Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“His demands are outrageous, ridiculous to be precise, and I am not ready to play ball with this man,” Ethan concluded.

The words landed like a stone in the middle of the room, heavy and final. The faint crackle of the fireplace filled the silence that followed, the only sound in a space suddenly too tight for two men carrying this much tension.

Joseph stared at him in disbelief.

For a second, he simply looked at his brother as though he had misheard him. Then the disbelief twisted into frustration, hot and

sharp.

“We need that treaty, Ethan. We need it,” Joseph snapped. “I am not cut out for fighting and killing people. I don’t want war, I’m ready to do anything to avoid it. So yes, we’ll put up with his bullshit, and we will agree to his terms.”

His words came faster, stronger, driven by something deep and shaking inside him. Fear, maybe. Or exhaustion.

Ethan exploded.

“No, we won’t!”

The sound of his voice cracked through the silence like a whip.

“That is not what a true Alpha does,” Ethan roared. “A true Alpha fights. Defends. Protects. You don’t give away your pack because you’re afraid! The moment people sense that fear, they will piss all over you. They will take advantage of you. They will use you. And you are not allowed to let that happen because you are Alpha!”

Joseph’s own anger surged to the surface.

“I am not Alpha!” he shouted back. “I never asked for this! I am not cut out for this bullshit! I don’t want this title, this responsibility, this blood on my hands! I never imagined this would be my life, Ethan, never!”

The words spilled from him like poison, sharp and bitter. Every fear he had buried under duty crawled out through his mouth in one

raw confession.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The room felt charged now, thick with words that could never be pulled back. The shadows on the wall danced wildly as the fire

snapped, mirroring the chaos between them.

Ethan’s fire flickered.

For a moment, he saw his younger brother not as a leader, not as an Alpha, but as a man drowning in fear.

He bowed his head briefly.

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Chapter 65

“Do you think I wanted this?” Ethan said quietly.

The shift in his tone was jarring. The fury drained out of his voice, leaving something far more dangerous behind, truth.

His voice dropped, heavy, shaking.

“Look at me, Joseph. I am a laughing stock. Nobody takes me seriously. I hid away for years, terrified someone would challenge me.

I can’t shift. I can’t use my fucking legs. Mother had to trick a woman into marrying me.”

The admission ripped out of him with no warning. His hands tightened on the armrests of his wheelchair, knuckles bleaching white

as if he were holding himself together by sheer force.

His chest tightened.

“And I am afraid,” he admitted, voice rough, “afraid that I won’t even be enough for her. Afraid I’ll ruin her life just by existing.”

The words tasted like ash in his mouth. He lifted his head and looked straight at Joseph.

“Look at me. Then look at you. You walk freely. People adore you. Everybody wants to be you, wants to be with you. You are loved.

Desired. Respected.”

Joseph’s breath faltered, guilt slipping through the cracks of his anger.

His laugh was hollow.

“And I?” Ethan continued quietly. “I’m just a grumpy, bitter, forgotten crippled Alpha everyone pretends still matters.”

His voice broke before he caught it. The fracture was small, but it shattered something between them all the same.

“Do you think I enjoy this?” he demanded. “Do you think I chose this life? I didn’t. But here I am. And there’s nothing I can do

about it.”

His breathing was uneven now, chest rising and falling as though each breath cost him effort.

“So since I am already broken,” he said, pain cutting through every word, “I am begging you, put aside your fear and take charge for

both of us. Tell that bastard to shove his chains up his ass and let’s go home. To our pack. Our family. Our women.”

His eyes burned.

“He is greedy, Joseph. He will never stop. Even if you sign his cursed treaty, he will come for more. And you know it.”

For a heartbeat, Joseph said nothing.

The firelight carved harsh lines across his face. His jaw worked as if he were grinding down something sharp inside his mouth.

Finally, he inhaled slowly through his nose.

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Chapter 65

“And what happens when he challenges us?” Joseph shot back. “What happens when they all challenge us?”

He stepped closer, cutting down the space between them until Ethan could feel his presence like pressure against his chest.

“You think you’re going to fight, Ethan? You think the world will stop because you’re angry?”

His voice hardened, cruel now.

“You want to go back to Meadow. To Mom. To your perfect little corner of safety. But what happens when they show up at our

gates?”

He scoffed bitterly.

“You won’t fight. You can’t fight.”

The words struck like a blade between Ethan’s ribs.

“I will be the one on the battlefield,” Joseph continued coldly. “Not you.”

The truth of it stung worse than any lie ever could.

Ethan stiffened.

“You refused to do anything about your condition,” Joseph charged on. “The doctors told you it needed patience. You refused. You stopped trying. The moment Cynthia left, you became a wreck. You drowned in self-pity. You sat in that house and did nothing.”

Each sentence was a hammer blow.

Ethan’s chest began to heave, shallow breaths scraping out of him as rage and shame collided in his veins.

“I am not risking my life for your pride,” Joseph said flatly. “So yes, I will sign the deal. And you will agree to it. Because when the blood starts to spill, I will be the one standing in it, not you.”

Ethan’s hands trembled.

His jaw locked so tight it hurt.

And for the first time in seven long years, the rage inside him rose violently enough that he felt like punching his own brother.

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Underwater: The Silent Luna