The Luna’s Second Chance Mate

Larissa’s POV

It has been two days since Declan’s fever. Contrary to the toddler that had been whimpering and crying that night, the one who happily followed me to kindergarten was far from ill. He was skipping all the way, I couldn’t contain my own happiness seeing him as active as ever.

I drew the broom in my hands across the marbled floors in the living area that afternoon, smiling to myself. Although I couldn’t see it, the sun must have been shining overhead. The skies from the open window blinds were a pale yellow that gave the weather some radiance. If the sun wasn’t so hot, it would have been the perfect weather to have a pool party with my family. When I had one.

Alpha Kaden hadn’t stepped out of his room all day. His breakfast still sat on the dinning table, but I could care less. I’d asked Gwen to take care of it for me. I didn’t want to cook for such a bigoted jerk, but I couldn’t say the same about his obsession with cleanliness. He could throw me out for real this time, since he hasn’t said anything to me ever since he’d locked me up the first time.

Heavy steps drew my attention to the staircase. I picked up the broom that had fallen from my hands and shifted back to the stairs before gulping. It was him. He took an awful amount of time to finally reach the foot of the stairs, and even worse was the frown that was plastered on his face. In formal pants and a black dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up, he would have been the definition of majesty if he wasn’t such a tyrant to me.

I looked away, having stared at him long enough for him to notice. I mentally facepalmed at my behavior, what would he think of me? Even at that, I knew he had a cynical response to me staring at him like that.

“What are you still doing here?” He shot at me, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt. Although he stood far away from me, his displeasure with me didn’t seem to waver.

“I’m cleaning.” I answered wryly, shaking the broom in front of me. He looked unimpressed however, now crossing both arms in front of him and cocking a brow.

“Who said you could do that?”

“I…You said you hated the dust, so I was just -”

“The last time I checked,” he cut me short, raising his left thumb and pinky fingers, before blowing on them like they were lit candles. “You were supposed to be locked up.”

My blood ran cold at his statement. How could he say that so nonchalantly? What did he even mean by that?

“But you asked me to take care of Declan that night.”

“Just for that night, and now I’ve changed my mind.” He countered with a blank stare. My eyes widened at that, even the broom in my hands dropped to the ground. He clicked his tongue and his eyes narrowed at me.

“Tsk. You’ve made a mess.”

Strong pairs of arms soon circled around me. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t will myself to move. Instead I was staring at him blankly, my whole form was now trembling at the realization.

“What?” I questioned stupidly, flinching when those arms held me in place. “Don’t fucking touch me!”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“Says who?” He shot back, running one hand through his hair as he approached me. Angry tears had welled up in my eyes and I pulled my arms to no avail.

“Why are you doing this?!” I cried out in horror, no longer holding back. I’d held back for so long already, I could only hold out so much before I would break. “Whatever did I do to you?! What have I done to you again?!”

“Seeing as you made my son fall ill, don’t you think you deserve worse punishment? I can’t get over the fact that you took him out under the rain. You put him in danger, Larissa. Got it?”

He was lying. I didn’t know what it was, but he was lying and it was pissing me off. His eyes told a different story as they stared at me. They were those entrancing emerald shade that now reminded me of all the reasons to despise him.

“All I wanted to do was take him out to have some fun. Ever since I got here, all he’s ever done is stay at kindergarten or sit at home like some moody teenager. He’s just a child, for heaven’s sake!”

“Now you shut the fuck up and listen to me!” He growled again, inching even closer to me. I didn’t hold back my glare either. “You won’t teach me how to parent a child, my child. I know what’s best for my son.”

“No, you don’t.” My voice had dropped to broken whispers. His face had grown void of any emotion other than anger, but I was still crying. My lips were trembling, but he needed to know. “The truth tastes like bile, Alpha. Declan needs to spend some time out of kindergarten with someone you trust enough to take care of him. Isn’t it? Isn’t that why you put me in charge of taking care of him?” I watched his eyes narrow even further. “It’s because you can’t do any of that. You don’t trust yourself enough to be there for him, do you?”

It didn’t take longer than a second for his eyes to turn into its maddened orange. Of course I’d struck a nerve and it was a little too late to fix that.

“Shut the fuck up!”

He charged at me in rage, so swiftly that I couldn’t see how he’d seized me by my neck and pulled me away from the men who had been holding my shoulders in place. His grip around my neck tightened and I choked on air. It was getting difficult to breathe, if I remained like this, it would only be a matter of time before I lost consciousness.

“Shut your mouth, if you don’t have any pleading words to say.” He growled again, worsening the grip around my neck. I could feel hot tears searing from my eyelids, staining my cheeks and stainibg his hands as well.

“Then do what you’ve always wanted to do.” I half whispered, straining to say anything. “Please, do it. Kill me. I’m begging you now, those are my pleading words. I’m tired, just kill me at once and have your satisfaction be forever tied to your gut. If not, then fuck you, Kaden.”

If I could take back my words, I still wouldn’t. I was tired, I couldn’t live like this. The worsening tears had blurred my vision, but I could see his blanket face staring at me. His dilated pupils were darting around my face before his grip on my neck loosened.

He took several steps backwards, finally letting go of me completely. I hadn’t known that his grip supported all of my weight, so I fell to the ground as soon as he let me go. I could hear harsh breathing, but I couldn’t tell if that was from me or from him. All I could tell was that my heart ached.

“Lock her up.” I heard him say before storming out of the house. His heavy steps told me so. Sitting there with my knees bent in on direction, I finally yelled out a cry.

I clutched at my chest, struggling to ease the tightness. I still didn’t know why he hated me so much and went so far to show it, but I did give him a piece of my mind. Whether or not he decided to kill me, I didn’t care. All I knew was that I would be happy if he could put an end to my life.

I sobbed there for a long time, hitting at my chest. The men who had held me down earlier seemed to be doing nothing except watching me cry like a helpless child, until they finally hooked their arms around mine.

“It’s time for you to go.” One of them spoke gruffly, pulling me up from the ground while the other pulled more roughly. I yelped at the force, letting them do what they wanted. They were stronger than I was, it was no use fighting with them.

They spun around towards the entrance. There was a tall figure there, and it took me a while to realize that the black haired figure was Jackson, standing there with the most shocked expression on his face. He stared at me as the men dragged me out and towards the cell that had once hosted my visit. Perhaps it would become a permanent residence this time. And what was more humiliating than watching Jackson see me like this?

My only thoughts were Declan, who’d seen me in worse situations.