The Luna They Never Made Room For Chapter 07

The Luna They Never Made Room For Chapter 07

After the call ends, the entire street falls silent except for the wind rustling through the treetops.

Dad’s throat tightens, his eyes turning red as he looks at Mom.

“So… we really did wrong by Annie.”

Mom’s lips tremble as if she wants to explain herself, but in the end, she cannot say a single word.

They drive home to the Beta House in silence.

Once inside, Dad digs out an old canvas bag covered in dust from the corner of the room.

It is the backpack I carried throughout high school.

There are only a few trophies and a small notebook inside. Nothing else.

Mom opens the notebook. Most of the pages are filled with dense class notes, with entire sections of my textbooks marked and highlighted.

But halfway through, her hand suddenly stops.

Written crookedly across the page are a few words:

[Just hold on a little longer. Once I get into college, I’ll finally have a bed of my own.]

Mom’s nose stings, and something seems to clench painfully around her heart.

She used to casually tell me, “Just make do for now,” never once imagining that, to me, having a bed that truly belonged to me was a dream I had to work desperately to earn.

She can no longer hold herself together.

She sinks onto the floor, covers her face with both hands, and begins to sob quietly through her fingers.

“I was wrong… I always thought she was healthy and tough enough to handle everything, so I didn’t need to worry about her. But I forgot that she’s still just a teenager…”

Just then, Tammy walks out of her room carrying a large bag of potato chips.

Seeing Mom crying, she does not comfort her. Instead, she looks annoyed.

“Mom, why are you crying? She chose to run away. How is that our fault? Maybe she’s having the time of her life out there.”

She grabs a handful of chips and stuffs them into her mouth, speaking casually.

“If she doesn’t want to come back, then let her stay away. Why bother telling the Alpha? It’s actually

better this way. Then everything in this house will be mine.”

Her words strike Dad like a knife.

For the first time, his expression hardens.

“Shut up! If we hadn’t spoiled you and always taken your side, Annie would never have left!”

Tammy, who has never been treated harshly a day in her life, stares at him in shock before completely losing her temper.

“Seriously? She’s only been gone for a few days! She’s being so dramatic! She’s always sulking and throwing tantrums, making everyone in this family miserable.”

The angrier she gets, the harsher her words become.

Finally, she blurts out, “If you ask me, she should never come back. It would be better if she just died out there!”

Smack!

The sharp sound of a slap explodes through the living room.

Dad strikes Tammy across the face so hard that her head jerks to the side and she stumbles backward, falling to the floor. Half her face immediately swells red.

It is the first time he has ever hit her.

Tammy is completely stunned.

She covers her cheek and stares at Dad in disbelief. A few seconds later, she bursts into tears.

“You hit me? You actually hit me for that bitch?”

Dad’s chest rises and falls heavily, his voice trembling with anger.

“She’s your sister! How dare you curse her to die out there?”

Tammy looks at his furious expression, then turns to Mom with tears in her eyes.

But this time, Mom says nothing. She simply looks away.

No one rushes over to hug Tammy like they always used to. No one comforts her.

Furious, Tammy slams the door to her room.

The living room falls silent again.

Dad leans wearily against the wall, takes out his phone, and looks through the missing-person

notice they have just prepared. Then he opens the photos Mrs. Patty sent.

In one of them, I am sitting alone in the last row of the classroom, my head lowered as I work through practice problems.

Sunlight falls across the side of my face through the window, but it never reaches my quiet eyes.

Dad stares at the photo for a long time before speaking in a hoarse whisper.

“We were always asking Annie to be sensible, to give in to Tammy, to be the one who understood. But we never once stopped to be the parents she deserved.”

Mom wipes away her tears and slowly gets back to her feet.

The regret in her eyes has hardened into an almost stubborn determination.

“I’m going to find Annie.”

She looks at the missing-person notice on her phone and speaks each word with quiet resolve.

“No matter how long it takes, I’ll find her and bring her home.”

“This time, I’ll make it up to her.”