For a long time, I didn't move.
I just stood there, the rain hitting the windows behind him, my heart pounding in my chest so loud I thought the whole shop could hear it.
He didn't blink.
He didn't step back.
He just stood there, watching me like a man who had already made his choice — like my anger didn't scare him anymore.
The word Luna echoed in my head like a curse.
Luna.
His Luna.
My breath came out in small, shaky pieces.
"Jason," I said at last, my voice breaking slightly, "you can't be serious."
> "I am," he said quietly. "I wouldn't be here otherwise."
A small, bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
I bent down, picked up the broom I'd dropped, and leaned it against the wall.
When I straightened up again, I forced myself to look at him.
"Do you even hear yourself?" I asked. "You want me to go back there? To them? After everything your family did?"
He didn't look away. His eyes stayed on mine, calm but burning.
> "Things are different now," he said. "I'm not the boy I was. I'm the next Alpha, and I can protect you this time."
That word — protect — cut through me like a knife.
I shook my head and turned away, pretending to fix the stack of pizza boxes beside me just so he wouldn't see the tears gathering in my eyes.
"Protect me?" I whispered. "You should have done that years ago, Jason. When I still believed you could."
The air between us felt heavy, thick, full of ghosts.
I heard him sigh softly. Then his footsteps came closer until he was only a few feet away.
I could feel his presence before I saw him — the quiet, steady power that always surrounded him.
> "I know I hurt you," he said softly. "And I know you don't trust me. But this isn't about the past. This is about survival. You need money, Aria. I can help you."
I turned to face him, tears burning behind my eyes.
"You think you can just buy me?"
He hesitated, his jaw tightening. "No. I'm offering you a deal. You become my Luna — officially. For a year. In return, you get paid enough to start a new life after it's over."
I stared at him, unable to believe the words leaving his mouth.
A year?
Be his Luna?
For money?
It was insane.
It was insulting.
And yet… a small part of me — the desperate part that counted coins every night just to eat — couldn't ignore the temptation.
I took a shaky breath.
"And what happens after that year ends?"
He met my gaze, his expression unreadable.
> "You'll be free," he said quietly. "Completely. I'll make sure of it."
Free.
The word sounded so sweet.
But I knew better than to trust sweet things.
I looked at him for a long time — the man who had once been my whole world and now stood before me as a stranger wrapped in power and regret.
"Why me?" I asked softly. "You could choose anyone. There are hundreds of she-wolves who would kill to be your Luna."
He didn't answer right away.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low and rough.
> "Because none of them matter. Only you do."
My chest ached, my throat tight.
I wanted to scream at him, tell him to stop pretending, to stop making me remember the boy who used to promise forever under the moonlight.
But my body refused to move.
My heart — the one I thought I'd buried years ago — wouldn't listen to reason.
I stepped back, shaking my head.
"You should go," I said quietly.
He didn't move.
"I mean it, Jason. If you care at all, just go. Leave me alone."
For a moment, he looked like he might argue.
Then his expression softened, and he nodded once.
> "I'll give you time to think," he said. "But I'm not giving up."
Then he turned and walked out.
The bell above the door chimed softly, and the rain swallowed him whole.
I sank to the floor behind the counter, my knees weak.
My breath came in slow, shaking waves.
I didn't cry.
Not yet.
The tears would come later — when I was alone and the world was quiet again.
I looked down at my hands. They were trembling.
I could still feel his presence in the air, still smell that faint trace of pine and rain that always clung to him.
Why did fate have to be so cruel?
Why bring him back now — when I'd finally learned how to live without him?
I stayed there until the lights outside dimmed, until the last car passed, until all I could hear was the sound of rain and my own heartbeat.
When I finally stood up, I felt different.
Tired. Confused. Angry.
But beneath it all, something else was stirring — something I didn't want to admit.
Hope.
I hated it.
I wanted to crush it before it grew.
But even as I locked the shop and stepped into the cold night, that small flicker of hope followed me like a shadow.
---
The street was quiet.
Only the rain and the dim glow of lamps lit the road.
I walked fast, clutching my bag close.
Halfway home, I sensed something behind me.
Footsteps. Slow, steady, matching mine.
I stopped.
The sound stopped too.
My heart thumped.
I turned quickly, eyes scanning the dark.
Nothing.
Just rain.
Just shadows.
I exhaled and kept walking.
But after a few steps, I heard it again.
Closer this time.
I quickened my pace, turning the corner toward my narrow street.
That's when I saw it — a tall figure standing by my door.
My stomach dropped.
He wasn't moving, just waiting.
When the lightning flashed, I saw his face.
Jason.
"Are you following me now?" I snapped, my voice breaking.
He looked calm, though his hair was soaked from the rain.
> "I wanted to make sure you got home safe," he said simply.
I glared at him, shaking my head.
"I don't need your protection."
> "You did last night," he said quietly.
That stung.
I hated that he was right.
I hated that he remembered.
"Goodnight, Jason," I said and turned toward the door.
But before I could unlock it, his voice came again — soft, almost pleading.
> "Just think about it, Aria. Please."
I froze.
I didn't look back.
I just stood there in the rain, my body trembling from cold and confusion.
When I finally entered my apartment and locked the door behind me, I pressed my forehead against it and closed my eyes.
I could still feel his voice echoing in my chest.
"Just think about it."
And against my will, I knew I would.