Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 286

Chapter 286

OLLIE

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I pressed my face against the car window as we drove through the city streets toward the hospital, watching the buildings blur past while my stomach twisted with feelings I didn’t know how to name. Riley sat in the seat next to me, staring out his own window like he always did now, and I wanted to shake him until he looked at me instead.

Everything had been so confusing for so long. First Mama took me away in the middle of the night when it was raining really hard, and I thought I’d never see Daddy again. I remembered watching him standing in the rain getting smaller and smaller as Alpha Zade drove away, and I cried until my throat hurt because I thought he didn’t love us anymore. But then everyone came back one by one, and they brought me the biggest surprise ever – I had a twin brother named Riley.

At first, I was so excited I could barely sleep. A twin brother! Someone who was exactly my age, someone who would understand me better than anyone else in the whole world. I imagined us playing together and sharing secrets and being best friends forever, just like in

the movies.

But Riley wasn’t like the brothers in movies at all. He was sad and angry and scared, and he kept trying to call someone named Mama Sophia who never answered. Every time the phone didn’t work, Riley would get this look on his face like someone had punched him in the

stomach.

The grown-ups kept saying Sophia was busy or had changed her number, but I could tell they were lying by the way their voices got

tight.

Then came the scary day at the hospital when everything went crazy.

Riley was so cool and brave, fighting off the bad guys like a superhero, but also really scary in a way that made my chest feel funny. After that, he went away again, and I thought maybe he decided he didn’t want to be my brother after all.

When he came back, he brought Lake with him, and everything got even worse. Riley wouldn’t talk to anyone except Lake, wouldn’t play with me or even look at me most of the time. Lake was unconscious, just lying there in that hospital bed, but somehow he was more important to Riley than I was.

I knew it was bad to think mean things about someone who was hurt, but I couldn’t help being jealous of Lake. Riley had only known him for a little while, but he loved Lake more than me, and I was his actual twin brother. If something bad happened and Riley had to choose between saving me or saving Lake, I knew he would pick Lake every single time.

The car stopped, and I realized we were at the hospital. Daddy and Mama got out to talk to the doctors about moving Lake, which meant Riley was going to disappear into that room again and ignore me for hours.

“Can I come with you?” I asked Riley as we walked through the hospital doors.

Riley didn’t even look at me. “No. Stay with the grown-ups.”

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Chapter 286

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My chest got that tight feeling again, the one that made me want to scream or hit something. Riley used to be nice to me sometimes,

back when he first came home. He taught me how to throw a punch and showed me his cool scars, and once he even smiled when I told

him a joke. But now it was like I didn’t exist unless I was bothering him.

I followed behind anyway, because nobody was really paying attention to where I went. The grown-ups were busy with papers and

medical stuff, and Riley only cared about getting to Lake’s room. When we got there, I watched through the doorway as Riley buried his

face against Lake’s neck, making that weird sniffing sound that Mama said was called scenting.

I’d seen the grown-ups do it to each other sometimes, and it was nice, Mama and Papa always scented me before, and it was like the

best kind of hug. I wanted Riley to do that to me too. We were supposed to be pack, supposed to be family, but Riley had never scented

me even once.

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the room and moved toward Riley’s chair. Maybe if I was really quiet and gentle, he might let me

get close enough to try it.

“Riley?” I said softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

He turned around so fast it made me jump back. His green eyes were all red and puffy from crying, and his face looked angry and sad

at the same time.

“Go back out,” he said, his voice rough and mean. “I don’t want you in here.”

The words hit me like a slap, making my eyes burn with tears I didn’t want to cry. I was so tired of Riley pushing me away, so tired of being ignored and rejected and treated like I didn’t matter.

Lake got all of Riley’s attention even though he was unconscious, but I couldn’t even get my own twin brother to look at me without

getting angry.

Before I could stop myself, I raised my hand toward Lake, my teeth getting sharp the way they did when I was really upset. I wanted to bite him, wanted to mark him so Riley would know that I was important too, that I deserved attention and love and-

Riley’s eyes went wide, and I saw something in them that made me drop my hand immediately. It wasn’t just anger – it was fear. Riley

was scared of me, scared that I would hurt Lake.

Shame crashed over me like a wave, making my stomach feel sick and my face get all hot. I wasn’t supposed to want to hurt people, especially not hurt kids who couldn’t defend themselves. That made me just as bad as the mean people who had hurt Riley, and I didn’t

want to be like them at all.

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Reborn From Regret A Second Chance at Luna’s Heart