When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68 Lost Under Observation

[KNOX]

I reach the research room just as the palace begins to wake.

Finished

I don’t like calling it that. It may have started as research–hope, really. A cure for my curse, or at least an understanding of it. But it hasn’t been that for a long time now.

I don’t see the wolves as a means to an end, and I know they aren’t. That truth still strikes me sometimes, like a reprimand I didn’t know I deserved. They are not tools. They are not answers waiting to be harvested.

They are lives. Unexpected ones. And against my better judgment, I’ve come to care for them. Especially the one that isn’t supposed to exist.

The chamber is wide and low, its floor a ghostly white stone that reflects the soft light filtering in from high windows. The air smells… strange, but I can’t call it unpleasant–something mineral and faintly sweet, threaded with fur and warmth and alchemy.

Pillows are scattered across the floor. Some are torn open, feathers drifting like pale ghosts. The wolves are all here, curled together or tumbling lazily over one another.

All of them–except her.

Vera senses me before I step fully inside. Golden eyes snap open. Black fur ripples as she rises, already larger than the others, already wrong in ways I haven’t been able to explain. She’s growing faster. Too fast. Nearly twice their size now.

No one has given me an answer for that.

“Your Highness.”

I turn sharply.

Muriel stands near the door that leads into the alchemical quarter, hands clasped. She bows low when she

sees me.

“You’re here early,” I say, unable to keep the suspicion from my voice.

“I was woken early,” she replies calmly. “The golden wolf-” she hesitates, then continues, “was restless last night. Growling. Whimpering.”

My chest tightens.

“Tavia told me,” Muriel adds. “She was on watch.”

I swallow.

Vera pads across the floor and leaps into my arms without hesitation, her weight solid and undeniable now. She presses her head beneath my chin, a low sound vibrating through her chest.

10:08 am

Chapter 68 Lost Under Observation

Finished

“She’s heavy,” I murmur, more to myself than to Muriel. “When will they be ready to release into the woods?” I ask.

Muriel shifts nervously, just as she always does when I mention it. She doesn’t want them released. Curiosity clouds her judgment–she wants to observe, to study, to know.

“They’re comfortable here,” she says carefully. “They play. They spar. They’re developing as wolves do in the forest.”

“But this isn’t a forest,” I cut in.

She hesitates. “Tavia and I do take them out. Under observation.”

I nod once. Flat. “You lost her during one of these… observations.”

Muriel swallows.

“She disappeared, Your Highness. She is the most active,” she says quietly.

I release a breath through my nose. “And the mother wolf? Is she any better?”

Muriel’s expression softens with regret. She shakes her head. “No. But Tavia said she heard her growl last night.”

My heart jumps. “She did?”

“Yes. She’s certain.”

“And the imprinting?” I ask finally. “Do you have more information?”

“Soon,” Muriel says. “But I will need to see her. The woman you spoke of. I might understand more if—”

“No,” I say at once, lifting a hand.

She stops.

“I want her out of this,” I say. “Entirely.”

Muriel watches me carefully.

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