When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Lower Your Gaze

[XENA]

I sleep properly, deep enough that I don’t wake at every sound, every rustle of wind. When I open my eyes, the light feels gentle. My body feels… rested.

I wash quickly, splashing cold water over my face. I’ve just set the bowl down when Astrid steps in, carrying another bowl with thick green liquid inside.

I straighten at once, waiting for Cassian to follow her, but he doesn’t.

Astrid notices anyway. She moves and sets the bowl on the small table beside my bed.

“It’s medicine,” she says quietly. “Not poison.”

I don’t move.

“Herbs meant to strengthen lunar energy,” she continues. “This is what you were always supposed to receive. Without the knotgrass.

“I made sure the Alpha saw me bring it to you. He’ll assume it’s the same mixture as before.”

My voice comes out shaken. “Why are you doing this?”

She hesitates, swallowing. “He hurt me,” she says with a shrug. “He used me. And when he didn’t need me anymore, he treated me like the dirt beneath his feet.” Her jaw tightens. “Do I need more reasons?”

Silence stretches between us, and something aligns in our fates.

“In an hour,” Astrid says, turning for the door, “you’re expected in the Great Hall. You’ll present yourself beside the Alpha. The Lycan King and Prince will be there. He’s asked you to wear your best.”

She pauses, hand on the doorframe.

“I might have,” she adds, glancing back, “accidentally spilled some knotgrass into the Alpha’s wine.”

A smile ghosts over my lips.

When she’s gone, I drink the medicine. It’s bitter, but warmth spreads through my chest

I choose gold–the set he gave me.

He’d said it belonged to his sister. My clothes had been ruined after the hydralith–shredded, soaked. He’d healed me piece by piece, turning my skin flawless

Like Vera heals me.

I dress carefully, fastening the gold at my throat and waist. After combing my hair. I pin the few pieces of jewelry I still own. Our pack is wealthy–Lady Mara and Oriel took much of what I inherited as Luna, bur not all. I gave away most of what I didn’t need at the temple, pressing gems into trembling hands, bargaining with the Goddess in silence.

10:44 am

Chapter 36 Lower Your Gaze

Finished

I wrap the fake ceremonial cloak around my shoulders right as a sharp knock hits the door.

Cassian.

He’s already impatient.

One thought flickers–did he find Davina last night?-and I push it down hard.

The Great Hall overwhelms me the moment we enter.

Voices everywhere. Laughter. Murmurs. Power pressing in from all sides. Guild elites in layered robes. Human ambassadors glittering with gold and silver. Alphas and Lunas from packs across the continent.

Cassian’s face is flushed–a little too much to be natural.

I wonder how much wine–knotgrass–he drank. He always drinks when something important is about to happen. And this–being presented before the Lycan King and Prince–is monumental.

I suddenly realize how small I am.

The men around me are tall, broad–shouldered, built like living fortresses. I can barely see past them. When I tilt my head back, the ceiling steals my breath–moons carved into stone, light caught in crystal, divine in a way that feels intentional.

Cassian is quickly absorbed into conversation, laughing too loudly with other Alphas. I’m left standing where he abandons me, hands folding and unfolding at my sides.

I fidget. I look around. I study faces.

I remind myself: I am a Luna. In name.

I have rank. Standing. Equality on parchment and in protocol. And yet–I have no scent. No wolf. No true cloak. No power.

Something shifts.

My heart jolts as a presence makes itself known, sudden and undeniable. The crowd begins to part like instinct has rippled through it.

A herald’s voice rings out, amplified and absolute.

“The Lycan King, Zephyr Oberon–and the Lycan Prince, Knox Oberon Of the Moonhallow tribe

I fumble, unsure where to go, following the movement of others I step aside–and somehow end up at the very front.

Two men approach.

Broad–shouldered. Commanding Robes gleaming beneath the hall’s light as they march toward the thrones raised high upon the platform.

I don’t look up until they’re right beside me. When I do, I gasp.

10:44 am PDXD.

Chapter 36 Lower Your Gaze

Finished

It’s him. The stranger from the temple.

He sees me too and stills–just for a heartbeat, but it’s enough. His step falters. His breath catches.

I feel heat rush to my face.

He recovers instantly, gaze snapping forward, expression schooled back into something unreadable.

I watch the back of his head as he passes, the urge to look following him like a burn behind my eyes.

Cassian’s fingers dig painfully into my arm. “Don’t act mannerless,” he hisses. “Lower your gaze, Xena.”

I do. But the wolf inside me–no, not a wolf-

Something answers anyway.

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