The line stayed open.
Nothing ca through at first.
Emma stood still, fingers locked around the device. The glow of the screen sat sharp in her eyes.
Brandon didn’t move. He just watched her, quiet.
"Say it," she said at last, voice calm and even.
A breath slipped through the speaker.
"I’m nearby," Evan said.
Her grip tightened.
Her thumb pressed into the edge of the device until her knuckles paled.
"You don’t get to be nearby," she said.
No rise in her voice. No crack. Just final.
The silence stretched.
Then—
"I just want us to hang out... talk," Evan said, softer now.
Emma let out a short breath through her nose.
Almost a laugh, but not quite.
"You always just want to stick around." She shifted the device against her ear and leaned back in her chair. "Evan... I’m mated."
"I know." His low chuckle crackled through the device.
Her hand dipped a little, the device lowering for a mont.
Her eyes shifted towards Brandon.
He hadn’t moved. But his gaze had gone still.
She brought the device back up.
"I already have a date with my mate," she said into the device, her voice steady.
The chamber went still.
Then Evan again, quick this ti. "What about tomorrow? I need to see you. It’s important."
"I’m not sure that’s possible."
"Why?" he asked.
Emma’s jaw tightened.
"I’m mated, Evan," she said again. "You don’t get to call whenever you feel like it."
A sharp inhale ca through the line.
"We were supposed to be mates...you..."
The call ended mid-sentence.
Emma lowered the device and rubbed her face once, slow.
The chamber stayed quiet.
Brandon had heard everything.
His voice ca low. "Moonheart..."
He stepped closer, stopping just behind her.
"Leave him to . I’ll handle it."
Emma shook her head before he finished.
"No."
She turned slightly, fingers loosely interlaced, still tense from the call.
"I need to see him myself."
Her grip tightened once.
"I’ll make it clear."
A few minutes of silence passed. Brandon glanced at his watch and exhaled. "Co on. We’re gonna be late."
He picked up her bralette from the hanger and stepped behind her. His fingers worked the hooks into place, steady and quiet.
The gown slipped over her head. He paused at the zipper, then drew it up slowly, smoothing the fabric as it climbed her back.
He reached for his shirt after, shrugging it on while she adjusted her dress in the mirror.
They arrived at Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Santorini where Brooklyn and Ken lodged on Saturday after their mating ceremony at exactly five in the evening to spend one beautiful mont together before they travel on Monday. They planned to watch the moonset and screen an ocean-thed, moody nineteen-nineties film in rich, filmic colors with deep vintage warmth.
Their cars pulled over in an exclusive, safe and secure parking space. She called Brooklyn and inford her that they had arrived at the beach. She tossed her device aside, grabbed a cara she ordered earlier from online stores, and hung it on her neck like a professional photographer. Brandon looked at her and grinned. He covered his eyes with a dark sunshade and gave her one. She shook her head because she wanted to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
"Are you sure you don’t want to cover your eyes?"
"No," she insisted. He smiled and dropped the sunshade on the car seat. They alighted and began to walk towards the beach. She never knew how famous she had beco until that day.
Before she knew what was going on, she was surrounded by a group of happy admirers demanding to take pictures with her. She gave them permission to take as many pictures as they liked. The shutter sound of caras and device caras filled the air. She also found out why Brandon never wanted to be famous. Familiarity breeds inconvenient closeness and wolves won’t stop touching and hugging you. Honestly, she was a bit irritated, especially by the touch from male admirers.
They kept raising questions, but she couldn’t hear them because when all of them were talking, no one was really talking.
"When is your story coming out?" A lady wolf walking beside her asked. She heard her clearly and responded.
"Next winter."
"Who t the Prince first?" Another she-wolf asked.
"Wait for my story."
"How did you find your blood mother?" Another admirer asked.
"Did she give you up for adoption or abandon you?"
"Wait for my story," she responded again and that resulted in an uproar.
Leo and Teddy ca to her rescue when they thought she had given the admirers enough attention and waded them off politely. She breathed a silent thanks and joined Brandon who was relaxing on a beach mat, very close to the ocean.
Their guards surrounded them to make sure none of the admirers or paparazzi moved closer.
The moonset in front of them, the ocean breeze tickling their faces, and leaning on the chest of her best mate made her heart tingle. She had a plethora of amazing reasons to feel good.
She lifted her device when it began to ring. Just then, she saw Brooklyn ca running toward them in fitted black shorts and a loose cream tank top, her curls bouncing with every step.
Her sexy clothes made her look more ethereal than ever. She stood up and ran to et her. She looked so fragile. She couldn’t believe Ken transford her moonally overnight. She didn’t know why she always rembered her puphood days each ti she saw Brooklyn.
They embraced each ti and she wished she could explain to her how much she missed her already. They had never been apart from each other except when she got admitted into the highest academy. However, she visited her often before she was finally rusticated.
"Emma...answer the call," Brooklyn said as she broke away from her. They stared at the caller and exchanged glances.
"Delete her number now and restrict her imdiately! What does she want from you?"
"Let’s find out," she shrugged and smiled.
"What else if not to bla you for visiting her mother and causing her death!"
"I want to hear it and give her my sweet response."
"Speaker please," she said imdiately as Emma accepted the incoming call. She curiously wanted to know why Lunara called her.
"Moonfall, Emma."
"What do you want?" She asked assertively, ignoring her salutation.
"Didn’t Brandon deliver my ssage to you?"
"Lunara, what do you want?"
"I need the keys to the house."
"Which house?"
"Your house," Lunara said, her voice flat.
Emma let out a short laugh. "Mine? I thought the Moon Prince Brandon gifted it to you."
Nothing ca from the other end.
Emma pulled the device from her ear for a second, checked the screen, then lifted it back slowly.
The silence stretched between them.
"What do you need the keys for?"
"I...I...have nowhere to stay at the mont," she murmured. She heard Brooklyn’s voice yelling in the background.
"How long are you going to stay in her house?"
"Brooklyn please, stay out of this. I’m talking to my sibling," she said with a calm tone.
"Point of correction, Lunara; she is not your sibling, Ken is!"
"Emma please, I need the key."
"I...."
"Emma, hold on!" Brooklyn interrupted her. "You forget things so easily, but I don’t! I know her very well," she warned.
"Lunara, how long are you going to stay in her house?"
"Brooklyn, I don’t know how long I’m going to stay! Right now, I have no place to stay! I can’t lodge in a resting den because I have no steady source of inco! My moonally just threw out of her house."
"Listen...."
Emma lifted a hand, signaling Brooklyn to calm down. Brooklyn paced a few steps, jaw tight, biting her lower lip before she finally stopped.
"I’ll send a moonally to open the doors," she said.
"When?"
"Tomorrow’s moonrise."
"No. I need it now. I’m stranded. Please."
A pause stretched on the line. No sound ca through.
"Go and et Faith."
"Will she give the keys?"
"Yes."
"Thank you..." Brooklyn hesitated, then added, "Can you co to the house tomorrow?"
Emma’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Why?"
"I just... I want us to tal..."
The line went dead.
Emma didn’t move at first.
Her thumb stayed frozen on the screen, like the call might co back if she waited long enough.
Brooklyn exhaled sharply beside her. "I know what she’s doing, and it annoys that I won’t be around to stop her. But you can stop her, Emma. Prevention is always better than cure."
Emma didn’t look away from the device. "Stop her doing what?"
"Taking advantage of your kindness." Brooklyn stepped closer, voice tight. "She wants peace, but she can’t be trusted."
Emma’s gaze lifted slightly. "She has no power without Daniel."
"Emma." Brooklyn shook her head. "She learned from him. She’s not soft. She never saw you as family. Don’t forget what they did—what they paid for."
A beat of silence stretched between them.
The ocean rolled in the distance, steady and careless.
Emma finally lowered the device into her palm.
"What do you think I should do?"
Brooklyn didn’t hesitate. "Give her the keys."
her brows tightened.
"You can even give her the house," Brooklyn added quickly, "just don’t let her near you. Not again."
Emma stared
past her, eyes distant now.
Then—
Her device lit up.
Once.
Then again.
Lunara’s number.
Emma’s fingers tightened around it.
She didn’t blink.
"...She’s calling back," Emma said under her breath.
She lifted the screen slowly.
And answered.
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