The Moon Never Chose Me Chapter 08

The Moon Never Chose Me Chapter 08

Her ears rang. Her hands and feet went cold.

“What did you say?”

Ellis looked even more confused.

“You should know. You signed the Cross-Pack guardian consent form yourself.”

My mother started to deny it.

Then the memory hit her-the day she’d signed without reading a word, just so Maeve could take my competition credit.

Her whole body swayed.

“When did she apply?”

Ellis told her the exact date.

And then my mother understood.

It was the day they’d left me standing in the rain before the Lake of Moonshadows trip.

She closed her eyes, desperate.

Then, in front of everyone in that dorm room, my mother-the woman who cared more about appearances than anything-dropped to her knees in front of Ellis.

“Please. Please contact Layla for me. I need to talk to her.

I’d just finished combat team training when Ellis video-called me.

The screen lit up with my mother’s face.

I wasn’t surprised. I just gave a calm smile, like I was talking to any other adult.

“Mom. What is it?”

She stared at me, almost dazed.

The training field lights fell across my shoulders.

I was wearing Lunar Ring’s dark gray combat uniform, my hair tied back neatly.

Here, I didn’t have to wash anyone’s clothes. I didn’t have to hide in corners, waiting for food that was never

mine.

Mornings were endurance runs with my teammates. Days were urban safety, tactical teamwork, and combat fundamentals Nights we reviewed our mistakes at the Obsidian Training Hall.

I wasn’t the best student. But for the first time, I knew what it felt like to work hard for myself-not for someone else’s pride.

My mother looked at me for a long time. All the scolding she’d prepared died in her throat.

Finally, her voice came out rough and raw.

“How could you go this far away? Are you really never coming home?”

I thought about it.

“No, I’m not.”

“Lunar Ring graduates have better access to Northern pack security. And I like it here. Besides–you always

said I only got in the way. That I ruined the balance between Caelan and Maeve.”

“You already have them. You don’t need me. Me leaving is better for everyone.”

It wasn’t anger talking.

I truly believed that.

But for some reason, when I finished, my mother’s eyes filled with tears. Painful ones.

I frowned.

They’d never loved me. So why did they look so broken now that I was gone?

I scrolled through pack social media and found Maeve’s post.

Caelan had kidney failure. Everyone was forcing her to get tested.

And in the comments, she’d written: If Layla comes back, all our problems will be solved.

I looked at my mother. My gaze went cold.

“So that’s why you suddenly reached out. You want my kidney.”

My mother went pale.

“No. Layla, that’s not what I meant. Please come home. You’re our daughter. Of course we care about you.”

By the end, she was sobbing.

Once, a single tear from her would’ve broken me.

Now I just stared back, calm, distant.

“You can throw family, pack duty, or reputation at me. I’m still not coming back. And I won’t donate to Caelan. Donation has to be voluntary. You don’t get to decide for me. I don’t owe you anything.”

I hung up.

The screen went black.

But my mother still stood there in that dorm room, clutching her phone, crying like she’d lost everything.