Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 132 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 132

Chapter 132 Too Close For Comfort

Lady Flourish’s POV

The silence that followed Lucinda’s question stretched half a second too long before Damian answered, his tone so effortlessly unbothered that I nearly believed it myself. Even the low murmur of the courtyard fountain outside seemed to hold its breath along with the rest of us.

“You’re imagining things,” he said, reaching for his cup with the same unhurried calm he’d carried since we’d sat down. “Flourish and I have been coordinating pack security together since the poisoning at the reconciliation dinner. It’s not unusual for scents to cross after that many hours spent in close quarters.”

It was, technically, not a lie. It was also nowhere near the full truth.

Lucinda’s nose wrinkled slightly, unconvinced but clearly unwilling to argue with an Alpha who’d already shut down two of Julian’s jokes tonight without breaking a sweat. “Huh. Weird. I’ve never smelled crossed scents that linger that strong before.”

“You’ve also never spent three sleepless nights untangling a poisoning conspiracy,” Damian said mildly, and that, apparently, was enough to end the conversation entirely.

His tone had just enough weary truth in it to make the explanation land as fact rather than deflection — a trick I was quickly learning he’d mastered long before I’d ever met him.

I exhaled slowly, grateful for the excuse to reach for my own cup and hide behind it for a

moment.

–

My wolf, however, wasn’t nearly as relieved she paced restlessly beneath my ribs, unsettled by how close we’d come to being caught by someone who mattered, someone Damian clearly loved enough to want to protect from more danger than she already carried.

The rest of the meal passed in a haze of careful composure on my part. The table was small enough that every time I reached for a dish, my fingers occasionally brushed against Damian’s, and every single time, I felt the jolt of it clear down to my toes despite my best efforts to appear unaffected.

Julian, predictably, noticed everything. He said nothing outright, but the knowing little smirk he wore through most of dinner made it clear he understood exactly what kind of relationship had settled across the table from him – the particular quiet that fell between two wolves trying very hard not to look at each other too long, and failing every time.

Lucinda, thankfully, remained oblivious to all of it, chattering happily between bites about nothing in particular.

Near the end of the meal, she perked up with sudden inspiration. “Hey, Flourish, are you free

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Chapter 132 Too Close For Comfort

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Finished

this weekend? Let’s go up to Baleh for a few days. My treat this time, since Julian’s covering tonight.”

Normally I would have agreed without hesitation. This time, I found myself glancing up first, meeting Damian’s dark, faintly amused gaze across the table before I could stop myself.

I looked away quickly, clearing my throat. “I already have plans this weekend, Lucy. I can’t make

it.”

“Next week, then?”

My chest tightened. “Next week is my grandmother’s death anniversary. I’m sorry.”

“Oh – no, don’t apologize, that’s on me for not thinking it through.” Lucinda’s expression softened immediately, and she leaned over to pull me into a quick, warm hug. “I completely forgot.”

When she released me, I caught her glance flick toward Damian, whose brows had drawn together into something unmistakably grim at the mention of the anniversary.

She tilted her head, clearly filing the reaction away as one more small oddity about tonight she didn’t quite have the energy to chase down.

Instead, she turned to Julian with a half-hearted wave. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Julian stretched, groaning theatrically as he checked his phone. “I’m still waiting on my driver. Did you two bring a car?”

“Nope,” Lucinda said. “We’ll grab a cab.”

“I didn’t drink,” Damian said, voice dropping into that lazy, unhurried drawl he used whenever he already considered a matter settled. “I’ll drive you both home.”

Julian’s head snapped up. “Excuse me? Who exactly was clinking glasses with me all night, then? Mr. Harold, I don’t care how much money or power you have traffic laws still apply to Alphas.”

“Sparkling water,” Damian said simply. “I’ve been drinking that since we sat down. You just assumed otherwise.”

Julian stared at him, momentarily speechless, before letting out a disbelieving huff of laughter. “You toasted me with ‘water’ the entire night? That’s genuinely offensive.”

Damian lifted one shoulder in the barest suggestion of a shrug, entirely unrepentant. “You never asked.”

I bit back a smile despite myself, watching Julian splutter uselessly while Lucinda cackled beside him. Whatever tension had gripped my chest since Lucinda’s question in the middle of

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dinner finally began to ease, replaced by something warmer, harder to name.

The particular relief of watching the people you loved most simply enjoy each other’s company, even for one borrowed evening.

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We said our goodbyes to Julian outside, the cool evening air a welcome relief after the tension of the last hour, and made our way toward Damian’s car parked at the edge of the courtyard.

I had no idea, climbing into the back seat beside Lucinda, that the ride home was about to become considerably more complicated the moment she got out.

My wolf, still humming faintly from the near-miss of the evening, settled low and watchful, content for now to simply enjoy the warmth of the car and the familiar scent filling it from the driver’s seat.

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TRefuse To Be Your Luna

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