When The Luna Broke Her Chains novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85 A Wolf And A Goblet Of Wine

[XENA]

Finished

A whole day has passed since the names were announced for the Luna Choosing Trials, and yet the way Knox looked at me refuses to loosen its hold on my mind.

I’ve wondered what his attention on me could mean–especially after he has avoided me over the last week.

My stomach twists at the contradiction. If he meant nothing by it, why look at me that way? And if he meant something… why stay away? I tell myself it doesn’t matter, and that it shouldn’t. That I’m foolish for dissecting a glance that deeply. But then again, it was more than a glance. He was staring. The entire time.

What if Davina said something to him? Something subtle but poisonous about me. A half–truth dressed as concern. And he believed her–because why wouldn’t he? She is Moon–blessed. Chosen. Desired.

The woman he may very well bend the entire realm for. The Luna Choosing Trials only serve as the beginning of the treacheries she’ll have him commit.

I press my palms against my arms, trying to quiet the chill that creeps beneath my skin. I don’t know what frightens me more–that he looked at me like that…

Or that I still want him to.

I lie back against the pillows, restless, watching Vera chase the shifting shadows cast by the tall tree outside the window. The branches sway, and the light dances across the floor. She pounces at nothing, claws scraping against polished stone. She’s carefree and clueless of everything else right now–oblivious of my tumultous heart. If we were truly connected in some way, as Knox implies, shouldn’t I feel or sense more from her?

It has been so long that I barely remember what it felt like to share my mind with another being. My wolf was with me for only a week.

Sometimes I look at the others around me and wonder how they bear it. That voice–the second consciousness. Do they ever crave silence? Or does it become part of the air they breathe?

A wolf does more than grant strength. It guides and anchors and steadies the mind when fear threatens to split it open.

But Vera is separate. She exists outside me, Can something that stands apart from me truly guide me the way a wolf within does? Sure Vera alerted me of the attack on Morrin. But I shouldn’t hope for much, especially after knowing how all of this ignites curiosity in Knox’s mind. If he decides to act on it, I might as well become a study vessel for the Guild.

Better dead than that.

Suddenly Vera pounces up on the bed and steals the empty goblet of wine held on the side table before bolting across the chamber like she’s stolen treasure.

“Vera!” I gasp, already smiling as she skids across the polished floor, paws scrambling for traction.

She growls triumphantly, dropping the goblet on a woven dark green carpet, and only then do I notice the rest of her hoard. Shiny spoons and other trinkets she has picked up from around the room.

08:59 Fri, Apr 24 MMA.

Chapter 85 A Wolf And A Goblet Of Wine

“When did you collect all of that?” I mutter, staring at the growing pile.

She stands over it proudly, tail wagging, chest puffed as if she’s conquered enemy territory.

“You’ve made such a mess,” I scold, hands on my hips.

65

Finished

She bares her tiny teeth at me in playful defiance, then abruptly abandons her treasure to attack the carpet itself, tugging loose threads with determined little growls.

“Oh, you menace,” I murmur, kneeling and scooping her up before she dismantles the entire floor.

She wriggles in my arms and immediately lunges for my fingers instead, nibbling but with no real threat.

For a few minutes, nothing exists beyond this room. Beyond the soft sound of her paws and my own breath.

She presses her head into my palm when she finally tires, and blinks up at me with golden eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do without you here,” I whisper, the words tumbling out on their own.

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