The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 128: Chapter 128

: Lucas
‘You stupid…’ Rhonen snarled viciously at me in my mind.
I leapt to my feet and was in front of Sutton in an instant.
“Sutton, that’s not what I said,” I insisted, grabbing her arms to stop her from going anywhere.
“You didn’t have to,” Sutton snapped back ferociously. Tears already streaming down her face. “You’ve done nothing but lock me out since that night, Lucas. I’m not stupid. I know when I’ve become nothing more than a disappointment.”
It was like a punch to the gut. Leaving me utterly confused on how she could possibly believe that. I searched for a response but words wouldn’t come. I was still scrambling for an explanation for what was actually happening right now.
Unfortunately, that was the worst thing I could have done. Taking my silence as confirmation, she pushed past me aggressively. I forced my hands through my hair. Fear, frustration, and confusion still taking over my brain. Rhonen wasn’t any help. Snapping and growling in my head. It was all too much and now everything that mattered to me was walking away.
“I failed,” I finally yelled.
Sutton stopped. Her back was still to me and her hands were fisted but at least she wasn’t leaving me.
“I failed,” I repeated. “I failed to keep invaders out of my territory. I failed to see how dangerous Daisy’s ideations had become. I failed to protect Jack. I f… I failed to protect you. Again. When I found you, I swore I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I promised that I would take care of you and keep you safe. And I keep failing.” I took a few steps towards her. “I nearly got you killed the other night. But… if you hadn’t been there… I wouldn’t have been able to save Jack. He would have died along with her. That was all you, Sutton. Everything that was my responsibility, I failed at.”
I fell silent. Not knowing how else to tell her how I was feeling. So, I waited. Preparing to accept her decision to walk away. She deserved so much be…
A sharp pain erupted in my jaw, forcing me back a few steps. My hand went to my face as I tried to assess what had just happened.
She’d hit me. Punched me right in the face.
“How dare you?” she hissed. “I have spent the past two days trying to hold it together. Helping you sort out your pack. Giving you space I thought you needed even though it made me feel incredibly useless. Then… you push me away even more. Telling me I shouldn’t be here for you. I finally stand up and fight for what I care about — finally feel like I’m worth something — and you made me feel like it was nothing. Like it wasn’t good enough. All because what? Because you don’t get to take all the fucking glory? How dare you?”
My mouth dropped open. Then a laugh gurgled up from my chest. I couldn’t stop it because she was so incredibly right. I was being more than stupid. More than selfish.
Still, laughing was, again, the wrong reaction to have. She swung at me again. This time, I caught her wrist, grabbed the nape of her neck and yanked her toward me. My lips slamming into hers as I devoured everything that she was.
“I’m sorry,” I forced out. “I’m so incredibly sorry, princess. I was beyond dense. You were exceptional that night. I was… I am so fucking proud of you. I couldn’t love you or want you more, baby. I swear to that.”
Her tears had started flowing again, but this time they were accompanied by relief flowing between our connection.
“Then why push me away?” she demanded, shoving my chest. “I thought you blamed me. I thought you realized it was my fault all this happened.”
My fingers tightened in her hair as I jerked her closer with a growl.
“Don’t ever think that again,” I demanded. “No matter how stupidly I’m acting. That will never be what I’m thinking, princess.”
“You were thinking something, Lucas,” she replied. “Something you didn’t feel you could share with me.”
I sighed resting my forehead against hers. “I was thinking that I didn’t deserve you. That I couldn’t even keep a promise to keep you safe. I was thinking you had every right to want to walk away.”
“What?” Sutton replied incredulously. “Lucas, you can’t be everywhere all the time. You taught me how to take care of myself. How to keep myself safe. You provided me with the skills and opportunity to be more independent. That’s… that’s exactly what a mate is supposed to do. That’s exactly what an Alpha is supposed to do.”
My mouth claimed hers again. My hand gripping her jaw as I encouraged her to open for me. She responded immediately, her taste washing over me. So much weight lifted from me in that moment. I was reminded that things weren’t as dire or horrible as I had perceived them to be. Nothing I faced with Sutton could be.
I tugged the belt of her robe open. My hand sought her skin, pushing aside the fabric of her nightclothes. At first, she leaned into my advances but then suddenly pulled back.
“As… as much as I’ve missed this,” she breathed. “I’m not sure we should be doing it in front of your parents.”
She tipped her head toward the memorial, reminding me of where we were. I burst out laughing.
“No, I suppose not,” I said. I took her hand and squeezed it. “Shall we go meet them?”