Chapter 6 "The Airport Gambit"

• Seven days later, Juliana Capulet stood in the departure lounge of San Francisco International Airport with a fake ID, her grandmother's emergency credit card, and a one-way ticket to Paris clutched in her trembling hands.
• This is insane. This is completely insane.
• But so was spending the rest of her life married to a stranger because her father thought it was "for her own good."
• The plan had been months in the making, crafted in the quiet hours between supervised activities and family obligations. A fake identity courtesy of a very expensive forger who specialized in helping supernatural youth escape family drama. A carefully researched route that would make her nearly impossible to track. Most importantly, a clear understanding that once she walked onto that plane, there would be no going back.
• The boarding announcement for Air France Flight 83 echoed through the terminal. Juliana closed her eyes and pictured her mother's face when she'd said those fateful words: I would run as far and as fast as my wolf could carry me, and I would never look back.
• I'm running for both of us, Mama.
• "Boarding Group A, please approach Gate 67."
• Juliana stood on shaking legs and joined the line of passengers heading toward freedom. Each step felt like a small victory, a choice reclaimed from the forces that had tried to script her entire life.
• She was going to see Paris. She was going to write in cafés and explore museums and eat authentic pastries while figuring out what Juliana Capulet actually wanted from life. She was going to—
• "Jules."
• The voice hit her like a physical blow. Slowly, heart hammering against her ribs, she turned to find Tybalt standing ten feet away. He looked tired and rumpled, like he'd driven through the night to get here. His eyes held a mixture of disappointment and something that might have been pride.
• "How?" The word came out as barely a whisper.
• "Credit card alerts. Mom's emergency fund has been flagged for unusual activity since she died last year." His smile was sad and understanding. "Also, you're not as sneaky as you think you are. I've been tracking your research for weeks."
• The fight went out of her all at once. Of course he'd known. Tybalt made it his business to know everything that might threaten family security, including her own desperate attempts at independence.
• "Are you going to drag me home?"
• "I'm going to ask you to come home. There's a difference."
• He approached slowly, hands visible and non-threatening, like she was a spooked animal who might bolt at any sudden movement.
• "Jules, talk to me. Help me understand why running away to a foreign country seemed like a better option than talking to your family."
• "Because talking doesn't work!" The words exploded out of her with all the force of years of suppressed frustration. "Because every time I try to express an opinion about my own life, I get lectured about duty and safety and what's best for the pack. Because no one seems to care what I actually want!"
• "I care." His voice was quiet but intense. "Your happiness matters to me more than any political alliance."
• "Then let me go."
• "I can't do that. You know I can't do that."
• Other passengers were starting to stare. A young woman having an emotional breakdown with what appeared to be her boyfriend was exactly the kind of drama people loved to witness from a safe distance.
• "Final boarding call for Air France Flight 83 to Charles de Gaulle Airport."
• Juliana looked at the gate, then back at Tybalt. Freedom was thirty feet away, but it might as well have been on the moon.
• "If I come home with you, will you help me convince Papa to call off the engagement?"
• "I'll try. But Jules, you have to understand—this alliance isn't just about you. It's about the safety of every wolf in our pack. If we appear weak or divided, our enemies will see opportunity."
• "So I have to sacrifice my entire life for maybe-someday theoretical safety?"
• "You have to make choices that protect the people you love. That's what adults do."
• The gate agent was making increasingly urgent announcements. Soon, the plane would leave without her, and her one chance at escape would be gone.
• "Tybalt," she said quietly, "what if there was another way? What if I could serve the pack and still have some choice in my own life?"
• "What are you thinking?"
• "Moonrise Academy."
• He blinked, clearly not expecting that particular suggestion. "The elite boarding school?"
• "I could go there instead of announcing my engagement. Learn proper Luna skills, make connections with other influential families, prove to Papa that I'm serious about my responsibilities." The lie came easier than she'd expected. "Give Lorenzo and me time to actually get to know each other before we make anything official."
• Tybalt studied her face with the intensity of someone trying to read a particularly complex battle strategy. "You're trying to manipulate me."
• "I'm trying to find a compromise that doesn't involve me spending the rest of my life married to a stranger or you dragging me home in handcuffs."
• "Your father will never agree to delay the engagement."
• "He might if you tell him I'm not ready. That forcing the announcement now would make me an unwilling bride and a political liability." Juliana played her ace. "Tell him I need time at Moonrise to overcome my 'impractical romantic notions' and learn to appreciate the honor of the Escalus alliance."
• It was manipulative and calculated and absolutely the kind of political maneuvering that would appeal to both Tybalt's protective instincts and his strategic mind.
• "The gate is closing, Jules."
• She looked one last time at the plane that would have carried her to freedom, then back at her cousin's worried face. "Will you help me?"
• "I'll try. But if you run again—"
• "I won't run. I'll go to Moonrise, I'll learn to be the perfect Luna, and I'll make whatever choice is best for the pack." The words tasted like ash in her mouth, but they were what he needed to hear.
• As they walked back through the terminal together, Juliana mentally said goodbye to the girl who had almost been brave enough to choose Paris over duty. The girl who would enter Moonrise Academy would be someone different—someone who understood that sometimes the only way to win the game was to learn to play it better than anyone else.
• But deep in her heart, she made herself a promise: she would find another way to be free. Even if it took years. Even if it meant becoming someone her family didn't recognize.
• Even if it meant falling in love with the enemy.
• The future Luna of the Capulet pack was going to Moonrise Academy. But the girl who dreamed of Paris was still very much alive, just hidden beneath layers of silk and careful smiles.
• And she was done being underestimated.