THE FORGOTTEN LUNA

KAEL.

Adessa's eyes fluttered open. She was looking straight ahead, still lost in her thoughts, and I just let her be. We were already threading a narrow, rough road through the deep part of the forest. The canopies of the trees filtered the sun, casting shadows across the path

and making the area darker and gloomy, even if it was already midmorning.

The road was barely wide enough for a car, but it only meant I was in the right direction. It had been almost a decade since I'd been here, but it looked and felt the same.

"Where are we heading?" she finally asked, breaking the silence between us.

"We need a place to stay for at least a day so you can rest, and I can make some adjustments on our way to the north."

"This seems to be too far from civilization already."

"Are you scared of where I would take you?" I teased her.

She turned her head to me, and a smile slowly curled on her red lips. "You can tell me we're on the road to hell, and I will still come with you. Hell with you sounds better than alone and with Alpha Draco."

I smiled and focused my eyes on the road, as I knew I needed to do a right turn soon. "You can drop the Alpha in his name."

"I've been wanting to. But the last time I dropped the Alpha from another Alpha's name, you went ballistic."

I chuckled. She wasn't wrong there, but Rasmus was totally different from Draco. "My bad. Call them by their first name if you're more comfortable with it."

"Unless it's a formal gathering or meeting." She added. "That's what you told me before."

"That's right. But feel free to call them names when it's just us. It can be wicked or gross, I don't mind. The uglier, the better." I chuckled again.

Her mouth hung open as the smile kept playing on her face. She slapped her hands gently on her lap before she spoke. "Tell me again, you have no memory of our time together? Because you've said those words, not word by word but almost exactly!" "And tell me, why do you have such a good memory that you remember every little detail of us?"

Her face dropped, and her shoulders slumped.

"Hey, did I say something bad?" I asked, furrowing my brows.

"All my memories are just with you. Not that it's a bad thing, but I mean, of course, I'd remember everything we talked about, as I barely spend time with anyone except you."

I swallowed. I recalled Landon telling me that she had no friends and would occasionally visit women from different departments and centers of the pack, but she rarely spent time with them.

"Why don't you have friends?" I asked. I might know the answer already, but I still didn't want to believe it.

"They don't like me." She answered before drawing her gaze to the window beside her. "I tried to be friendly at the beginning, but after many unwelcome faces and being not looked at when I spoke with them, I gave up."

"I'm sorry. Was it about me not telling them you didn't steal me from Desiree?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they just

don't like me." She then turned her head to meet my gaze, forcing a smile on her face. "But the lady in the flower shop where I get all the flowers I decorate our home- mean, your house-she was nice and lovely. She would offer coffee, and we would chat for a while. Other times, I brought her coffee when I visited."

"She must be the woman who gave a bouquet of flowers for you when I was in the plaza one time. You just left then, but I took it with me and put it in my office at the Central Hall." "She did? Wow. It must have been beautiful!" Her eyes twinkled, and a part of me ached. "I love flowers."

"Tell me, did I give you flowers on special occasions?"

She nodded, but she didn't say anything more.

"On ordinary days?"

She shook her head. The glow on her face was already gone.

"I'm sorry." I felt like punching myself for being indifferent to her.

"What for?" She smiled, but it wasn't the same smile she had earlier when I told her about the flowers the woman gave her. "Flowers are just flowers. And..."

"Those flowers during special occasions," I cut her off. "I gave them to you, or someone handed them?"

Even with Desiree, I wasn't the type to give flowers, but I wanted to learn more about our relationship and how I was treating her.

"Landon." She turned her head away again. "He would always come with flowers and cards. Gifts, too. From you."

"I'm an ass for a husband, yet you stayed."

ADESSA.

"I'm an ass for a husband, yet you stayed," Kael said, and I had no idea how to react to let him know it was okay, even if deep inside, I was hoping he would be sweeter.

There were just two occasions I got

flowers from him in the one year we

were together my birthday and our first anniversary. I should be happy with that, but I heard Landon ask Kael if he had prepared anything for our anniversary the next day. Not that expected him to, as I was already planning a dinner for us. But

when he said he had forgotten that it was our anniversary. Landon berated him and told him he only had two occasions he needed to

it still made my heart si utThis belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.

remember-my birthday and our

anniversary-and he forgot both.

It was a blow to my heart, but I still smiled and pretended to be happy when the flowers and a gift showed up the next day, even though I knew it was Landon who had prepared them.

I always tell myself Kael was the

perfect mate. He provided for me, gave me mind-blowing sex, hugged me and peppered me with kisses, let me decide about our home, and gave me the freedom to do what i wanted. I got flowers and gifts for my birthday and our first anniversary, even if not directly from him. He committed to our marriage and did exactly everything a husband should do, as written on the paper.

We both knew that was all it was supposed to be and that he never loved me to make an effort for extra sweet things. Our marriage was a contract. I shouldn't be complaining. "I'm not complaining. It was a good one year." I told him.