The Luna’s Choice by Kat Silver

Chapter 128: Ayla

A huge rumble echoed through the room, bouncing off the high ceilings, making the walls shake. Harry stopped what he was doing and looked toward the sound. His shoulders instantly became tense and his face contorted into a curious scowl.

“Bare with me, my love,” he said absently to me. “We may have a visitor.”

My heart skipped.

Theo

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Harry snapped. “There’s no way he could have found you. It’s probably some rogue poking around where they shouldn’t be.”

He disappeared into the darkness, the sound of the door closing the only indication he was gone. I waited a moment before pulling at the ring again, trying to work it out of the wood.

“Ayla,” Kylee said to me. “I’m sorry.”

I sighed. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her apologies. It’s not like they meant anything anyway.

I closed my eyes, pushing passed the headache that had formed.

That was harsh.

And even though she deserved it, I didn’t. I couldn’t carry that pain with me from here.

If we got out of here.

I might as well have faced it

I asked snarkily. “For telling everyone you know I’m a horrible, selfish person or for trying to steal my fated

know he was your fated

mate. Because you sure as hell knew he wasn’t yours. Are you sorry about that

really did love him, Ayla. I still

I snapped. “You’re really going to go down that road? Tell me how much you love the one person who was supposed to be mine? Like I’m supposed just let you have him. News flash, Kylee, I already did that, and look what that got me. When you found out who Theo was to me, you didn’t regret what happened. No, you slapped me

high school years with my friends so I could keep you fed and a roof over your head. I kept you from seeing Ma passed out drunk in a pile of her own sick. I made sure you

never would have let them touch you. Oh, but me? Me, she wouldn’t have put up much of a fight for.”

my mother say weakly. She sat herself up slowly. “How could

kept letting it get that close. You kept leading those assholes right to our doorstep. And you kept making ME talk them out of it. Face it, Ma, I was your

whispered in

the post, giving

would never get that far,” Ma said. “I knew you would never let them

have known that, Ma?” I yelled. “Do you

Kylee needed me more. Your father always made sure

father feeds you some bullshit story about me being different and you thought that meant I could take on fully grown werewolves with no morals?” my

“But you did…”

because I needed to make sure Kylee was taken care of. You both took everything from me. And it was okay because one day, I’d find

sister’s sobs. Instead, focusing on the cold floor against my skin, the rough wood splintering along my back, the coarse rope digging into my flesh. Anything but the two people who betrayed me the

head. I nearly sobbed. I

came

was a memory.