Second Chance for the Barren Luna (Talia and Jason) novel Chapter 426

Talia’s POV

Geoffrey’s words echoed. Some warriors turned to stare. I froze, shocked. I always knew he was possessive of Arya, but hearing him say it out loud was different.

Arya’s eyes flashed with anger. “I am not an object to be possessed,” Arya snapped. “I belong to no one but myself.”

Geoffrey seemed to realize his mistake. He quickly composed himself, bowing his head. “Forgive me. I spoke out of turn.”

Arya glared at him. Geoffrey put on a smile, pretending nothing happened. "Anyway, I won’t distract you from your duties, Arya. I’ll talk to you later," he said, then walked off.

When he was out of earshot, I drew Arya aside, speaking in a low voice. “Is Henry ready in Walden’s room? We can’t risk Geoffrey getting suspicious.”

Arya nodded. “Yes, Luna. Everything is ready for tonight.”

“Good. Whoever attacked Walden will make their move tonight. I’m sure of it.”

“We’ll be ready,” Nolan said.

We waited in the hospital lounge all night. Nolan paced, restless, glancing at me every few minutes like he thought I might disappear. The chairs were hard, but I barely noticed. My mind kept going back to Walden and Geoffrey’s outburst. I watched Nolan’s hands clench and relax. I wished I could calm us both.

Now and then, Marco poked his head in to check on us, with a tense smile before disappearing back into the hallway.

“Still nothing?” I questioned softly one time.

Marco shook his head. “Nothing yet. Della and I are going to patrol outside again. If we see anything, we’ll let you know.”

Time dragged. I tried counting tiles, but it didn’t help. Sometimes a nurse’s footsteps echoed down the hall. We barely spoke. Waiting made me notice every heartbeat, every shallow breath.

“You’re making me nauseous, pacing in circles like that,” I groaned.

“Sorry,” Nolan said, stopping. “But you should go back and sleep. You’ve got the twins to think about. Marco and I can handle Geoffrey if he shows up.”

I shook my head. "As Alpha Queen, I have to protect my pack." Nolan meant well, but he was always overprotective. Tonight seemed like a turning point. Every choice mattered.

“Yes, but you can always delegate,” Nolan said.

“You’re not going to change my mind, Nolan.”

Nolan sighed and sat next to me. He brushed his fingers over my hand. He whispered, "I still think you should be resting."

“I can rest once this is settled,” I replied, squeezing his hand in reassurance. “I need to be at your side tonight.”

“At least take a nap,” Nolan offered.

“So you can conveniently forget to wake me up? No thanks.” I said.

We sat in silence, watching the clock. Seconds seemed like hours. The tension in the room grew. I looked at the landscape paintings on the wall. Their dull colors calmed me a little.

Inside, Henry grappled with Geoffrey, blocking blow after blow. Henry landed a punch to Geoffrey’s jaw, but Geoffrey’s dagger sliced his forearm. Henry grunted in pain and blocked another blow.

"Stay behind me," Nolan shouted and then threw himself forward, grabbing Geoffrey from behind to pull him away from Henry. Marco stormed in next, helping to restrain Geoffrey as he thrashed wildly. Della came in right after him.

Della delivered swift punches to Geoffrey’s abs, but he still struggled against Nolan’s hold. The dagger cut across Della’s face. She hissed in pain. Marco snarled in anger and gripped Geoffrey’s forearm of the arm that held the dagger, almost so hard I thought it would snap. But Geoffrey still held on to the dagger.

“Hold him still!” Nolan shouted.

“We’re trying,” Della grunted.

Geoffrey was flailing like a wild animal. Even with two Alphas and a Beta, he was still causing them to struggle. His eyes were wild. Geoffrey knew if he were caught, that would be the end of him.

I wanted all of this to end. While I was preparing to use the Alpha Queen command, Arya darted in, ducked under Geoffrey’s arm, and slammed her fist down on his wrist. “Drop it!” Arya growled.

The dagger flew out of his grip and skittered across the tiles, far from his reach.

Della quickly picked up the dropped dagger and gave it to me.

The second I looked at it, I recognized it.

It matched the weapons from the rogue attack on Walden.