Alpha King Chases Abandoned Luna novel Chapter 373

(Third person's POV)

As Ethan Stone hesitated, just as Victoria Frost expected, he was moved by Emma's tearful pleas and stopped to look down at her. Seeing his attention, Emma's tears intensified, her swollen red eyes filled with longing and dependence as she clung to Ethan's leg.

She reached out to him with her small hands, her voice breaking with desperation. "Daddy, Emma really knows she was wrong, please don't abandon Emma."

"Without Daddy, my classmates bully me. Look, they beat me all over. Daddy, it hurts so much." Her wolf pup whimpered pitifully beneath her skin, projecting distress pheromones that would normally trigger any Alpha's protective instincts.

The scent of her fear and pain filled the air around them. Emma's small body trembled as she pressed closer to Ethan's leg, seeking the comfort and protection she had always received from him.

When Ethan did not immediately comfort her, Emma pulled open her jacket with shaking hands. She revealed the tattered Crescent Moon Academy uniform underneath and the bruises and welts marring her pale skin.

These visible wounds were her trump card. She remembered how, in the past, whenever she was bullied, her father figure would defend her fiercely.

He would punish those who hurt her and their families through his Alpha authority. She recalled the tenderness with which he had once soothed her after an incident at the Silvercrest Pack Medical Den.

He had promised to acknowledge her as his true daughter despite the lack of blood bond. Having truly experienced Ethan's fatherly love and protection, she simply could not believe he would cast her aside.

The grave desecration incident was just a childish act of jealousy against Lily, who was already gone. She convinced herself her Alpha father was only acting out of anger, and he would soften upon seeing her hurt.

"Please, Daddy," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Emma needs you."

Ethan's amber eyes darkened as he took in the severity of her injuries. His wolf stirred with conflicted protective instincts, the sight of a wounded pup triggering ancient Alpha responses.

He asked in a low, controlled voice, "Why did your classmates beat you?"

Without hesitation, Emma replied, "Because they saw that Emma had no daddy to protect her, so they bullied me for no reason." Her voice carried the practiced innocence of a child who had learned to manipulate adult emotions.

His gaze turned frigid, his Alpha aura growing cold. He realized that she was completely unaware of her own culpability, presenting only the side that could gain his sympathy.

She was ignoring the fact that she herself was also a perpetrator. With a cold expression, Ethan pulled his leg away, his wolf rejecting the false bond.