Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 254

Ch 26

+15 Bonus

Ch. 26

ssandra

Noah gives me a full week to recuperate. Even when Dr. Lukas pronounces me stable enough to take on light tasks while seated for a few hours each day.

I thought he’d be chomping at the bit to make me earn my keep and I was anxious to make myself useful before he changed his mind about letting me stay. But he just said, “You’re a liability until you’re completely well. The last thing I need is you overdoing it before you’re ready and costing me even more for your care.”

I could try to read into it, pretend that underneath it all, he really cares. But I know better. He wants me to feel like a burden. If he only knew, I already do.

“You’re late.” No grunts when I show up to the administrative office this morning.

“I-, I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I don’t mention I couldn’t leave until the woman he assigned to watch Liam arrived and she was late picking him up. What would be the point?

“It better not.” He warns. “Follow me.”

I trail behind him down the hall to a small room, no bigger than a closet. It’s stuffy in there, a musty smell permeates the room, and not even a window to open to air the place out. File cabinets line three walls and stacks of papers are strewn across the floor, leaving a path barely wide enough to walk.

“You can start in here.” He waves me into the cramped space. “Jaxon’s admin quit when he left. I haven’t had time to hire anyone.”

“Looks like you dodged a bullet there. Apparently filing to her was more of a suggestion than a required part of her job description.” The words slip out without my permission.

I expect him to berate me for it. Instead, I could swear his lips twitch in a restrained smile. I don’t react, leaving my perturbed expression firmly in place. I have a feeling Noah thinks he’s punishing me by relegating me to this menial task. No need to let on I’ll actually enjoy the solitary assignment.

“I’ll leave you to it.” He turns on his heels and leaves, assuming I understand the assignment. Not that it’s hard to figure out.

I look around the room at the disaster waiting for me and feel something I haven’t felt in months.

Useful.

It takes three days to work my way through the backlog. Noah leaves me to it, sending his beta, Cole, to check on me instead. I imagine he’ll send him to give me my next assignment too. The less he has to interact with me, the better, I’m sure.

Before I get reassigned, I take the time to create a digital list of what’s filed where. Nobody asked me to but I do it anyway because if I don’t I’ll be clearing the same backlog in six months, if I manage to be here that long.

That night after work, Liam and I make our way to the dining hall, the same as every night since I was released from bed rest. The pack’s reaction to my presence is the same as every night. Some polite smiles, some furtive glances and covert whispers. And some blatantly cold shoulders.

Most of them don’t speak to me directly. They speak around me the way you speak around something you’ve decided is a problem you haven’t decided how to address yet.

One pack member named Delia who apparently has a long memory and strong opinions, has made her position on

1/3

༩༽

+15 Bonus

my presence crystal clear. “I can’t believe she keeps showing up here.” She says loud enough to be heard when I walk by. “How delusional do you have to be to betray your own sister, cost a pack their Luna, and think anyone wants you around?”

A pang of guilt so sharp I nearly stumble hits me but I dont react. My head turns in Noah’s direction without meaning to, shame heating my cheeks when I find him watching me with his jaw clenched.

Of course, he heard what she said, everyone did, but he doesn’t say anything. I almost laugh out loud at my own ridiculousness. I am delusional if I expect him to defend me,

“Mama, who is she talking about?” Liam tugs on my pant leg, recalling my attention.’

I crouch down to his level, meeting his eyes. “That’s not something you need to worry about, baby.” I tell him. Sometimes when people feel hurt, they want other people to hurt too. So they say mean things. But none of it has anything to do with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama.” He nods.

“Good.” I lean in and kiss his forehead. “Let’s get you fed.”

I quickly fill our plates and find a table in a corner, as far away from the buzz of conversation as possible. The murmurs don’t stop but at least Liam can’t hear what’s being said, and ask more questions I don’t want to answer. We eat quickly and I rush him back to our room. I don’t want him exposed to any more of the fallout from my mistakes than he has to be.

He’s been subdued since the road, since he found me on the ground. I worry it’s the damage of seeing something he shouldn’t have seen. I’ve been watching him carefully, the way you watch for fractures, the delayed signs of something breaking under the surface. But he doesn’t seem particularly traumatized, just quiet.

“Can I stay with Mara tomorrow when you go to work, Mama?” Liam asks as I’m tucking him in.

She’s the Alpha house’s cook and Liam’s taken a liking to her. She’s taken him seriously, talking to him like his opinions matter. I could hug the woman for that.

“Hmm, we’ll see.” I tell him noncommittally. “She might be busy.”

“She’s not!” He insists. “She already told me she’ll take me to play with Theo.”

My shoulders tense but I try to breathe through it. Theo is the son of two pack members who live in the east quarters and they’ve become fast friends. It’s not that I don’t want Liam making friends here, but I worry about him getting too attached when I’m not even sure how long Noah will let us stay.

“That’s very nice of her to offer. Why don’t you get some sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.”

He looks at me dubiously, probably getting old enough now to tell when I’m deflecting. But his eyelids are already drooping and he doesn’t argue. I curl up beside him and watch him sleep.

I lie awake for a while just watching him. We’ve only been here two weeks and he’s already settling in, making Ironwood his home. He’s even stopped clinging to me when he’s asleep. It’s everything I want for him and everything I’m not sure I can give him, at least not long term.

It’s painful and beautiful simultaneously.

2/3

༩༩

+15 Bonus