Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Ethan sat in stunned silence after his mother’s confession.

The words echoed in him long after they were spoken, ricocheting through places he had sealed off for years. He could not believe it, not fully. The revelation struck him harder than any accusation ever could.

Meadow had stood up to Amber.

Not trembled.

Not pleaded.

Not folded.

Not only that, she had done it without running to him. Without seeking protection. Without turning it into weaponised pity or tears

meant to sway him.

She had carried it alone.

That alone commanded his deepest respect.

Something quiet and fierce unfolded inside his chest at the thought. Pride, sharp and aching. Admiration, deep and unnerving. The woman he had married was not the fragile creature everyone assumed her to be.

“That brings me to something important, Ethan,” Amber said, studying her son carefully!

The way she said it made his spine tense. He lifted his gaze to her.

“Now that you both have accepted each other…” she continued, her knowing look making him uncomfortable, “…I have decided to gradually begin handing over to Meadow.”

The words landed like thunder.

Ethan stiffened immediately.

“No,” he said at once. “It’s too much responsibility for her. She’s fragile and,”

Amber cut him off sharply.

“Meadow is anything but fragile, Ethan.”

He stared at her.

“You did not see the fire in her eyes,” Amber went on. “She went to the academy just like the others. She has a wolf. She can fight.

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Chapter 77

There is nothing wrong with her. She is simply mute, both she and her wolf, and she has survived this long without folding. That

alone tells me everything I need to know.”

His jaw tightened as he absorbed that truth. He had seen Meadow gentle. He had seen her kind. But he had not seen her in battle.

Not yet.

“I want her to take over from me, Ethan.”

The words felt like a blade turned inward.

“No,” he said again. “Let Ashley do it. She’s going to be Joseph’s mate.”

The words came from instinct, pure, desperate protection.

Ethan had watched what ruling did to his mother.

He had lived what it did to himself.

The weight.

The blood.

The fear.

The impossible choices.

Every order that ended in death. Every decision that hollowed him out. When his body failed him, he had been crushed beneath it all, corpse and burden all at once.

Meadow was too precious for that world.

Too gentle for its cruelty.

“No, Ethan,” Amber said firmly. “Joseph may be acting on your behalf, but you are still the Alpha, and Meadow is your wife.”

He laughed bitterly.

“An Alpha without a wolf!” he snapped.

The room shifted.

Not metaphorically.

Physically.

Amber felt it.

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Chapter 77

A pressure pulsed through the air. A command woven into instinct and blood. A shiver ran through her bones.

Stronger than it had been in years.

Her eyes widened.

“Echo?” she whispered, searching his face.

Ethan frowned. “What?”

“Ethan… I felt your command just now,” she said softly. “Stronger than before.”

He looked away.

“Is Echo back?” she asked, hope bursting in her voice.

He shook his head.

“I feel him sometimes,” he admitted. “A growl. A stir. A warmth. Nothing more. No voice. No presence. I still can’t shift.”

Amber exhaled slowly.

“Echo is still in there,” she said. “You know you will walk again when your wolf returns. Even the doctors said it. Your werewolf genes will reactivate and heal you once you can shift. Have you tried to bring him out?”

“No,” Ethan said sharply. Then his voice dropped.

“And don’t you ever say things like that where Meadow is. Don’t give her false hope about my legs. Today she exercised my legs using the doctor’s diagrams. Which tells me she read my file. I allowed her, and I will keep allowing it, because it makes her happy. But I will not let you plant hope in her head.”

His jaw tightened.

“Those doctors were wrong, and they cost me Cynthia. I will not lose my wife to false hope.”

Fear edged his voice.

Amber’s eyes dimmed at the name.

“Meadow is nothing like that bitch,” she said coldly.

“I know,” he said quietly. “But hope still destroys people. It destroyed me.”

Silence descended between them.

The kind that weighed heavier than shouting ever could.

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Chapter 77

Then,

“I still have to hand over to Meadow,” Amber said.

Ethan growled.

This time, the sound did not belong to him.

Amber felt it.

Echo.

A real presence.

Alive.

Watching.

She said nothing.

“I can’t hand over to Ashley,” Amber continued. “She’s evil.”

Ethan stared at her in shock.

“I thought you liked her.”

Amber snorted. “I tolerate her because Joseph likes her. That girl is pure venom. She tried to sabotage Meadow throughout our outing. Every snide remark, I saw it. If Ashley becomes Luna, she will destroy Meadow.”

She paused, her voice lowering.

“That is one reason I want your wife to succeed me. The other is simple, Meadow has the heart of a true Luna.”

Ethan was quiet.

The truth sank deep.

Then he sighed.

“Push slower,” he said. “Let Meadow grow into it before you dump that weight on her.”

Amber looked at him,

And tears filled her eyes.

She turned away.

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Chapter 77

She knew the truth.

And she knew the day she spoke it would break him.

Comments

MermicornQueen

2 Gomments!

Amber had been well written. She seemed like a very 2D villain at the beginning and over the course of the story has proved more complex, making difficult choices

7 days ago

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Underwater: The Silent Luna