The Heartbroken Luna's Choice Banish Love novel Chapter 184

Chapter 184

Trista’s POV

15 Peans

I took a deep breath, fighting to keep my lungs steady as I faced my mother through the steam and the scent of bitter herbs,

I knew exactly what she was digging for.

Years ago, she had sold that obsidian cane to keep our heads above and she still had the bank card to prove it.

water,

She knew me–she knew there was no way I had suddenly come into enough cash to buy back a legendary heirloom like that from a high–end collector.

I lowered my lashes, hiding the flash of self–loathing behind a mask of total calm. I needed her to believe the lie.

“Mom, Dad… please, don’t worry about it,” I said softly. “Cassian used his authority as the Ironthorn Alpha to track them down and buy them back himself. He paid a premium to get them home.”

It was a lie, and it tasted like ash. I kept the brutal truth buried deep.

Cassian had actually recovered those canes years ago. He’d kept them locked away in a cold safe like a trophy of his victory over us, letting them gather dust until last night.

And I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell my parents that I had to trade every ounce of my dignity to get them back–that I’d spent the night in his bed, using the most humiliating, desperate kind of intimacy just to get him to nod.

My wolf was howling in shame inside me, but I had to stay numb.

My parents, Ulva and Randolph, traded a look. I could feel their pheromones swirling–a messy mix of anxiety and heartbreak–but they didn’t have the heart to start peeling back the bloody details.

By late afternoon, I was by the stove, mechanically stirring a wooden spoon as I helped my mother prep the Blood Moon ritual sweets.

That’s when it happened. A dominant, icy scent of cedar ripped through the Silverlight wards. Cassian had arrived, medical kit in hand, stepping into a territory that wanted him anywhere but there.

Attwater’s face went from bright to pure steel in a split second. He didn’t even give Cassian a glance; he just vanished into his room like a shadow and slammed the bolt home.

I could feel my parents‘ pheromones spike–instinctive, raw rejection.

But given Cassian’s status as the man who held their lives in his hands, they couldn’t exactly kick the most powerful Alpha in the region out into the street.

Even in front of my folks, Cassian maintained that clinical, almost frozen politeness. Even when he tried to dial it back, his sheer presence made the air in the small house feel like sludge.

“The Blood Moon is coming,” he said, his greeting as stiff as a block of ice. “May the Moon Goddess watch

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10:25 Wed, Jan 7

Chapter 184

over you.”

My mother barely managed a nod before diving back into the kitchen steam, refusing to look at him.

My father let out a low, grunted “Mhm” before grabbing a tray of pastries and retreating to the balcony.

I didn’t give Cassian a chance to keep suffocating the living room. Before the atmosphere hit absolute zero. I grabbed his wrist and dragged him into my old childhood bedroom.

I flicked open the medical kit and started working on the welts on his back.

As I applied the cool salve over the whip marks, I kept my head down, my voice flat. “You should head back soon. I’m staying here for the holidays.”

མ ས 1:|:|:|:|: |: | | |:|:|:|:|:|: |: |: ཀ ས

Cassian started doing up the buttons on his black shirt, his long fingers moving with a slow precision. As the fabric closed, his predator aura was tucked away behind the expensive cotton.

“Did you forget what I told Alaina this morning?” he asked. “I’m staying here with you tonight.”

I looked at him. “And you aren’t worried that blowing off the ancestral ritual is going to give the Elders a reason to come for your head?”

Cassian leaned in slightly. His hand moved to tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear–a gesture that looked tender but felt like a velvet shackle.

His possessiveness was so thick it practically burned my skin.

“They aren’t going to do a damn thing,” he said, staring into my eyes with a chilling indifference. “Ignore them.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t even look at the suffocating intensity in his gaze.

I pressed my lips together, packed the kit, and practically bolted from the room.

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