When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 32

Finished

Chapter 32 Not Wolfless, Just Unclaimed

[XENA]

Dawn finds me standing in the Alpha’s private council hall.

The doors shut behind me with a final, echoing thud, and every instinct in my body screams wrong. The hair on my body stands as the long second passes.

Vera is heavy in my arms now. She presses against my chest, ears flicking, golden eyes alert. The room smells of cold stone and old authority.

The first face I see is Varek.

The new Chief Healer stands near the long council table, wrapped in dark grey robes so deep they border on black. He looks nothing like Morrin. Where she was sharp and alive, Varek is broad, blunt, and grim. His gaze drops to the wolf in my arms like he’s already tired of her.

Cassian sits at the head of the hall, jaw clenched, fingers drumming once against the arm of his chair before going still. He looks irritated.

Lady Mara and Oriel stand to his right.

Of course.

My stomach sinks. They didn’t wait. They went straight to the council. Straight to the men who never wanted me here. The elders who whispered about a wolfless Luna, about defilement, about weakness dressed in bones and pale skin.

And yet Cassian went against all of them to marry me. All to save his face.

This is what they’ve been waiting for: an excuse, an inspection that can be bent until it breaks me.

“Bring it forward,” Elder Torren says, his voice dry as parchment.

I step closer, feet trembling, all the air leaving my lungs. Vera tenses in my arms.

Lady Mara moves first. She doesn’t bother pretending grief today. “That creature is cursed,” she declares. “Since it arrived, misfortune has followed. Fires. Illness. Hallucinations. My own wounds appeared without cause.” She lifts her chin. “It must be executed before it brings Frostfang to ruin.”

Oriel steps in eagerly. “And my clothes,” she adds. “Burned inside a closed chest. Explain that, if you can

Cassian exhales sharply. “Enough,” he says. “Coincidence is not proof. Fear isn’t evidence.”

Mara scoffs. “Fear exists for a reason.”

Cassian doesn’t look at her; he looks at me. “Where did you find it?”

I swallow, realizing my mouth is very dry. “I didn’t,” I say. “It appeared.”

A murmur ripples through the council.

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Chapter 32 Not Wolfless, Just Unclaimed

Finished

“I found it helpless,” I continue quickly. “Alone. According to Luna doctrine, I was required to give it warmth and care until it could survive on its own.”

“Doctrine written for others of our kind,” an elder mutters. “Not wolves with black fur and golden eyes. Cursed creature!”

“She should have reported it,” Oriel snaps. “Not hidden it like some–like some… delusion.”

Cassian lifts a hand, silencing everyone. “A Luna’s discretion is her right,” he says flatly. “Especially when no harm has been proven.”

I know the tone he’s using. Calm, reasonable, and bored. The same voice he uses when he wants control without effort.

“Proceed with the inspection,” Elder Torren says. “Let the healer decide.”

Astrid steps forward before I can react. “I’ll take her,” she says quietly.

My heart sinks. Astrid doesn’t meet my eyes as she gently lifts Vera from my arms. Vera growls low in her throat but allows it, muscles coiled tight. Astrid places her on the inspection table.

Varek approaches. He doesn’t speak or soften his movements. He examines Vera like she’s an object. When his hand closes around her scruff, Vera hisses.

“Don’t,” I say, the word breaking out of me. I turn toward Cassian. “Please. Don’t hurt her.”

Varek glances over his shoulder. “Shouldn’t we hurt it before it hurts us?”

“Vera’s harmless,” I insist. “She’s just a pup.”

A sharp laugh rings out. “Oh, listen to her,” Oriel says sweetly. “She’s already named it.” Her eyes flick to Vera. “What did you call it again?”

I freeze. “Vera,” I say meekly.

Oriel’s smile widens. “Of course you did. After your lost wolf.” She tilts her head. “Delusional, or desperate?”

“Names are names. There’s nothing deeper in that,” Cassian remarks.

Varek reaches into a carved chest and produces a stone etched with silver glyphs–the Moon Guild’s seal unmistakable.

Astrid stiffens, speaking out of turn or authority. “That’s not necessary-

“It is,” Varck says. He places the stone over Vera’s chest.

Vera whimpers.

Not a sound–a feeling. It rips through me like a blade twisting beneath my ribs. I gasp as pain coils right around my heart. “No,” I choke. “No, stop-”

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Chapter 32 Not Wolfless, Just Unclaimed

Vera snarls. The table rattles.

Varek yelps as the stone turns red in his hand. Smoke curls upward. The silver glyphs begin to warp.

“What in the-” he starts.

The stone melts. Molten silver drips between his fingers.

Cassian surges to his feet. “Enough!” he roars.

Mara screams. The elders scramble back. Astrid stares, frozen, horror etched across her face.

My knees buckle. Something warm… blood drips from my nose onto the stone floor.

The pain isn’t just pain. It’s recognition.

I collapse.

The last thought I have before the dark takes me is simple and terrifying, and true: I am not wolfless anymore. I am just unclaimed.

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