He Thought I Became His Perfect Luna, I Had Only Stopped Loving Him Chapter 05

He Thought I Became His Perfect Luna, I Had Only Stopped Loving Him Chapter 05

Stellan’s expression shifted.

He knew. He remembered.

That desk had only two keys. His. Mine.

And about a month ago, Rhoslyn had asked to look through my research for inspiration. He had opened that drawer.

“You’re confused,” he said coolly. “That’s Rhoslyn’s original work.”

“I can show you the original manuscript.”

“Aelwen.” He cut me off. “There are hundreds of people here. Do you really want to embarrass Rhoslyn like this?”

I looked at him.

And something clicked into place, something I’d been trying to deny for a long time.

“You gave it to her.”

A beat of silence.

Then he admitted it, cleanly, like it cost him nothing: “Yes. Rhoslyn needed a break. That research would do more in her hands. Whatever compensation you want, I’ll give it to you.”

“That paper was my tribute to my mother. Her ten-year anniversary.”

“I’ll have it published under both your names.” He said it like he was doing me a favor. “You should be grateful.”

I laughed.

My eyes burned.

I walked to the podium.

I picked up the microphone.

“Excuse me, everyone.” My voice came out clear across the hall. “I need to report a case of plagiarism. The Rising Healer Award’s winning paper, Innovative Treatment Methods for Acute Wolf Venom Infection, is stolen from my original research.”

The room erupted.

Rhoslyn went pale as a sheet. Her eyes filled with tears instantly.

“Aelwen, how could you — this paper took me six months—”

Stellan was at the podium in seconds. He took the mic from my hands.

“My mate suffered a brain injury,” he announced, voice steady and authoritative. “She’s been experiencing memory disruption and confusion. I apologize for the scene.”

A murmur ran through the crowd. Nobody dared push back against an Alpha.

That same afternoon, every medical award I had ever earned was anonymously reported for fraudulent data.

The review board met that night.

By morning, every honor I had was revoked.

Stellan set the revocation notices on the table in front of me.

“This is what happens when you cause problems.”

“You did this,” I said.

“Yes.” He didn’t even blink. “Consider it a lesson. Behave, and I’ll consider helping you restore your reputation later. Rhoslyn needed that opportunity, Aelwen. As Luna, your job is to support the people around you.”

I picked up the notices.

And I tore them to pieces.

Overnight, I went from the pack’s most respected healer to a disgraced fraud.

Every paper I’d published was retracted. The hospital stripped my title. Every research institution I’d partnered with cut ties.

And then someone dug up the story of my mother, the figure modeling sessions she’d done to cover my childhood medical bills. Comments flooded in like a tide.

“Trash like this has no business calling herself a healer.”

“Get out.”

When Stellan escorted Rhoslyn out through the back entrance, I was still standing in the main hall while people pointed and shoved.

Someone pushed me hard.

I lost my footing and went down.

My forehead hit the corner of a step.

Blood ran hot and fast down my face.

Stellan glanced back once through the car window.

He saw me on the ground. Saw the blood soaking into the concrete.

Something seized in his chest.

He looked away.

“Drive,” he told the driver.

A kind stranger got me to the hospital.

Seven stitches on my forehead.

When I walked out, bandages wrapped around my head, there was a letter waiting.

Elder Lioraen’s handwriting.

The Luna bond has been dissolved. You are free.

I stood in the parking lot and read it three times.

Then I started laughing.

And somewhere in the middle of the laughing, I started crying.

Then my phone buzzed, an urgent voicemail from the pack hospital’s administrator:

“Miss Bramlock. Something’s gone wrong. The emergency medical protocol for the Alpha King’s procedure, Rhoslyn altered a critical section. The current plan doesn’t meet requirements at all—”

I listened to the whole message in silence.

Then I hung up.

I got into a cab.

The city slid past the windows as the car pulled onto the highway.

This was the last road out.