Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33

His heart betrayed him.

It fluttered, actually fluttered, when Meadow helped button up his shirt.

At first Ethan told himself it was simply the warmth of her fingers or the comfort of routine. But it wasn’t. Something in her touch, gentle, trembling, careful, unravelled him more than he cared to admit.

She reached for the second button, her hands shaking slightly. Without thinking, he placed his hand over hers, steadying it. Her

breath hitched. Their eyes met.

He didn’t scowl.

He didn’t glare.

He didn’t bark an order.

His face was calm, blank, but his eyes… his eyes softened in a way they hadn’t in years.

“Thank you,” he murmured, quiet, restrained, but real.

Meadow swallowed and stepped back, then disappeared into the closet to get dressed. Ethan sat there for a second, stunned by the

softness rising in his chest.

Dangerous, he thought.

This is dangerous.

They headed to the dining room, and for the first time in years, the former Alpha was late. And not just late, fifteen minutes late.

Amber noticed.

Of course she noticed.

The scathing glare she shot Meadow could have cut through bone.

Meadow bowed respectfully to everyone, one by one, Joseph, Ashley, Amber, Levi. She wasn’t allowed to use sign language unless

granted permission, so she bowed deeper to replace her greeting.

Joseph nodded back with kindness.

Ashley didn’t bother responding.

Her lips curled in dismissive amusement.

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Chapter 33

“That is rude, Ashley,” Joseph snapped quietly.

Ashley rolled her eyes, flicking her perfect hair over her shoulder. “What? She’s mute, for goddess’ sake. I don’t owe her a response.”

Meadow kept her head down, throat tight.

Ethan didn’t.

He motioned Meadow to sit beside him, and when she did, he turned to Ashley with a stare cold enough to freeze her in place.

“You may be Joseph’s girlfriend,” Ethan said, voice low and lethal, “but I will not allow you to eat at this table if you disrespect my

wife again or refer to her as a mute. Am. I. Clear?”

Silence swallowed the room.

Ashley’s bravado evaporated in an instant; her face drained as she pinched Joseph’s arm desperately beneath the table.

Joseph glared at Ethan, embarrassed, irritated, conflicted. “Ethan, take it easy. She won’t disrespect your wife again. You’re scaring

her.”

There was tension now, thick, suffocating, electric.

Amber watched her eldest son with narrowed eyes. Something was shifting, and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all.

Meadow, the meek little mute she had intended as a tool, had somehow stirred something in Ethan. Amber didn’t know what it was

yet, instinct, desire, protectiveness, but she could feel it.

And she hated it.

She dabbed her lips gently with her napkin, then said in a sweet, poisonous tone,

“Be nice to Ashley, dear. Unlike Meadow, she will actually be a part of this family, I’ve said it before, getting involved with the mute isn’t the problem, but she is beneath you. Don’t fight your brother over her.”

Meadow’s eyes fell to her lap, shame crawling up her throat like smoke.

Ethan’s fork stopped mid-air.

His voice was cold steel when he spoke.

“Do not refer to her as a mute, Mother. If you refuse to call me crippled, then don’t you dare diminish her disability with your

tongue. Am. I. Clear?”

Levi inhaled sharply.

“Take it easy, Ethan,” he began.

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Chapter 33

Ethan’s gaze sliced through him like a blade.

“You have no say in this.”

Levi shut his mouth instantly.

Then Ethan turned his eyes, sharp, calculating, back to Joseph.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna