Luna Who Broke the Line Chapter 07
That same night, Talia lay in her dorm at Blackthorn Community College. She couldn’t sleep either.
She had taken everything from Freya. Parents. Callum.
Gideon. She’d been inches from winning.
Then one scholarship profile had dragged everyone’s attention back.
The shock. The pride. All of it should have been hers.
She couldn’t swallow it.
At dawn, she rushed to Gideon’s dorm and grabbed a random guy.
“Get Gideon for me.”
The guy blinked. “Gideon? He withdrew last night.”
Talia’s face went white.
She practically ran to the Whitmore estate. She finally
found him at a private tutoring center near Blackthorn Prep.
He’d enrolled in a gap–year reapplication program. He
was going to apply to Silver Coast University.
Talia grabbed his sleeve. Tears streaming. The perfect,
helpless picture.
“Gideon. If you leave, what am I supposed to do?”
He pulled his arm free. Cold.
“You’re an adult. The Graysons will take care of you.
You’ll survive without me.”
She wouldn’t let go.
“You promised you’d take care of me forever. You can’t just leave.”
Gideon finally lifted his eyes. The cold in them could’ve frozen a lake.
“Back then, if you hadn’t lied to me. If you hadn’t told
me Freya was using the ‘I’m adopted‘ act to manipulate people. If you hadn’t said she was bullying you because she was the real daughter.”
“I never would’ve pushed her away. Again and again.”
“I believed your act. I betrayed the one person I
should’ve protected. I haven’t settled that debt with you yet.”
Talia’s mouth opened. Nothing came out.
She turned and left. Nothing but hate in her chest.
By then, my life at Silver Coast University had already begun.
I adapted to the food. The pace. No one whispered in
my ear that I was an outsider.
In my dorm, I had my own bed. My own desk.
No one would suddenly decide to throw my things in
the trash. No one would force me to hand over the little
I had to someone who tormented me.
I moved between classes, the library, my dorm. For the
first time, I noticed how white the clouds could be.
How free the wind felt in southern territory.
One afternoon, I was heading to the study lounge when I heard it.
“Freya. We finally found you.”
I turned.
My parents. Callum.
They looked worn. Their smiles were forced.
They no longer looked at me with disgust and
contempt. Instead, I saw admiration. Tenderness. And deep, aching regret.
My mother stepped forward to take my hands.
I stepped back.
My father held out a large shopping bag. New laptop. Phone. Expensive clothes. Imported snacks.
The kind of things that used to belong exclusively to Talia. I only ever got her castoffs. Faded
hand–me–downs. Used phones. Half–eaten treats.
I pushed the bag back.
“I don’t need these.”
The school had given me an honors scholarship. With
my part–time job, I’d bought my own laptop and phone.
They weren’t expensive. But I’d earned them. No one to
thank. No one to tiptoe around.
My mother’s eyes went red at the distance in my voice.
“Freya. We were wrong. We neglected you. But we’re still family. Please. Give us another chance.”
Callum’s voice was hoarse. “Freya. You’re my only real
sister. Just forgive us. Stop punishing us.”
I looked at them. A laugh slipped out.
“So you think I secretly applied to Silver Coast University and left without a word… to punish you?”
Once, I’d staged so many silent escapes. Thinking if I disappeared, they’d worry. They’d regret. They’d love
me again.
I’d hide in dark park corners for hours. No one ever came looking. They never even noticed there was one less person in the house.
A dead heart doesn’t stage anything.
My father’s Alpha presence pressed toward me. In the
past, I’d have backed away on instinct.
This time, my wolf just stood behind me. Didn’t even flick an ear.
“No matter what you say, I’m not coming back. I’m not
reconciling. I can let it go. But I can’t forgive.”
I watched them leave. Their defeated backs. Three
figures shrinking into the distance.
I felt nothing but still, quiet peace.
I’d finally closed that chapter for good.