Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Third–person POV

Luna stood in the middle of the room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest like she was trying to hold herself together. Her eyes kept moving between Ryder and Knox, her expression filled with disbelief, anger, and something deeper that the didn’t want to admit was there. Everything they had said still felt unreal, like she was stuck inside a story that didn’t belong to her. She kept shaking her head slightly, like if she did it enough times, everything would go back to normal.

“No matter what you guys say to me, I’m still not staying here,” she said again, her voice firm even though there was a slight tremble under it. “I don’t care what you think is going on, or what you think I am. I’m still leaving. So let me go.”

Knox was about to respond, but before he could, his phone started ringing.

The loud sound cut through the tension in the room, and for a second, no one moved. Knox frowned slightly and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and glancing at the screen. The moment he saw the name, his expression shifted just a little.

He turned the phone slightly toward Ryder so he could see.

“Jace.” Knox said.

Ryder’s jaw tightened almost immediately. He didn’t say anything, but the look on his face said enough.

Knox didn’t answer right away. Instead, he glanced briefly at Luna, then back at Ryder, like he was silently asking what to do. Then he turned and started walking toward the door.

“I’ll take this outside,” he said. “Keep her calm.”

With that, he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Luna, Ryder, and Ivy alone again.

The moment the door shut, Luna let out a frustrated breath, running her hands through her hair like she was trying to wake herself up from a nightmare.

“I want to leave,” she said again, louder this time, her voice filled with impatience. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it for you to understand.”

Ryder opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Ivy stepped forward slightly.

“Luna,” she said softly, her tone careful, like she didn’t want to upset her further. “I really wish things were different. I really do, but after everything we just talked about… you shouldn’t leave.”

Luna turned to look at her sharply, disbelief flashing across her face. “You too?” she said. “You’re seriously agreeing with

them?”

Ivy sighed, clearly struggling with how to explain it. “I’m not trying to side with anyone,” she said. “I’m just saying.. what I saw last night wasn’t normal. You weren’t okay, Luna, not even close.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m a werewolf,” Luna snapped immediately. There has to be a logical explanation for what happened. People get sick all the time, fevers happen, and hallucinations happen. That doesn’t suddenly mean fin turning into some kind of animal.”

Her voice rose with every word, her frustration building again as she tried to hold on to sounething that made sense, Ryder finally spoke then, tus tone calm but serious. “If you keep insisting on leaving,” he said. “I won’t physically stop you.”

Luna blinked at him, surprised by that.

OOGT

號

12:43 Sat, May 30 MMM.

Chapter 18

Voucher

“But,” he added, “if you walk out of here and something happens… if you lose control, hurt someone, or get seen doing something you can’t explain… don’t blame anyone else for it.”

The words hung in the air. heavy and unsettling.

Luna frowned, confusion replacing some of her anger. “What exactly do you think I’m going to do?” she asked./What could I possibly do that’s that bad?”

Ryder didn’t answer right away. He looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, the door opened again.

Knox walked back in, his expression more serious now. “Jace wants to see us,” he said immediately, looking at Ryder. “In his office now.”

Ryder frowned slightly. “Did he say what it’s about?” he asked.

Knox shook his head. “No. Just said it’s important.”

For a second, Ryder stood there, clearly thinking, like he didn’t like the timing of this at all. Then he let out a quiet breath and turned back to Luna.

“Just sit down for a while,” he said, his voice softer now. “Take a moment to process everything. When I get back, I’ll answer whatever questions you have. I’ll explain everything properly if that’s what you need.”

Luna didn’t respond. She just stared at him, her expression unreadable.

Ryder hesitated for a second, like he wanted to say something else, but then he didn’t. Instead, he turned and walked toward the door. Knox following right behind him.

A few seconds later, they were gone, and the room felt different immediately.

Luna stood there for a moment, not moving, like she was still trying to catch up with everything that had just happened. Then she slowly turned to Ivy, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“I can’t believe you,” she said.

Ivy looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I can’t believe you actually believe this,” Luna said, her voice filled with frustration. “All of it. Werewolves? Seriously? You really let them convince you of that?”

Ivy let out a slow sigh, running a hand through her hair. “You can call me crazy if you want,” she said. “Everyone else always has. I’m used to it.”

“This isn’t about calling you crazy,” Luna replied quickly. “This is about you believing something that makes absolutely no sense. You’re smarter than this, Ivy. You know that, right?”

Ivy didn’t look offended. If anything, she just looked tired.

“I saw you last night,” she said quietly.

Luna opened her mouth to respond, but Ivy kept going

“I saw how much pain you were in,” she said. “I saw how hot your body was. I touched your skin, Luna. It wasn’t normal. No human body gets that hot and still… stays conscious like that.”

Lana frowned, her chest tightening slightly.

“And then Ryder came,” Ivy added. “And the moment he got close to you, you started calming down, not completely, but enough, like your body reacted to him.”

OOG

12:43 Sat, May 30 MMM.

Chapter 18

“That doesn’t prove anything.” Luna said quickly, though her voice wasn’t as strong as before.

“It proves a lot.” Ivy replied gently.

Luna shook her head, turning away from her as she paced a few steps across the room. “No, it doesn’t,” she said. There has to be another explanation. There always is. Science explains things, and logic also explains things. This…” She gestured around the room. “This doesn’t.”

Ivy watched her quietly for a moment before speaking again. “Then explain it,” she said.

Luna stopped walking. “What?” she asked.

“Explain it.” Ivy repeated. “Explain what happened to you last night, explain why your body reacted like that, and explain why being close to him made it better.”

*

Luna opened her mouth, but no words came out because she couldn’t. She didn’t have an explanation, and that made everything worse.

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