The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0104

I pushed the horse as fast as she could go. My wolf was here, I could feel it.

But then, suddenly, it felt further away. It was leaving me!

In the driveway beyond the house, a car started to drive away. I pulled at the reins, guiding the horse in that direction.Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

Faster, faster. We were going to lose it!

The horse huffed with each heavy exhale. Its hooves clattered against the concrete driveway. We followed the car as it pulled out onto the road, slipping straight through the rod-iron gate that had opened for the car.

Julian was right behind me. He'd stopped calling for me and instead now followed my lead.

We chased that car. The windows were tinted, I couldn't see inside. But I knew my wolf was there. It was so close, I could have cried.

But then the road reached a straight stretch, and the car accelerated to a faster speed than my horse had any chance of matching.

The distance expanded, adding yard after yard, until the car was on the horizon line, and my horse was slowing from exhaustion.

I watched the car go, even long after it was out of sight. Inside my chest, the tether between me and my wolf stretched and stretched, until it finally snapped and was gone.

Julian dismounted quickly beside me. "We have to get off the road."

As I stood there in shock, he grabbed the reins of my horse as well as his own, and led both away from the road and into the forest brush alongside it.

I was numb. I couldn't move.

For one brief moment, I had felt my wolf again. Now, as before, I was empty.

Julian, a man determined, carefully guided our horses deeper into the woods. He didn't say a word the entire time. He could have been mad at me, I wasn't sure. Whenever I had seen Julian mad in the past, typically at Nicholas, he had lashed out with a sharp smirk and barbed insults. This silence was something new.

In the depths of the forest, we reached a small grassy patch. Julian stopped, and the horses began to graze. There was a stream nearby that they could walk to for water.

"Can you get down?" Julian asked me. "We need to let the horses rest for a few moments. We pushed them pretty hard."

I understood and slowly dismounted the mare.

Julian finally looked at me, but his expression was unreadable. He looked so much like Nicholas in that moment; it was clear they were brothers, even if their personalities were so different.

*You felt your wolf," he said. "In that car."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have -"

*No. I should have calculated that you might react that way. I could only imagine what it must have felt like to be reunited."

I couldn't have explained it even if I tried. Instead, I hooked my fingers together and sunk in on myself a little. I felt carved out, hollow inside.

We stood there in silence again. Julian fiddled with his phone, but he seemed frustrated with it.

"No signal out here."

"Are we lost?" I asked.

*No. I can get us back from here, but it won't be so secret if I can't coordinate with Brian. We're way off the prepared route, and I don't dare go back that way. Those at the mansion will be looking for us now."

"I'm sorry. I truly hadn't meant to cause trouble. I just... I felt a pull, and I had to follow."

"I get it, Piper. Really." He ran a hand down his face and then sighed dramatically. "I suppose we'll have to settle for Plan B."

"What's plan B?"

He winked.

*Julian."

*Trust me, Piper."

I didn't. Couldn't. Julian was far too manipulative, always watchful, always scheming. And he was a

troublemaker, through and through.

"I trust Nicholas," I said.

Julian put a hand over his heart. "You wound me."

I crossed my arms, unwilling to admit how this banter helped me feel a bit better. "You haven't earned my trust yet."

*You have good instincts then." He smirked. It was nice to see him back to his usual self. "I'm likely the most untrustworthy man you will ever meet."