Alpha’s Regret After His Pregnant Luna Left Chapter 166

(Audrey’s POV)

I froze in the doorway, keys still clutched in my hand. Arthur Moonstone stood in my territory house, uninvited and unexpected. The moonlight illuminated his tall figure, casting sharp shadows across his defined features.

My heart stuttered for a moment before resetting to its normal rhythm. After everything that had happened – the mate bond severance, the silver gun pointed at me, rescuing Emma from her own staged formula accident – I found it impossible to imagine having a calm conversation with him.

“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice deliberately expressionless.

Arthur tapped the ash from his wolfsbane-infused cigarette, the smoky scent filling my nostrils. Something flickered across his usually cold features – a rare glimpse of the warmth I once believed was there.

“I…” he hesitated, an unusual display from the typically decisive Alpha. “I came to find you.”

“For what?” I wondered aloud, a bitter taste forming in my mouth. Had he lost pack territory and suddenly remembered my existence? Was I merely his backup plan?

Arthur stared at me with those intense obsidian eyes, his gaze unwavering as he spoke with surprising certainty, “To reconcile with you. Audrey, we no longer have any worries. You can continue to be my Luna with peace of mind.”

For a moment, I stood stunned. Then, absurdity washed over me like a cold wave. What did he take me for? A puppet to be picked up and discarded at will? Did he still think we were back before the mate bond severance, when I foolishly believed he was the light in my darkness?

He thought I would leave when he waved goodbye and return when he beckoned? The audacity was breathtaking.

Anger bubbled up inside me, turning my words sharp as claws. “Did you come back to me because you lost pack territories and Emma Shadowcrest no longer wants your mark?”

“That’s not-” he began, but I cut him off.

“Do you think our problem was just about you and Emma Shadowcrest? Did we sever our mate bond only after she appeared?” I demanded, my wolf bristling beneath my skin.

Arthur lowered his eyes, adopting a gentler tone I’d rarely heard from him. “I know, I misunderstood before, thinking you liked Nathan Snowfang, not me…”

“It wasn’t a misunderstanding,” I replied with a cruel smile, knowing exactly where to strike to hurt him most. “If I had known from the beginning that the wolf who helped me was Alpha Snowfang, I might not have fallen for him, but I definitely wouldn’t have fallen for you.”

The truth was painful but necessary. That misunderstanding had created an illusion, making me believe Arthur was a wolf with a soft heart beneath his cold exterior. It had given me the courage to fly toward the flame like a moth, only to have my wings burned.

Arthur’s tall figure stiffened, his black eyes locked on me. For the first time since I’d known him, I saw genuine panic in his expression.

“So you liked me solely because of that incident?” he asked, his voice strained.

I pinched my palm hard, using the sharp pain to strengthen my resolve. “Yes!”

Without that incident, we would have been nothing more than wolves passing by each other in life. At most, he would have been the untouchable Alpha King, and I would have been just one of many wolves gazing up at him from neutral territory. I might have admired him from afar, but never would have fallen in love.

Having said my piece, I opened my door, assuming I’d made myself clear. Someone as dignified as Arthur Moonstone would surely leave gracefully now.

I was wrong.

The moment I turned on the light, his cold body embraced me from behind. He spun me around with Alpha strength, his mouth descending toward my neck in a desperate attempt to mark me forcefully and urgently, as if trying to prove something to himself.

Humiliated and pinned, my hands locked in his grip, I did the only thing I could. I raised my knee hard and struck him between the legs!

He inhaled sharply, releasing me as pain flashed across his face. His eyes darkened dangerously, a wounded Alpha’s fury.

“Can’t I even touch you anymore?” he growled, his voice tight with pain and anger. “Or is it because Florian Stormhowl has been protecting you and you’ve developed feelings for him? You should be clear about who he is…”

“Arthur Moonstone, I’ve never been clearer!” I shot back, my chest heaving with anger, eyes blazing. “What right do you have to question me? When we were marked mates, you were already ambiguous with Victoria. Now that our mate bond is severed, even if there is something between Florian and me, it’s none of your business!”

A flicker of shame crossed his face, tempering his anger. “I’m sorry…” he said, seeming to come to his senses. “I just want to start over with you.”

“On what grounds?” I stared at him coldly. “Arthur Moonstone, ask yourself, why do you really want to start over with me?”

In the past, I would have believed every word he said, only to end up hurt and wounded. Now that I’d finally woken up from the dream, I refused to make the same mistake again.

He pressed his thin lips together, searching for words. “Because…”

I interrupted him with a sarcastic smile. “Because you’re used to winning. You’re just unwilling to accept that you can’t have me as your mate.”

I never believed in fairy tales where wolves suddenly realize they’re deeply in love after severing mate bonds. Life wasn’t that convenient.

“That’s not true,” Arthur firmly denied, his black obsidian eyes like vortexes that could suck someone in. “I can’t live without you. Audrey, I’m used to having you at the pack territory, used to you suddenly calling my name in an empty den, used to you waiting for me no matter how late I come back from patrols…”

All habits, just habits. Like losing a wolf figurine that’s been beside your pillow for years-there’s a withdrawal reaction, not love. I knew this better than anyone.

I took a deep breath, suppressing my anger, and delivered words I knew would cut to his heart: “So just because you’re uncomfortable, I have to start over with you? Arthur Moonstone, I’ve had enough! As for being your Luna, it was once interesting, but now your pack has lost territories, what’s in it for me?”

He frowned slightly, genuine confusion crossing his features. “I’ve lost territories?”

I laughed coldly, mercilessly creating a bleeding wound in his Alpha pride. “All the other packs abandoned you, and you think I’m a neutral zone always standing in the same place?”

His long eyelashes trembled. When he looked at me again, his eyes were cold but rimmed with red, his tone both sarcastic and obsessive.

“So, if one day I become the ‘Alpha King’ everyone respects again, would you consider being my mate?”

“Perhaps!” I casually threw out these three words, knowing how hollow they were. A collapsing pack can’t return to glory just by saying so. I just wanted a clean break, to end this conversation once and for all.

Arthur fell silent, his expression unreadable. Then, suddenly, he smiled – not the warm smile I once cherished, but something darker, almost pathological. He raised his hand to caress my cheek in a gesture that felt possessive rather than affectionate.

“Audrey, remember your answer,” he said, his voice soft yet carrying an undercurrent of something that made my wolf bristle.

Then he swiftly withdrew his hand and strode toward the door, his Alpha presence filling the space until the last moment.

As the elevator arrived with a soft ping, the foyer and elevator area returned to silence, as if everything that had just happened was merely a dream.

I leaned against the door, gradually calming my ragged breathing. My hands moved automatically to tidy my clothes that had been disheveled in his forceful embrace. But as I did so, I felt something was amiss – a sensation of being watched.

I instinctively looked toward the other end of the elevator lobby.

Florian Stormhowl was leaning casually against his doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, golden wolf eyes gleaming with interest. He looked as if he had just watched a grand theatrical performance, thoroughly entertained by the drama.

When our eyes met, he showed no awareness of his eavesdropping, simply raising an eyebrow with undisguised curiosity. “Looks like your knee has recovered? You kicked him quite hard just now.”

“…” I closed my eyes briefly, then glared at him. “Florian Stormhowl, what would happen if you didn’t eavesdrop on other wolves for a day?”

“I was at my own den doorway,” he calmly countered, his golden eyes dancing with amusement. “You two were the ones who didn’t care about privacy.”

A bunch of twisted reasoning. I was about to close my door when he suddenly spoke again, his voice losing its playful edge.

“I have a way to help you make a clean break.”

I paused, my hand still on the door handle. “What way?”

Arthur’s parting words had left me uneasy, as if something else might happen. Something in his eyes told me this wasn’t over.

Florian smiled playfully, his golden eyes gleaming in the hallway light, but his tone was surprisingly serious.

“Form a temporary mate bond with me.”