Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

RILEY

I was sitting on my bed, locked in my bedroom by my Mama as I was on time out. I was trying to read one of the few books Mama

had gotten me from the library, when I heard her footsteps in the hallway.

They were different today, it sounded like she was heading somewhere quickly. That usually meant she had plans, and her plans

usually meant trouble for me if I failed to live up to her expectations.

The lock clicked, and she pushed open my bedroom door without knocking. She never knocked anymore before she entered.

“Get up, Riley. We’re going out.”

I closed the book carefully, marking where I had stopped for the time being with a piece of paper I’d torn from a notebook. “Where are we going?” I asked carefully, as I was a bit confused. School didn’t start till next week for me and it was a weekend.

“To see Alpha Xenois and his son. Remember what I told you about them? About how they’re going to be our new family? How you are going to replace Ollie as his real son?”

My stomach twisted into knots. I remembered the restaurant yesterday, the way the big man had looked at me with such kindness before everything went wrong. I felt nauseated at the thought of that.

“Why do we have to see them?”

Mama sighed as she entered the room fully when she saw that I wasn’t going to immediately follow her.

She sat down on the edge of my bed, and for a moment her expression softened, like she was looking at something she cared about. This was the version of her that confused me the most the one who acted like she actually cared about me.

–

“Because, baby, this is how we make our dreams come true. Remember all those times I told you about having a real daddy? Someone who could take care of us both, give us a nice house, make sure you never have to worry about anything ever again?”

I nodded, though the memory of her “taking care” of me yesterday with the hot stove made my bandaged hand throb.

“Well, Alpha Xenois is that person. He’s going to be your new daddy, and his son is going to be your competition because he won’t want to share his daddy with you. But for that to happen, for our dream to come true, you need to make friends with Ollie, okay. You need to make him like you so much that he wants you around all the time.”

“What if he doesn’t like me?”

The softness in her eyes disappeared, replaced by something cold and sharp as she glared at me with fury in her eyes. I guess she

didn’t like that question.

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Chapter 39

She grabbed my hand making me wince from the tight grip she had as she said,

“He will like you, Riley. Because you’re going to make sure of it. You’re going to be the best friend he’s ever had. You’re going to be

charming and funny and everything a little boy could want in a playmate.”

I wanted to tell her that I didn’t know how to be charming to people my age, that most kids at school thought I was weird because I was too quiet and flinched when they tried to touch me. Because I always associated touch with hurt. But I’d learned not to argue with her when she got that look in her eyes. It only made things worse for me as she would refuse to feed me again.

“Okay, Mama.” I said softly nodding my head hoping she would pat me on the head for obeying. But she didn’t.

“Good boy.” She reached into her purse and pulled out something that looked like a bracelet, except it was made of some kind of dark

metal that seemed to absorb the light around it.

“I have something special for you to wear today.”

She held it up, and I could see that it wasn’t really a bracelet at all. It was more like a band with strange symbols that was drawn on it, connected to what looked like a glove that would cover just my palm.

“What is it?”

“It’s going to help you make friends with Ollie. You put it on your right hand – the one that got hurt yesterday – and it will make

everything better.”

I looked down at my bandaged palm. The burn still hurt, especially when I moved my fingers. But something about the metal thing she was holding made me feel uneasy in my stomach as I shook my head slowly.

‘I don’t want to wear it.”

“Riley.” Her voice dropped, giving me that warning, quiet tone that meant I was about to be in serious trouble.

“This isn’t a choice. You’re going to wear it, and you’re going to use it exactly like I tell you to.”

She grabbed my right wrist and started unwrapping the bandage that I had managed to put on yesterday.

I tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong.

“Mama, it still hurts-”

“Hold still.” She peeled away the last of the gauze, revealing the angry red mark on my palm where she’d pressed it against the hot stove. It looked worse today, all blistered and raw.

The metal thing slipped over my hand like it had been made just for me.

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The moment it touched my skin, I felt a cold cover my whole hand as I tried to pull away from the sensation but I couldn’t. And just like that, the pain in my palm disappeared completely, like it had never been there at all.

“There,” she said, adjusting the band around my wrist. “Better?”

I flexed my fingers experimentally, trying to see it it hurt and I couldn’t feel the burn at all anymore, and when I looked at my palm, the metal glove part made it look like there had never been any injury.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

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