Underwater: The Silent Luna novel Chapter 96

Chapter 96

The rest of the ride passed in silence. Not hostile silence. Just quiet. The kind of quiet that sits between two people for different reasons. Ashley kept stealing little glances at Cynthia, still half amazed she was actually with her. Cynthia kept looking out the

window, or down, or nowhere at all.

When they arrived, it was not Minnies.

Ashley had made sure of that.

The café they chose was smaller, quieter, tucked away enough that there was less chance of running into the wrong person. Ashley

did not want Victoria seeing her with Cynthia. It was not that she was doing anything wrong, not really. She was only having coffee

with a school senior she admired. That was harmless enough. But Whitewood did not deal in harmless. Whitewood dealt in implications. In whispers. In what something looked like before it was ever understood. If Victoria saw her with Cynthia, she might tell Meadow. And if Meadow heard Ashley had been sitting in a café with Cynthia, Ethan’s former love, then questions would follow.

Ashley told herself she was avoiding unnecessary drama. That was partly true.

The other truth was uglier.

Some dark, petty corner of her would have loved the idea of Meadow feeling threatened. Of Meadow wondering. Of Meadow realising Ethan had once loved a woman like Cynthia and might still carry pieces of that past inside him. Ashley would have enjoyed that. She knew she would. But she also knew she could not afford to be obvious. Not yet, So she chose the smaller place and carried

her thoughts in silence.

They sat at a table near the window. A waitress came and took their order. Iced coffee for both. Easy. Simple. Ashley watched Cynthia while they waited, still trying to connect this quieter woman to the bright figure she had admired at the academy. It was strange. Fascinating too. It made Cynthia feel more real and somehow sadder.

“So, how have you been?”

This time Cynthia shrugged before looking at Ashley with a faint smile. Ashley remembered suddenly how young she herself had been when Cynthia left Whitewood. Fourteen. Just fourteen. Old enough to romanticise things. Old enough to notice beauty and sadness and power in adults without really understanding any of it. Cynthia had only been nineteen then. Nineteen and standing at the edge of a life with Ethan before choosing something else. Back then, Ashley had thought Cynthia was grown. Looking at her now, she realised how young that really was.

“Heard you and Alpha Sebastien Kaminski of the River pack are mated, and you would soon be Luna.”

Ashley said it lightly, repeating the rumours that had been floating around. She expected Cynthia to smile in that cool, proud way women did when their future was secure. Instead Cynthia let out a small chuckle that did not sound happy at all.

“We aren’t mated, Ashley. We dated, but I left him recently.”

The words landed heavier than Ashley expected. She frowned at once. Why would Cynthia leave that? Sebastien Kaminski was a

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Chapter 96

good catch by any standard. Alpha of the River pack. Powerful. Respected. The kind of man other women would have held onto with

both hands. Cynthia had walked away from that too.

“Why? You would have been Luna of the River Pack.”

Ashley meant it. She could not understand it. Status mattered. Security mattered. Position mattered. Cynthia looked at her for a

long second, as if measuring the girl she had once known against the woman sitting in front of her now.

“I do not care about such things, Ashley. I made a mistake leaving the one man that truly loved me out of fear. I thought Sebastied

would replace him, but I was wrong.”

Comments

MermicornQueen

Just calling Meadow ‘the mute’, so disrespectful

7 days ago

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12:04 Wed, Jun 17 MO

Underwater: The Silent Luna