Chapter 132
The Heartbroken Luna’s Choice: Banish Love
Chapter 132
Third Person’s POV
Cassian reached the door, then stopped.
Finished
The lights inside were dim. Trista stood in the center of the living room, looking brittle and drained, as if her very bones had been hollowed out.
She held her scent in a tight, forced grip, but that agonizingly cold restraint still leaked through the cracks, coating the air like a thin layer of frost.
Cassian turned back to look at her, a flicker of movement in his eyes.
In that split second, his wolf made the choice before his logic could intervene.
He doubled back, lunging forward to haul her into his chest–a move as swift as a predatory reclamation.
Trista didn’t have time to react before his scent brushed against her neck. The mangled mating bond instantly snapped tight, like an old chain being violently yanked, sending a jolt of pain from her chest straight to her throat.
Cassian leaned down, his kiss landing softly against her brow.
“Happy twenty–sixth birthday, Trista,” he murmured, his voice muffled.
Then he let her go, turned, and walked out of the apartment.
The moment the door clicked shut, Trista felt like she’d been shoved out of a vacuum. Her breathing turned chaotic.
She practically scrambled into the bathroom, twisting the faucet to splash ice–cold water onto her face.
In the mirror, her eyes were bloodshot and her lips pale. Her wolf hadn’t fully receded; it hummed beneath her skin like a low–voltage current in her veins.
When she first discovered Cassian was her mate, people told her they would either be the perfect match or destroy each other.
Back then, she would always boast, “Definitely the perfect match p>
They looked right together, the age gap was perfect, and their personalities complemented each other.
But she had overlooked one thing–Cassian’s logic was made of iron, and his wolf was a blade.
Raised in the rigid cage of Ironthorn rules, he was a man of calculated interests, a man who locked his emotions in a cell and made ruthless choices at every crossroad.
In truth, she had known they weren’t right for each other long before Cassian did. She just hadn’t been able to let go.
She turned off all the lights and collapsed onto the sofa, drained.
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Chapter 132
Finished
The fractured bond in her chest still throbbed with a dull ache, a reminder of the kiss he just gave her–a kiss that only made her feel dirty. It just hurt.
Outside the door, Cassian didn’t leave immediately.
Humphrey stood before him, holding the cake box, looking trapped between staying and going. “Alpha Cassian… you came all this way. Are you really leaving just like that p>
Cassian lit a cigarette, leaning his back against the hallway wall.
The smoke curled up his jawline, masking most of the emotion in his eyes.
He kept his scent suppressed, heavy and cold in the corridor–like a winter night in the Ironthorn territory.
“If I don’t leave, she won’t rest,” he said quietly.
Humphrey stepped back and fell silent, still clutching the cake.
Cassian didn’t speak either, just smoking.
At midnight, he crushed the final ember and stood up straight.
He stared at the door to Trista’s apartment, making a silent wish.
On
every one of Trista’s birthdays in the past, he had been there to make a wish, blow out the candles, and exchange gifts.
But this year, the theme was arguments and boundaries. He was on the outside; she was on the inside.
Cassian stood there for a long time, looking like an Alpha wolf finally admitting that his claws couldn’t pull back a she–wolf who had already turned her back on him.
“Let’s go,” he finally said.
The next morning, Trista left for work right on schedule.
She wore light makeup, but it couldn’t hide how haggard she looked.
She saw the pile of cigarette butts by her door but acted as if they weren’t there, her pace never faltering.
She knew Cassian.
He had his pride; he wasn’t the type to grovel or linger.
That moment of losing control last night–the kiss–was as far as he would ever go.
She figured she wouldn’t see him again for a while.
She threw herself entirely into her work.
By the end of the year, Cassian didn’t come to see her again, nor did he contact her.
The process she entrusted to dissolve the mating was repeatedly blocked by agents from Ironthorn.
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Chapter 132
Finished
They kept raising procedural objections, dragging out the process. At the same time, they put pressure on Trista’s parents under various pretexts.
She could only put the matter aside for the time being.
After months of her intensive treatment, Isaiah’s sleep disorder had significantly improved. He was finally weaning off sedatives and could sleep naturally on nights when the lunar cycles were calm.
Isaiah kept his word. He sent a clear message through the European elite: Trista had cured his years–long, stubborn insomnia.
This solidified Trista’s reputation in the field of sleep disorders almest overnight.
Following Xander’s arrangements, she completed her handover and prepared to return to the States to build her own career.
On the day she returned, she wanted to surprise her family, so she didn’t tell them her flight details.
When she landed, it was early evening. The scent of the city spread out at the end of the runway–strange yet familiar.
Trista didn’t go to the healing center; she took a cab straight to the old district.
She stopped at a bakery nearby to pick up several boxes of her mother’s favorite pastries.
As she stepped out with the paper bags, a commotion broke out across the street.
It was pick–up time for the kids.
Behind a low fence, a group of children were being led out one by one. The air was a mix of clean scents— milk, laundry detergent, unrefined wolf spirits, and the faint scent of sedatives from the caretakers.
It was an early development center specifically for young werewolves, focused on basic education and scent socialization.
Trista stood by the roadside, her gaze drifting casually over the crowd, only to freeze a second later.
She saw a figure she knew all too well.
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Sara Lili
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.