When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 40

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.‘

I exhale and reach for the wine.

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

Chapter 40 What Must Be Fixed

+5 Pearls

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.

+5 Pearls

10:30 am

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.

78

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