CHAPTER 232: _ THE LUNAS

Morgan’s eyes fly open after realizing what Grayson has just done. "Grayson... bro, what the hell?!"

He elbows Grayson hard in the ribs.

The latter winces. "Ow! I didn’t think... I thought she— I mean she knew he was dating— it slipped..."

Darien swears under his breath. The car goes dead silent again. Heidi looks at Amias like her world just went down a downward slope.

"Amias?" she whispers.

He wishes he could disappear. Wishes the seat would swallow him whole. Wishes Vark wasn’t pacing angrily inside him. But he already knows this was bound to happen one way or the other. Heidi was going to find out. He had just hoped it came out in a more mature sense. He wanted to be the one to break the news to her... privately and respectfully.

He inhales shakily. "Yes," he admits.

He watches her mouth part, but no sound comes out. He forces himself to continue.

"Lira has no one else. She’s been with me for years. She depends on me. I’ve made commitments. I can’t back out now. You have three brothers who will fill whatever absence I leave behind. But she has no one. She needs me."

He swallows.

"I hope you can understand. And... I hope your wolf doesn’t resent mine."

Heidi doesn’t speak and he honestly doesn’t expect her to. Her throat works as she tries and fails to say something. Her breath shakes. The light in her eyes dims, as if someone just flipped a switch.

Morgan curses under his breath and looks away. Grayson squeezes his eyes shut. Darien stares out the window. They know this is between him and her.

And Amias feels something inside him crack just a little, yet, sharp enough that he knows he’ll feel it for days. The car keeps driving and no one says another word.

.

.

The estate gates roll open when they approach it, and Amias feels the dread before the tires even crunch over the gravel. The sunlight is bright and hot, sharp in that way that makes skin prickle as if it’s expecting violence. The massive estate rises ahead of them. That’s a place that is supposed to feel like home, but doesn’t.

Not today.

The car slows, then creeps forward as if it also senses the trouble waiting for them. And there the problem is in the form of a crowd. Not a random crowd or strangers, but family.

Which is worse.

Luna Clarissa stands dead center, arms crossed, jaw clenched so tight the lines around her mouth look carved in stone. Her hair is perfectly styled now and she’s obviously dressed up again. Amias sighs... of course his mother probably had time to retouch it between yelling at the servants about her missing son.

Beside her is Luna Ines who is a little shorter than Clariasa but also sharper. The woman’s got a tension in her shoulders that says she’s ready to grab someone by the ear. The kind of mother who weaponizes disappointment.

Next is Luna Rayne who is leaning on the railing with her arms folded and her expression one shade away from "I’m not involved, but I am absolutely judging."

Then stood Daphne and Isolde. And then—oh, fantastic... Lira is standing like a statue brought to life, hands clasped in front of her, dress perfect, hair perfect, and smile brittle like she wasn’t the one who threatened Amias an hour ago.

Grayson mumbles from the passenger seat, "We’re so dead."

"Not all of us," Morgan counters. "Just Darien and definitely Amias."

"Shut up," Darien mutters.

Amias doesn’t answer. He’s too busy staring through the windshield at the incoming doom in the form of three Luna mothers who look like they’ve been waiting for this moment since sunrise.

The car stops and a heavy silence blankets the interior.

Grayson glances at Heidi, who is still curled up on the seat beside him, drawing small breaths through her nose as if trying to brace for the impending doom. Her pulse is high, so high, he can hear it. Smell it. Feel it. She’s surviving on instinct and pure stubbornness, not actual energy. She doesn’t belong in this storm.

But she’s already inside it.

Darien opens the door first. Oh, boy... That’s the mistake. Because the moment his foot touches the ground...

"DARIEN!"

Luna Ines jumps forward like a heat-seeking missile. Darien barely has time to stand before she grabs both sides of his face, squishing his cheeks and shaking his head violently like he’s five years old again.

"WHERE ARE YOUR VALUES?!" she demands, her voice piercing through the entire estate. "I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS—RUNNING OUT OF THE PACK LIKE AN UNTRAINED WOLF? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE SAW YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY’RE SAYING?!"

Darien’s ears go red. "Mom, I can explain..."

"Explain?! Explain why you fled the house? Explain why you ignored my messages? Explain why you abandoned your sisters?"

"I didn’t abandon..."

"YOU NEVER ABANDON FAMILY!"

"Are we sure about that?" Morgan mutters under his breath.

Amias shoots him a look. Morgan shrugs. And then Luna Clarissa starts to move. She storms toward Amias, skirts swishing, heels stabbing the concrete like she’s killing it with every step.

"Amias Bellamy. Explain to me why you left just as Lira was on her way. If your brothers are being reckless, you’re about to become someone’s husband, so you ought to know better."

Tch. He ’ought to know better?’

Does his mother know better before announcing that he’s soon to become a husband before the very girl whom he has yet to even formally propose to? Yet, he can’t even afford to argue with her. She’s weak. She’s dying. She needs him as obedient and loving as ever.

He tightens his grip on the car door. "Mother, I—"

"Do you know the embarrassment of telling your future daughter-in-law that her fiancé is nowhere to be found? Do you understand how disrespectful that is? Do you have any idea..."

Lira steps in with a gentle smile. "It’s fine, Luna Clarissa. Really. I waited."

Amias’s stomach twists. She’s sweet. Too sweet. A professional sweet. The kind that’s been trained into her. It’s a script because considering how fast she can switch up, it’s got to be.

Meanwhile, can’t answer his mother. Words choke in his throat. Before he can try, Daphne pushes forward, face lit up with scandal-ready excitement.

"Wait, wait—before anyone continues..."