Alpha’s Regret After His Pregnant Luna Left novel Chapter 91

(Audrey’s POV)

“Let’s talk somewhere more private,” she suggested, we walked through opulent hallways that spoke of old wealth and power into a sunlit sitting room.

“Nathan deserves to be with someone he truly cares for,” I insisted once we were seated. “Not forced into an arranged mating for political convenience.”

Lydia’s eyes studied me with calculating intensity. “Even if the one he loves is forever beyond his reach?”

“Even then,” I replied firmly. “Love isn’t about possession. It’s about wanting happiness for someone, even if you can’t be the one to provide it.”

A cynical smile curved Lydia’s lips. “How idealistic. You sound just like him.”

“Is that why you brought me here? To convince me to persuade Nathan to give up on love?”

“Essentially,” she admitted with surprising candor. “My mother is determined to secure an alliance with the Stormhowl Pack. If Nathan refuses…”

The unspoken threat hung in the air between us.

“He’s rejected his family’s business for years,” Lydia continued, her fingers tracing patterns on the armrest of her chair. “He insisted on pursuing further education, then joining the Alliance of Werewolf Therapists.”

“Because he resents the Snowfang Pack,” I suggested.

Lydia nodded. “Partly. But there were other factors.”

“I don’t blame him,” I said quietly. “With what his stepmother has done, I’d want to run as far as possible too.”

Memories of my own troubled family history surfaced. I understood all too well the desire to escape toxic relatives.

“Nathan is different from the rest of us,” Lydia observed. “He refuses to play the power games that sustain our pack’s position. It makes him vulnerable.”

Before I could respond, the door to the sitting room burst open. Nathan stood in the doorway, his eyes flashing with anger when they landed on Lydia. His shirt was torn, revealing fresh welts and bruises across his torso-evidence of the “discipline” he’d received.

In an instant, he crossed the room and placed himself between me and Lydia, his body language unmistakably protective.

“I told you to leave her out of this,” he growled at his stepsister, his wolf presence flaring with barely contained fury.

Lydia didn’t flinch. “She deserved to know what you risked for her.”

Nathan’s jaw clenched. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”

“Someone needed to make it,” Lydia countered smoothly. “You certainly weren’t going to tell her.”

His eyes narrowed. “Stay out of my business, Lydia. And keep Audrey out of our pack politics.”

The tension between them crackled in the air, a lifetime of complicated history evident in their locked gazes.

“Fine,” Lydia finally said, rising gracefully from her chair. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a small glass bottle containing a silvery-blue substance. “Wolfsbane ointment. For the silver burns.”

She held it out to me rather than Nathan, her eyes carrying a meaningful look. “He won’t accept it from me, but he might from you. It’s specialized for silver-induced injuries.”

Nathan’s expression remained stony as Lydia made her way to the door. Just before exiting, she turned back with a knowing smile. “This isn’t over, Nathan. Mother is quite determined about the Stormhowl alliance.”

Then she was gone, leaving a weighted silence in her wake.

“I’m sorry about that,” Nathan said after a moment, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. “Lydia shouldn’t have involved you.”

I held up the bottle of ointment. “She seems concerned about you, in her own way.”

He scoffed. “Lydia only cares about Lydia. Whatever she did, there was an angle.”

“Let’s get out of here,” I suggested, noticing how his posture remained defensive within the walls of his family home. “Are you able to drive with those injuries?”

Nathan’s expression softened slightly. “I can manage.”

“Or I could drive,” I offered. “If you’d trust me with your car.”

A small smile tugged at his lips. “I’d trust you with far more than that, Audrey.”

Twenty minutes later, we were driving away from the Snowfang estate in Nathan’s sleek silver car. I kept glancing at him from the corner of my eye, noting how the tension gradually left his body the further we got from his family’s territory.

“Those look painful,” I finally said, nodding toward the silver burns visible where his shirt had been torn.

Nathan’s hand instinctively moved to cover the marks. “I’ve had worse.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not an answer.”

He chuckled softly. “Now you sound like me. I seem to recall saying something similar when you were injured.”

We drove in comfortable silence for a while, the scenery gradually changing from the pristine Snowfang territory to the neutral lands between pack boundaries.

“Aren’t you going to ask?” Nathan finally said, his voice quiet.

“About what?”

“About what Lydia told you. About what you saw back there.” His gaze was fixed on the passing landscape. “About why the heir to the Snowfang Pack was being treated that way.”

“And Lydia?” I prompted.

“Adopted,” Nathan explained. “Elizabeth chose her from a pack of lone wolves specifically because she resembles my father. Keeps up appearances.”

I nodded, understanding the complicated dynamics more clearly now. “That’s why you distanced yourself from the pack. Why you chose the Alliance instead.”

“Partly,” Nathan agreed, his gaze drifting out the window again.

“Is it also why you confronted Blake Thornton and Howard after my kidnapping?” I asked, remembering what Lydia had revealed.

A smile-genuine but fierce-crossed Nathan’s face. “You heard about that?”

“Lydia mentioned it. Did you really go after them?”

“Let’s just say your uncle won’t be gambling away anyone’s resources for a while,” Nathan replied, satisfaction evident in his tone. “And Blake Thornton might need some dental work.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I felt a bubble of laughter rise in my throat. “You didn’t.”

“I did,” he confirmed, looking rather pleased with himself. “Nobody gets to treat you that way and walk away unscathed.”

Warmth spread through my chest at his protective fierceness. “Thank you. But please don’t risk yourself like that again. I couldn’t bear it if you were hurt because of me.”

Nathan’s expression grew serious. “Elizabeth wouldn’t dare try anything more severe. Not when several Alliance members witnessed her ‘discipline’ session today. She overplayed her hand.”

I remembered the silver burns marring his skin. “What about those forced mate bonding plans she mentioned? With the Stormhowl Alpha’s daughter?”

“She can plan all she wants,” Nathan dismissed. “I won’t be forced into any mate bond.”

I nodded, relieved. “Good. You deserve to be with someone you truly care for.”

Nathan studied me intently. “You’re really against me mate bonding, aren’t you?”

“Not mate bonding in general,” I clarified quickly. “Just forced bonds. You should be with whoever has held your heart for all these years.”

A strange expression crossed his face-hope mingled with something like resignation.

“Do you really believe that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “That I could have my heart’s desire?”

The intensity of his gaze left the question hanging in the air between us.