LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV
Before I could do anything, a silhouette of a man appeared out of nowhere. I was certain that there wasn’t any way for someone to enter this place, but this man made his way just like he can pass through walls. His aura wasn’t clear, and judging from that, I instantly realized that it was him.
"Jerome…" I muttered his name in between my short breaths.
He stood in front of the doctor, Joseph, then carefully grabbed his shoulder to help him back up. "You always get in trouble whenever you’re out of my sight, Luna," he said with such a cold tone.
The moment that my father and my mate faced one another, I immediately had the urge to intervene in whatever conversation they might have. This isn’t the right time for them to talk, especially when Mr. Asterbelle still dislikes him.
"You accompany Luna out of this pack. I have some business with this alpha of yours." Jerome released his grip on Joseph’s arm as he pushed the doctor close to me. I was forced to catch Joseph before he fell once more with his unbalanced feet. "Head back to my house, Luna. There’s nothing for you to do here anymore; you’ve been cast out of their pack, right?" He smirked, not removing his eye contact with my father despite talking to me.
"Once you step out of this place, you would no longer meet the same pack members anymore. Everyone would treat you as the rogue that you’re supposed to be, and no one would bat an eye about the fact that you used to be our adoptive daughter," Mr. Asterbelle meaningfully warned.
It’s not a big deal to me whether anyone sees me as their relative. No one has treated me like one since the beginning anyway.
"That doesn’t matter now, Mr. Asterbelle. You’ve taught me enough about how to be independent, and I guess this would be the first step to that," I replied with a tender smile on my face. "Who knows? Maybe the day will come when I'll be the one to end your life, since you mentioned before how I shouldn’t wait for an order from the higher-ups." I gave him a wink at the same time that I turned around, with Joseph’s arm hanging onto my shoulders.
"You surely don’t believe that this man here would save your back at all times, do you? ‘Cause if you do, you’d be the one suffering in the end. The fate of you two has been written even before the day that the two of you met at the orphanage." Mr. Asterbelle continued to utter words that made no sense.
I couldn’t help but sigh before I finally made up my mind to leave, and I didn’t even have the chance to look back at Jerome.
"Is this really the right choice, Luna?" Dr. Joseph asked me while we traveled to Jerome’s turf.
I checked up on his condition and verified that he was already capable of moving on his own, so I let him go. I shrugged my shoulders as a first-hand response to his question. "I’m sure that Jerome would be able to take care of the consequences that will arise after this event. He’s not the type of person who’d act without a plan in mind," I answered.
"Shouldn’t you go to the Dark Shadow Clan instead? Your safety would be much more guaranteed over there than staying with Jerome. I’m a little bit worried about what the alpha said." Joseph frowned, showing how concerned he was.
I didn’t know how to respond, so I kept my mouth shut as we finally reached our destination. There wasn’t anyone around Jerome’s home, not even his butlers or the maids that he had when I was here. My scent was lingering all throughout his living room, as if I had lived here for years.
"Are you alright now?" I genuinely asked him as he sat on the couch.
Joseph’s eyes widened while he was trying to fix his leg in the right position. It’s uncertain whether he wasn’t expecting my question or was simply hurt.
"I’d be lying if I said I was doing fine without Andrea," he replied with a fake smile. His eyes clearly expressed severe agony. "It took me a few days before I managed to cool my head. The scene where I drank up all of her blood..." He stopped speaking when he held one side of his face. "Everything kept flashing back to my mind as if Andrea were literally haunting me so that I wouldn’t be able to forget about what I did," he continued.
"Sorry if this might trigger you, but... Mind if I ask who Josh is? You mumbled his name when we met back at her funeral."
"It’s my wolf," Joseph straightforwardly replied. "My wolf was seriously frustrated with Andrea's wolf, Andy's naivety. Josh doesn't believe that we were mated before I got reincarnated, as if he wasn’t the wolf that I used to have."
I nodded to let him know that I understood what he said. "Wouldn’t the moon goddess punish you for indirectly killing your own mate?"
Joseph shrugged; his facial expression clearly tells me how much he regrets that he came to see her that day. "I don’t really care anymore. Andrea’s gone, and I don’t think I still have the purpose to live here for much longer."
I let out a deep breath and remained silent after. I have no words left to say that can possibly comfort him, considering that he doesn’t need anyone’s pity right now.
When I thought that we had already gone far, I felt someone touching the back of my arm. "Oh, you followed us?" I asked after seeing Jerome, who seemed to be exhausted.
"Why wouldn’t I follow you here when this is my premise?"
My lips parted, realizing that I had forgotten how we headed over to his home instead of somewhere distant. "Ah, so what happened? What did you talk about with Mr. Asterbelle?" I asked out of pure curiosity, since it doesn’t make any sense how he looked tired after a simple discussion with my father. I’m sure that something occurred between them that couldn’t be settled with a mere conversation.
He leaned on the wall behind him as he stared deeply into my eyes, as if he were trying to talk to me through his mind. "Sooner or later, you would be involved in a war that has a high chance to lead to your…" Jerome glanced away before he continued, "death."
The only sound that I perceived was the ticking of the clock in the living room. My senses instantly felt how quickly a drop of sweat rolled down from the temple of my head down to my chin.
I was afraid of what Jerome meant by what he said regarding the war that would happen soon and how it was connected to my lifespan. Over the years of my existence, I only wished to live a long life; it didn’t really matter whether it’d be a life filled with success or hardships.
As long as I’m breathing in this world, any challenges that I face and will soon encounter would be extremely redundant, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now.
"War? Why? Didn’t the Moon Goddess, Althea, create Grimstone for the sole purpose of letting us have another chance to live?" Dr. Joseph’s questions appear like he was able to read my mind since I was thinking the exact same thing.
Jerome shook his head as he stood firmly with both of his hands inserted in his pocket. "Knowing that damn goddess, I’m sure that she’d purposely set the packs into the warzone," he shortly answered.
Joseph was surprised by how Jerome addressed the moon goddess. He surely doesn’t have any idea about Jerome’s relationship with her. "So what’s going to happen to Luna?"
"She definitely knows what’s causing the upcoming war," Jerome muttered, giving me a hint about it.
I couldn’t help but bite my lower lip, thinking how my existence would be the reason for this catastrophe. "I knew it. I should’ve just killed myself ages ago, so that we wouldn’t have to go through this shit," I mumbled, completely blaming myself despite knowing that I didn’t want this to happen to myself either.
In less than a second, Jerome was able to reach for my hand and press it. I could feel the warmth from it even though I could only sense the coolness of my body temperature. There was something in his eyes that held me captive.
"Don’t look down on yourself, Luna. Because the moment that you do, you’ll lose without having any chance to bounce back. You should prioritize being skillful enough to take part in the war. You can rely on me with regards to breaking the curse and everything else," he said with such sincerity in his tone.
I couldn’t stay still. My eyes kept averting from his gaze. "Everyone else kept on telling me the same thing over and over again. What would you even expect from someone like me?"
I was getting mentally drained from all of their expectations of me. From the day that I assumed that I’d sync with my wolf, I ended up turning into a bloodthirsty creature.
"You’ve got the power to attain a peaceful version of Grimstone, Luna." Jerome leaned closer to my face, which forced me to look at him, our foreheads touching one another.
Seriously…
What’s this man’s deal?