THE FORGOTTEN LUNA novel Chapter 56

KAEL.

Adessa’s eyes fluttered open. She was looking straight ahead, still lost in her thoughts, and I just let her be. We were already threading a narrow, rough road through the deep part of the forest. The canopies of the trees filtered the sun, casting shadows across the path and making the area darker and gloomy, even if it was already midmorning.

The road was barely wide enough for a car, but it only meant I was in the right direction. It had been almost a decade since I’d been here, but it looked and felt the same.

“Where are we heading?” she finally asked, breaking the silence between us.

“We need a place to stay for at least a day so you can rest, and I can make some adjustments on our way to the north.”

“This seems to be too far from civilization already.”

“Are you scared of where I would take you?” I teased her.

She turned her head to me, and a smile slowly curled on her red lips. “You can tell me we’re on the road to hell, and I will still come with you. Hell with you sounds better than alone and with Alpha Draco.”

I smiled and focused my eyes on the road, as I knew I needed to do a right turn soon. “You can drop the Alpha in his name.”

“I’ve been wanting to. But the last time I dropped the Alpha from another Alpha’s name, you went ballistic.”

I chuckled. She wasn’t wrong there, but Rasmus was totally different from Draco. “My bad. Call them by their first name if you’re more comfortable with it.”

“Unless it’s a formal gathering or meeting.” She added. “That’s what you told me before.”

“That’s right. But feel free to call them names when it’s just us. It can be wicked or gross, I don’t mind. The uglier, the better.” I chuckled again.

Her mouth hung open as the smile kept playing on her face. She slapped her hands gently on her lap before she spoke. “Tell me again, you have no memory of our time together? Because you’ve said those words, not word by word but almost exactly!”

“And tell me, why do you have such a good memory that you remember every little detail of us?”

Her face dropped, and her shoulders slumped.

“Hey, did I say something bad?” I asked, furrowing my brows.

“All my memories are just with you. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I mean, of course, I’d remember everything we talked about, as I barely spend time with anyone except you.”

I swallowed. I recalled Landon telling me that she had no friends and would occasionally visit women from different departments and centers of the pack, but she rarely spent time with them.

“Why don’t you have friends?” I asked. I might know the answer already, but I still didn’t want to believe it.

“They don’t like me.” She answered before drawing her gaze to the window beside her. “I tried to be friendly at the beginning, but after many unwelcome faces and being not looked at when I spoke with them, I gave up.”

“Landon.” She turned her head away again. “He would always come with flowers and cards. Gifts, too. From you.”

“I’m an ass for a husband, yet you stayed.”

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ADESSA.

“I’m an ass for a husband, yet you stayed,” Kael said, and I had no idea how to react to let him know it was okay, even if deep inside, I was hoping he would be sweeter.

There were just two occasions I got flowers from him in the one year we were together—my birthday and our first anniversary. I should be happy with that, but I heard Landon ask Kael if he had prepared anything for our anniversary the next day. Not that I expected him to, as I was already planning a dinner for us. But it still made my heart sink when he said he had forgotten that it was our anniversary. Landon berated him and told him he only had two occasions he needed to remember—my birthday and our anniversary—and he forgot both.

It was a blow to my heart, but I still smiled and pretended to be happy when the flowers and a gift showed up the next day, even though I knew it was Landon who had prepared them.

I always tell myself Kael was the perfect mate. He provided for me, gave me mind-blowing sex, hugged me and peppered me with kisses, let me decide about our home, and gave me the freedom to do what I wanted. I got flowers and gifts for my birthday and our first anniversary, even if not directly from him. He committed to our marriage and did exactly everything a husband should do, as written on the paper.

We both knew that was all it was supposed to be and that he never loved me to make an effort for extra sweet things. Our marriage was a contract. I shouldn’t be complaining.

“I’m not complaining. It was a good one year.” I told him.