Rewriting the Bond: An Email to My 18-Year-Old Luna Chapter 03

Rewriting the Bond: An Email to My 18-Year-Old Luna Chapter 03

I called in every favor I had, but what I scraped together barely covered the pre-op tests.

In the end, I called Serena.

“Serena, I need to borrow six hundred grand… I don’t want anything. I won’t fight you for Cassian. I just need my pup to survive.”

A soft laugh came through the line.

“Oh, Maeve. How the mighty have fallen.”

“There’s a pack gathering tonight. I want you there, on your knees, begging me where everyone can see.”

…

I got to the private room later that evening.

Every pair of eyes in the room landed on me.

“Oh my God, she actually showed up? Look at her, completely lost without her Luna title.”

“Selling her dignity for a blank check. Pathetic.”

“If she hadn’t sunk her claws into Cassian, Serena would’ve had him a long time ago…”

I’d been on the receiving end of those looks for three years.

Three years of whispers just like these.

The Serena I remembered from high school, the one who’d step to anyone who said one wrong word about me, who’d go to war for me over the smallest thing,

Now she was the one twisting the knife.

“You came.” Serena leaned back against the sofa, chin tilted up. “Then submit and kneel.”

I froze.

“What? Too proud to beg?”

She swirled her wine glass and slid a blank check across the table toward me.

“Well? Kneel, and you can write in whatever number you want.”

The room erupted in laughter.

“Come on, kneel already. You still think you’re the Luna?”

“You came all this way begging for money. Drop the act already.”

My fists clenched at my sides.

I had no other choice.

But I wouldn’t kneel to the woman who destroyed my life.

I turned to leave.

Serena was on her feet before I could reach the door. She caught my arm, raised her glass, and emptied the wine over my head, slowly, making sure I felt every drop.

“You know what I’ve always hated about you, Maeve?”

“We all grew up together. So why was it always you? Why did Cassian always pick you?”

“What makes you think someone like you ever deserved him?”

The wine ran down my forehead in cold streaks, soaking into my collar.

Serena tossed the check at me. “Write whatever number you need. We were friends once. I’m not going to let your pup die.”

I hadn’t even picked it up yet.

The door flew open.

Cassian.

“Maeve, why aren’t you at the hospital with Sia? What the hell are you doing here?”

His eyes landed on the check in my hand, and he backhanded me across the face.

I hit the floor. Blood gathered at the corner of my mouth.

“Have you got no shame at all? Harassing Serena for money?”

Serena slipped her arm through his from behind.

“Cassian, don’t be mad. I just felt sorry for her. She walked away with nothing. Of course she’s broke.”

Cassian looked at me like I was something stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

“Take the money and get out. Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?”

Something inside me went numb.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Not if it meant saving her.

I picked the check up off the floor and walked out with their laughter echoing behind me.

I was barely through the door when I heard someone ask, “Cassian, do you regret mating with her?”

He said, “Every day. If I could go back ten years, I’d make sure I never loved her at all.”

The air left my lungs like someone had punched it out of me.

But the boy he was ten years ago had just sworn he’d never hurt me.

Moon Goddess, how did we end up here?

…

Back at the hospital, I booked the surgery immediately.

My daughter looked up at me with so much hope in her eyes that I picked up the phone and called Cassian one more time.

He didn’t pick up until the tenth call.

“Cassian, can you be there for Sia’s surgery? She keeps asking for you.”

Silence on the other end.

“I’m slammed with pack affairs. Just text me when it’s over and let me know how it went.”

He paused. “Oh, the mating ceremony is in a few days. You should come.”

I hung up before he could say another word.

I didn’t want my pup hearing any more of that.

The day of the ceremony, the whole city seemed to lose its mind.

Every channel was carrying the event live, reporters falling over themselves to call it the “Mating of the Century.”

I stood there gripping the invitation so hard it crumpled in my fist.

The monitor flatlined with one long, screaming beep.

The room exploded into chaos.

They rushed Sia into the ICU, her skin gray, her lips nearly white.

A team of doctors and nurses closed in around her, hands already moving.

“Sia! Baby, I’m right here! Look at me!”

The nurses held me back. All I could do was pound on the glass.

“Ms. Holloway, we can’t wait any longer. She needs surgery now. We need payment before we can proceed.”

I ran to the front desk and pulled out the debit card.

Thank God I still had the card Cassian gave me.

As long as the money was still there…

Just hang on, baby. Mommy’s coming.

But the woman behind the counter handed the card back, something like pity in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. This card’s been frozen.”