Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 157

Chapter 157

After everything Oscar and Luis had done, he no longer trusted the men around him the way he once might have. Trust had become expensive. What if others had sold out too? What if some were only waiting for the right moment to strike from inside? What if even now, their nameless enemy was already reaching into Whitewood, testing the seams?

Joseph could not sit idly by with thoughts like that.

So he called Adam and Brian to join him in his office.

The earlier they started preparing, the better.

after it

He was almost glad Ethan was not around to hear any of this. Glad enough that the thought brought immediate guilt after Because Joseph knew what this kind of news would do to his brother in his current condition. Ethan loved the pack too much to hear something like this and sit still. He would sink into that ugly place again, that place where helplessness and rage fed each other. He would feel useless, trapped in his chair while danger gathered. Joseph did not want that for him. So he decided, almost at once, that he would keep what was happening from Ethan for as long as he could. Let him rest. Let him have his peace a little

longer. Let him recover whatever parts of himself he still could before reality came knocking that hard.

Adam and Brian arrived forty-five minutes later.

Joseph told them everything Malcolm had said. Apparently Adam had already heard of the attack itself through other channels, but

he had not known the details. Hearing the full story altered the room immediately. The threat was no longer distant.

“What are we going to do?”

Brian asked the question all three of them were thinking.

“Honestly, we need to start training and be on our guard. They could strike at any time. There is no way I will be signing away our

pack to an anonymous Alpha.”

Joseph meant every word of it. Resolve sat hard in him now. Fear too, but fear sharpened into purpose when it had enough

direction.

Adam and Brian agreed immediately.

“Anything you say. But what about Alpha Ethan?”

Joseph shook his head almost before Adam finished.

“Leave him out of this. We can handle it too.”

He said it with more certainty than he felt, because the truth underneath it was complicated. It was not just strategy. It was mercy. Ethan in this condition would be more liability than help in a battle that demanded movement, speed, brute physical power. Joseph hated even thinking that. Hated the disloyalty of it. But he knew it to be true. More than that, he did not want Ethan crushed by the

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Chapter 157

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reality of his own limitations again. Better to leave him out.

“I do not mean Ethan, Joseph. I mean Luna Meadow. She might be mute, but she aced her combat training at the academy. The muteness is why she was not recruited.”

Joseph frowned at Adam.

Of course Adam would know. He was in charge of warrior recruitment from the academy. If anyone knew who had potential and who had been passed over, it would be him.

“Luna Amber knew. She asked for her file before she went to the Clearwater house. I thought you knew.”

Joseph shook his head slowly, surprised by that. Another thing his mother had done quietly. Another thing that now seemed far more deliberate in hindsight than he had realised at the time.

“Nonetheless, her wolf won’t make a difference, and there is no way Ethan would want her to fight. It would worsen his depression if she had to fight while he remained in his chair.”

Joseph believed that. He knew Ethan. His brother would not allow his wife to risk herself for the pack while he sat unable to stand beside her. Love would make him selfish in that regard. Pride would make him miserable in it.

Adam sighed. Joseph could see he disagreed but knew there was no point pressing too far. Brian, however, did not stay quiet.

“Ethan loves this pack, Joseph. He would do all he can to save the pack.”

“He will not sacrifice his Luna for the pack.”

That correction ended the argument more cleanly than anything else could have. Because it was true. Ethan might burn himself out for Whitewood. He might even crawl if he had to. But Meadow? No. He would not send her where he could not go. Joseph knew that in his bones.

Then another thought rose.

“Bring Meadow’s file.”

He wanted to see it for himself now. Wanted to know how high she had scored. Wanted to understand why Amber had asked for it before going to Clearwater and why she had chosen Meadow for Ethan after treating the girl the way she had. Seeing everything now, Joseph could no longer believe his mother’s actions had been random cruelty or pure coldness. It had to be more than that.

Maybe Amber had wanted to make sure Meadow would remain with Ethan and not leave the way others had. Maybe she believed a

woman like Meadow, despite her mutism, would endure where others might not. Meadow was beautiful. Joseph could admit that

plainly. Any man would overlook her mutism if the rest of her stood before him the way it did.

The more he thought about it, the more deliberate Amber’s old actions started to seem.

After they finished discussing the larger threat, Brian brought up one last thing.

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Chapter 157

People had seen Ashley with Cynthia on the other side of town.

Joseph felt anger flash through him at once, clean and hot. He hid it, but not perfectly. Both Adam and Brian knew him well enough to notice the shift, and neither looked pleased. None of his friends liked Cynthia. None of them trusted her. The disappointment in their eyes when Ashley’s name came up only confirmed what Joseph already suspected, Ashley was becoming more trouble than she

was worth.

In that moment Joseph made a quiet decision.

It was time Ashley went home to her parents.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna