Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 29

Luna’s POV

I really didn’t feel like leaving my room that morning. Even after sleeping through the entire night, the intensity of everything that had happened the day before was still sitting heavily on my chest. The embarrassment, the fear, and the anger all mixed together into one ugly feeling that made me want to stay under the blanket and hide from the world.

If I had the choice. I would have gladly skipped the entire day and stayed inside my room, where no one could stare at me or gossip about me.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury. The memory of what I overheard yesterday on the track field kept echoing in my mind whether I liked it or not. Coach Ramirez’s voice had been clear as day when he spoke about me being a distraction and a liability, and the words about my scholarship had hit the hardest.

I had worked too hard to get here, and the thought that it could all be taken away because of gossip or drama made my stomach twist. That alone was enough to push me out of bed and force myself to get ready for practice, no matter how miserable I felt.

The first problem I ran into was my missing bag. The only gym bag my poor self owned had been stolen, which meant I had nothing to carry my spare clothes in. I stood there staring at my empty hands for a moment before finally turning to Ivy and asking if I could borrow one of her bags that could pass as a gym bag.

She didn’t hesitate. In fact, she handed me one almost immediately, though the look on her face told me she still wasn’t happy about what had happened to me. I quickly packed the spare practice clothes I still had left in the room and slung the borrowed bag over my shoulder.

Even without my phone, I knew I would still be able to guess the time from the sunlight. Right now I knew it was late enough that I needed to leave soon if I didn’t want to be late for practice. I gave Ivy a quick wave before stepping out of the dorm room and walking down the hallway toward the lobby.

The building was already busy with students heading out to their morning classes, and the sound of footsteps and conversations echoed around the space. Normally I would have felt a little comforted by the noise and movement, but that morning I just kept my head down and walked quickly, hoping no one would stop me.

I was almost at the exit when a voice suddenly called out behind me.

“Luna Merrick.”

I stopped so abruptly that the girl walking behind me nearly ran into my back. For a second I thought I had imagined it, but when the voice repeated my name again, I slowly turned around. The receptionist sitting behind the front desk was looking directly at me. That alone was strange enough to make me pause. I had lived in this building for about two weeks now, and that woman had never spoken to me before. In fact, she usually barely glanced up when students walked past the desk.

“Are you Luna Merrick?” she asked again.

I nodded slowly, confused. “Yes… that’s me. Is there a problem?”

The woman didn’t answer right away. Instead, she bent down behind the counter and rummaged around for something out of sight. I stood there awkwardly, wondering if I had somehow broken a rule without realizing it. A second later she straightened up and placed something on the counter in front of her.

The moment I saw it, my eyes

It was my gym bag.

widened.

For a few seconds I couldn’t even move. My brain struggled to process what I was seeing, because the bag sitting on the counter looked exactly like the one that had been stolen from the locker room the day before. The black fabric, the white

30

M

R

12:17 Sat, May 30 MMM ·

Chapter 30

stripe on the side, and the small tear near the zipper that I had been meaning to fix for weeks, it was all the same.

I rushed forward before the woman could say anything else and grabbed the bag with this?” I asked quickly, staring at her in disbelief. “And how did you even know it was

youchers

hands. “Where did you find

The receptionist leaned back in her chair and gave me a strange look, like she couldn’t believe I had asked such a question. “Why would I find your bag?” she scoffed. “Someone dropped it off here earlier this morning. They gave me your name and even showed me a picture so I would know who to give it to.”

Her answer only made me more confused. I tightened my grip on the bag and leaned closer to the desk. “Did they say who they were?” I asked. “Did they leave a name or anything?”

The woman rolled her eyes so dramatically that it almost made me laugh. “No, they specifically said they didn’t want you knowing who they were,” she replied in a flat voice. “So how about you just take your bag and stop asking so many questions?”

I frowned slightly, my curiosity growing stronger instead of fading. Whoever had returned my bag clearly knew who I was and where I stayed, which meant they had gone through the trouble of making sure it reached me. That didn’t sound like something a random stranger would do. My mind immediately started running through possible explanations.

“Okay, but can you at least tell me one thing?” I asked carefully

The receptionist sighed loudly, clearly losing patience. “What now?”

“Was it a girl or a guy?” I asked.

She stared at me for a moment like she was deciding whether to throw me out of the building herself. I held my ground, hoping she would give in. If it had been a girl, then maybe the person who stole my bag had felt guilty and decided to return it, but if it had been a guy, then maybe someone else had found it somewhere and brought it back. Not to say a girl couldn’t have found it, but I had more reason to believe that a girl was responsible for stealing my bag.

“Please,” I added. “If you just tell me that, I promise I’ll leave you alone.”

She rolled her eyes again before finally answering. “It was a guy,” she said. “Now can you please get out of here? I have better things to do than be interrogated by you.”

I ignored the annoyed tone in her voice because my attention was completely focused on what she had just said. A guy. That single detail sent a wave of questions through my mind, and I quickly thanked her before stepping away from the desk and heading toward the door.

Once I was outside the dorm building, I stopped near the walkway and unzipped the bag with nervous hands. My heart was pounding slightly as I looked inside, half afraid that something would still be missing, but as soon as the zipper opened wide enough, relief washed over me like a warm wave.

Everything was still there.

My practice clothes were folded exactly the way I remembered leaving them. My wallet sat in the side pocket where I had placed it. Even my earbuds were still tucked into the small inner compartment. Then I saw the one thing that made my shoulders relax completely.

My phone.

I pulled it out immediately and pressed the power button just to make sure it still worked. The screen lit up, and I almost laughed out loud in relief. The thought of having to save up for a new phone had been stressing me out more than I wanted to admit. Seeing it safely in my hand made me feel like a huge weight had just been lifted off my chest.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify