When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 47

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Chapter 47 The Prince’s Favoured

Davina’s head feels heavy.

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But it’s not the wine or exhaustion. She should’ve known the weight of what she’s done would be unbearable. And that she’d have to suffer through it alone.

She needs a break. She needs distance. And she needs time to think.

She knows she won’t get any of it.

She still doesn’t believe it worked. That Morrin is gone. That the woman who cornered her with sharp eyes and sharper truths is truly dead. Davina expected resistance. Complications. Expulsion from the Guild, or worse, a beheading for breaking her oath.

And what she expected most was for Cassian to be useless when it mattered.

At some point, without meaning to, she started thinking of him that way.

Useless.

The thought irritates her more than it should.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Cassian is her fated mate. Her wolf still curls around the bond with obsessive devotion, purring whenever he’s near, aching when he isn’t. And Davina— Davina liked that he wanted her. She liked the way he’d looked at her once, desperate and with uncontrolled desire, like she was something he’d earned.

Now something has shifted. She no longer feels in control. Worse–she feels used.

The realization crawls under her skin, sharp and unwelcome, and she knows exactly where it began. With Xena. With that quiet doubt planted so carefully, so innocently, that Davina didn’t even recognize it as a threat until it bloomed.

Morrin confronting her hadn’t been part of the plan. Neither had killing her.

It hadn’t been easy. And if she’s honest, she could have done it cleaner. Still, it was executed well. The shadow magic had answered her call. The explosion had masked the residue. A ritual she’d found in a forbidden book had saved her reputation and her life.

Now she can only hope no one knows how to look closely enough.

She promised herself after that night that she wouldn’t risk it again. Not here. Not in the palace. This place she once thought would be free ground–where power gathered loosely, where desire could be indulged without consequence–is crawling with Guild members.

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Chapter 47 The Prince’s Favoured

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The Moon Guild taking center stage in organizing the ascension and the Luna Choosing should have warned her. When she was selected to come to the palace, she should have known what it

meant.

She told herself she would stay away from Cassian. She really did. She wouldn’t even let his shadow touch her.

Then she was given a suite of her own. A private bathing chamber. Silks. Privacy. Respect.

A reminder of her worth.

Of the position she holds for the Guild—and therefore for the kingdom.

They intend to use her skills. And they intend to convince her that she wants to be used.

So she summoned Cassian.

The cloaking enchantment was easy. Almost insultingly so. Easy to cast. Easy to detect–if someone knew to look.

He came. And then he was inside her.

When her junior knocked to summon her for the Guild gathering, Davina claimed illness and sent her away. She spent the day with Cassian instead, amid tangled sheets and whispered excuses, her wolf soothed even as something inside her recoiled.

Afterward, when he lay beside her, breath even, she hated herself for it.

Cassian isn’t the same anymore. He’s distracted. Not as devoted. He’s not the loving puppy she once saw him to be, one she thought would always be tailing behind her. No, now he acts like she owes him something. And it only brings one thought to the front:

Is he growing protective of Xena?

The thought makes Davina’s blood burn.

She wants to be away from Cassian. From everything that happened between them, and everything that exists.

Watching Mara and Oriel at the hunt only cements her decision. Their behavior is sloppy. Emotional. Loud. She will not be dragged down by their irrationality.

Enough.

She will bury herself in Guild duty. It’s safer and smarter.

So she decides to reach out to Seraphel with purposeful calm, presenting herself as composed,

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serious, and focused on her position. Seraphel has little to lose by indulging her–and plenty to gain.

“You have potential,” Seraphel tells her. “The Guild notices ambition.”

“I only want to serve,” Davina replies smoothly.

Seraphel decides to introduce her to the royal family that very evening.

“There’s a private dinner I’m invited to,” she says. “You should attend.”

Davina doesn’t hesitate. “I would be honored.”

There is no better way to rise than to dine with power.

Especially now, when Guild and Crown are working so closely. If Davina intends to build something lasting from what she took–from Xena and from her wolf, Vera, who manifested the Moon’s blessing when she turned eighteen–then this is where it begins.

Seraphel leads her through the corridors. At the doors, she pauses.

“Go on,” Seraphel says.

Davina straightens, schooling her expression into something warm and composed, even as raised voices bleed through the thick wood.

She opens the door. The room freezes momentarily at the sound of the doors parting, and then every gaze snaps to her.

The moment rattles her despite herself, but she bows deeply, lowering her eyes, calm and obedient.

“Rise,” King Zephyr says.

She does.

“What is your name?” he asks without a moment’s hesitation. There’s something akin to hope on his face.

“Davina of the Moon Guild, Your Grace.”

“You’re sworn into servitude?”

“Yes,” she answers breathily, not knowing why he’d be interested.

Zephyr curses under his breath.

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Chapter 47 The Princes Favoured

Davina says nothing. She’s too confused to understand how to respond.

Aria leans forward, curious. “Are you participating in the Luna Choosing ritual?”

Davina blinks. “No,” she answers honestly, glancing toward Seraphel.

Seraphel is frowning.

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“I believe I’ve arrived at a poor time, and of course, without invitation,” Davina says quickly, bowing again. She should appear guilty before anyone decides to grant her their wrath. “Forgive me.”

“No,” the old Queen Mother says, sighing. “But now you must participate in the Luna Choosing, my dear.”

Knox stiffens. “What do you mean? Even after this, you will conduct the ritual? All the trials?”

Seraphel steps forward. “Why would the ritual be cancelled? We’ve prepared extensively, Your Grace.”

Zephyr looks to his mother. Then nods. “Yes. The ritual will proceed. It must,” he replies, glancing warily at everyone present around him. “We can’t insult the others who’ve made the journey here.”

He turns to Davina. “The trials will be held, and the perspectives Lunas will participate, but you -Davina–must know that you are the Prince’s favored.”

Davina lifts her head, gasping, heart pounding.

Knox is staring at her with a clenched jaw and open fury.

And for the first time that night, Davina realizes she has stepped into something far more dangerous than ambition alone.

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