Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Third–person POV

Orion stared at Luna for a long moment after she defended Jace, and for the first time since barging into the office WATTIR the rage on his face shifted into something else entirely, Hurt. It was there so clearly that ever. Theo stopped looking amused for half a second. His jaw clenched so bightly that the muscle in his cheek twitched, and the blood still smeared across his fist only made the expression on his face look worse.

The scent of Jace all over Luna was already driving him insane, but hearing Luna openly say that she did not regret what happened between them made something inside him twist painfully. He had spent the entire night furious at Jace. convincing himself that Luna had been taken advantage of while she was not fully herself, but now she was standing in fro of him fully conscious and defending Jace without hesitation.

Without saying another word. Orion suddenly turned around and started heading for the door The movement was to abrupt that Luna instinctively took a step forward after him.

“Orion, wait,” she called quickly, not wanting him to leave while looking that angry and hurt.

But before Orion could even react, Knox gently spoke up from the side. “Let him go, Luna,” he said calmly, his tone softer than everyone else’s had been since she entered the office “Right now, being alone is probably better for him.”

Luna hesitated after hearing that. She looked toward Onion again, but he did not turn around. His shoulders stayed stiff as he walked out of the office, and a second later the door slammed shut behind him hard enough to shake the walls slightly The silence that followed felt awkward and heavy, and Luna found herself staring at the closed door longer than she shoul have. Even though Orion had barely spoken directly to her since she arrived, she could still feel the anger and jealousy radiating off him before he left, and strangely enough, some part of her felt guilty about it.

Before she could think too deeply about it. Ryder suddenly started moving toward the door as well. Unlike Orion, he did n look furious. If anything, he looked exhausted. His eyes briefly moved toward Luna, and she could tell immediately that he was upset too, though she could not figure out if his frustration was directed at her or Jace.

“Take care of yourself,” he said quietly.

That was all he said before walking out of the office as well.

Luna watched him leave with slightly furrowed brows. Out of all of them, Ryder had probably been the gentlest with her since all this madness started, and seeing the disappointment on his face made her chest feel oddly tight. She opened her mouth slightly like she wanted to say something to stop him too, but in the end, she stayed silent and let him leave

The office became quieter after that, though the tension still remained. Theo was the next person to move, but unlike Ryder and Orion, he looked far too entertained by everything happening around him. There was a smirk lazily sitting on his face as he leaned against the edge of Jace’s desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You know what this means now, right?” The suddenly asked.

Luna blinked and looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

Knox immediately shot Theo a warning look. “Ignore him.”

But Theo only rolled his eyes dismissively before looking back at Luna again. “Why should she ignore me when I’m night he asked before uncrossing his arms and slowly stepping closer toward her. “Now that one of us has already marked you, nobody’s going to keep pretending anymore. The playing field’s officially open”

Luna’s brows pulled together even more as she stared at him. Deep down, she already had an idea what Theo meant, but hearing him say it so casually still made her heart start beating faster.

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Day trying to say?” she asked carefully

Theo smirk widened slightly after hearing that question. Instead of answering immediately, he continued walking toward her until he stopped only inches away Luria suddenly became very aware of how tall he was and how intense his bright green eyes looked when he mared directly at her like that. Before she could step back. Theo leaned down closer until his lips

were near her ear

Tm saying he murmured softly, has voace low enough to send chills down her spine, that now I’m hungry for you too, and I have no intention of losing you to Jace or anyone else‘

Luna’s breath caught slightly

She should have been annoyed hearing something like that She should have told him he sounded insane. Instead, her stupid heart skipped a beat so hard that she internally cursed herself for reacting that way. Theo’s words settled heavily in her chest because the suddenly understood exactly what he meant Jace marking her had changed something between all of them, and the tension that had already existed before suddenly felt worse, stronger, and more possessive.

Theo was not just flirting with her he was warning her

Moon practically purred snade I una hrad at Theo words while Luna herself tried very hard to stay calm and not react visibly Unfortunately for her Theo weemed to notice every little shift in her expression because the smirk on his face only grew more satisfied

“See?” he teased softly “You understand now

Before Luna could even think of a response. The suddenly leaned in and pressed a quick kiss against her cheek. The action was so unexpected that her eyes widened immediately. By the time the recovered from the shock, Theo was already pulling away with an amused expression on his face

‘I’ll talk to you later, mate.” he said casually before finally turning around and heading for the door.

The moment Theo walked away. Luna felt another strange emotion hit her from behind her. Jealousy, strong jealousy.

She slowly turned her head slightly toward Jace, who had gone completely stiff behind her. His eyes were narrowed toward the door Theo had just walked through, and even though he was trying not to react, the irritation on his face was obvious.

Luna found herself wondering if it was really Jace feeling jealous right now or if it was Ace reacting through him.

Probably both.

Knox let out a sigh, and compared to the others, he looked completely unbothered by everything that had happened If

( anything, he looked more tired than emotional.

As he walked toward the door, he paused briefly beside Luna. “Take care of yourself,” he told her calmly.

Unlike the others, there was no jealousy or tension in his voice. Knox genuinely sounded neutral, and Luna could not help thinking again that it was probably because Knox liked men. Even if they shared this strange mate bond, his attraction clearly worked differently from the others.

Luna gave him a small nod. “You too.”

Knox simply huismed in response before leaving the office as well. The second the door closed behind him, the office suddenly felt much quieter than before. Luna slowly turned around to face Jace fully now that they were finally alone again. and the moment her eyes landed properly on his face, she winced all over again

Now that the chaos had died down slightly she could properly see how badly Orion had beaten hun up. One safe of faces face was bruised badly already his hip was split and there was still dried blood near his mouth and jaw. Even though some ot

Life jngines abregaly locked like they were healing slowly, he still looked terrible.

“God.” Luna fruttered under her breath. “He really beat the hell out of you

Jace let out a small breath this almost sounded amused despite how exhausted he looked. Tve had worse

Luna stared at him in disbelief. That’s sopposed to make me feel better?”

Jace shrugged slightly before immediately winning from the movergent. I una noticed it right away, and despite herself, she stepped closer to him instinctively

“You’re injured.” she said

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