Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 44 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 44

Chapter 44 The Man Waiting

Lady Flourish’s POV

:.

The following morning began more peacefully than the previous evening.

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Nobody was pouring wine on me, demanding impossible oaths, or dragging me into another argument about Harold and Phina, and I was grateful for the quiet.

I had barely settled behind my desk when Cheryl appeared with a stack of reports and enough energy to make my wolf open one eye. “Well?”

I looked up from my tablet. “Good morning to you too.”

“The meeting. Alpha Virel’s board.”

I groaned. “No final agreement yet.”

Her excitement disappeared. “Oh.”

“But it went well.”

Her face brightened. “I knew it.”

“Do not celebrate yet.”

“I’m being cautiously optimistic.”

“You’re practically vibrating.”

She grinned. “Do you understand what this partnership means?”

“I do.”

“And?”

“And we wait.”

She pressed her lips together, then asked if we’d gotten it anyway. I threw a file at her, and she laughed her way out.

The morning disappeared under contracts, budget revisions, calls and meetings. I moved from one discussion to another, and by afternoon even my wolf was tired of hearing numbers.

Still, I stayed focused, and whenever my mind drifted toward Damian, I pulled it back to the figures in front of me. A notification came through from finance.

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I reviewed the updated projections, approved three pending expenses, and finally let myself have coffee.

I had just taken the first sip when my office door opened. Rhys walked in and closed it behind him, and his expression made me sit up straighter.

“What happened?”

“We have a problem.”

“What kind”

“A comp

“We

petitors every week,” I said.

nt alert. “Who?”

le.”

ed breathing for a second. “Kieran?”

Same. He’s already submitted a proposal for the Stormbridge contract.”

ow irritation spread through me. Kieran Vale was the founder of Vale Dynamics, one of the ungest wolves to build a major technology company across multiple territories.

e was intelligent, ambitious, and persistent, especially when he wanted something.

Years ago, before Harold had occupied every foolish romantic thought in my head, Kieran had pursued me relentlessly, with flowers, invitations, gifts, and corporate partnerships disguised as dates trailing after me for months.

I had rejected him, and he had accepted it, or so I’d believed, until he realized my attention was still fixed on Harold.

After that, the flowers stopped, the invitations stopped, and the smiles disappeared.

What remained was competition. Now he was going after the partnership I had spent months preparing for.

“Tell me you’re joking.”

“I wish I were.”

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“How did he get involved?”

“One of Alpha Virel’s executives met with him before yesterday’s dinner. Stormbridge is entertaining his proposal now.”

My wolf growled. I leaned back slowly, letting that settle. Kieran had always known how to make me uncomfortable, but this was different. He wasn’t sending flowers or asking for dinner this time.

He was putting money, influence, and a corporate team behind the one opportunity I couldn’t

fford to lose.”On what grounds?”

le claims his expansion strategy is more aggressive. His implementation timeline is faster too, pparently.”

Is it?”

Rhys smiled. “No.”

That helped a little.

“He’s trying to make F-Tech look slow,” Rhys went on. “If Damian’s board believes speed is the priority, Kieran has an opening.”

I tapped my fingers against the desk. “Then we make sure they understand what they’re actually buying.”

Rhys nodded. “You’ve been preparing for this partnership for months. Your infrastructure is stronger, your territory coverage is better, and your company already has the systems in place for the transition. If Alpha Damian chooses anyone, it should be you.”

His certainty eased me. Competition itself didn’t frighten me. Kieran did, because I knew enough about him to understand that this was never simply about a contract.

“I’ll contact Stormbridge in a few days,” I said. “For now, we keep working.”

Rhys smiled. “Bossy.”

“Someone has to be.”

“That’s usually my job.”

“You’re clearly underperforming.”

He laughed and left, and the afternoon disappeared after him.

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When I finally looked up, darkness had settled beyond my glass walls. I checked the time and frowned. I was late.

My mind went straight to dinner. Lady Daciana. Stonehedge. Harold. My wolf grew restless, not because I wanted Harold, but because I wanted closure.

The Luna Rite still hung over every conversation. Our families expected it, the elders expected it, and everyone seemed to be waiting for me to accept a future I no longer wanted.

had spent too long letting other people decide what happened next. Tonight I would speak carly, and whatever followed, at least the truth would finally be known.

car arrived at Stonehedge Villa after dark. During the drive I prepared myself for the versation, reminding myself I wasn’t going there to argue, only to end the uncertainty.

phone stayed silent in my lap, but my wolf kept listening for a mind-link that never came.

was unusually alert, and I couldn’t understand why.

When the estate gates opened, I caught the familiar scent of the Virel family in the air. Guards tood around the property, their attention sharpening as my car passed, and one of them bowed his head when he recognized me. I barely noticed.

My thoughts were already inside that house.

I stepped out and inhaled slowly. One dinner. One conversation. Then freedom. My heels struck the stone pathway as I approached the main entrance.

Then I stopped.

Harold stood several yards away beneath the courtyard lights. He wasn’t speaking to anyone. He wasn’t checking his phone. He was simply waiting, for me.

Our eyes met, and his wolf surfaced. I felt the pressure of his Alpha presence from across the courtyard, familiar enough that my own wolf reacted before I could control her. My chest tightened.

Harold took one step toward me, then another. I stayed where I was, watching him approach.

Something was wrong. His jaw was tense, his eyes fixed on me, his hands clenched at his sides.

He had been waiting for me, but the expression on his face was not the one I had expected to see tonight. My wolf lowered herself inside me, suddenly wary.

Then Harold stopped several feet away and looked into my eyes, and I realized he already knew something.

4/5

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