Page 70 of Luna's New Reign

His eyes flick to mine, but he doesn’t answer. The sorrow is still there, a tidal wave behind his carefully constructed walls, and I know that if I push too hard, he’ll shut me out completely. So instead, I move closer, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek against his chest.

His arms come around me instantly, holding me tightly—too tightly, like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go. I let him hold me, let the bond carry the unspoken weight of whatever he’s feeling but I don’t say anything. Sometimes words just get in the way.

After a long silence, I whisper, “Was it them?”

I feel his body tense, his fingers curling against my back as he stiffens. “What?”

“Your family,” I murmur, tilting my head up to look at him. His face is a mask of pain, the cracks in his usual stoic façade growing deeper the longer I look at him. “The pack of the Forbidden… was your first family from them?”

He doesn’t answer.

The silence stretches between us, heavy and thick, and I don’t push. I don’t expect him to answer—he doesn’t have to. His grief says enough.

I’ve always known that Maverick’s past was tangled and dark, full of shadows he’s never been ready to share. He doesn’t talk about his first Omega or the life he had before me, and I’ve never pushed him to. But now, feeling this sorrowpourfrom him, Ican’t help but wonder if those pieces of his past are closer to the surface than I realized.

His breath catches as he finally whispers, “I won’t lose you.”

Something about the way he says it sends a chill down my spine.

But apparently, I can’t ever truly have good things because the voice makes an appearance at that moment.

Thedarkness.

>>> Come to me,it whispers, curling around my mind like smoke.>>> You belong with me. Obey, and there will be no more pain.

The sound cuts through my head like a blade and I pull back from Maverick with a gasp, my hands trembling as I clutch at his arms.

Maverick’s eyes widen in alarm. “What is it?”

“I…” I shake my head, pressing my palms to my temples as if that’ll help silence the voice. “I heard him again. Thevoice. The First Alpha,” I whisper and then it clicks. “I never felt anything for Silas,” I say, the words spilling out faster now, like a dam breaking. “Not even when he tried to claim me. None of his howls ever resonated with me—nothing evercalledto me. But this? This feels different. Like it’s been waiting for me. Likehe’sbeen waiting for me.”

Maverick’s growl deepens, his hands coming up to cup my face as his dark eyes bore into mine. “I won’t let him have you.”

“Maverick—”

“I mean it, Neph,” he growls, his voice low and rough, laced with a pain I don’t think I’ve ever heard from him before. “He doesn’t get you. He doesn’t getus. I’ve already lost my family once, and I—” He cuts himself off, his voice cracking. “I’m not losing you, too. I won’t let him take you from me.” Maverick presses his forehead to mine, his breath ragged, his hands shaking as they cradle my face. “I want this family we’rebuilding,” he murmurs, the words soft and raw as if they’re being pulled straight from his soul. “I want you, and the baby, andthis. I’m not giving it up. Not again.”

I close my eyes, leaning into him as I let the bond settle around us, the First Alpha’s voice disappearing into the background.

Our little bit of happiness is over but I don’t regret a single moment from last night or this morning. Each memory will fuel my desire to rid of the darkness so I can bring our child into a less chaotic world.

33

NEPHELINE

Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.

In my case, I spend most of my time in my head, in that open field, trying to coax my brother’s wolf back to me. Shifting into my wolf is easier in my mind, none of the pregnancy issues getting in the way. However, Locke hasn’t so much as budged from the shadows, even though those golden eyes track my wolf wherever it goes.

It’s beenweeksand nothing I’ve tried has worked. While my mates are tirelessly preparing to attack the pack of the Forbidden at their new heart, I stay locked in my head, trying to bring my brother out of the darkness.

And then it clicks.

I’ve been working so damn hard to drag him into the light that I never once thought to step into the darkness he sees.

It’s a reckless move. I don’t even know how this mindlink thing works where we’re in some alternate dimension in my head but I try anyway.

>>> Locke?