Luna Who Stopped Giving In Chapter 07

Luna Who Stopped Giving In Chapter 07

Boston in October was all wide skies and thin, pale clouds.

A month into the semester, I’d found my footing at Royal Warrior.

No one piling chores on me. No one’s laundry to wash.

And no one whispering in my ear that I needed to yield to Lily.

The physics coursework was brutal, but I loved it.

I’d spend entire days in the library. When I got hungry, I’d grab the cheapest meal in the dining hall

My world became very simple.

Formulas, experiments, papers, and the occasional call from Grandma.

The Blackthorn Pack felt like a bad dream that faded the moment I opened my eyes.

The night before fall break.

I walked out of the library with an armful of textbooks.

The maples in the quad had turned deep red, and the wind sent leaves scattering across the paths.

“Amelia!”

Laura caught up and hooked her arm through mine.

“The department dinner tonight-you’re not skipping out again!”

“Professor Blake asked for you by name. He wants to meet our resident genius.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Okay, let me drop these off at my room first.”

We were still laughing when I looked up and stopped dead.

A figure stood under the maple tree outside my dorm building.

Caleb.

He was wearing a light trench coat. He’d lost weight. A lot of it.

Two oversized shopping bags sat at his feet, covered in logos from high-end electronics and luxury

boutiques.

Students passing by kept glancing back at him.

His eyes were locked on me.

The second he spotted me, something desperate flashed across his face.

He started toward me.

“Amelia.”

His voice was rough, and underneath it was something I’d never heard from him before- something almost pleading.

Laura picked up on the tension immediately.

“Amelia, who is this?”

“Just a guy from my old Pack. Nobody.”

My tone was even.

“Laura, go ahead without me. I’ll be right there.”

Laura glanced between us, nodded, and went ahead.

Nobody.

The word hit Caleb like a slap. He went pale.

But he swallowed it down and held the bags out toward me.

“Amelia, are you done throwing this tantrum now? Do you have any idea what you’re putting your mother through?”

Same tone as always. Like he was doing me a favor just by showing up.

Like the fact that he’d come all this way meant I owed him my gratitude.

I didn’t take the bags. Didn’t even look at them.

“Is there something you need?”

“You haven’t called home in a month.”

Caleb took a deep breath.

“Your mother got so worked up she ended up in the pack hospital. Marcus has had warriors looking

for you everywhere.”

“I get that you got into Royal Warrior, but you can’t just cut off your entire Pack.”

“The pack hospital?”

I almost smiled.

“What sent her there? Not having someone to do her laundry? Or Lily not having a servant

anymore?”

Caleb flinched.

“Amelia, you’ve changed. You never used to be this cruel.”

“Yeah.”

I looked at him the way you look at a stranger.

“I used to sit there and eat a shrimp you didn’t even bother to clean, and still be grateful for it.”

Caleb’s hand jerked.

Something shifted inside the bags with a muted rustle.

A brand-new laptop was inside. And the desk lamp-the same one he’d dropped into Lily’s cart that

day.

“Amelia, I know I messed up.”

His voice dropped, gentle now, and he reached for my hand.

“I got you a new laptop. And a desk lamp. Your own this time.”

“Just come home with me. One visit. Apologize to your parents, smooth things over, and everything goes back to the way it was…”

I stepped back before he could reach me.

There was a time when my wolf would submit the second Caleb’s Alpha aura flared.

Now she lay flat inside me, cold and unmoved.

No pull toward him. No instinct to lean in. Nothing.

“Caleb, what part of this are you not getting?”

1 raised my chin and looked him dead in the eye.

“I don’t need a laptop. I don’t need a desk lamp. Not from you.”

“And we’re not close. So stop acting like we are.’

His arm dropped to his side. Every trace of color left his face.

He was starting to understand. The girl who used to trail behind him without a word hadn’t

survived that summer.

“What do you want me to do?”

His voice cracked.

“Tell me what to do. Whatever it takes. Just tell me how to fix this.”

“Stay the hell away from me.”

My voice didn’t waver. I turned and walked toward the dorm.

I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t look back.