Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Luna’s POV

“Ivy… My voice came out shaky, and I hated how weak I sounded, but I couldn’t stop it. My hands were trembling at my sides, and I could feel my heartbeat all over my body, like it was trying to break out of my chest. “Tell me you’re joking! I said, my eyes locked on her face, searching for anything that would tell me this wasn’t real. “Tell me this is some stupid prank you planned with them just to mess with me.”

For a second, Ivy didn’t say anything, and that silence made

verything w uncomfortable, like the truth was sitting right there and she didn’t know how to say it. Then she let out a small sigh, and the

worse. It stretched out too long, heavy and look on her face changed into something serious, something that made my stomach drop even before she spoke.

“I wish it was,” she said quietly.

Those four words hit me harder than anything else had so far. I stared at her, waiting for her to laugh, to take it back, to say she was kidding, but she didn’t. Instead, she kept talking, and every word made things feel more unreal.

“You know how I said I’ve always been into this stuff,” she said, her voice a little softer now, like she was trying not to scare me. “All the werewolf theories, the research, the stories…. everyone always said I was crazy. Even you thought it was weird, and I thought so too sometimes. I mean, I was hoping it wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, but I also never thought any of it could actually be real.”

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.

“But last night…” she continued, her eyes flicking briefly toward Ryder before coming back to me. “When you got sick, when your body started reacting like that, and I didn’t know what to do… I called him, and the way he calmed you down, the way you reacted to him… it wasn’t normal, Luna. None of it was normal, and it confirmed everything”

She took a small breath before finishing, like she knew this was the part that would hit the hardest. “You’re a werewolf, and so are they.”

“No.” I said immediately, shaking my head hard. “No, that’s not possible.

My voice got louder without me meaning it to, panic rising fast in my chest. “That’s not possible!” I repeated, my words almost turning into a scream. “Ivy, you’ve gone mad. Do you even hear yourself right now?”

My chest was rising and falling too fast, my breathing uneven as everything around me started to feel like it was closing in. I couldn’t stay still anymore. I dropped the duvet without thinking, letting it fall to the floor as I stepped forward, my focus locking on Ryder.

I stopped right in front of him, my eyes searching his face like I needed to see something, anything, that would tell me this wasn’t real. “Tell me she’s lying,” I demanded, my voice breaking slightly. “Tell me you’re not… whatever she just said.”

Ryder didn’t answer right away. He just looked at me, and that look… it wasn’t amused, it wasn’t annoyed, it wasn’t anything I could brush off. It was almost… pity.

I hated it.

My stomach twisted painfully, and I turned away from him quickly, my gaze snapping to Knox instead like maybe he would say something different. “You,” I said, pointing at him slightly. “Are you going to say the same thing too? Are you seriously telling me you’re a werewolf?”

Knox didn’t hesitate. “Yes,” he said simply. “I am.”

The words were calm and steady, like he wasn’t saying anything strange at all. “I’m a full–blooded woll,” he added. “Unlike you. That’s why it took you this long to figure it out.”

30

OOGT

12:42 Sat, May 30 MMM.

Chapter 47

I stared at him, my mind going completely blank for a second before everything rushed back all at once. A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it, loud and sharp, but there was nothing funny about it. It sounded wrong, almost desperate, like I was trying to hold onto something that was slipping away.

“This is insane.” I said, laughing again, but my chest felt tight. “This has to be a dream. There’s no way this is real/There’s actually no way.”

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing a little now because I couldn’t stand still anymore. “So what, let me get this straight.” I continued, my voice still carrying that strange edge of laughter. “You’re all trying to tell me that I’m a werewolf… which means you’re trying to tell me that my own mother is a werewolf… and somehow, I didn’t notice that for nineteen years”

I shook my head, letting out another short laugh. “Yeah, okay.”

makes perfect sense.”

Knox’s voice cut through my words again. “It’s unlikely that it was your mother.”

I stopped moving immediately. “What?” I asked slowly, my voice dropping.

He didn’t seem to realize how his words sounded, or maybe he just didn’t care. “We already looked into her,” he said. “Shes human, so your father is the more likely one.”

For a second, I didn’t react.

Then it hit me.

My eyes widened, and anger rushed through me so fast it made my whole body tense. “You did what?” I snapped, my voice sharp and loud. “You looked into my family?”

I took a step toward him, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “Who the hell do you think you are?” I demanded. “What right do you have to dig into my life like that? My mother has nothing to do with this!”

Knox opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything. Ryder stepped in.

“Luna, calm down.” Ryder said quickly, his voice firm but not harsh. “We weren’t trying to invade your privacy. We were worried about you.”

I let out a disbelieving scoff, turning to him with a glare. “Worried about me?” I repeated. “That’s what you’re going with?”

My head was spinning now, my thoughts all over the place, jumping from one thing to another without settling. Nothing made sense, and the more they talked, the worse it got. I didn’t want to hear any of it. I didn’t want to accept any of it.

“I want to leave,” I said suddenly, the words coming out before I could think them through.

I turned toward the door, my body already moving like I just needed to get out of there, to get away from all of them, from everything they

feel like a bad Saying. If I left, if I got out of this house, maybe things would go back to normal. Maybe this would all

I could wake up from, but before I could take more than a step, Ryder moved in front of me.

“You can’t leave,” he said.

I stopped, staring at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?” I snapped. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do.”

“You can’t leave,” he repeated, more calmly this time, but there was something firm in his tone that made it clear he wasn’t joking.

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