Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

#Chapter 62: Too Much To Ask
The door to Abby’s office swings shut behind me, and my mind races as I walk back into the kitchen.

First, she asks me to make nice with Chloe, and now this? Apprenticing under John, of all people? A

guy I can’t even stand to be in the same room with?

“Karl, grab the veal from the fridge. Now.” John’s voice snaps me back to reality, jarring and grating as

ever.

I grab the veal and set it on the counter, taking a moment to steel myself. I’m doing this for Abby, I

remind myself. As if sensing my inner turmoil, Abby glances over at me from across the kitchen.

Our eyes meet for just a second, but it’s enough. I nod subtly. I can do this.

The dinner rush starts, and the kitchen turns into a whirlwind of flying knives and sizzling pans. John

wastes no time in laying into me.

“Come on, Karl, chop those onions faster! We don’t have all day!”

My knuckles whiten around the knife handle, but I force a smile. “Sure, John, whatever you say.”

Dinner service rushes on like a torrential river, and I’m just trying to keep my head above water. Each

critique from John feels like another weight pulling me down, but I keep reminding myself why I’m here,

who I’m here for.

The clock ticks past nine, and the last orders are finally up. John looks at me, a satisfied smirk

spreading across his face. “Not a complete disaster, I suppose.”

My jaw clenches, my fists curl, but I refuse to let the torrent out. Abby’s eyes catch mine again, her

gaze searching. I look away. I can’t let her see how much this is getting to me.

And that’s when it happens. One small, insignificant straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

“Karl, you idiot! These steaks are overcooked! Do you even know what medium-rare looks like?” John

words out, his

inside me snaps. All the pent-up frustration, the hours of biting my tongue,

swallowing my pride—it all comes rushing to the surface like

That’s it.

apron off, my hands shaking with barely contained fury. I shoot one last look

before, only to realize that she’s gone. Where her beautiful face would

bit, I’m now met with nothing but

my apron down

more to myself than anyone

back door into the alley, my chest heaving. The cold night

light it, drawing the

the gaping void inside

brick wall, my mind reeling. What the

cr ap—it’s all for her. For Abby. Because despite

it all, I want

exhaling slowly as I stare up at the sliver of night sky visible between

stark reminder of how confined I feel, boxed in by my own choices,

break free, to tell John to shove it, to

much as it galls me to admit it, I know that

that I’m

against the cold, unforgiving wall of the

me. A deep growl resonates from within, not from my human side, but

shares my consciousness.

my breath,

in my head, clear

on purpose. You just have to push through it for a

know, I know,” I reply silently, a conversation taking place entirely within the

I can be part of her world. But I f ucking

“I know you do. It’ll just be for a while longer,

I ask. “It feels like she’ll never

a question I’ve been asking myself ever since I walked out of Abby’s

be the bigger man and tolerate John for Abby’s sake. But

sees that I’m trying, really trying, to be the man she wants me

if reading my thoughts. “She’ll realize you’re

her needs above

in, worming its way into my mind despite my wolf’s reassurance.

my old mistakes? What if I’m forever labeled the screw-up, the

who broke her heart?