I Am His Wolfless Luna Chapter 134

Emma's POV

Raindrops pelted the windshield of my rented sedan, distorting the streetlights into hazy orbs of yellow and red. I adjusted the rearview mirror for the hundredth time, catching sight of my own puffy eyes and smudged mascara. My reflection stared back accusingly—pathetic, desperate, defeated. The thought made bile rise in my throat.

I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel, my eyes never leaving the entrance to Aria's apartment building. I'd been parked here for nearly an hour, the chill of the evening seeping into my bones despite the car's heating system. My phone buzzed with another message from Bella, but I ignored it, too focused on my surveillance to care about her incessant questions.

Movement at the building's entrance caught my attention. I sank lower in my seat, squinting through the streaked glass as two familiar figures emerged into the night. Ethan and Aria. Together. Again.

My blood boiled as I watched them walk side by side, close enough that their arms occasionally brushed. Even from this distance, I could see the gentle way Ethan inclined his head toward her when she spoke, his entire body angled in her direction like a sunflower tracking the sun. The intimacy of it was like a knife twisting in my gut.

"You bastard," I whispered, my fingers clenching around the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. "Three days. It took you three fucking days to crawl back to her."

The memory of our last encounter burned fresh in my mind—Ethan's disgust as he wiped my kiss from his lips, his cold dismissal, the humiliation of being pushed away in my own home. In front of his mother, no less. And now here he was, practically panting after Aria like a lovesick puppy.

I started the car's engine but left the headlights off, slowly pulling away from the curb to follow them at a safe distance. They were headed toward the convenience store at the corner, walking close enough to touch but not quite crossing that line. Their body language screamed unresolved tension—the way Aria tucked her hair behind her ear when Ethan spoke, the way his hand hovered at the small of her back without actually making contact.

"What does she have that I don't?" I muttered, chewing my lower lip raw. "What is it about her?"

My phone rang, Bella's name flashing on the screen. This time I answered.

"What?" I snapped, unable to tear my eyes away from the nauseating scene unfolding across the street.

"Where the hell are you?" Bella's voice crackled through the speaker. "I've been waiting at your place for an hour."

"I'm busy."

"Emma, tell me you're not following them again." Bella's exasperation was palpable. When I didn't immediately deny it, she sighed dramatically. "You're pathetic. This stalking thing is getting old."

"I'm not stalking," I hissed, watching as Ethan reached above Aria's head to grab something from a high shelf. "I'm gathering information."

"Right. And what vital intelligence have you gathered? That they're grocery shopping? That's boring."

I was about to snap back when something outside the car caught my attention. A teenager on a skateboard was barreling down the sidewalk, headphones on, completely oblivious to his surroundings. At that exact moment, Ethan and Aria emerged from the store, stepping directly into the skateboarder's path.

What happened next sent rage coursing through me like liquid fire. In one fluid motion, Ethan wrapped his arm around Aria's waist, pulling her against his chest as he spun them both away from danger. The skateboarder zoomed past with barely a glance back, but Ethan didn't immediately release her. For several heartbeats, they remained locked together, Aria's hands gripping Ethan's biceps, their faces inches apart.

I could read the hunger in Ethan's expression even from this distance—the same expression I'd desperately tried to elicit for months without success. I watched, bile rising in my throat, as he leaned down toward her lips.

"I'm going to be sick," I whispered, forgetting Bella was still on the line.

"What's happening?" she demanded.

"They're about to kiss," I spat, relieved when Aria finally stepped back, breaking the embrace. But I'd seen enough.

"Stay there. I'm coming home."

I hung up and pulled away from the curb with a screech of tires, narrowly missing an oncoming car. The driver blared his horn, but I barely registered it. My mind was racing, crystallizing around a single, clarifying thought: if I couldn't have Ethan, then neither could Aria. Let her disappear.

By the time I reached my apartment, a cold stillness had settled over me. The chaos of emotion—the hurt, the jealousy, the humiliation—had condensed into something harder and more focused. Bella was sprawled across my sofa, scrolling through her phone with one hand while nursing a glass of wine with the other. She glanced up as I slammed the door behind me.

"Well, don't you look positively murderous," she observed, sitting up straighter. "What happened to your face?"

I ignored the question, striding toward my liquor cabinet and pouring myself a generous measure of whiskey. The amber liquid burned a satisfying path down my throat.

I slammed my purse onto the counter. "She needs to disappear, Bella. Aria needs to fucking disappear from our lives."

Instead of the shock I expected, Bella's smile only widened. "What perfect timing. I was just thinking the same thing."

She reached into one of the shopping bags and pulled out a bottle of dark amber liquid. The label showed a rustic orchard scene with Silver Moon pack's symbol subtly woven into the design.

"Northern Territory apple cider," she explained, setting it on the counter with a satisfied tap of her manicured nail. "A Silver Moon pack delicacy. And Aria's particular weakness."

My breath caught as Bella reached into her designer handbag and extracted a small vial of clear liquid and a syringe. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Wolfsbane extract," she confirmed, holding the vial up to the light. "Extremely potent for our kind."

I watched, fascinated, as Bella uncorked the bottle of cider, inserted the needle through the seal, and carefully injected a small amount of the toxin.

"You came prepared," I said, both impressed and unnerved by her foresight.

Bella recorked the bottle and gave it a gentle swirl. "I've been planning this for a while. Marcus cut me off again—my third strike for refusing to play nice with his precious daughter. Now I'm practically broke." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "It's time Aria learned what happens when you take what's mine."

"So what's the plan?" I asked, moving closer to inspect the seemingly innocent bottle.

"We'll place it in a gift basket," Bella explained, gesturing to the wicker container and colored tissue paper on the counter. "A peace offering, supposedly from Marcus. I've already forged his handwriting for the card." She handed me a small envelope. "See? 'For my daughter only—a taste of home to remind you of your roots.'"

The forgery was impressive. "And she'll drink it?"

"I think so," Bella said. She began arranging the bottle in the basket, nestling it among tissue paper. "She won't share it with anyone else—it's very precious and expensive."

I rolled the vial of remaining wolfsbane between my fingers. "Will this dose kill her?"

Bella snatched the vial back. "Of course not. I'm not stupid enough to commit murder. This dose will make her violently ill—enough to humiliate her publicly and maybe force her to leave the training camp." She tucked the vial into her purse. "She'll suffer, but she'll live."

I nodded, but internally, my thoughts darkened. Living wasn't part of my plan for Aria. If she were gone—truly gone—Ethan would be devastated. And who better to comfort him in his grief than me?

As Bella turned to answer a call on her phone, I seized my opportunity. I grabbed the bottle from the basket, quickly uncorked it, and dumped the entire remaining contents of the wolfsbane vial into the cider. The liquid briefly clouded before returning to its amber clarity. I recorked it and placed it back in the basket just as Bella turned around.

"We'll deliver it the day after tomorrow," Bella declared, reaching for her wine glass. "To new beginnings." She offered a toast with a vicious smile.

"To Aria," I countered, raising my whiskey.