Secrets of the Alpha’s Luna

(Matilda’s POV) The first thing I notice is the scent. It wasn’t the champagne fizz but something deeper…Familiar in a way that makes my chest tighten before my mind can catch up. I stood there wondering That scent brought back memories a mixture of leather and rain. Him. Williams. My fingers freeze around the stem of my glass. No… I don’t turn immediately. I can’t. Because if I do, it becomes real and I’ve spent two years making sure it wasn’t. Why did I bother show up at this reunion when I know he would be here. “Breathe,” I whisper under my breath, barely moving my lips. “You’re fine. You’re fine.” I’m not fine. My thumb slides over the tiny charms on my bracelet courage, love, luck. The metal presses into my skin like a reminder. Like my mother’s voice echoing from somewhere I try not to visit too often. You’re stronger than what breaks you. I inhale. Then I turn. And there he is. Williams. He’s standing near the entrance like he belongs there, like everything bends around him without him asking it to. He looks… different. Harder. Broader shoulders, sharper jaw, eyes that have seen too much and trust too little. But his fingers? They’re still playing with his cufflinks. A small, ridiculous detail, but it hits me harder than anything else. Some things don’t change. My stomach twists. And what I least expected? His eyes gazed With mine…It’s instant, but I could see his pupils dilating Like something snaps into place that was never meant to be fixed again. I forget how to breathe. Two years. Two years and my body still remembers him before my mind can stop it. “Matilda.” I don’t even see his lips move, but I hear it. Feel it. God, I hate that. I straighten my shoulders, forcing myself to stand still even though every instinct is telling me to run. “Williams.” My voice betrays me. Softens at the edges. I hate that even more. He starts walking toward me, and I swear every step echoes too loudly in my chest. The closer he gets, the harder it is to think straight. My thoughts splinter, slipping into places I’ve worked too hard to lock away. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. He doesn’t know. He can’t know. My hand moves without permission, hovering for half a second over my stomach before I force it back down. Too obvious. “Didn’t think you were the reunion type,” I say, grabbing onto the first normal sentence I can find. He stops in front of me. Too close Everything about him is too close. “I’m not,” he says, voice low and steady. “But then I heard you’d be here.” My heart stumbles. Of course he’d say that.Straightforward he’s always been straightforward I let out a small laugh, though it sounds wrong even to me. “Still as subtle as ever.” His lips twitch like he’s remembering something he shouldn’t. “You always said you preferred honesty.” I used to prefer you. The thought slips in, uninvited. I tighten my grip on my bracelet until the charms press painfully into my skin. The tiny clink they make feels too loud, like it’s exposing me. His eyes drop to my wrist. Of course they do. “You still wear it,” he says. Something in my chest cracks just a little. “Some things are hard to let go of.” The words feel heavier than I intended but I can’t help it. His jaw tightens. Good. Let him feel something. Silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating. It’s filled with memories I don’t want his hands, his voice, the way he looked at me that night like I was everything. Right before he left me like I was nothing. My throat burns. “Why did you come back, Williams?” I ask. I didn’t plan to say it. It just… slips out. But the moment it’s there, I can’t take it back. His eyes darken, something shifting behind them. For a second, I think he won’t answer. That he’ll do what he always does avoid, deflect, disappear. Instead, he steps closer. My breath catches. “You really want to do this here?” he murmurs. No. “Yes,” I say anyway. “I want the truth.” He exhales slowly, like he’s trying to keep something under control. His fingers move to his cufflinks again twisting, adjusting. “I left because I had to,” he says. I blink spiting my drink right back to my cup That’s it? A hollow laugh escapes me before I can stop it. “That’s your explanation?” His eyes flash. “You think it was easy?” “I think,” I say, my voice shaking despite everything I’m doing to steady it, “you don’t get to disappear after that night and come back acting like it meant nothing.” “It meant everything,” he says, sharper now. The force of it hits me harder than I expect. For a moment, I forget how to breathe. Because he sounds like he means it. Which was still a self thought to me…I began to panic The room feels smaller My chest tightens, not just from him from everything. From the noise in my head that starts creeping in when I lose control. Don’t spiral. Stay here. Stay present. I need air. I shift slightly, angling my body away from him. And that’s when I see it. The moment his gaze drops. Not to my bracelet this time. Lower. My stomach twists so sharply I almost wince. No. I move instinctively, turning just enough to block his view, but it’s too late. His eyes narrow slightly, not in suspicion yet—but in awareness. He’s noticed something. My pulse roars in my ears. “Matilda…” His voice changes. Softer “Look at me.” I don’t want to. But I do And the second our eyes meet, I know I’ve lost whatever small control I had left. He’s watching me too closely. “You’ve changed,” he says. Of course I have. “You too,” I reply quickly. His gaze lingers on my face, searching. “Not like this.” Panic creeps up my spine. Say something. Distract him. Do something. But my thoughts scatter, slipping through my fingers like water. He leans in slightly, close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath, close enough that everything inside me goes completely still. “You’re hiding something from me…” he murmurs. My heart stops. His eyes lock onto mine, sharp and certain, like he already knows. I shrugged my shoulders little enough out bodies didn’t touch but he grabbed my wrist just after I thought I managed to escape He looked into my eyes,his gazed burned through me like fire touching the rain “You’re hiding something Matilda…” “…and I will find out what it is.”