Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134

Levi clearly saw it coming. Maybe he had expected it the moment the words left his mouth. He moved back at once, raising both hands as he stood.

“I do not mean it in a derogatory manner. The two of you have hated me since I married your mother. Honestly, that was not what I meant, Joseph, do not read my words negatively.”

Joseph’s chest rose hard. He stopped, but only just. Every muscle in him felt ready for impact. He had been one second away from breaking Levi’s nose, and part of him still wanted to.

Levi kept his hands up another moment before lowering them carefully, as though aware that Joseph had not truly calmed yet.

“I just want to make sure you are capable because your mother and I have been stuck in this place for years now, unable to live and enjoy our marriage. Since you are taking up the responsibilities fully and do not need my help, I would like to take Amber on vacation, just the two of us.”

That changed the shape of the conversation so abruptly that Joseph’s anger lost some of its edge. Not all of it. But enough. He stared at Levi, breathing a little slower now. The explanation landed differently than the earlier remark had. It did not erase the insult to Ethan, real or perceived, but it made the man’s concern easier to read. Levi was not trying to undermine him. He was trying, clumsily, to secure freedom for himself and Amber.

Joseph relaxed a little.

He could understand that. More than perhaps Levi realised. His mother and Levi had indeed been in place for years, bearing pack

responsibilities in one form or another, unable to disappear fully into themselves as husband and wife. Cain’s death, Ethan’s

burdens, the weight of the pack, all of it had stretched on and on. If Levi wanted time alone with Amber, that at least was human.

That at least Joseph could hear.

“You could have said that without insulting Ethan. He still owns and runs the pack.”

Levi nodded. He accepted that correction easily enough.

“Not with doubt, but he isn’t here right now.”

Joseph gave a small nod in return. There was truth in that, even if he did not like the phrasing. Ethan was not there. Joseph was. For

now that was enough.

He let the tension ease by force and chose to move the conversation somewhere less likely to end with fists.

“So, where will you be taking my mother for vacation?”

That question changed Levi’s face. The strain in it softened. A smile touched him, small but genuine.

“Honestly, I do not know, but she deserves to spend some time close to the beach.”

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Chapter 134

Joseph smiled then too, despite himself. It was easy to picture Amber near the sea, with wind in her hair and no pack matter waiting outside the door. Easy to imagine her breathing a little easier. Easy to think she deserved that and more.

“I am sure she would love it. But I doubt she would want to leave now.”

That was the truth of it. Amber was not the kind of woman who let go easily, especially not now, not with so many unresolved things pressing around the family, Joseph knew his mother. Wanting rest and allowing herself to take it were not the same thing for her.

Levi sighed and sat back down on the chair he had risen from before Joseph nearly hit him.

“I need you to help me talk to her, to listen to me and allow us to go on a vacation.”

Joseph let out a breath through his nose. Of course that was where this was leading. Levi needed an ally. Needed someone Amber

might listen to. Needed Joseph to push where he himself had failed.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna