The Luna He Didn't Choose

er attempts to hide it with a grin, my mother's

nd pine trees swirled around me like a memory from long ago. The house seemed more sp

repared to return to the location that contained so many memories, both happy and sad, because I had been gone for much too long. I was sti

d, "Your father will be overjoyed

h as I nodded. There was something strange

ife in the pack house than I could recall. The pack members looked at me and moved wi

en talking about your return." "You

ngled in any kind of arrangement. I hadn't come back because I wanted to get caught up in wha

athered than I remembered, and his broad shoulders were slumped, yet when his eyes met mine, they softe

arked angrily as he got to his fe

pered. "It's The jour

t." "We can catch up after our large dinner t

a member of this pack. I was a girl on the verge of adulthood the last time I visited here

as unable to decipher. Even though the room was warm,

ou're stronger than I thought you would be.

re how to tell them why. How could I explain to them the life I'd created away from here

silence just when

s back, we

ok up. Logan Roberts. The man I loved before. The man who had silently abandone

I couldn't decipher. He looked older and rougher, yet he was still Logan as I knew him. Time

t expect the grand return." "I assumed yo

to suppress the unexpected burst of warmth that

oved toward the table, he said, "Yeah,

f he was making a joke or if there was more to what he was saying. I didn't want t

, Eli," gesturing to the

sat at this table. We had an unresolved issue, an underlying tensio

fathomable expression. I couldn't determine whether to ignore the

n a comparatively quiet manner. We all felt the pressure of my parents' expectations, but m

as he stated, "There's so

ho appeared strangely qu

me, "Eli, you've been gone long enough." And it's time we ma

r as I sat up taller. "

father's words before he ever s

ts will be y

heard him correctly,

ense a little. He was anticipating my response. My mother's ey

too long." "The future of the pack must be s

union? With Logan? The man who was my first love bu

folks were serious. This was no joke. My

ad a chance to respond. "Eli, we'll discus

y caught a glimpse of something-an ap

ertain that this