Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 241 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 241

Chapter 241 The Morning After

Lady Flourish POV

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I woke before sunrise with Elara’s face still in my mind and Marvolo’s name refusing to leave it.

The message, the attack, the tunnels beneath Stonehedge, and the question of who had been moving pieces around me had kept me awake long after Damian had fallen silent beside me.

I lay still for a few minutes, listening to the house wake around me, until I heard footsteps in the corridor and the faint sounds of guards changing shifts.

My wolf lifted its head inside me, already alert, and I knew from the pull of the mate bond that Harold was awake somewhere nearby.

“Great,” I muttered, pushing myself out of bed.

I showered quickly, dressed in dark trousers and a simple blouse, then checked my phone for messages from Cheryl.

There were several work updates waiting for me, and seeing them reminded me that I still had a company to run despite everything happening inside Stonehedge.

I packed my laptop and slipped my phone into my bag before leaving the apartment.

I wanted to get back to work, even if only for a few hours, and I especially wanted to leave before Harold found another reason to argue with me about guards, escorts, or where I was allowed to go.

My wolf gave a quiet warning.

“He’ll notice.”

“I know.”

I ignored it and walked toward the dining hall anyway. I had almost reached the entrance when I heard Harold’s voice from inside.

“Trying to escape before breakfast?”

I stopped and looked up to find him sitting at the long table with a cup of coffee in front of

him. He was dressed casually, but his training clothes were nowhere in sight, which told me he had skipped his morning session.

“You’re awake early.”

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Chapter 241 The Morning After

“So are you.”

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He leaned back in his chair, watching me with an amused expression. “I usually train at this hour, but I had a feeling you were planning to disappear before anyone noticed.”

“I was going to work.”

“Without telling anyone?”

“I didn’t realize leaving the house required a formal announcement.”

“It does when the house is under heightened security.”

The amusement disappeared from his face, and I walked farther into the room before setting my bag on the nearest chair.

Two guards stood outside the dining hall, and I could feel the faint pressure of their wolves through the bond between the pack members.

“I’m tired of this,” I said.

Harold frowned. “Of what?”

“Everyone deciding what I can do because I’m your mate.” I pulled out a chair but did not sit. “You can protect me without treating me like I’m incapable of making my own decisions.”

His jaw tightened, though he kept his voice low. “I never said you were incapable.”

“You don’t have to say it.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Harold looked toward the windows, then back at me, and when he finally answered, the teasing tone from earlier was gone.

“Protecting you became harder after Elara disappeared.”

I folded my arms. “That doesn’t give you the right to control everything around me.”

“I know.”

The answer came so quickly that it caught me off guard. His wolf pushed against his aura, and the

pressure spread across the dining hall before I felt my own wolf answer it.

“Easy,” I whispered.

Flourish’s wolf growled softly.

“Don’t.”

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Chapter 241 The Morning After

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I drew a slow breath and forced my aura back under control. Harold did the same, and the guards outside shifted their weight as the pressure disappeared.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not trying to fight with you this morning.”

“Then stop making decisions for me.”

“I’ll try.”

That was not the promise I expected, but I accepted it with a small nod. I finally sat down and reached for the coffee that had been left on the table.

Harold watched me for another moment before speaking again. “There’s something else you need to know.”

I looked at him.

“Garret has ordered you out of Stonehedge.”

My hand stopped around the cup.

“What?”

“He sent the order through his people this morning.” Harold leaned forward. “And before you assume the worst, the attack against you was connected to someone else. Garret claims he wasn’t behind what happened.”

I stared at him, trying to make sense of it. If my father wanted me gone, and someone else had already been moving against me, then the problem was much bigger than a family dispute.

“Who was he talking about?”

“He didn’t give me a name.”

“Of course he didn’t.”

Harold looked away briefly. “He said someone had been pushing things against you for months.”

The information left me quieter than I wanted to be. I had spent so long thinking the danger started with the recent attacks that I had never considered that someone could have been working around me long before I noticed.

My wolf paced inside me.

“Something is wrong.”

“I know.”

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Chapter 241 The Morning After

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I looked toward the windows and noticed the guards and camera above the doorway. “You even changed the patrol route,” I said, recognizing the warriors from the corridor.

“Rhys changed it after last night.”

“And you agreed?”

“I agreed because three attackers got inside.”

“That doesn’t mean I need an escort to walk into my office.”

Harold sighed. “Flourish, I’m not asking you to stay locked inside. I’m asking you to let us know where you are.”

I picked up toast and took a bite. “That sounds reasonable when you say it like that.”

“It is reasonable.”

“Don’t get too pleased with yourself.”

A brief smile touched his mouth before he reached for his coffee. For a few seconds, the room felt completely normal enough, which made the next information harder to take.

I reached for my phone when it started vibrating against the table. Harold glanced at the screen, and I saw Rhys’s name before answering.

“Rhys?”

His voice came through quickly. “Alpha Harold, I finally got a transmission from the tracker.”

Harold straightened. “The one recovered from Marvolo’s vehicle?”

“Yes. It activated less than a minute ago.”

I exchanged a look with Harold. My pulse picked up as Rhys continued.

“Can you trace it?”

“I already did.” There was a pause, followed by the sound of typing. “The signal is moving, but I have the location now.”

“Where?”

Rhys went silent for a second.

Then his voice dropped.

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Chapter 241 The Morning After

“Alpha, the signal is coming from beneath Stonehedge.”

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Finished

I stood so quickly that my chair scraped across the floor. Harold was already on his feet, his wolf awake and his eyes fixed on the ground beneath us.

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