The Alpha's Untamed Luna

Charlotte's POV

"Welcome back, Commander." I heard a feminine voice from behind. I turned to see a young blonde girl standing there with a shy smile tugging at her lips. She looked barely past eighteen—one of the newest recruits, judging by her hesitant posture and the nervous way she twisted her fingers.

"Thank you, dear," I said warmly, offering a small smile that softened my features. Her expression brightened immediately, as though my words had given her permission to breathe freely again. She nodded quickly and hurried off the field, her boots crunching against the gravel path.

"They've all been asking about you," JK said with a gentle smile as he walked up beside me. His tone was light, but there was something sincere beneath it. He reached for my hand, holding it with a kind of brotherly reassurance. "But I guess they're rather afraid to walk up to you."

I gave a soft chuckle. "Well, they should learn to talk to me, if they want to." I shrugged, trying to brush it off, though his words lingered in my mind longer than they should have. Had I really become that distant? Was I now someone the trainees were afraid to approach?

He nodded in agreement, still smiling as we slowly began to walk out of the field, our boots echoing softly on the stone pathway. The warm afternoon breeze played gently with my hair, brushing it against my cheeks.

"So, what actually happened?" he asked after a brief pause. "I heard Anna was the one who used wolfsbane on you during a fight."

I nodded slightly, surprised that the news had traveled this far. My brow furrowed as I considered how quickly such sensitive information had left the Alpha's mansion. If JK knew, that meant the entire pack likely knew as well. There was no hiding anymore.

"Has she been caught?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

I shook my head slowly, trying not to let the bitterness creep too deep into my voice. "No. Your Alpha says she's on the run. After all, do you expect him to lift a finger on his beloved mate?" I asked, a smirk curling at the corner of my lips as I bent down to pick a few pebbles from the ground and tossed one into a nearby garden bed. The sound of the stone hitting a metal rim echoed faintly.

"That's rather unfair," JK muttered, and I nodded in agreement, even though it didn't change anything. It was unfair, but the world often worked that way—favoring those in power and protecting the ones they loved, even when they were wrong.

"So how did you know about what happened? How did the news even get out of the Alpha's mansion?" I asked, genuinely curious. It wasn't like Jasper was the type to go broadcasting our personal matters.

JK laughed softly, his voice tinged with a knowing sarcasm. "That's how crazy bees fly. In fact, every single person in the pack heard of what happened last week."

I shook my head in disbelief, the corners of my lips twitching into a smile. "That's really crazy, but I guess everyone likes gossip after all."

He raised his brows, pretending to be surprised. "You just realized that?"

I laughed, the sound escaping my throat in a soft burst. Being around JK always brought a lightness to my chest—like the world didn't weigh quite so heavily when he was near.

"So, you will be heading back to your house right now?" I asked casually, trying to gauge his plans without sounding too eager to extend our time together.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, a playful glint flashing in them. "So you prefer I be anywhere else?"

I swallowed hard, caught off guard by his teasing tone. I hadn't expected a question in return—it was just a simple inquiry.

"Can we go somewhere and spend a little time?" I asked finally, my voice softening. "I don't want to go back to my room yet."

He smiled broadly, a smirk playing on his lips as he nodded. "That's not a problem. I wasn't even planning on going home. Wanted to go see a friend. My room is rather boring this season," he added with a slight giggle, still holding my hand as we turned toward a narrow dirt path.

"You live alone?" I asked, surprised. I'd always imagined most pack members lived in the community quarters or close to their families.

He nodded. "My parents stay in the pack house. I can't cope there. I rented an apartment outside the pack house," he replied, and I nodded thoughtfully, imagining what kind of apartment would feel big and empty when lived in alone.

"Doesn't it feel kind of lonely?" I asked, careful with my tone. I didn't want to seem like I was prying into his private life, even though I clearly was.

He paused for a moment before replying, the air growing quiet between us. "I was initially staying with my ex-girlfriend. We lived together for almost three years before we broke up. Then she left."

I glanced at him, noticing the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. His voice had dropped, thick with something unspoken. That memory clearly wasn't an easy one to revisit.

"Oh… You must really miss her," I said softly. "How long have you been staying all by yourself?"

He gave a small, hollow smile as we continued walking toward a quiet lake shimmering under the afternoon sun. "For two years now. It wasn't easy to cope at first without her, but then, with time, I got used to it."

I nodded slowly, imagining what that must have felt like—coming home every day to an empty space that once echoed with laughter and shared memories. That kind of silence had to be deafening.

"So you've been single for two years now? That's massive," I said, half-teasing but also trying to draw more out of him.

"It's not as bad as being in a relationship," he replied with a shrug. "Trust me when I say, single life can be so sweet—and boring. There's a whole lot of peace that comes with just being in your lane with nobody to please. You're just living for you."

His words were honest, but I could hear the underlying pain in his voice. He was trying to mask it, trying to make it sound like a choice when it probably wasn't. His ex must have meant a lot to him.

"Yeah, I get that," I replied, my voice growing quieter. A familiar image flashed into my mind—Stefan's face, his cold betrayal, the sharp sting of his indifference. "They really don't know how it hurts when the knife pierces through the skin, so they don't mind doing that to someone over and over again because they don't know the feeling."

He didn't say anything for a moment, perhaps sensing the sudden shift in my tone. Then, he turned to me, eyes soft.

"What hurts you the most?" he asked.

I smiled bitterly, the truth rising in my throat like smoke from a fire I thought I had long since put out.

"Betrayal."