From Rejected Luna To Lycan Queen (Eloise and Edward) novel Chapter 361

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13:16 Mon, Jul 20

Chapter 361 It’s Not A He, But Them

Chapter 361 It’s Not A He, But Them

ZARA.

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“Who’s who?” I was still distracted by the now silent phone sitting face down on the bar between us, had zero idea what she was talking about.

that I

“The man you’re obsessing over.” She pointed a wiggling finger at me. “Trust me, babe. I know that look.”

I took the third shot and slammed it back down, sliding the glass toward her.

“Hit me.”

Her brows shot up. “Oh shit, that bad huh?”

She poured generously this time.

“Oh god, the irony of four.” A laugh caught in my throat as I downed my fourth shot.

She blinked. “Four… Four what?”

“I’m obsessing over four men. Not just one.”

I braced myself for judgment. Instead, she whistled and leaned on the bar.

“Damn, Zara. I can barely handle one dick, let alone four.” She cackled, cheeks pinking as her gaze flicked instinctively down the hall toward Ray’s office.

My eyes

widened. “No fucking way. You’re sleeping with our boss?”

“Shhh. He’ll hear you.”

I smothered my amusement with my hands, shoulders shaking. God, this felt good. Normal. Two girls leaning on a bar, tipsy and gossiping.

This was what I’d been missing. Not like I didn’t have it with the other girls, it just wasn’t like that. They felt high profile, the Lycan Queen and her best friend. Sometimes I felt like I couldn’t do these type of things

with them.

Beth took a seat at the bar and I followed, plopping into the barstool next to her.

“Okay, but seriously Zara. No wonder you’re off in la la land all week! I would be too if I was contemplating my life choices.”

“It’s not like I planned it.”

Beth snorted. “Four men. Jesus, Z.”

I shrugged, cheeks warm from the alcohol. I suddenly felt shy.

“Uh–huh. I swear I’m not judging!” She leaned her chin on her palm. “I need to live vicariously through 1/4

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Chapter 361 It’s Not A He, But Them

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you. Tell me something I’m dying here. How’d you meet them? Do they know about each other? Because if not, that’s a mess waiting to happen.”

“Okay fine.” I bit my lip. “They’re all brothers. But they don’t know I’m interested in all of them. I thought about how Cassian and Hades were fighting over me, and decided to leave that part out. Admitting I wanted them out loud was enough for me.

Beth squealed. “You bad girl! Brothers!!!??? You have to tell them.”

I shook my head. “No way. Plus, I haven’t talked to any of them all week.”

Her smile softened. “That sucks, babe. But you don’t need to sit around waiting for them to call you. Take charge.” She jabbed a finger at my shoulder. “You’re a badass bitch. Make the first move

I laughed, shaking my head harder. “I only have one of their numbers. And he isn’t the one I’d want to call anyway.”

No freaking way was I calling Dorian.

“Why not?”

I hesitated. Just a beat. Hades’s face slid into my mind uninvited. “The one I want to call… didn’t give me his.” I shrugged. “But he knows where I work.”

Her brows lifted. “Oh. You met him here? Yeah. Actually you did too. Last week. When that jerk slapped your ass.”

Her eyes glossed over.

“He defended me,” I prompted. “Tall as fuck. Leather jacket.”

Beth nodded a little too fast. “Of course I remember.” She didn’t look at me when she said it. That prickle hit the back of my neck. She was lying.

Why?

Because she’s drunk, I told myself. That had to be it. Except… she’d been pale. Shaking. Barely able to speak when Hades stepped in. I remembered how she’d stared at him like she was seeing a ghost, mumbling something under her breath. You don’t forget something like that.

So why was she brushing it off like it had never happened?

This didn’t sit right. I shook my head slightly, the movement making my head fuzzy. Probably nothing. Just alcohol. Just a weird week.

Still…the feeling lingered.

Who were these men? And why did they come into my life only to just disappear fast?

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Chapter 361 It’s Not A He, But Them

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With my head tilted down, I shuffled along my block, shoulders hunched against the bitter wind coming off the bay. My hands were numb, fingers aching like they might snap clean off, my nose burning the way it always did when winter dug in its claws.

Moon Harbor didn’t usually get this cold, which somehow made it worse. Especially since I knew I was going home to a broken heater.

My brain was already fried from a long week and too much alcohol. I told myself it was exhaustion. Too- much noise in my head. Still, the feeling lingered. That quiet, crawling sense that I’d missed something important. Too many late nights in a row. Not enough sleep.

The nightmares had come back with a vengeance. Every time I closed my eyes lately, Liam haunted me. I shivered again, and this time it wasn’t from the cold. I slipped my hand into my bra and wrapped my fingers around the handle of the small knife I kept tucked there, the metal cool and familiar against my palm.

Just in case.

I hated that “just in case” was still part of my life. But the blade made me feel a little better.

I quickened my pace. Fog rolled in thick and low, swallowing the streetlights and blurring the edges of everything familiar. Buildings became shapes. Shadows stretched wrong. The city felt hollowed out, like I was walking through the inside of something instead of along a sidewalk. The hairs on my arms prickled beneath my Rayet.

Get it together, Zara. You’re tired, buzzed, and overthinking because that’s what you do when things don’t make sense.

Still, my stomach stayed tight.

It’s just your overactive imagination, I told myself, even though my hand never left the knife.

By the time my building finally came into view, I was half jogging, breath puffing white in front of me as I fumbled for my keys, fingers stiff and clumsy. The old brick structure loomed out of the fog, familiar and unwelcoming all at once. I reached for the broken front door and yanked the handle open, just as something small and fast darted past my legs.

I screamed, dropping my knife, heart in my throat. I spun around, pulse slamming as the door banged shut behind me. The hallway was dark, lit only by the weak yellow glow of a flickering overhead bulb near the stairwell. Shadows stretched too long along the walls, my imagination already spiraling into worst–case scenarios I didn’t have the energy to survive tonight.

The hallway stayed silent. No doors opened. No footsteps checking if I was okay. No irritated neighbors. yelling at me to shut up. I wasn’t surprised. This place wasn’t known for its sense of community. People kept their heads down, minded their business, pretended they didn’t hear things they definitely heard. Getting involved was how you invited trouble.

Everyone here knew it.

I swallowed and crouched slowly, scanning the floor until I spotted movement near the base of the stairs. It wasn’t a rat. Or a cat. Or anything else my panic had conjured. It was a fox. Black as the night, its fur

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Chapter 361 It’s Not A He, But Them

almost blending against the dingy concrete. Too clean.

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Too soft. Like it didn’t belong anywhere this ugly. Its dark eyes locked onto mine in a sharp, intelligent way that made my chest tighten for reasons I couldn’t explain.

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