Alpha King Chases Abandoned Luna novel Chapter 73

Memories flashed back to when I was eight years old. I followed my adoptive mother–a pack healer–back to the Stone Estate with Matriarch Evelyn Stone.

The elderly Matriarch had treated me like her own granddaughter. Her kind amber eyes–the same eyes her grandson would inherit, though lacking the warmth hers contained–made me feel safe.

“She looks like a little lost pup,” Matriarch Evelyn had chuckled. “We’ll have to fatten you up, won’t we, dear?” But Eleanor Stone, Ethan’s aunt, had watched from the shadows. Her cold eyes followed my every move.

“Another stray?” she’d muttered. “This house isn’t a charity ward.”

Matriarch Evelyn had silenced her with a single look. “The child stays, Eleanor. That’s final”

For weeks, I’d been safe under the Matriarch’s protection. Then came the night of the full moon ceremony. Both my adoptive mother and Matriarch Evelyn were required to attend, leaving me alone in the vast estate.

Eleanor seized her opportunity.

“Come here, girl, she’d called, her voice falsely sweet. “I have something to show you.”

Naive and trusting. I’d followed her to a heavy wooden door. Before I could react, she’d pushed me through it. I tumbled down stone steps into darkness.

“Perhaps some time alone will teach you your place,” she’d sneered, slamming the door.

The bolt had slid home with a sound that still haunted my nightmares.

I’d screamed until my throat was raw. The darkness pressed in, suffocating in its completeness.

Then came the sounds–tiny claws scratching against stone. The soft squeaking that signaled I wasn’t alone.

“Please, I’d sobbed, pressing myself against the wall. “Please let me out!”

Hours later, Matriarch Evelyn finally found me. I’d been huddled in a corner, trembling uncontrollably, my arms

covered in rat bites.

Her fury had been terrible to behold. “How dare you?” she’d thundered at Eleanor. “This child is under my

protection!”

But the damage had been done. My fear of dark, enclosed spaces–and especially of rats–had been cemented forever.

Now, years later, I found myself trapped again in that same nightmare. Betrayed by the very person who should have protected me most.

I pounded my fists against the heavy door. “Ethan! Please! You know I’m terrified of this place!”

The silence that answered felt like a physical blow.

“Please,” I begged, my voice dropping to a whisper. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I would never hurt a child–not Emma, not anyone.”

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“Please,” I whispered, pressing my palm against the wood. “I’m begging you.”

“Stone,” I answered curtly, recognizing Maxwell’s number.

“Sir, I’ve completed the interrogation of Derek Savage,” Maxwell reported.

I straightened, tension coiling in my muscles. “And?”

“He’s confessed, sir. He acted independently–Mrs. Winters wasn’t involved.”

Relief washed over me like a cool wave. Olivia was innocent. The tightness in my chest eased slightly.

“Are you certain?” I pressed, needing absolute confirmation.

“Yes, sir. The social media account was hacked. We’ve traced the intrusion to an internet café in Twin Bridges Territory. Mrs. Winters hasn’t been anywhere near there in months.”

I closed my eyes briefly, guilt beginning to creep through my veins. I’d been so quick to condemn her, so ready to believe the worst.

“Thank you, Maxwell. Continue the investigation. I want to know who’s behind this.”

As I ended the call, my phone immediately lit up with Victoria’s name. My thumb hesitated over the screen before I answered

“How is she?” I asked, concern for Emma overriding all other thoughts.