Luna Forsaken (Arya and James) novel Chapter 23

23 The Luna’s Chain: The Secret Only We Knew

Arya’s POV

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James stood near the wall, not sitting, not relaxed, like he’d been waiting for me the entire

time.

The door shut behind me with a soft click.

My chest rose once.

Twice.

I stared at him.

He looked at me like he was trying to hold me together with his eyes.

“Arya,” he said quietly.

I didn’t answer.

Because my throat was tight and my hands were shaking and I refused to give him the sound of my voice when he hadn’t earned it.

James took a step toward me.

His voice went softer, pleading.

“Please,” he said. “Don’t do this.”

I let out a sharp laugh, short, bitter.

“Don’t do what?” I snapped. “Breathe? Stand? Exist in your house while your new Luna parades my necklace on her throat?”

James flinched.

“It’s not,”

“Don’t,” I cut in, voice rising. “Don’t start with the lies, James. Not tonight.”

His jaw tightened.

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<23 The Luna’s Chain: The Secret Only We Knew

“They’re watching,” he said quickly.

I stepped closer.

“Who?” I demanded. “Leah? Rebecca? Marcel? Your pack? Your pride?”

James’s eyes flashed.

“My pack,” he said sharply. “Our pack.”

I scoffed.

“Our?” I repeated. “You just told them she owns it.”

James’s hand lifted, then dropped.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s what she said,” I shot back. “And you let her.”

His voice hardened.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

My laugh turned into a sound that wasn’t laughter at all.

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“You never have a choice when it comes to me,” I said. “Funny how that works.”

James moved fast.

One second he was a few steps away, the next he was right in front of me.

He didn’t grab me roughly.

He didn’t hurt me.

But he pinned me anyway, body close, hands braced on either side of me against the wall, trapping me in place like he was terrified I’d run or scream or shatter the entire illusion.

“Please,” he said, voice low and urgent, forehead nearly touching mine. “Arya, listen to me.”

I pushed at his chest.

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He didn’t move.

“Get off me.”

“Arya,”

“Get off me,” I repeated, sharper.

He leaned in, voice rougher.

“It’s all a show,” he said. “All of it.”

My eyes narrowed.

“A show?” I spat. “You call that a show?”

“Yes,” he said quickly. “It has to look real. Marcel was going to call it quits if I didn’t play.

along.”

I stared at him.

He swallowed.

“You saw him,” James continued. “You saw how he looked at me. He doesn’t negotiate. He

decides.”

“And you decided,” I snapped, “that Leah wearing my pendant was part of the negotiation.”

James’s face tightened.

“That wasn’t my decision.”

My voice shook with rage.

“Then whose was it?”

James hesitated.

That hesitation was loud.

I laughed again, cruel this time.

“Oh,” I said, nodding. “Right. Because you didn’t know.”

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James’s eyes flared.

“I didn’t know she had it until you saw it,” he said.

“You’re lying,” I said flatly.

“I’m not,” he insisted, voice rising. “Arya, I swear,

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“Don’t swear to me,” I snapped. “Not when you let her say only you knew I kissed it.”

James went still.

His gaze dropped for half a second, then lifted back to mine.

“I told her,” he admitted, voice quieter. “I shouldn’t have. I know that. But I,’

”

“You told her,” I repeated, each word a blade. “You told her something that was mine.”

James’s hands tightened against the wall.

“I was trying to make it believable,” he said.

“Believable,” I echoed. “So you handed her my memories.”

“No,” he said sharply. “I handed her words. That’s all.”

I shoved at him again, harder.

“Move.”

He didn’t.

His voice dropped low again, desperate.

“Don’t let this change anything between us,” he said. “Please, darling.”

The word darling felt wrong on his mouth.

My eyes burned again.

He leaned closer, his breath warm against my skin.

“I’m only pretending to accept her,” he said. “Only pretending. So we can get the signing.”

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<23 The Luna’s Chain: The Secret Only We Knew

I stared at him, chest heaving.

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“And after?” I asked. “After you get your precious signing, what then?”

James’s eyes locked on mine.

“Then we’re protected,” he said. “Then Marcel can’t touch us the same way. Then Radimir’s

seal, ”

“So you’re waiting for permission to stop humiliating me?” I cut in.

James’s face tightened.

“I’m waiting for protection so I can fight back without getting you killed,” he snapped.

“Killed?” I barked. “James, they already tried.”

His eyes flickered.

“I know.”

“And you still let her wear it,” I whispered, voice shaking.

James looked like he wanted to grab my face and force me to understand.

Instead, he lowered his head and bent toward my neck.

His mouth brushed the mark at my throat, soft, reverent, a kiss that used to mean comfort.

He breathed me in.

Like he was trying to anchor himself.

Like he was trying to remind himself I was still here.

It made something in me crack.

I shoved him hard.

James stumbled back a step, startled.

My voice exploded.

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“Get out, James. Just get out!”

His eyes flashed with pain.

“Arya,”

“Get out!” I screamed again, the sound sharp in the small room. “I don’t want you here!”

James’s chest rose and fell.

He stared at me like he was seeing the edge of something he couldn’t stop.

Then he exhaled, long and heavy, and dragged a hand through his hair.

“Please,” he said again, quieter now. “Hang in there.”

I pointed at the door.

“Out.”

He didn’t move immediately.

His jaw worked like he was swallowing rage.

Then his voice went tight.

“I still love you,” he said. “Do you hear me? I still love you.”

I didn’t answer.

Because if I spoke, I might say something I couldn’t take back.

James took a step closer again, slower this time, hands lifted like he didn’t want to frighten

“She will never be you,” he said. “Never.”

I let out a harsh breath.

“You’re saying that while she wears my chain.”

James’s eyes flicked away.

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“I’ll get it back,” he said quickly. “I’ll get it back, Arya. I swear I will.”

My laugh was small, broken.

“You swear a lot,” I said. “It doesn’t change what you do.”

James’s face twisted.

“Arya…”

I lifted my hands and pulled fabric over the mark on my neck, covering it like I was

ashamed.

Then I turned away from him.

My back to him.

My voice came out low, final.

“Leave.”

The room went silent.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

I heard his breath.

I heard the faint creak of the floor as he shifted his weight like he wanted to come closer

anyway.

Then his voice, rough, quiet.

“You will always be my Luna,” he said. “No matter what they call you. No matter what they

do.”

I didn’t turn around.

I didn’t give him the gift of my face.

I stayed still, staring at the wall like it could hold me up.

James exhaled again, angry, helpless.

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Then his footsteps moved toward the door.

The handle turned.

The door opened.

Before he stepped out, he spoke one last time, voice breaking through control.

“Hold on,” he said. “Just hold on a little longer.”

Then he left.

The door shut behind him.

And the sound of it closing felt like the final nail.

I stayed standing, frozen, as the silence swallowed the room.

Then my knees gave.

And I wept, cold and alone.

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