Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 40

The door slammed hard enough to shake the walls.

Julian’s head lifted slowly. Elara stood at the doorway, chest rising and falling, fury simmering just beneath her skin. The air in the room shifted—heavy with her scent: anger, fear, and the faint edge of desperation.

“Who is she, Julian?” She demanded, voice sharp but trembling at the edges. “I knew it. I knew you were fucking someone else.”

Julian didn’t move. He sat back on the leather sofa, jaw working, the muscle in it ticking once before he exhaled through his nose.

“You don’t understand what you think you heard,” he said finally—quiet, level, controlled.

The words landed between them like a challenge, and for a moment, she simply stared. Then she let out a small, humorless laugh, brushing her hair back from her face. “No, I understand perfectly,” she snapped, stepping closer. “You’ve been acting different lately. But I see it now—the distance, the tension. You’ve been drowning in guilt, that’s all.”

He said nothing. That silence—calm, unreadable—only confirmed everything she needed it to.

“It’s fine, Julian. You’re under pressure; the ceremony’s close, everyone’s expectations are on you. I get it. It was just… a moment of weakness. You’re a man, after all.”

Julian’s gaze tracked her as she began pacing the room, her heels clicking against the tile, the sound sharp in the silence. His expression gave her nothing—no apology, no denial. Just quiet restraint. The kind that made her fill the space herself.

“We’ll get through this,” she continued, turning back toward him. “Once we mark and mate, everything will fall into place. You’ll see. This—whatever it was—won’t matter. She won’t matter.”

Julian didn’t move. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, a low, lethal growl rolling through him, but he forced it down. On the surface, he was still as stone.

“I forgive you,” she whispered, as though the words were a gift. Her smile trembled, brittle around the edges. “Because I know you love me. You wouldn’t throw everything away for a distraction. You’re mine, Julian. And soon, everyone will know it.”

The wolf snarled in disgust as the scent of her resolve sharpened, threatening to slip the tenuous leash he kept clamped so tightly—but he stayed silent.

Elara forced a bright, practiced smile, the perfect picture of composure—the Luna she’s convinced herself she already is.

“Six days,” she said softly. “And everything will be right again.”

The door clicked shut behind her, the sound far too gentle for the storm she’d left behind.

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