Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

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The doctors had offered physiotherapy, optimistically at first, then cautiously, then with sympathy, but after six months of pain, strain, and no measurable progress, Ethan simply stopped fighting. His legs remained dead weight beneath him, and the hope he once clung to slowly withered until it could no longer stand on its own. What made it worse wasn’t the paralysis; it was everything it invited with it.

The rejections.

The pitying looks.

The subtle cruelty wrapped in polite voices.

The women who pretended to be interested until reality set in.

The way people’s eyes slid over him as though he was half a man, half a wolf… half alive.

After six months of failed treatments and a sea of heartbreaks, Ethan simply gave up on being seen.

That was the beginning of his self-imposed exile.

He hid so well that the pack eventually forgot their formidable Alpha was still alive. Hidden behind the mansion’s stone walls, Ethan moved through his days like a ghost tethered to a chair, haunting rooms that once commanded respect. Asking Joseph to take over leadership wasn’t a moment of weakness; it was a calculated surrender. The pack needed an Alpha who could move through the world, and Ethan… Ethan could barely tolerate being in it.

His solitary life became his armour, cold, quiet, impenetrable. And it might have remained that way if Amber hadn’t decided that her crippled son needed companionship.

When the live-in nannies kept resigning, some after a day, most after a week, the Luna snapped. Ethan’s temper, his icy silences, his refusal to be fussed over… all of it chased them away. Amber’s solution? Find someone who could not quit. Someone who’d endure the silence, the mood swings, the distance. Someone she could bind to Ethan by law and obligation.

Amber wanted the perfect caretaker.

She also wanted grandchildren.

Two goals, one strategy, marry Ethan to a woman whose life circumstances would make her grateful for even the coldest opportunity.

Meadow Clearwater.

A mute girl with no voice, no power, no standing, and no way out of a deal once she signed it.

Amber knew exactly what she was doing.

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14:49 Sat, Jun 13

Chapter 22

Ethan knew it too, and the knowledge sat in his gut like rot.

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He was still staring at the television when he felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

He spun slightly, more startled than he would ever admit, but forced himself to remain composed when he saw Meadow beside him. She held his phone out with both hands, like she was offering something fragile and precious.

He took it.

She made the sign for Thank you, gentle and quick.

He gave her a curt nod and watched her slip away, silent as shadow, heading back toward the kitchen.

When she was gone, he unlocked his phone, out of habit at first, but paused when he saw the text. She hadn’t deleted it. Not a word. She had trusted him enough not to cover her tracks.

A small surge of guilt pricked him.

He was invading her privacy.

But his curiosity overpowered the guilt, especially when he remembered her trembling hands.

“Hey Vikky, I miss you so much. I do not have a phone, but I am texting to let you know I miss you.

You were right, by the way. Alpha Ethan is the one I’m joined with; he is a very nice man.

He has been kinder to me than anyone I have ever met other than you.

I miss you.”

Ethan read it twice.

Then a third time.

A strange, unnerving warmth crept into his chest,

A very nice man.

He felt… undeserving.

Undone.

She didn’t even know he’d been the intended groom from the start. She must have assumed it was Joseph, and Ethan recalled, with sharp clarity, the exact moment her face drained of colour when the servant said, “Your husband is here.”

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Chapter 22

The shock.

The fear.

The disappointment.

Ethan felt the shame again, heavy and unwelcome. His mother had manipulated everything, staged everything, deceived a vulnerable girl and her parents, and thrown Meadow into a life she hadn’t chosen.

After about an hour, the cabin door swung open without warning.

Keith.

Of course.

Keith Brines had resigned as Beta the moment Ethan stepped down. Loyalty wasn’t a title for him, it was bone-deep, unshakeable. And now he was here, just as Ethan had expected.

Keith didn’t bother knocking; he simply checked the handle and pushed the door open. Elaine sighed behind him.

“You should knock,” she whispered.

“He won’t mind,” Keith said confidently.

He didn’t.

Ethan looked up as Keith entered, and his friend grinned.

“You look good for a grumpy fella,” Keith teased, dropping onto the couch beside him.

Ethan actually laughed.

It wasn’t loud, but for someone who had forgotten joy, it was loud enough.

Meadow, who had heard the door open from the kitchen, paused mid-step. She had never heard Ethan laugh. Not once. Curiosity pushed her forward, and she inched toward the living room.

Keith noticed her first.

A gentle-looking young woman, soft around the edges, with eyes that carried more silence than innocence.

He stood immediately. Elaine followed, bowing her head respectfully.

Meadow froze.

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Chapter 22

Respect wasn’t meant for her.

Not this kind of respect.

She wasn’t a Luna.

She wasn’t even a wife, not truly.

She was a caretaker forced into a position she never asked for.

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She didn’t know whether to sign, nod, bow, or flee, so she simply dipped her head politely and turned to leave.

Ethan’s eyes followed her until she disappeared up the stairs.

“She’s shy?” Elaine asked softly.

Ethan didn’t look away from the stairs when he replied.

“No. But she knows the rules.”

His tone was cold.

Dismissive.

Deliberate.

Elaine flinched.

Keith swallowed hard.

Neither of them knew what “rules” he meant.

Neither of them understood that Ethan was hiding something far more fragile than cruelty.

He was hiding himself.

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14:49 Sat, Jun 13

Underwater: The Silent Luna