The Rise Of The Betrayed Luna (Amorah and Holmes) novel Chapter 16

:52 Sat, May 30 MM M

Chapter 16

I didn’t turn immediately, but I felt it the moment he re–entered the space. His presence was sharper now, less controlled than before, as though the earlier confrontation had stripped away some of the distance he usually maintained.

“You’re still here,” he said.

This time, I turned.

He stood a few steps away, his gaze fixed directly on Conrad before shifting to me. There was no attempt to hide his irritation now, no effort to soften the tension that had built between us.

“You should be resting,” he continued.

“I’ll decide what I should be doing,” I replied.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“That has never worked well for you.”

Before I could answer, Conrad stepped forward.

He did not place himself in front of me, and he did not touch me. He simply stepped into the space between us, just enough to break the direct line Holmes had maintained.

It was subtle.

But it was deliberate.

Holmes noticed immediately.

“And you are?” he asked, his tone colder now.

“Conrad,” he replied.

Holmes studied him carefully, his gaze sharpening as he tried to place him, to measure him. For the first time since I had known him, Holmes did not speak immediately after.

That alone told me something.

“You’ve involved yourself in something that does not concern you,” Holmes said finally.

Conrad did not move.

“It concerns me now,” he replied.

The simplicity of the answer carried more weight than any argument Holmes could have made. There was no challenge in his tone, but there was no room for dismissal either.

Holmes took a step forward. So did Conrad. For a brief moment, the air shifted.

I felt it immediately through my wolf, the pressure of their presence pushing against each other without either one needing to raise their voice. It was controlled, but it was not subtle.

“Step aside,” Holmes said.

“No,” Conrad replied.

The silence that followed stretched, sharp and tense, as the remaining guards instinctively shifted their stance. No one spoke. No one moved.

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Chapter 16

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Holmes’s gaze flicked briefly toward me before returning to Conrad.

“This is my mate,” he said.

Conrad did not react the way I expected. He did not challenge the claim. He did not acknowledge it either.

Instead, his gaze shifted to me.

“Is that still what you are?” he asked.

Holmes’s attention snapped back to me instantly.

I felt it, the weight of his expectation, the assumption that I would answer in a way that restored control, that returned things to the order he understood.

I met Conrad’s gaze.

“No,” I said.

Holmes went still. Not visibly But I felt it.

“You don’t get to decide that alone,” he said.

“I already have,” I replied.

If anything, his presence settled more firmly in place, not as a shield, but as something steady I could stand beside without being diminished.

Holmes’s expression hardened.

“You’re making a mistake you won’t be able to undo,” he said.

“I think I already lived that mistake,” I replied.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Holmes exhaled slowly, his control returning in visible layers.

“This ends at the next council session,” he said. “You will not drag this further than necessary.”

“I’ll take it as far as it needs to go,” I replied.

His gaze lingered on me for a second longer before shifting back to Conrad.

“You should reconsider where you place yourself,” he said.

Conrad held his gaze without reacting.

“I don’t reconsider once I’ve decided,” he replied.

That was the moment everything settled into place.

Holmes was the past I was cutting away.

Conrad stood in front of me, not asking, not forcing, but present in a way that made the difference undeniable.

Holmes saw it too.

I watched the realization settle into his expression, quiet but unmistakable.

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12:52 Sat, May 30 MMM ·

Chapter 16

Then he stepped back.

“This isn’t over,” he said.

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