Never Getting The Luna Ritual Chapter 07

Never Getting The Luna Ritual Chapter 07

It was not long before I came face to face with Forrest Voss at Ancientgrove Pack.

He stood beneath an old, weathered streetlamp wrapped in a thick black coat, a bouquet of flowers clutched in his hand.

The moment he spotted me, he hurried over.

“Meredith.”

He looked gaunt, hollowed out. His eyes were sunk deep in their sockets, cheekbones sharp blades. His lips were chapped and parched. He looked like a man who hadn’t eaten or slept properly in a

month.

I stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

“I came for you,” his voice was rough and cracked, “I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Wait for what?”

“For you to come back,” he said, “You never reply to my messages or answer my calls. I had no choice but to come find you myself.”

My gaze fell to the flowers in his grasp moon lilies, my favorite bloom.

“I’ve thought of you every single day these past three months,” his voice trembled, “I’m so sorry.”

I said nothing.

“I swore I’d never let you be lonely again. I remember the first time I held your hand-my palms were sweating. I told you I’d love you, cherish you, for the rest of my life.” His voice broke. “And I failed. I’m the reason you left our home.”

He lifted his head, his eyes red-rimmed and glistening.

“I know I was wrong, Meredith. I know I made you wait far too many times, let you down again and

again.”

“I know I should never have abandoned you time and again when it mattered most.”

“But you have to believe me, I never felt that way about her. Lila sent those photos, those messages

to cause trouble. I made her leave the pack.”

“Forrest,” I cut him off, “you still don’t understand at all.”

He froze.

“It was never about whether you had feelings for Lila,” I said. “The

first, not even once.”

problem is you never put me

“The first Luna Ritual, you left me behind to rush to her side. The second, you abandoned me alone

at the moon altar. The third, the fourth… all the way to the eighteenth.”

I held his gaze steady.

“Every single time, you chose her over me.”

His lips parted, yet no words came out.

“You claim to love me, but your love always comes second to everyone else. Lila’s troubles always mattered more than mine. Her needs were always more urgent than mine.”

A faint, bitter smile tugged at my lips.

“Forrest, this was never love at all.”

“I’ll change!” He stepped forward abruptly and grabbed my wrist. “Meredith, I’ll be different.”

I stared down at his trembling hand.

“Do you know, I’ve spent these days wondering why you turned out like this,” my voice grew stronger, my whole body shaking as I finally spoke the words hidden in my heart. “I blamed myself endlessly. I feared I’d done something wrong to make you drift away. I worried my reserved manner and lack of social grace had made you grow tired of me.”

“But then I saw the cruel truth,” I said firmly. “I once told you how much I hated being alone. When I moved into your home, you thought you’d trapped me forever. You found my weakness and held onto it. That’s why you could so easily cast me aside as your second choice. That’s why you began to

take me for granted.”

“You stopped seeing me as the powerful forest warden you first met. You grew arrogant, convinced I would never leave no matter how many times you delayed the ritual or broke your promises.”

Forrest’s face paled instantly.

“What I’m saying is harsh, but it’s the plain truth,” at him as if facing a foe. “Go back,

Forrest. Otherwise, I’ll stand beside the Ancientgrove Alpha and have you expelled from this pack.”

A shudder went through him. He closed his eyes. “I won’t set foot in Ancientgrove territory. I’ll wait here. I’ll live in the forest. I’ll feel the loneliness you felt… until you forgive me.”

I turned on my heel and walked away, never looking back.

Forrest kept his word and refused to leave.

He lived like a hermit in the forest for an entire month.

Winter swept through the woods, cold and bitter. When snow fell, he would stand motionless amid the flurries like a statue, hoping to catch even a glimpse of me.

Rowan came to me with an offer.

“Shall I drive him away? We may be old-fashioned here at Ancientgrove, but our pack’s strength far outmatches most others.”

It was true. Rowan’s power was formidable, a quiet, deep strength that felt as old as the things he guarded.

I shook my head and declined.

One bitterly cold late night, Forrest was still there.

He leaned against a pine tree, his face ashen, lips blue and numb from the freezing wind.

When he saw me, he straightened himself with effort and forced a weak smile.

“You’re out late.”

I stopped in my tracks.

I looked straight at him. “Forrest, what’s the point of all this?”

“It means everything to me,” he said quietly. “Only while I’m waiting for you do I feel truly alive.”

I fell silent for a long moment.

“Forrest.”

He tensed at the sound of my voice.

“Come to my cave.’

He spun around in an instant, a flicker of desperate hope lighting up his eyes.