back against my pillows and let out a long breath before reaching over to the bedside table where my phone ha been left charging thanks to Ivy. The screen lit up the moment I picked it up, revealing a long list of unread notification that I had completely forgotten about. For a second, I considered going back to thinking about how I was going to expla my decision to the other four after talking to Jace, but I quickly shook my head. There was no point giving myself anoth headache today. That conversation would happen when it happened, and overthinking it now wasn’t going to make it a easier. Instead, I unlocked my phone and started scrolling through my notifications, hoping to distract myself for a little while.

As I looked through the messages, my eyes suddenly landed on one that immediately made me freeze. It was the one fr my mother, and my heart sank almost instantly when I remembered that she had sent it just before my race started. I ha seen it then, told myself I would reply after the race, and completely forgotten about it after collapsing. Looking at the timestamp now made me realize just how much time had passed without me responding. I considered simply texting he back, but after disappearing for so long already, a text somehow didn’t feel like enough. Before I could talk myself out of pressed the call button and lifted the phone to my ear. It rang several times before the call finally connected.

“It took you long enough,” my mother said the moment she answered, not even giving me a chance to greet her first. Although her voice carried obvious annoyance, I could also hear the relief hidden underneath it. “I was honestly starting think I was never going to hear from my own daughter again.”

A guilty smile immediately appeared on my face. “I’m sorry, Mom,” I said sincerely. “I’ve just been really busy trying to set into life at Blackridge. Everything has been happening so fast that I honestly lost track of time.”

My mother let out a loud scoff that sounded exactly like the ones I remembered hearing throughout my childhood whenever she thought I was making excuses. “Busy?” she repeated. “Luna, no matter how busy you are, it should never take you almost a whole month to call your own mother. A month.” She emphasized the last word as though saying it twice wos make me feel guiltier than I already did.

Her words made my eyebrows lift in surprise. A month? Had it really been that long already? Time had somehow flows by without me even realizing it. Between classes, training, discovering I was part werewolf, surviving one unbelievable situatio after another, meeting my mates, getting caught in endless gossip, and trying to figure out how to live in a world I hadn’t even known existed, the days had somehow blurred together until weeks disappeared before I noticed I opened my mouth to apologize again, but before I could say anything else, my mother seemed to decide she had alreay wolded me enough because she let the matter go with another sigh.

“So,” she asked, her voice becoming much softer, “how are you doing over there with all those rich kids. There was abou concern in her tone now. “I hope nobody is looking down on you just because you don’t come from money

I couldn’t help letting out a chuckle at her question If only she knew Mom” I said with an unused smuk do you cally think anyone could look down on mer Lined to sound as confident as possible even though I knew I was is how adk Wing through my teeth Tm adapting just line You really don’t have to worry about me

The lie came much more castly than I expected, and somehow that made me feel ever worn. There was absolutely no way! was going to tell my mother that I had somehow become one of the biggest ropns of geoup on campux She didhi’s need to know that people had accused me of chasing rich boys for attention in that I had been called every writ of a sovial climber imaginable She de huutely didn’t need to know that I had become costed to five of the most popular aen in the entire university or that my face had somehow found its way into everyone’s conversations

Knowing any mother, she would probably try to march in Blackridge herself just to defead one, and the image alone almost made me laugh. No, it was much better if she believed I was settling in peacefully

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09:13 Mon, Jul 201ɔ̃

Chapter 166

B 5 voucher

“Actually,” I continued before she could ask another question. “I had my first official race for Blackridge today.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone before she gasped excitedly. “Really?” she asked immediately. “How did it go?”

I couldn’t stop the small smile spreading across my face. “I came second,” I answered proudly. “It was my first competition, and I managed to finish in second place.”

The squeal that came through the phone made me instinctively move it slightly away from my ear. “Luna!” my mother exclaimed happily. “That’s amazing!” I could practically picture her clapping her hands together the way she always did whenever she became excited. “You did so well! I’m so proud of you.” Her voice softened again as she continued. “I won’ li sweetheart. I was worried that transferring into such a big school would make things difficult for you. I kept wondering you would struggle to fit in, but hearing you talk like this makes me so happy. It sounds like you’re adapting just fine.”

I smiled, but this time it didn’t reach my eyes.

If only she knew.

If only she knew that adapting to classes had actually been the easiest part. If only she knew that I had spent weeks discovering that everything I believed about myself had been incomplete.

I found myself wishing, for the first time in a long while, that I could tell my mother everything. I wanted to ask her questions that had been piling up inside me ever since I felt connected to Jace, Knox, Orion, Ryder, and Theo and when Moon first appeared in my head. I wanted to ask her why she never told me the truth. Why did she let me grow up believing I was completely human when my own father had apparently been a werewolf? Had she really believed she could hide something like that forever? Surely she had known that my abilities would eventually awaken.

My hearing, my strength, my speed… none of those things could have stayed buried forever. Unless… unless she genuinely hadn’t known how any of it worked herself. That possibility crossed my mind again, and strangely enough, it almost sounded believable. My mother had always seemed like an ordinary human woman. Maybe whoever my father had been disappeared before explaining anything to her. Maybe she really had spent all these years believing I would simply live a normal human life. I honestly didn’t know anymore.

Realizing I had gone quiet for several seconds, I quickly pushed those thoughts aside before my mother could start asking questions. Clearing my throat, I decided to ask about something much safer instead.

“How are you doing?” I asked gently. “Everything’s okay back home, right? You’ve been taking your medication property. haven’t you?”

My mother immediately clicked her tongue in that familiar way she always did whenever she thought I was worrying roo much. “Don’t you start acting like my mother now,” she replied with a laugh, “I’m perfectly fine, so stop worrying about me You should be focusing on yourself instead.” She paused briefly before continuing Actually. I’ll send you some extra pocket money tomorrow. I know the school gives you a stipend, but I also know that it probably isn’t enoun for everything you need. Don’t argue with me either. Just accept it.”

I sighed quietly because I already knew there was no point trying to refuse Once my mother made up her mund abou something, convincing her otherwise was almost impossible

“And Luna,” she continued, her tone becoming serious again. I want you to remember why you went to Blackridge in the first place. Focus on your studies, focus on your running, and focus on building the future you’ve worked so hard for She paused for just a moment before adding. “Don’t let yourself get distracted by any thing or anyone

The moment she said anyone. I immediately knew exactly what she meant

Boys.

If only she knew.

The irony was almost painful because not only had I met boys. I had somehow ended up with five fated mates.

09:13 Mon, Jul 20

Chapter 166

5 vouchers

Worse still, I had already crossed a line I never imagined crossing. The memory of Knox immediately flashed through/my mind, making warmth creep into my cheeks despite the fact that my mother was still on the phone. I had already tasted the forbidden fruit, and there was absolutely no pretending otherwise anymore. After everything that had happened between Knox and me, and after the decision I had just made with Jace, there was simply no going back to the version of me who wanted nothing to do with any of this.

Still, there was no way I could tell my mother any of that. Instead, I smiled softly even though she couldn’t see me.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Mom,” I said gently. “I promise I haven’t forgotten why I came to Blackridge in the brst place. I’ll keep working hard, and I won’t lose sight of what’s important.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. My education and my running still mattered to me just as much as they always had. It was simply that now… my future had become much bigger, much stranger, and much more complicated than either of us could have ever imagined.

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