Moonlight Betrayal-Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Kaeleen’s POV

The sleek, minimalist design of my office usually brought me a sense of calm and control. Today, it felt like a cage. The silence was too loud, the clean lines too stark. Every tick of the expensive clock on the wall was a tiny hammer blow against my already frayed nerves. I couldn’t focus. The quarterly budget reports on my desk might as well have been written in a dead language. My mind was miles away, back at the house, in a newly renovated room in the basement.

For the tenth time in as many minutes, I picked up my phone, staring at the blank screen as if my sheer willpower could conjure a message into existence. Nothing. Not a word from Lila. Nothing as simple as a hey, from Astrid.

Hours. It had been hours since Lila was supposed to have shown her the studio. My carefully constructed plan, which had seemed so brilliant and thoughtful in the dead of night, now felt like a mistake. A miscalculation.

’What were you thinking?’Ryker, my wolf, paced restlessly in the back of my mind, his own anxiety mirroring mine.

"Now it’s my fault? I didn’t see you telling me this was a bad idea when I started." I argued but he ignored me.

’A whole studio? After she just started to trust you again? You might as well have handed her a lead weight and told her to fly. You’ve scared her. You’ve pushed too hard, you idiot.’

He was right though. I was an idiot. The memory of the panic in her eyes after our kiss was seared into my brain. I had spent the last two days meticulously rebuilding the fragile bridge between us, one quiet breakfast, one shared laugh at a time. And then, in a grand, sweeping gesture, I drove a bulldozer right over it.

Perhaps the studio didn’t feel like a gift to her but a weight of expectations. Fuck!

Unable to sit still any longer, I shot out of my chair and began to pace, my phone clutched in a white-knuckled grip. I stalked out of my office, not even registering where I was going until I found myself standing in the middle of Alex’s office.

His space was the complete opposite of mine. It was a comfortable, chaotic mess. Piles of files teetered precariously on the corners of his desk, a half-empty mug of coffee sat next to his keyboard, and a framed, goofy picture of him and Rebecca on their honeymoon was slightly askew on the wall. It was a room that was lived in, a room that belonged to a man who wasn’t currently losing his entire mind.

Alex was leaning back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk, scrolling through something on his phone. He looked up as I continued my frantic pacing in front of his window.

"Everything okay, alpha?" he asked, a lazy, amused grin spreading across his face. "You seem a little... tense. Also, this is my office. Did you get lost on the way to your own?"

"Everything’s fine," I bit out, the words sounding hollow even to my own ears. I stopped pacing and stared out his window, my gaze fixed on nothing. "And I know where I am."

"Right," he said, the amusement in his voice growing. He swung his feet off the desk and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. "So, if everything is so spectacularly fine, why do you look like you’re about to either throw up or punch a hole in my wall? And for the record, I’d prefer the former. It’s easier to clean. Although I’ll prefer it if you do neither."

His attempt at humor bounced right off me. I spun around to face him, the anxiety pouring out of me.

"Was it too much?" I asked, my voice strained. "The studio. Was it a mistake? She hasn’t said anything, Alex. Not a word. It’s been hours. She must hate it. God, she probably thinks I’m trying to pressure her, trying to force her into being something she’s not ready to be. I’ve gone too far again, haven’t I? I’ve messed it all up."

Alex listened patiently, his earlier smirk replaced by a look of understanding. He let me finish my spiral, waiting until I had run out of steam before he spoke.

"Okay, deep breaths," he said calmly. "Let’s apply a little bit of logic to this situation, shall we? First of all, has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, she isn’t with her phone?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.

"Second," he continued, "let’s consider the welcoming committee you left her with. My wife, your cousin, and your hyper-energetic assistant. Do you honestly believe that brand of feminine chaos is capable of letting Astrid have a quiet moment to herself to even think about sending a text? Lila alone can talk for forty-five minutes straight without taking a breath. Add Yvonne and Rebecca to the mix? Astrid is probably being held hostage by a conversation about paints and pack gossip. I’m pretty sure she’s not ignoring you but is being distracted by a team of professionals."

I wanted to believe him. Every word he said made perfect, logical sense. But the knot of fear in my stomach refused to loosen. "But she would have told Lila to text me. Or Yvonne. Something."

"Would she?" Alex countered, raising an eyebrow. "Or would she be so overwhelmed and happy that she’s just soaking it all in? You didn’t just give her a gift, Kaeleen. You gave her validation. You saw a part of her that she’s kept hidden her whole life and you told her it was worthy of a space like that. That’s a lot to process. Give the woman a minute to breathe."

He was right. He was probably right. But the silence was deafening.

Just as I was about to start pacing again, Alex’s phone lit up on his desk, chiming with a notification. He picked it up, his eyes scanning the screen. A low chuckle rumbled in his chest.

"Well, speak of the devil," he said, a wide grin spreading across his face. He turned the phone around, holding it out for me to see.

My heart stopped.

It was a picture, a new post from Yvonne. The photo was taken inside the new studio. And in the center of it all was Astrid. She was surrounded by the very brand of chaos Alex had just described. Rebecca had one arm slung around her shoulder, Lila was beaming on her other side, and Yvonne stood behind them, a proud smirk on her face. Even Shadow was there, leaning against a wall in the background, a rare, small smile on his face as he watched Christian, who was holding Astrid’s hand and looking up at her with pure adoration.

But my eyes were only on her.

She was laughing. Not a small, polite smile, but a wide-mouthed, head-thrown-back, unrestrained laugh of pure, unadulterated joy. Her eyes were crinkled at the corners, her whole face lit up with a brilliance that outshone the studio lights. She was still in her pajamas, her hair was a mess, and she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her.

The knot in my stomach didn’t just loosen; it evaporated. A breath I didn’t know I’d been holding escaped my lungs in a shaky exhale. She was happy. She wasn’t scared. She was happy.

As I stared at the image, my own phone buzzed in my hand. I looked down. It was a text from Yvonne.

Yvonne: You did good, cousin. Real good.

I felt a wave of relief so profound it almost made me dizzy. I quickly typed back a reply, my fingers fumbling slightly.

Me:Does she like it? Pass her the phone.

The reply came back almost instantly.

Yvonne: She loves it. And no. Be patient. ;)

I let out a groan of pure frustration, running a hand over my face. It was a consolation, a huge one, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to hear it from her. I needed to know for sure.

Alex was watching me, his expression one of supreme, smug satisfaction.

"See? What did I tell you? Hostage situation. She’s probably being passed around for celebratory hugs right now."

I grumbled something incoherent under my breath, but the anxiety was gone, replaced by a restless, impatient energy. I stared at my phone, waiting. The minutes stretched into an eternity. It was probably only two or three, but it felt like a lifetime.

And then, it happened.

My screen lit up with a new message. My heart hammered against my ribs.

Astrid: I don’t have the words. I love it. Thank you.

I read the message once. Twice. A third time. The simple, heartfelt words were everything I needed. She loved it. Heck yeah!

I didn’t even think. I pushed myself off the edge of Alex’s desk where I’d perched.

"I have to go," I said, already moving toward the door.

Alex leaned back in his chair, a triumphant, knowing laugh echoing in the room. "Yeah, you do," he called after me. "Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!"

I didn’t bother to reply. The moment I was out of his office and in the relative privacy of the hallway, I hit the call button next to her name. My thumb hovered over the end-call button, a sudden flash of doubt hitting me. Was I pushing again? Should I give her more space?

Before I could second-guess myself further, the ringing stopped.

"Kaeleen?"

Her voice came through the speaker, soft and a little breathless, and it was the single greatest sound I had ever heard.

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