Chasing His Kickass Luna Back Chapter 324

Abby

I’m left stunned as Karl and Ethan disappear together, leaving me alone to face the ravenous crowd. Questions bombard me from all sides but I stand frozen, unable to process what just happened.

“Luna Abby! Luna Abby, over here!”

“Luna Abby, what is your take on Alpha Karl’s impromptu speech?”

“Luna Abby, what do you think will happen now?”

Before I can collect myself, an angry voice suddenly slices through the din, rising above the rest. The sound of it makes my heart pound, maybe even more so than the questions being lobbed at me by the reporters.

“What the hell did you say to him?”

I turn to see Gianna storming toward me, her eyes blazing with fury. My stomach drops at the sight of her. I should have expected her to come for me like a rabid animal, but I guess I had hoped that she would slink away in the wake of what just happened.

“I didn’t say anything to him,” I stammer. “He just did it on his own. I’ve had nothing to do with his speech.”

“Liar!” Gianna hisses, storming so close to me that she’s mere inches from my face by now. “You convinced Karl to make that stupid speech, and now Ethan’s mind is poisoned. This is all your fault.”

I furrow my brow, taken aback by her misplaced rage. “Gianna, I had nothing to do with it,” I manage, my voice nearly drowned out by the crowd. “I’m just as lost as you are.”

With a growl, her hand shoots out and she grabs my arm roughly before I can step away. “Don’t you dare lie to me,” she snarls. “I know you’ve wanted nothing more than to see me gone this whole time, you manipulative little—”

“Gianna, let go of me!” I wrench myself from her grip, my wrist burning where she grabbed me. “Listen, no matter what you think, I had no part in what happened just now. That was Karl’s choice to make, not mine.”

Gianna scoffs. “Oh please. As if Karl would ever go against his precious Luna. How long have you been whispering in his ear?”

“You’ve got me all wrong, Gianna,” I insist, still holding my sore wrist. “You’re the one who’s been whispering in Ethan’s ear for months, years now. You’re the one who took advantage of a man in a coma and used him for your own gain.”

Gianna’s mouth drops open, and before I can recognize what’s about to happen, her hand cracks across my cheek.

Pain explodes through my face and I stumble back, clutching my cheek as tears spring to my eyes. The cameras flash wildly around us, eager to catch the fight on tape.

Gianna doesn’t even dare to look at me again before she’s suddenly shoving past me and storming away down the hall, a flurry of fabric and jewels. I stand momentarily frozen in shock and humiliation as the reporters descend like vultures, my face stinging.

But then I harden my resolve as my wolf growls inside of me.

Squaring my shoulders, I turn away from the cameras, away from the reporters and the embarrassment, and hurry after Gianna instead. She won't get away with treating me like that.

“Leave me alone!” Gianna bites out as I catch up to her.

“No. I want to understand why you hate me so much,” I persist, reaching for her arm.

Gianna whirls on me, eyes flashing as she recoils from my touch. “Because you get everything!” she shrieks.

There’s a long, stunned silence as we stare at each other. Gianna is seething, her hands curled up at her sides into fists so tight that her knuckles are pure white. Then, she advances until she’s right in my face, her eyes gleaming with pure and utter hatred.

“You always get what you want. The fame, the glory, Karl’s devotion,” she hisses. “Meanwhile, I’m stuck here groveling for the scraps you toss me.”

I blink in shock. “That’s how you feel?” I murmur.

Gianna scoffs. “How I feel?” she echoes. “That’s how it is. Luna Abby always gets what she wants. Everyone loves Luna Abby. Even when you’re divorced, and lonely, and scraping by with your stupid little restaurant, you still get everything you want.”

“That’s not true,” I murmur, shaking my head. “That’s not true.”

“It is true!” Gianna shrieks. “Do you know how it feels to always be the loser? To always have to beg for scraps, to spend years serving and bowing and yes-sir-ing? You’ve never had to suffer! Never!”

Her words bite deep, but instead of letting them push me away I instead step closer, anger swelling in my chest. “You think I get whatever I want?” I ask with a scoff. “You barely even know me, Gianna. And let me tell you something: I don’t always get what I want.”

“Oh yeah?” Gianna scoffs and leans back, folding her arms across her chest. “Name one time you haven’t gotten exactly what you wished for.”

“A family,” I blurt out. “I can’t have a family. The one thing I’ve always wanted above everything else, and it’s not in the cards for me.”

Gianna looks startled, some of her malice faltering. The photographers pause in their frenzy, listening closely.

My vision blurs with tears but I force them back. “I have fertility issues. I’ll likely never conceive.”

Saying the words out loud hits me like a knife in my gut. This painful heartbreak has been a secret that I’ve kept close to my chest for years, only sharing with Karl and my closest friends. But now, it’s out there for the entire world to hear.

“You—” Gianna begins, but I cut her off.

“To make matters worse, my own father disowned me because I’m unable to continue our family line,” I whisper. “So yes, I pour myself into my ‘stupid little restaurant’ because it’s all I have. The only legacy I can leave behind.”

Gianna says nothing. I take a deep breath and meet her shocked eyes.

“I’m not your enemy, Gianna. If circumstances were different, maybe we could have even been friends. And I’m sorry that Karl hasn’t reciprocated your feelings, but Ethan… he loves you. He dotes on you. Isn’t that enough?”

Gianna just stares at me, at a loss for words after my lecture, but I can’t be here anymore. In the silence, I turn on my heel and push through the stunned crowd, ignoring the flashing cameras and the reporters’ questions.

I need to get away—the walls are closing in on me, and I can’t breathe.

Without a moment’s hesitation longer, I burst through the double doors leading out into the cold night air and stumble down the stone steps. Tears blur my eyes as I grip the side of the building, rounding the corner into a narrow alleyway.

Once I find a secluded spot, I stop, leaning back against the wall as tears stream down my cheeks. A sob wracks my body, and it’s at this moment that I feel so alone, so empty, so broken.

But my peace doesn’t last for long. Soon enough, I hear the sound of the doors opening, and calm footsteps descending the stairs. Shoes crunch in the snow, and then I look up to see a familiar face standing there, worry written in his gaze.

“Karl…”