When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51 Close, But Not The Chosen

[XENA]

The thought of being stuck with Cassian–of losing my last hope of the prince freeing me from the marriage bond makes me want to scream and throw myself off a cliff.

But they’ve already taken too much from me. I’m not giving them anything more. Not even a breath, much less my life.

Knox’s revelation is unsettling, though. It shifts things abruptly and in a way that doesn’t make sense to

1. me.

Cassian letting Davina belong to someone… After everything. After the way he guards what he thinks is his. But Davina’s ambition? That I can believe easily. I’ve seen how little she was satisfied once it tasted like power. Still, the idea of her as the Prince’s chosen–favored–sits wrong in my chest.

And it’s not just because of what I think of her, or because of what she did to me. Somewhere, it’s also because I thought Prince Knox was the one thing she couldn’t touch.

Knox clears his throat softly, and I realize I’ve drifted far from the room, my thoughts spiraling without restraint. I straighten at once, suddenly aware of how I’ve been slouching.

I look around properly this time.

The bed is circular, enormous, draped in sheer curtains that catch the moonlight like silver mist. The window stands wide open, the full moon hanging heavy beyond it, close enough to touch. There’s a bathing alcove tucked neatly into the corner, steam still ghosting the air as if someone prepared it recently.

It’s too much.

“Thank you,” I say, quietly. “For the room. But… I don’t deserve this.”

Knox tilts his head, studying me in that unreadable way of his, and says nothing.

I shift under his gaze, my fingers tightening reflexively in my skirts. “What?” I ask, breath leaving me on a nervous laugh.

He swallows, his throat working, then shakes his head once. “You’re beautiful,” he says, plainly, as if stating a fact that requires no embellishment.

The words stun me long enough that I forget to breathe. Then the thought catches up. He’s flattering me. Buttering me up because of Davina. Because he wants something from me.

My gaze drops to his chest instead of meeting his eyes, taking in the smooth line of skin between the open buttons of his shirt before I can stop myself.

He shifts slightly. “Are you ever going to replace my ruined robe?”

I blink, then look up, startled–and realize he’s smiling, Joking.

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Chapter 51 Close, But Not The Chosen

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A small smile escapes me in return before I can hold it back, but it fades just as quickly. The unease remains. I’m standing in a chamber offered to me by the Prince. A man I met first in a temple, disguised as a beggar. A man who pulled me back from the edge of death from a lake.

I should ask him why he was there that night. What he was really doing in a temple, hiding himself from the world.

“I suppose,” I begin, choosing my words carefully, “in a way… we’re even now. You saved my life. I protected your wolf.”

‘Vera,” he says, softly.

glance down at the pup curled in my arms. “She must have another name.”

He shrugs. “I never named her.”

And we’re not even,” he adds. “If that’s what you think You protected Dion.”

lick my lips and tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, heart beating faster than it should. “So Dion is

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‘My son,” he says easily. “Yes. He’s my sister’s. Aria’s.”

look at him. “Then why didn’t you correct me that day?”

He studies me again with that intense gaze. “Why does it matter?”

It does matter, but I can’t explain why without unraveling something inside me, so instead, I rise to my eet, restless energy driving me forward. I walk to the window, resting my hand against the cool stone as I ook out, the other holding Vera, wondering what’s happening now in the Great Hall I just left behind.

I don’t look at him when I ask, “So… you want to marry Davina.”

There’s a pause behind me. Long enough to feel intentional.

‘I will marry her,” Knox says.

ng?”

‘You’ve already decided,” I say quietly. “And the Luna Choosing?”

“It will go on,” he replies. “As it should. But it will be a farce. This is our little secret.”

I turn back to him then, the phrase catching painfully in my chest. Vera squirms and leaps from my arm before I can stop her, padding straight toward him. He scoops her up without effort, one hand settling easily into her fur.

I watch the way she melts against him, utterly at ease.

“Our little secret?” I repeat, barely above a whisper.

He nods, his gaze lifting to mine, unwavering. “Yes. I want you to be my friend, Xena. And I want you

close.”

The words ring strangely in my ears.

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Chapter 51 Close, But Not The Chosen

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Close. As what? So he can get closer to Davina?

A bitter laugh threatens to escape me, but I swallow it down. As if I could help him in any way. As if I natter in this arrangement at all.

And yet….

The wants to use me, then I can use him too.

The thought settles with unexpected clarity.

can live away from Cassian’s cruelty. Away from Mara’s disdain and Oriel’s venom. And when the time omes–when I have no other path left–I can demand something in return.

will help him with Davina. Or pretend to.

le will never know the difference. I have no wolf to betray my thoughts.

nd, when the moment arrives, I will ask him to end my marriage to Cassian.

The question slips out before I can stop myself. “Your Highness…. do you think I could use the royal brary?”

nox’s brows lift slightly, interest sparking there. “You like reading?”

nod. It’s the simplest truth I have. “I always have.”

small smile touches his lips. “You should see my private collection. I have some excellent books.”

My heart stumbles.

bite my lip, hesitation curling in. I was hoping for something else. Something about reclaiming what I ost. About wolves and severance and the things no one likes to speak aloud.

Sut I nod anyway. “If that wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

It wouldn’t,” he says at once. “Not at all. You’ll be my friend after all.”

And as the moonlight spills across the floor between us, I realize that this–this fragile, dangerous

roximity–is the beginning of something I cannot yet name.

But I know this much: I won’t waste it,

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