I Refuse to Be Your Luna

Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 129 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 129

Chapter 129 The Scent of Lie

Finished

The trail sharpened as we crossed into the shipping district, weaving between rows of warehouses stacked with containers bearing crests I didn’t recognize.

The scent of diesel and rust hung thick over everything, but hers still cut through it, a single clean thread I refused to lose in the noise. Somewhere in this maze of steel and concrete, she was walking through rows of ledgers and inventory records, entirely unaware that I was closing the distance behind her one street at a time.

My wolf’s pace hadn’t slowed once since the parking garage, every muscle coiled tight with a hunt-sharp focus I hadn’t felt in years, not since the last time something worth protecting had mattered more than my own pride.

He paced behind my ribs like a caged thing, snapping at the edges of my control every traffic forced us to slow.

I only hoped I wasn’t already too late for the second time today.

time

11:42 Thu, Oct 1

Refuse To Be You! Luna

Chapter 129 An Unwelcome Announcement

Two days before the reconciliation dinner’

Lady Flourish’s POV

Finished

The audit went smoother than I expected. Three hours combing through shipment manifests and cross-referencing signatures against the flagged invoices left me with exactly what I’d hoped to find. A clean, undeniable paper trail connecting three separate transactions directly back to Corwin Ashdown’s authorization code.

Nothing about the numbers left room for doubt anymore.

The warehouse itself had smelled of machine oil and cardboard dust the entire time, thick enough that my wolf had stayed quiet and bored throughout most of the audit, content to let the human part of me handle rows of numbers she had no interest in.

By the time I stepped back out into the afternoon sun, it was barely past four.

I sent a quick message to my team letting them know I wouldn’t be returning to the office, then made my way toward my car, already looking forward to nothing more complicated than an early night.

My phone rang before I’d even reached the parking lot.

“Rhys?”

“Just a heads-up.” His voice carried the particular calm he only used when he was actually rattled underneath it. “Harold showed up at the office looking for you about an hour ago. He seemed… intense. I gave him a decoy address, sent him toward Marlow Street instead of here.”

I exhaled slowly, torn between exasperation and something warmer I didn’t want to examine too closely. “Thank you. I don’t need him showing up here on top of everything else today.”

“That’s what I figured.” A pause. “For what it’s worth, he didn’t seem like a man chasing a woman out of spite. He looked worried.”

“He’s always worried about something,” I said, waving off the observation even as some small, uneasy part of me filed it away anyway. “I’ll deal with it later. Thanks for running interference.”

I’d barely hung up when a familiar, honey-sweet voice called out from across the lot.

“What a coincidence, Flourish. I didn’t expect to run into you out here.”

Phina.

11:42 Thu, Oct 1

Chapter 129 An Unwelcome Announcement

Finished

She approached in a flowing white dress entirely too impractical for a shipping district, her smile bright and brittle in equal measure. “I suppose you’ll want to be the first to know. Harold and I are getting married next month.”

I could practically hear the unspoken ‘he’s mine’ humming beneath every syllable, and I found I couldn’t summon even the faintest flicker of jealousy to match it.

My wolf barely stirred at the announcement, entirely unbothered, already anchored to a bond that had nothing to do with either Harold or the woman standing in front of me.

“Congratulations to you both,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “That’ll be one less trashy couple for the rest of society to worry about.”

The crack in Phina’s smile was immediate and deeply satisfying.

“You’re impossible,” she said, though the confidence had visibly drained out of her voice.

“So I’ve been told.” I unlocked my car, entirely done with the conversation. “Enjoy the wedding planning.”

I didn’t wait for her response, sliding into the driver’s seat and pulling the door shut behind me before she could recover enough composure to fire back.

My phone buzzed again as I started the engine.

‘Babe, are you abandoning me now that you’ve found a new lover?’ Lila’s message read, punctuated by an exaggerated pouting emoji.

I laughed despite the exhaustion sitting heavy in my shoulders. ‘Seriously, Lila? You’re still my one and only.

‘Excellent. I hereby command you to meet me at Lacey’s tonight – moral support and a makeover, mandatory attendance.’

‘Sure, I typed back, smiling for what felt like the first time all day. “Though I’ve never actually needed a makeover.’

‘Everyone needs a makeover after the week you’ve had. See you at seven.’

I set the phone down and reversed out of the parking space, already looking forward to an evening that didn’t involve conspiracies, scandals, or ex-fiancés waving engagement announcements around like trophies.

I made it halfway down the access road before my wolf went suddenly, sharply still.

–

faint, cold, metallic, threading beneath the

A scent drifted through the cracked window exhaust of passing trucks in a way that didn’t belong anywhere near a legitimate shipping route.

2/3

11:42 Thu, Oct 1

Chapter 129 An Unwelcome Announcement

Finished

I slowed the car, scanning the row of warehouses behind me in the rearview mirror, every instinct I owned prickling with the same wary tension I usually reserved for boardrooms full of people who wanted something from me.

My wolf pressed close against my ribs, ears pinned flat, every hair along my arms lifting in slow warning.

Nothing moved. No one followed.

But the scent lingered anyway, unfamiliar and unplaceable, curling low and patient at the edge of my senses long after the warehouse had faded from view.

Whatever it belonged to, it hadn’t come from anyone who wanted to be noticed.

I sat there a moment longer than I needed to, engine idling, my hand hovering over my phone before I finally set it back down without dialing anyone. Whatever this was, it wasn’t the same sharp, familiar danger I already associated with Lydia’s schemes.

This felt older somehow, more patient, like something that had been watching from a distance long before today.

I pulled back onto the main road, checking my mirrors twice more than usual, and told myself it was nothing worth mentioning to anyone just yet — not until I had something more concrete than a smell I couldn’t name.

My wolf disagreed, restless the entire drive home.

11:42 Thu, Oct 1