When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 105

Chapter 105 Let Him Be Happy

[XENA]

Leisurely.

The word echoes in my mind, almost mocking. I don’t trust myself to survive this conversation, let alone walk away from it unaffected. This could end badly. With me blaming him again for everything that has gone wrong in my life, which, admittedly, is not entirely unfair.

Or… with me doing something I can’t take back–like actually begging him to kiss me.

I know which one is worse. And still, I force my gaze away from him and toward the statue of the Moon Goddess.

She stands tall, serene, her expression calm in a way that feels almost impossible to reach. Something is soothing about her presence, something unchanging, and I realize how long it has been since I have stood in a place like this.

The last time I had, Davina had ruined it for me with her arrival at Frostfang. This had led to Morrin discovering their truth and then having to die at her hands. Brutally.

The petition should still exist…

ught slips into my mind, and with it, a shudder at the thought of it being burned.

eager to give up on

To accept defeat, not just for my fate but for hers?

el slowly, placi hind me,

feel

“Do you

Is

ray.

eet, and I keep my gaze fixed ahead, even though I can feel Knox ence, and his gaze that is certainly fixed on me.

e asks quietly, seemingly sensing my discomfort.

ing. “No. Stay.”

rom Cassian, from the life that feels like a cage I never chose. I pray that Davina faces everything she has done, for

be, that she finds peace.

Kasumi’s well–being. And ther

ox be happy. Let him have w

ddition surprises me,

en my eyes slowl

candles and th

emains.

she continues to do. I pray for Morrin, wherever

e whispering one last thing:

feet, leaving one of the sweets at the Goddess’s feet among back, I hold the bowl out toward Knox, offering what

Je take

30

that after the Goddess is offered, the one whose birthday it is is fed

O

16:44 Thu, Apr 30 Md

Chapter 105 Let Him Be Happy

51

Finished

Fed. By someone who’s family, or rather by someone who cares. Yes, that is true. I nod, expecting nothing more than that acknowledgment. But he lifts the sweet toward me, making my breath hitch.

“Open your mouth,” he orders gently.

“No,” I shake my head quickly. “You should eat it.”

“There are two more,” he replies easily. “I’ll eat one. Iver can have the other. He’s been staring at them this whole time.”

My lips part before I can stop myself. And then I do, just a little. His gaze doesn’t leave mine as he brings the sweet closer, and when I take a small bite, a piece breaks off and falls to the ground.

“You’re very generous,” he murmurs. “Thinking of the ants.”

I glare at him, but I take another bite anyway. And then another, until it’s gone.

I look away first, and then I push the bowl into his hands, harder than necessary, and if he hadn’t caught it, it would have slipped straight to the ground. He extends it to Iver, who covers the distance, picks up the sweet and swallows it in one go before returning to where he stood–at a considerable distance from us.

Knox discards the leaf bowl beside the temple, where it will soon deteriorate and mingle with the earth. “Have you eaten anything today?” he asks me, his gaze returning.

My stomach betrays me before I can answer, a faint, humiliating sound that echoes louder than it should.

“That’s not from me,” he says lightly. “Or Iver.”

Heat floods my face.

“Why wouldn’t you eat?” he asks. “The guests at the Old Alchemist Tower are given enough.”

I scoff. “They are.”

He goes still for a moment, something shifting in his expression as he glances around, suddenly aware of where we are, of the openness of it, of the fact that we are standing here talking like this.

Not appropriate. Not safe.

I can see the thought in his eyes before he says, “Should we go somewhere more private?”

My heart stumbles over itself. I glance briefly at Iver, then back at Knox. “More private than this?” I ask, gesturing faintly around us. “There’s no one here. Not another soul other than us.”

“Can you hear souls?” he asks with mock interest. “Or see them?”

I stare at him, irritation flaring.

He exhales, running a hand through his hair before muttering. “Don’t make me wait more, Xena. I beg you.”

This is ridiculous.

I’m dreaming. I probably died from starvation on that narrow cot, and this is my afterlife. At least Knox is in

16:44 Thu, Apr 30 MJ

Chapter 105 Let Him Be Happy

Fed. By someone who’s family, or rather by someone who cares. Yes, that is true. I nod, expecting nothing more than that acknowledgment. But he lifts the sweet toward me, making my breath hitch.

“Open your mouth,” he orders gently.

“No.” I shake my head quickly. “You should eat it.”

“There are two more,” he replies easily. “I’ll eat one. Iver can have the other. He’s been staring at them this whole time.”

My lips part before I can stop myself. And then I do, just a little. His gaze doesn’t leave mine as he brings the sweet closer, and when I take a small bite, a piece breaks off and falls to the ground.

“You’re very generous,” he murmurs. “Thinking of the ants.”

I glare at him, but I take another bite anyway. And then another, until it’s gone.

I look away first, and then I push the bowl into his hands, harder than necessary, and if he hadn’t caught it, it would have slipped straight to the ground. He extends it to Iver, who covers the distance, picks up the sweet and swallows it in one go before returning to where he stood–at a considerable distance from us.

Knox discards the leaf bowl beside the temple, where it will soon deteriorate and mingle with the earth. “Have you eat ything today?” he asks me, his gaze returning.

me before I can answer, a faint, humiliating sound that echoes louder than it should.

he says lightly. “Or Iver.”

ace.

dn’t you eat?” he asks. “The guests at the Old Alchemist Tower are given enough.”

“They are.”

He goes still for a moment, something shifting in his expression as he glances around, suddenly aware of where we are, of the openness of it, of the fact that we are standing here talking like this.

Not appropriate. Not safe.

I can see the thought in his eyes before he says, “Should we go somewhere more private?”

My heart stumbles over itself. I glance briefly at Iver, then back at Knox. “More private than this?” I ask, gesturing faintly around us. “There’s no one here. Not another soul other than us.”

“Can you hear souls?” he asks with mock interest. “Or see them?”

I stare at him, irritation flaring.

He exhales, running a hand through his hair before muttering, “Don’t make me wait more, Xena. I beg you.”

This is ridiculous.

I’m dreaming. I probably died from starvation on that narrow cot, and this is my afterlife. At least Knox is in

30

OOP

16:44 Thu, Apr 30 M

Chapter 105 Let Him Be Happy

it–that’s some comfort. And he’s begging too.

A beggar. That’s what I mistook him for the first time we met.

“Alright,” I say finally. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

Finished

Before I can even process what I’ve agreed to, he moves. One moment I am standing there, and the next I am in his arms, the world tilting sharply as he lifts me with ease, and a gasp escapes me. My hands fly to his shoulders, then around his neck, gripping him tightly out of pure instinct.

He laughs. Again.

“What—” I start, breathless. “Put me down-” But the words don’t fully come out. Because something in me doesn’t want him to.

His warmth wraps around me, soothing and solid, and I hate how easily I lean into it, how natural it feels, how much I want to stay exactly like this for just a little longer.

So instead of pushing him away, I glare. And he only looks amused.

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