The Broken Luna, Now His Regret novel Chapter 31

31 Chapter 31 THE COST OF LETTING GO

31 Chapter 31 THE COST OF LETTING GO

Mira held it together until they got home.

She held it together through the car ride, through Brielle’s silence, through Garrett carrying their daughter inside because she refused to walk. She held it together through helping Brielle out of her dress, through making her tea, through sitting on the edge of her bed until Brielle finally fell asleep clutching the stuffed wolf.

Then she went to her own room, closed the door, and broke.

Not crying. Not yet. Just sitting on the floor with her back against the bed, staring/at nothing, feeling the weight of everything pressing down until she couldn’t breathe.

Her phone buzzed. Kieran.

*We need to talk. Please.*

She turned it off.

Another buzz. Different phone. Kieran calling the pack emergency line.

She answered. “What.”

“Mira, please. I need to explain-”

“There’s nothing to explain. You were late. You brought another woman. Brielle broke. I fixed it. We’re done.”

“Lydia wasn’t- she’s Elder Thorne’s granddaughter, she was helping-”

“I don’t care who she is. I care that our daughter cried herself unconscious.”

“I’m coming over. We need to—”

“No.”

“Mira-”

“If you show up here, I will not let you in. And if you force your way in, I will call Valeblack. Do you understand?”

Silence.

“You’d call *him*? Bring Council authority into pack business?”

“I’d do whatever it takes to protect my daughter. Even from you.”

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She hung up.

The phone stayed silent after that.

Mira sat on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, and finally let herself cry.

Kieran’s POV

Kieran threw the phone across the study. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor, screen cracked.

Cassian appeared in the doorway immediately. “Alpha?”

“Get out.”

“Elder Thorne is asking for updates on-”

“I said GET OUT!”

Cassian left. Closed the door quietly behind him.

Kieran stood at the window, staring out at the darkening afternoon, feeling the mate bond twist and pulse. Mira. Somewhere across town, crying alone.

He wanted to go to her. Wanted to break down her door, force her to listen, make her understand that he’d tried, that he was trying, that he’d never stop trying.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it?

*Trying isn’t enough.*

The words had been eating at him since she’d said them. Because they were true. Five years of failing, and now months of trying, and it still wasn’t enough to undo the damage.

His phone – the emergency line – rang. Not Mira, Lydia Thorne.

He almost didn’t answer. But she was Elder Thorne’s granddaughter, and he’d just spent four hours at her grandfather’s bedside, and refusing her call would be a political disaster.

“Lydia.”

“Kieran.” Her voice was soft, concerned. “I heard about the school. I’m so sorry. I should have realized-”

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“It’s not your fault.”

“It felt like my fault. The way everyone stared. The whispers.” A pause. “Your wife must be furious.”

“She’s not my wife anymore.”

“Legally she still is.”

Kieran’s jaw tightened. “What do you want, Lydia?”

“To help. If there’s anything I can do. Grandfather wants to thank you personally for staying with him. Perhaps dinner? This weekend? You could bring Brielle, let her see that-”

“No.”

“Kieran-”

“I said no. Thank Elder Thorne for me. Tell him I’m glad he’s stable. But I can’t… I can’t do dinner. Not right now.”

Lydia was quiet for a moment. “Because of her? Because Mira doesn’t want you near me?”

“Because my daughter doesn’t want me near anyone.” The admission tasted like ash. “She told her mother she doesn’t want me at family dinner. She wouldn’t look at me after the performance. She…” He stopped. Swallowed. “She’s done with me.”

“Children say things they don’t mean when they’re upset.”

“No. She meant it.” Kieran thought about Brielle’s face when she’d climbed past him to sit with Mira. The way she’d turned away when he’d tried to apologize. “She meant every word.”

Lydia’s voice gentled. “Then give her time. Give Mira time. And maybe… maybe give yourself permission to move forward.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t spend the rest of your life chasing someone who’s already gone.”

Kieran didn’t respond.

After a long silence, Lydia said: “I’ll tell Grandfather you’ll visit when things settle. Take care of yourself, Kieran.”

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She hung up.

Kieran stood in the empty study, surrounded by pack business and Alpha responsibilities and a thousand things that suddenly felt completely meaningless.

He picked up the cracked phone and called Cassian back.

“Get Dr. Hartley on the line. Emergency session. Tonight if possible.”

“For Brielle?”

“For me.”

Mira’s POV

The knock on her bedroom door was gentle. Estelle.

“Mira? Can I come in?”

Mira wiped her face quickly. “Yeah.”

Estelle entered carrying tea and a plate of toast. She didn’t say anything about Mira’s red eyes or tear–stained face. Just set the tray on the nightstand and sat beside her daughter on the floor.

“Brielle’s still asleep,” Estelle said. “Garrett’s sitting with her.”

“Good.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“I should have stopped him from bringing that woman,” Mira said finally. “I should have seen it coming. Should have-”

“You can’t control what Kieran does.”

“But I can protect Brielle from it. And I failed.”

“No.” Estelle’s voice was firm. “You saved her. You went up on that stage and saved her when she needed you most. That’s not failure.”,

“Then why does it feel like I’m destroying her?” Mira’s voice cracked. “Every choice I make, every boundary I set it hurts her. And I don’t know how to stop hurting her without destroying myself.”

Estelle took her hand. “Being a mother means making impossible choices. You’re doing

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the right thing.”

“She asked me to exclude Kieran from dinner.”

“I heard.”

“I’m going to do it.”

Estelle didn’t look surprised. “Okay.”

“That makes me a terrible person, doesn’t it? Excluding her father from a family dinner?”

“It makes you a mother protecting her child from more pain.” Estelle squeezed her/ hand. “You gave him chances. Multiple chances. He keeps hurting her. At some point, you have to put her first. Even when it means being the villain in his story.”

Mira leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. “I’m so tired, Mom.”

“I know, baby. I know.”

They sat like that for a long time, until the tea went cold and the sun set completely.

Finally, Estelle said: “Valeblack called. He wanted to check on you.”

Mira lifted her head. “What did you tell him?”

“That you needed space. He understood. But he asked me to tell you that he’s available. Whenever you’re ready.”

“For what?”

“For whatever you need.”

Mira thought about Valeblack at the school. The way he’d watched her save Brielle with quiet pride. The kiss in the parking lot – deliberate, public, a statement. The fact that he’d called to check on her without pushing, without demanding, without making | it about him.

“I think I want to see him,” Mira said quietly. “Is that terrible? After today?”

“Why would it be terrible?”

“Because Brielle’s devastated. Because Kieran’s falling apart. Because-”

“Because you’re allowed to want support from someone who actually shows up when you need him?” Estelle raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t make you terrible. That makes

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you human.”

Mira closed her eyes. “What if I’m moving too fast? What if Brielle isn’t ready?”

“Brielle will adjust. Children are resilient. What she needs is a mother who’s whole, not ‘broken.” Estelle stood, offering her hand to pull Mira up. “Come downstairs. Eat something real. Then call him if you want to.”

Mira let herself be pulled to her feet. “Thank you, Mom.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Valeblack’s POV

The call came at 8 PM.

“Valeblack? It’s Mira.”

He sat up straighter in his study, setting aside the Council reports he’d been

reviewing. “Mira. How are you?”

“Honestly? A mess.” Her voice was tired but steady. “But I wanted to thank you. For

earlier. For being there.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“I do. You had no reason to witness that disaster, and you stayed anyway.”

“I had every reason.” A pause. “Are you alright?”

“No. But I will be.” She took a breath. “I need to ask you something.”

“Anything.”

“Would you… would you come to dinner? At Callum Mansion. Friday evening. My parents will be there. Brielle will be there. Kieran will not be there.”

The invitation hung in the air between them.

“You’re sure?” Valeblack asked carefully. “That’s a significant step.”

“I know. And I’m asking anyway.”

“What about Brielle? How will she feel about this?”

“I’ll talk to her. Prepare her. But Valeblack, I can’t keep putting my life on hold waiting

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for the perfect moment when everyone’s comfortable. That moment isn’t coming.”

He heard the exhaustion in her voice. The determination underneath it.

“Then yes,” he said. “I’d be honored.”

“Thank you.” Relief flooded her voice. “And Valeblack? One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“The kiss. In the parking lot. That was…”

“Too much?” he offered. “I apologize if I overstepped-”

“Perfect. It was perfect.” She laughed quietly. “Half the pack probably knows by now.”

“Probably all of the pack by morning.”

“Good.” The word was fierce. “Let them talk.”

After they hung up, Valeblack sat in the quiet of his study and allowed himself a small smile.

She was choosing herself. Finally.