Chapter Sixteen
Elara’s POVI
Iran. The cold bit into my skin, and the shadows of the forest clawed at my cloak, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. Not with what I’d just heard. My heart thundered louder than my feet pounding against the earth, and the echoes of their voices still rang in my ears.
“Kill him. Take his power
The words looped like a curse in my head. Luna Liora–the woman we had loved like a mother, the woman we had defended, cried for, fought for–she didn’t love us. She never had.
She was planning to kill Daddy And worse…The baby inside her doesn’t even belong to him.
A sob rose in my throat, but I forced it down. The wind whipped at my face, drying the tears before they even had a chance to fall. My legs felt like jelly by the time the trees thinned and the castle came into view. That place that once felt like home, now colder and darker than the forest I had just fled.
I slipped inside through the servant’s entrance, my cloak still damp with dew, my heart still pounding like it might burst. The halls were quiet, the torches dimmed, but the quilt screamed louder than ever I passed the Luna’s wing–her wing.
No, not hers. Selene’s. The scent of lavender still lingered I had thought it clung to the pillows because Liora loved it, but now I knew better. It had always been Selene’s scent
I had gone in there days ago when no one was watching. Just stood in the center of the room like a ghost, And on the wall behind the wardrobe, I’d found it. A messy scrawl, barely hidden.!!
“The ones I love dearly.”
The words were etched in childish handwriting, surrounded by drawings. Three little wolves. One with Calix’s curly hair. One with Ryker’s long ears. One with my braid. Us
She had loved us And we had killed her
I dropped to my knees right there in the hallway, nausea twisting my stomach. I wanted to rip the wall down Rip me down. We believed Liora. We believed her lies. That Selene had hurt our mother. That she had stolen Father from love. That she was cruel.
But she wasn’t. She had drawn us on her walls She had loved us. And we had pushed her away. We had helped Liora push her out. And now she was gone.
A part of me had been whispering this for weeks. Every time Liora ignored our questions or snapped at one of the maids. Every time she smiled too wide and hugged us too tight, like she was trying to choke something down inside. I had wanted to believe she was just grieving
But grief doesn’t make you plan murder
pushed myself up, legs trembling, and kept walking. I didn’t know where I was going until I saw their faces.
Ryker. Calix. They were sitting on the staircase, whispering about something I couldn’t hear. When they saw me, they stood quickly, Ryker’s eyes narrowing.
“Where have you been? It’s almost midnight.”
I couldn’t answer. Not right away.
“Come,” I whispered. “Come to my room. Now
They followed without arguing. We didn’t speak. Not until the door clicked shut behind us. And then I broke.
I turned on them with wild eyes, chest heaving. “She doesn’t love us. Liora. She never loved us.””
“Elara, what are you talking about?” Calix said, frowning.
“I saw her. With a man. In the woods. I think he’s a rogue. He called her his Luna. He said the baby is his. She didn’t deny it. She didn’t even flinch.“%
Ryker stiffened. “You saw them?”
“She’s going to kill Daddy,” I choked. “She said it. Said Ronan was starting to suspect. That she could take his power, marry rule beside him “&
arry that
man, and
Silence Long. Heavy. Choking.
“Are you sure?” Calix whispered, voice small.
I nodded slowly, tears spilling now, hot and angry.
“She lied to us,” I said. “About everything. About Selene. I found Selene’s writing. In her old room. She wrote our names. Drew us. She loved us All this time, she was trying, and we… we were so cruel.”}
Ryker sank onto the bed like the strength had gone out of him. Calix covered his face with his hands.
“We helped her, didn’t we?” he said: “We helped Liora push her away. And we believed her.
“I told Selene she wasn’t our real mom, Ryker whispered. “I told her she could never be.“:
I curled into myself, the shame a weight too heavy to hold. “And now she’s gone. Because of us.”
Calix sobbed: Ryker didn’t make a sound, but I saw the tears streaking his face. The three of us clung together on the floor, trembling, lost broken.
“We have to pretend,” I said finally, voice shaking. “Pretend we still believe Liora. Pretend to love her. If she thinks we’re turning on her. shell kill Daddy
“She might anyway, Ryker muttered.
“Then we have to be smart. We have to watch her. Catch her before she does it.”
“And if it’s too late?” Calix asked.
I looked at them both, eyes red and burning.
“Then we finish what she started,” I said. “But not to him. To her.”
They nodded.But the tears kept falling. The guilt was a river now. Drowning us. Smothering us. We cried for Selene.
The only one who ever loved us like we were whole. And we brake her We killed her.
And now we were alone
AM
