The Rise Of The Betrayed Luna (Amorah and Holmes) novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Amorah POV

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Conrad paced across the office while Bethany’s message stayed open on the screen beside us. I watched him silently for several seconds before finally setting the tablet down on the desk.

“You are wearing a path into the floor,” I muttered.

His eyes snapped toward me immediately. “She wants you alone.”

“She wants control,” I corrected.

“She wants access.”

“She knows something,” I said quietly.

Conrad stopped pacing completely. “That does not mean you walk into her hands.”

“I am already in her hands whether we like it or not.” I crossed my arms and held his gaze firmly. “Every move she makes affects us politically, personally, and publicly. I am tired of reacting to her.”

The tension in his jaw tightened harder.

“You think I do not understand that?”

“I think you are trying to protect me without admitting you are afraid.”

Conrad looked away first, which told me enough on its own. He walked toward the windows overlooking the lower territory lights and rested one hand against the glass.

“I do not trust her near you,” he admitted quietly.

The honesty in his voice softened something inside me immediately.

I crossed the room slowly and stopped beside him. “Then do not let me go alone completely.”

His eyes moved toward me again.

“Hidden surveillance,” I continued. “Distance coverage. Intelligence wolves nearby.”

Conrad stayed silent for several long seconds while he thought through the risks. Finally, he exhaled sharply and nodded

once.

“I hate this plan.”

“That makes two of us.”

The meeting location Bethany sent turned out to be an old restaurant near the river district inside Blackwater Territory. Most of the building had shut down years ago, leaving only private rooms upstairs still operating quietly for wealthy wolves who preferred privacy.

Conrad’s security team arrived first.

I sat inside the vehicle while intelligence wolves moved through nearby buildings and communication checks filled the earpiece hidden beneath my hair. Conrad remained beside me the entire time, though tension rolled off him heavily enough that even the driver kept glancing nervously into the mirror.

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Chapter 104

“You still have time to change your mind,” Conrad said.

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I adjusted the sleeve of my coat and shook my head. “If I keep avoiding direct answers, Bethany keeps controlling the story.”

His hand slid over mine immediately. “The moment anything feels wrong, you leave.”

“I know.”

Conrad leaned closer suddenly and pressed his forehead briefly against mine. The contact lasted only seconds, but the emotion behind it hit much harder.

“Come back to me,” he murmured.

My chest tightened painfully.

“I will.”

Ten minutes later, I walked into the restaurant alone.

The upper floor stayed almost empty except for dim lighting and quiet music drifting faintly from downstairs. A server directed me toward the last private room near the balcony hallway without asking questions.

Bethany was already waiting inside.

She sat near the window wearing dark clothing with her hair tied back simply, looking less like the dangerous woman who had spent months destabilizing Alpha territories and more like someone exhausted from carrying anger too long.

“You actually came,” she said calmly.

I remained standing near the door. “You asked for the truth.”

Bethany laughed quietly under her breath. “No. I offered it.”

I studied her carefully while tension pressed through my body. “Start talking.”

Her eyes moved briefly toward my stomach before returning to my face.

“You look exactly how they wanted,” she said softly.

I frowned immediately. “What does that mean?”

Bethany leaned back in her chair slowly. “Protected. Valuable. Attached to a bloodline powerful enough to make everyone around you suddenly care whether you survive.”

The bitterness in her voice sharpened the room instantly.

“You hate the Alpha system,” I said carefully.

“I hate what it does to women.”

I stayed silent then because this time she did not sound manipulative. She sounded angry in a way that had lived inside her for years.

Bethany folded her hands together calmly. “Years ago, I tried securing protection through the Supreme Alpha line myself.”

That surprised me enough that I stepped closer without realizing it.

She noticed.

19:08 Tue, Jun 2 MM.

Chapter 104

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“They promised stability,” she continued. “Status. Security. A future tied to power.” Her mouth twisted coldly. “Then they discarded me the moment I stopped being politically useful.”

“Who?”

Bethany laughed again, but there was no humor in it this time. “Do you really think Holmes created this system? Men like him only survive because older Alpha families built these rules long before he ever gained influence.”

1 stared at her quietly while pieces started connecting in my head.

“You wanted revenge.”

“I wanted destruction.”

The honesty in her answer sent a chill through me.

Bethany stood slowly and walked toward the window behind her. City lights reflected faintly across the glass as she crossed her arms tightly.

“Then you appeared,” she said.

I stiffened slightly.

“You survived exile. You survived Holmes. You survived Conrad.” Her eyes returned toward me sharply. “And instead of tearing the system apart, you accepted it.”

“I chose my own life,” I answered firmly.

“You chose attachment.”

“And you chose destruction because someone hurt you.”

Bethany’s expression hardened immediately.

“You think this is personal bitterness?” she snapped. “Women become bargaining tools inside Alpha politics every single day. Bloodlines matter more than loyalty. Pregnancy matters more than personhood.”

Her words hit harder than I expected because part of me already understood exactly what she meant.

I had lived enough of it myself.

Bethany saw the realization cross my face and smiled bitterly.

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