Chapter 10 Chapter 10
Chapter 10
\- Sophie -
I waited in the small office near the pack hospital until Beta James walked in. He closed the door behind him but stayed near it, like he was ready to leave already.
"Thank you for coming," I said, standing up from the chair.
"You said it was urgent."
"It is." I walked closer to him. "I wanted to thank you for helping me with the pregnancy confirmation to Marcus."
His face didn't change. Not even a little. "Is that all?"
"No, that's not all." I reached into my bag and pulled out a thick envelope. "This is for you."
"What is it?"
"Money. A lot of it."
He didn't take it. "For what?"
"For Dr. Harrison. The new pack doctor. He needs to be... settled. Taken care of. Make sure he's happy here and doesn't ask questions about anything."
"Sophie—"
"Luna," I corrected. "It's Luna to you, remember?"
His jaw tightened. "Luna. I don't think—"
"There's more than enough in there," I cut him off. "Pay Harrison, lay off anyone else who might be involved or know something, and keep the rest for yourself. For your troubles."
"My troubles?"
"You know what I mean."
He still didn't take the envelope. I pushed it against his chest.
"Take it, James."
Finally, his fingers closed around it. He put it in his jacket pocket without looking inside.
"Is that everything?" he asked, his voice flat.
"Actually, no."
He turned to leave but I grabbed his arm. He stopped but didn't look at me.
"Sophie, don't."
"Don't what?" I moved in front of him, blocking his path to the door. "Don't thank you properly?"
"This isn't proper."
"Since when do you care about proper?" I reached up to touch his face but he caught my wrist.
"Since you became Luna."
"That didn't stop you before."
"That was before."
"Was it?" I moved closer. "Because I remember just two months ago—"
"That was a mistake."
The words stung but I didn't let it show. "A mistake? That's what you're calling it now?"
"What else would I call it?"
"I don't know, James. Fun? Exciting? Real?"
"It was wrong."
I laughed. "Wrong? We're both adults. We both wanted it."
"You're mated to the Alpha."
"So?"
"So?" He finally looked at me, his eyes hard. "So if Marcus finds out, it's betrayal. It's death. For me, at least."
"Marcus won't find out."
"You don't know that."
"I do know that. Because we're careful. We've always been careful."
"No." He pulled his wrist free from my grip. "We're done being careful because we're done, period."
"James—"
"Stop." His voice was sharp. "Whatever happened between us, it's over. It has to be over."
"It doesn't have to be anything," I said, trying to keep my voice light. "You worry too much."
"I worry the right amount."
"Do you? Because from where I'm standing, you're worried about nothing. Marcus doesn't suspect anything. He never has."
"And I want to keep it that way."
"So do I." I moved closer again. "That's why we're careful. That's why we meet here, away from everyone. That's why—"
"That's why we're stopping." He stepped back. "This conversation, these meetings, all of it. Done."
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"After everything?"
"What everything, Sophie? A few nights? Some stolen moments? That's not everything. That's nothing."
"It wasn't nothing to me."
"Well, it should be."
I felt anger rising in my chest. "You didn't seem to think it was nothing when you were in my bed."
"Keep your voice down."
"Why? Scared someone might hear? No one's here, James. It's just us."
"And that's the problem."
"No, the problem is you're being a coward."
His eyes flashed. "A coward? For not wanting to die? For not wanting to betray my Alpha?"
"For running away from something real."
"This isn't real, Sophie. You're Luna. I'm Beta. That's real. Everything else is just... complications we don't need."
"Complications?" I laughed, but it wasn't funny. "Is that what I am now? A complication?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, I really don't. Explain it to me."
He ran his hand through his hair. "Sophie, please. Just let this go."
"Let what go? You? Us?"
"There is no us."
"There was."
"Was. Past tense. It's over."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
I stared at him. "You're serious."
"I am."
"And if I don't want it to be over?"
"It doesn't matter what you want."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. This isn't just about you. It's about the pack, about loyalty, about—"
"About you being scared."
"Yes," he said simply. "I'm scared. I'm scared of Marcus finding out. I'm scared of betraying someone who trusts me. I'm scared of what this could do to the pack. You should be scared too."
"Well, I'm not."
"Then you're foolish."
"Maybe I am." I moved closer one more time. "But at least I'm not lying to myself about what we had."
"We had nothing."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"I will."
"Fine." I stepped back. "Go then. Run away. Be the good little Beta."
"Sophie—"
"Luna," I said coldly. "It's Luna to you, Beta James. Isn't that what you want? Proper titles? Proper distance?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes. That's what I want."
"Then get out."
He moved toward the door, then stopped. "The money. I'll handle Harrison and the others. But after that, no more private meetings. No more... whatever this was."
Before I could respond, he was gone. The door closed with a soft click, leaving me alone in the office.
I sat back down in the chair, my legs suddenly shaky. He was serious. He was really ending it. Running scared back to his proper place as Beta.
I thought about calling him back. Making him stay.
But what was the point? He'd made his choice. Duty over desire. Safety over passion. Marcus over me.
The funny thing was, I wasn't even hurt. Not really. I was angry. Furious, actually. How dare he act like I was nothing? Like we were nothing?
But underneath the anger was something else. Fear. Not of Marcus finding out, I meant what I said about being careful. But fear that James was right.
I stood up and smoothed down my dress. Fine. If he wanted to play the proper Beta, I'd play the proper Luna. But this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
James might think he could just walk away, but he was wrong. Nobody walked away from me. Nobody.
I left the office and headed back to the main house. Marcus would be wondering where I was. Time to play the loving, pregnant Luna.