The Wolfless Contract Luna (Grace and Ethan) novel Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Grace Alone in Rescue**

**Grace’s POV**

The message is devoid of Lori’s name, yet I can feel the implications weighing heavily in the air.

It doesn’t even come from Damien’s number.

But deep down, I know. Every fiber of my being screams that he has Lori.

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My hands tremble as I fixate on the screen. ‘Third outpost in the border Black Forest. Small cabin.’

“Grace.” Ethan’s voice slices through my spiraling thoughts. “I—damn it. I’m sorry, but I need to take care of something. It’s urgent.”

I lift my gaze to meet his. His expression is taut, his jaw clenched in a way that suggests whatever news he received has shaken him to his core.

“Go,” I reply, my voice surprisingly steady, though my heart races. “Do what you need to do.”

He hesitates for a moment, his eyes searching mine for reassurance. “Are you—”

“I’m fine. Just go.”

With that, he exits, and the door clicks shut behind him, leaving me in a suffocating silence.

‘Move. Move now.’

I can’t confide in Ethan. I can’t risk Damien harming Lori the instant he senses I’ve summoned help. Besides, Ethan is clearly preoccupied, the tension radiating off him palpable, like a wolf barely restrained beneath the surface.

I slip my phone into my pocket and stride toward the door.

*****

The garage attendant barely glances in my direction as I approach.

“I need a car,” I state firmly. “Alpha Ethan’s orders.”

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The attendant nods, tossing a set of keys for a black SUV my way. “Fuel’s full. Drive safe, Luna.”

‘Luna.’ The title feels foreign, uncomfortable. I’m not Ethan’s Luna—not truly.

Yet, I take the keys anyway, feeling their weight in my palm.

The highway unfurls before me, dark and foreboding, headlights piercing through the encroaching dusk.

My knuckles whiten as I grip the steering wheel. Each passing mile is a reminder that every second Lori is out there, suffering because of me.

‘This is a trap. You know it’s a trap.’

Of course, it’s a trap. Damien isn’t foolish. He’s caught Lori, sent this message, and now he’s poised to ensnare me as I walk right into his web.

But what choice do I have?

Lori went to Darkrock for me. He risked everything to spy on Damien and gather the evidence I desperately need. If he dies because I was too afraid to confront Damien—

No. I refuse to let that happen.

My hand instinctively moves to the gun tucked into my waistband. Silver bullets. I had snatched it from Ethan’s weapons room on my way out—a small pistol, easily concealable.

It may not be enough if Damien brings his whole pack, but it’s something. Better than nothing.

‘Please let Lori be alive. Please.’

*****

The cabin materializes through the trees, exactly where the message indicated it would be.

Small. Isolated. No other structures for miles around.

I park the SUV and turn off the engine. The silence envelops me, broken only by the whispering wind rustling through the pines.

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“Luna Grace.” Lori’s voice drops to a whisper, filled with urgency. “It’s a trap. You have to—”

“I know it’s a trap!” My voice cracks under the weight of my desperation. “I know, but I couldn’t—I wouldn’t leave you to—”

“How touching.”

The words hit me like a physical blow, but I refuse to flinch.

“I married you because you were the key to Aurorawisp Pack,” he continues, his voice dripping with disdain. “Your father’s territory, his resources, his connections—that’s what I wanted. You were just the price I had to pay to get it.”

Something inside me goes eerily still.

Very calm.

“That’s all you’ve ever been to me,” Damien sneers. “A means to an end. A pretty face to parade around while I built my empire. Did you really think I could love someone as pathetic as you? Someone who couldn’t even produce her own wolf?”

The last thread connecting me to him—the last glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, he cared even a little—snaps.

Clean. Final.

I start to laugh.

It’s a cold sound, hollow. The kind of laugh that has nothing to do with humor.

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“You know what, Damien?” I say softly, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. “I hope you and Lilith are very happy together. I hope you have a dozen children. I hope you live a long, long life.”

“Grace—”

“And I hope every single day of it is filled with the knowledge that you destroyed the one person who actually tried to love you.” My voice drops to a whisper, but it’s laced with venom. “I hope you rot from the inside out. I hope your pack crumbles. I hope everything you touch turns to ash. And when you’re old and alone and dying, I hope you remember this moment and realize you did it all to yourself.”

Silence hangs thick in the air.

Then—

“Restrain her.” Damien’s voice is as cold as ice. “Teach her what happens when she speaks to me like that.”

Footsteps echo in the room, multiple sets. Warriors emerge from the shadows, their faces set in grim determination.

One carries a rod, another brandishes silver-tipped brass knuckles.

They advance toward me, and my breath catches in my throat. ‘No. No, not like this—’

Suddenly, light explodes across the room.

The door is kicked open with a force that sends splinters flying, and figures pour through the entrance, charging in like a storm.