When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 39

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Chapter 39 The Cursed One

[KNOX]

The sun sets, but my mind doesn’t.

Even with wine in my hand and familiar voices around me, she is still there–how she trembled, how she dropped to her knees in front of me, no words leaving her mouth. She was feeble and empty. Nothing like the woman at the lake. Nothing like the woman at the temple either.

But she was the same woman.

Noticeable now, only because I know how to look.

That day in the temple, her eyes were swollen. She’d been crying quietly. Like she’d learned how to do it without being seen. She was hurting then–too much. Today, she looked like someone who had stopped trying.

I wonder when that happened.

Her husband’s name comes to me easily. Cassian. Alpha of Frostfang.

The thought leaves a sour taste.

That day at the lake, she asked me to save her. She begged. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to give

1. up.

So I didn’t let her.

I’d reached for a part of my power I’ve spent years ignoring. I don’t think of myself as a savior. I never have. I ruin what I touch. Intentionally or not. If something is bound to my hand, it breaks.

Maybe this kingdom will be next.

Unless my father reveals a bastard son I don’t know about, the fate of Aurelune rests on me. On my shoulders. On my silence.

Perhaps I should take that seriously now. The ascension is close.

Maybe the Goddess will grant me some mercy and have the Guild find out about my curse before that ever happens. But that will only lead to discourse and chaos. The best outcome of that will be if the Guild finally chooses a Luna to lead. That will be my sister, Aria.

Goddess knows she’s been more interested than I ever was to rule this wretched kingdom.

A hand claps my back hard enough to jolt me.

“Got through one day,” Soren says, grinning. “Only a year left. Take care, Your Highness, you cheeks might sprain from trying to maintain a smile.”

Mikhail laughs. “He looked like he was getting a seizure.”

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Chapter 39 The Cursed One

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Soren nods. “And even in a room full of talking, living nobles and guests, he only seemed interested in a wolf pup!”

I swirl the wine in my glass but I don’t drink it.

From across the room, Iver catches my gaze.

I sigh.

I rise from the chaise, murmurs of protest following me. Someone laughs, calls out, “Already caught the eye of a pretty wolf, Your Grace?”

I scoff. “Probably.”

Mikhail and Soren burst out laughing.

The smirk on my face fades the moment I turn away.

Iver falls into step beside me without being asked as I stride towards my chamber.

I wish he’d just leave me alone. Him and everyone else. And the thoughts of her.

“Was the pup hurt?” I ask.

“No,” he says. “Looks well taken care of.”

I hum. I could tell. From the way she held her. Like letting go would cost her something vital.

I slow my steps. “She moved from the palace to the lake. We’ve only seen her appear in surrounding rooms. Farthest, in the palace gardens,” I say. “Don’t you find that strange?”

Iver considers it.

“And now the pup has imprinted on that… woman.”

I know her name.

It’s simple. Four letters. But I don’t say it.

Why should a name make me hesitate? It’s not as if she’ll appear if I speak it aloud.

I shake the thought away.

“What do we know about imprinting?” I ask.

Iver shrugs. “Not much, Your Highness.”

“Find out,” I say.

Once I’m inside my chambers, I let my shoulders relax. Then I strip and stand before the mirror.

Glyphs cover my chest–etched lines running from my shoulders down to my navel The mark of my curse. To everyone else, my skin is flawless. Any wound I take smooths away, leaving my body impeccable

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Chapter 39 The Cursed One

and untouched.

Only I see what it really is.

My gaze drops to my wrist, and I rub my fingers over the veins with unease.

She keeps looking at it.

S

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Since the marking, there’s been nothing there but an ugly scar. It should draw attention, but not the kind she gave it.

What does she see?

合

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When The Luna Broke Her Chains

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Chapter 40 What Must Be Fixed

[KNOX]

I shake my head and look away from the mirror.

I’m not going to think about her.

My gaze lands on it anyway.

The cloak.

It hangs on the wall of my chamber, draped with deliberate care between carved stone wolves and old maps of conquered borders. If anyone else were to see it, they’d dismiss it as decoration–fabric meant to soften stone.

They’d be wrong.

It’s a ceremonial cloak. Her ceremonial cloak.

The one she discarded without ceremony outside that temple. The one she called useless, as she handed it over to my grandmother, thinking she was a frail, helpless beggar.

If Grandmother were to see it now, the way it is kept in my chamber, the Goddess herself wouldn’t be able to stop her from celebrating.

I noticed everything about her today. I noticed the way she stood too still. The way she flinched before kneeling. And I noticed the cloak around her shoulders.

A fake.

I didn’t miss that.

Teo stirs, ‘Well, there’s your reminder, he says dryly. ‘She’s married.’

Not happily, another voice seems to add, quieter, unwelcome.

She wore Aria’s clothes. The golden set. I recognized it instantly. She wore it better than my sister ever did.

If I’m honest–and I rarely am with myself–I couldn’t have taken my eyes off her in the crowd even if I’d never met her before.

Doesn’t her husband see it?

Cassian was too quick to sacrifice her. Too eager to cast her into blame. He was harsh. Maybe he always has been to her, which is why she so carelessly gave her cloak away.

‘Even if she’s unhappy, Teo cuts in, it isn’t your concern

1 exhale and reach for the wine.

“Maybe I should drink,” I tell the empty room.

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Chapter 40 What Must Be Fixed

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When I close my eyes, I see her as she was by the lake. Limp in my arms, blood soaking through her clothes, her voice breaking. Save me. She didn’t want to die. I open my eyes slowly.

I realize something I hadn’t allowed myself to name before.

She has no scent.

No wolf. No instinctive healing.

I remember my hands on her skin. How carefully I’d moved over every wound, every bruise. I held her far longer than was necessary.

And perhaps a little too intimately.

I had no right.

You were healing her, Teo says. ‘Unless you had another intention.‘

“Get out of my head,” I snap.

My hands slam down on the table. A dagger skitters off the edge and clatters to the floor. Right then the door opens. My father steps inside. He doesn’t look pleased. He never does with me. He hasn’t in a long time.

“What was the matter with that wolf,” he asks, “earlier today. It’s cursed.”

I sigh. “The wolf isn’t cursed. I thought you weren’t superstitious, Father.”

“I’m not,” he says evenly. “But I saw what happened. Others saw it too. You’re not acting as you should.”

I feel irritation rise. “How would you like me to act?”

“Like a future Lycan King.”

“And what does that mean?” I ask sharply.

“You show interest in nothing,” he says. “Your ascension is in a month. You choose to take a Luna now- after years of delay—and only because you’re forced.”

I breathe out slowly. “What are you saying?”

“I want you to stop,” he says. “Whatever curiosity you’re indulging with the wolves. Shut it down. Let them

1. be. I don’t see the need.”

He steps closer. “I don’t want to hear from my councilors again about another problem you’ve created. And that golden–eyed wolf–I don’t know what it is. But I sense trouble.”

His gaze hardens. “Keep it away. I don’t want to hear about it. From anyone. Just take the throne, find a suitable Luna for yourself. And breed. Do your duty. Stop shaming me further, Knox.

My jaw is clenched so hard, I’m afraid it might break. But I give him a nod and bow.

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Chapter 40 What Must Be Fixed

“As you wish. Your Grace.”

His lips purse, displeased still, but he turns and leaves.

I wait until I know he’s truly gone before I turn back to the wall.

To the cloak.

I cross the room and touch it without thinking. The fabric is softer than it looks.

I think of the bread she gave me.

I regret throwing it away. Again.

I think of answers. Of the ones I still need. Of the cure I haven’t found.

Time is running out. I need to fix this before I take a Luna.

Because once I do–it will be too late.

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