This Time, I Refuse to Be His Luna Chapter 03

This Time, I Refuse to Be His Luna Chapter 03

The car drove into the Blackthorn Pack estate.

Nothing here had changed.

High walls. Iron gates. Patrolling guards. Servants lowering their heads in greeting.

This was the place I used to think of as home.

Now, it no longer felt like home.

It only made me feel trapped.

I did not go back to the master bedroom.

Instead, I dragged my suitcase toward the guest room.

Ethan blocked the middle of the hallway.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m used to sleeping alone. And I’m not sleeping in that bed again.”

The day I discovered his affair with Sophia, I had run back to the estate half out of my mind.

I thought the hotel room next door had been the only betrayal.

But when I pushed open the master bedroom door, I smelled an even stronger peach blossom scent.

Sophia had slept in the bed that used to carry only our scents.

Her scent was still in my pillow and blanket, tangled with Ethan’s cedar.

I had to grip the doorframe to keep from falling.

Ethan stared at me, his voice dropping.

“You just came back, so I’ll let this go once. But you had better get back to normal soon.”

I watched him leave.

My chest no longer hurt.

The center had at least taught me one thing.

I would not lose control because of his scent anymore.

I would not be so easily affected by him again.

Late at night, I could not sleep.

After spending a year on the hard bed at the center, I was no longer used to a soft mattress.

I went downstairs to get water, then stopped near the balcony.

Ethan was on the phone.

“Bid on it if you like it. Don’t worry about the price. I’m busy these days, so I can’t always be with you.”

I could not hear what she said.

He laughed softly.

“Don’t worry. I will always love you.”

I stood in the shadows with a glass of water and listened to the whole sentence.

Then I turned to leave.

Just as I was about to go, he suddenly looked back.

“Olivia?”

His call had already ended.

“That was just…”

I cut him off.

“I was thirsty. I came down for water. Keep going. Don’t mind me.”

He walked toward me, and his cedar scent pressed closer with him.

In that instant, I felt his Alpha dominance push through the air.

Through the link between our wolves, I sensed his emotions.

He wanted to keep me there.

He wanted me to stop, to explain, to question him, to cry and throw myself into his arms like I used to.

But in the end, he held himself back.

I carried my water upstairs and did not turn around.

At breakfast the next day, Ethan poured me a glass of milk as usual.

I used to finish it every time.

This time, I avoided the glass and poured myself warm water instead.

Ethan’s hand stopped at the edge of the table. His knuckles slowly tightened.

After a moment, he picked up his coat.

“I’m going out.”

“Okay.”

He reached the door, then stopped.

“You’re not going to ask?”

I looked up at him.

In the past, I would have asked where he was going, who he was seeing, and how long he would be gone.

Because I was afraid his cedar scent would get too far from me.

I was afraid my wolf would go mad in the night.

Not anymore.

I said, “No.”

Ethan stood there for several seconds, then finally left.

After he was gone, I went back to my room and packed.

I only took the photo of my parents and a diary I had written at the center.

I opened the first page.

“Today was the 180th time I called him. He didn’t answer.”

“Today’s suppressant injection hurt a lot.”

“Today they made me watch the loss-of-control video again.”

“Today was my birthday. No one remembered.”

“I haven’t craved his scent in three days. The handler said my mate-bond withdrawal is almost over.”

I closed the diary and threw it into the trash.