When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 54

Finished

Chapter 54 A Cruel Family

XENAL

My heart still feels bruised from the way Knox spoke to me earlier, clipped and distant, as if I’d crossed a ine without knowing where it was drawn, and the ache hasn’t quite settled by the time raised voices carry hrough the corridor outside my door.

Astrid is already awake. She’s helping me fasten the simple dress I chose from the ones I brought along vith me, her fingers fumbling slightly as she works, when I mention–too casually–that the prince asked ne to have breakfast with him.

he freezes. “With the prince?” she repeats, eyes wide. “This morning?”

nod, adjusting my sleeve. “He said he’d send Iver.”

Astrid makes a small, startled sound. “Xena, that’s-” She cuts herself off, listening. “Wait. Do you hear hat?”

1. do. The voices are closer now. Sharper. Familiar.

Oriel,” Astrid says grimly.

We step out into the corridor together, and sure enough, she’s there, standing in front of a palace guard with her arms crossed and her face twisted in fury.

‘I don’t care what you were told,” Oriel snaps. “She doesn’t belong here. This is the prince’s tower.”

The guard looks harried. “My lady, I was instructed-”

Her

gaze lands on me, and her expression tightens. “What in the Goddess’s name are you doing here?” she lemands. “You’re trespassing.”

The guard clears his throat. “Luna Xena was granted these quarters by order of the prince.”

Oriel’s face reddens. “That’s impossible.”

Footsteps echo behind her.

Cassian.

He stops short when he sees me, his eyes narrowing as he takes in the guard, the corridor, and then he steps forward without hesitation.

“That’s my wife,” he says sharply. “Move.”

The guard hesitates, glancing toward the stairwell–and then freezes when Knox appears at the far end of the corridor, his presence sudden and unmistakable, his gaze hard enough to make the guard step back at

once.

Cassian doesn’t notice him yet.

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Chapter 54 A Cruel Family

Finisher

“Cassian,” I mutter as he grabs my arm and pulls me inside the chamber, his grip tight and possessive.

His mouth falls open the moment he sees the room.

The space. The light. The bed. The view.

Oriel storms in after us. “You didn’t tell me the prince offered you these quarters,” Cassian says, rounding on me. “How dare you move here alone?”

Oriel scoffs. “Alone? I thought you were with her last night, brother. I thought you abandoned us in that miserable hole together.”

Cassian’s face darkens, and something clicks painfully into place.

Davina. Of course, he was with her.

“I had work,” he snaps.

Oriel laughs sharply. “Work? Then what is this?” She gestures wildly at the room. “Why is she here, in the prince’s tower, while we’re left outside? What’s going on?” She turns on me. “What has happened that this pathetic, wolfless creature gets a chamber like this?”

Something inside me snaps.

‘You will not speak to me like that,” I say.

The room stills.

Oriel stares at me. “What did you just say?”

‘I said you will not speak to me like that,” I repeat, my teeth clenched. “I am a Luna.”

She lets out a short, incredulous laugh. “You don’t get to—”

‘I am a favored guest of the prince,” I cut in. “I saved his wolf. He treats me with respect.”

Cassian sneers. “Then you’ll ask him to move us here too, won’t you?”

There’s desperation beneath his mockery, and I see it now, plain as day.

I straighten. “Of course,” I say calmly. “If that’s what you want.”

Oriel laughs loudly. “What in the Goddess’s name has happened?” She shakes her head. “He cares about you? A wolfless thing like you?”

Her voice cuts off mid–sentence.

“What’s going on in here?”

Knox stands at the threshold, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

Oriel’s face drains of color. She bows so quickly she nearly stumbles. Cassian follows a heartbeat later.

2/4

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Chapter 54 A Cruel Family

Knox doesn’t look at them.

“Xena,” he says instead. “I’ve been waiting.”

I bow. “Your Highness. Forgive me.”

“Come,” he says, already turning away.

I take a breath and step forward, but Cassian catches my arm again, his fingers biting into my skin.

“Do what I said,” he mutters. “Or there will be consequences.”

I smile at him.

6:40

Finished

Then I follow Knox down the corridor, ignoring the stunned looks and hurried bows of everyone we pass.

He leads me into a small solar where breakfast is laid out neatly, sunlight spilling across the table. He pulls out a chair for me without comment.

“Thank you,” I say softly, sitting.

“That was your family,” he says, casual as he pours tea.

“Yes,” I reply. “You met my husband, Alpha Cassian. And my sister–in–law, Lady Oriel. She’s participating in the Luna Choosing.”

He scoffs. “I would never choose her.”

“But you chose Davina,” I say before I can stop myself.

He hums, unbothered.

I bite my lip, then murmur, “You’ve created quite a rift. Oriel and Davina were… close.”

He straightens slightly. “Oriel doesn’t know, does she?”

“No,” I say. “But she will. Davina never intended to participate.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he replies.

“What does matter to you?” I ask suddenly.

He looks at me, surprised.

I lower my gaze. “Forgive me.”

“You’re brutally honest,” he says after a moment.

“You asked for it,” I remind him.

He nods, then studies me. “Your family,” he says quietly. “They aren’t good to you.”

I inhale sharply. “No. They aren’t.”

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Chapter 54 A Cruel Family

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“Why?”

“Because I’m wolfless,” I say. “I have no power. No scent. No standing.”

He hums thoughtfully, his face twisting in a frown like that isn’t reason enough. Then he asks a question I’m not prepared to answer.

“What happened to your wolf?”

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