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Home / Werewolf / The Luna's Crown / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of The Luna's Crown : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

54 Chapters

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: The Mark That Wasn't"You're the Princess."The phone slips from my hand. It hits the floor. The screen cracks.I stare at it. I didn't move. My heart is beating too fast.Princess. Me. The girl who grew up washing plates for foster parents. The woman who wakes up at five to bake cakes for a husband who looks through me like I am glass.The cake sits on the counter. Red velvet. Darius's favorite. I made it fresh this morning. I wanted to tell him my news. The good news from the lawyer.Now this.I pick up the phone. The lawyer is still talking. His voice sounds far away."Mrs. Vane, are you there? You need to listen. The election is in fifteen days. If you want the crown, you need a husband. The law says a woman cannot rule alone. If you don't find one, your husband wins by default.""I have a husband," I say. My voice sounds strange to me."Are you sure?"The line goes dead.I look at the cake. Seven years. Seven years of waiting for the Luna title. Darius always says the

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: The Enemy's Price"You're late."I step out of the car. Marcus is asleep in the backseat. I grabbed him from school so fast I didn't even put on his shoes. Mid-nap. Still in his uniform. His small hand clutches that stuffed wolf he loves. I grabbed it from his bed without thinking. The only thing he asked for when I pulled him out of class.A man walks toward me. Tall. Broad. Scar through his eyebrow. White and jagged, like lightning cut his face. He moves like he expects the ground to move for him, like the world should step aside."Kael," he says. "East territory Alpha. Your husband's enemy.""I don't know you," I say. My voice is flat. I am too tired for fear."You will." He stops three feet away. Close enough to touch. Far enough to not threaten me yet. "I watched your house. I have cameras in the trees. Darius's men arrived at the school ten minutes after you left. Big men. Armed men. You got the boy just in time. Another five minutes and they would have had him."I lo

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: The BurnThe cabin burns at dawn.I wake to smoke, black and thick. It fills my lungs, my mouth, my eyes. I cannot see. I cannot breathe. I cannot think."Mama!" Marcus coughs. He sits up. Terrified."Mama, I can't see! Where are you?"I grab him. Roll off the bed. The floor is hot. Too hot. It burns my feet through my socks. The window, closed.Locked from outside. Someone nailed it shut while we slept. Someone wanted us to die.I kick it. Once. The glass cracks.Twice. It shatters. Fresh air rushes in. Cold. Clean. Life."Climb out!" I lift Marcus. He is small. Light. He fits through the broken window, glass tearing his shirt. He doesn't cry. He is brave. He is so brave.I follow. My arm catches on the frame. Glass bites deep. Blood runs down my elbow. I don't stop. I don't look.Outside, the yard is chaos. Kael's men fight shadows in the smoke. Gunshots. Sharp and loud. Wolf snarls. Someone has shifted. Fur and fury in the dark. Death sounds.Then I see him.Kael runs to

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: The Cell"Wake up, Princess."Water hits my face. Cold. I gasp. My eyes open.Darius stands over me. Clean. Smiling. The same smile from breakfast. From our wedding. From seven years of lies.The cell is stone. Small. No window. One door. My hands are tied behind me, rope biting my wrists. My face throbs where they hit me."Where is he?" I ask. My voice is rough. Smoke still in my throat. Fear in my heart."Safe." Darius kneels. His shoes are shiny. Black. No blood. No dirt. Perfect. "With his real mother. Lila is feeding him breakfast right now. Pancakes. His favorite. She is so happy to have him back."I lunge. The chains stop me. Metal screams. My wrists bleed fresh. "You can't keep me here.""I can." He touches my cheek. I bite at him. He laughs. Pulls back. "For fifteen days. Until the election is over. Until I am King. Then you will be my prisoner. Or my wife again. Your choice, Fina. Behave, and I will let you see him sometimes. Fight, and you disappear. Forever. No

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: The Summit"Stop."Kael grabs my arm. We are ten feet from the entrance. The Moon Summit rises behind him, white and huge, but I don't look at it. I look at his hand. Then his face. Then my own bare feet."What?""You can't go in like that."I look down. Blood on my dress. My bare feet black with dirt and ash. Smoke in my hair. I smell like the tunnel. Like fear. Like escape. Like a woman who has lost everything."I don't have shoes," I say.Kael takes his off. Black boots. Big. Scuffed. He hands them to me."Wear these."I put them on. Too big. I tie the laces tight around my ankles. The leather is warm from his feet. It feels like kindness. Like help I didn't ask for. Like something I don't deserve."Now walk," he says. "Head up. Shoulders back. You are King Alaric's daughter. Not a victim. Not a refugee. Not a broken wife. A Queen. Act like one. Believe it."I walk.The doors are gold. Heavy. Guards in gray suits watch us. Their eyes go to my dress. My borrowed boots. My

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: THE MORNING AFTER The safe house smells like pine needles and smoke. Good smoke. Fireplace smoke. Warm and living.I sit at a wooden table too small for my elbows. Coffee sits in front of me. Cold now. I have been staring at it for twenty minutes.My hands shake.I hide them under my thighs. The chair creaks. Everything here creaks. Old wood. Old secrets."Drink."Kael's voice comes from behind me. I do not turn. I know what I will see. The burned arm. The cut face. The man who carried me through the tunnel."I don't want it," I say."You haven't slept. You haven't eaten. Drink the coffee."He moves into view. Bare chest. Bandages white against burned skin. Across his ribs. Down his side. He should be in bed. He should be screaming.Instead, he makes me drink coffee."I need to think," I say."Thinking requires blood." He pushes the cup toward me. Rough fingers. Scarred knuckles. "Drink. Then plan."I drink. Bitter. Too strong. Perfect."Where is Marcus?" I ask.The questi

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7: THE PRESS CONFERENCE The television glows blue in the dark room. We turned off the lights an hour ago. Darius will speak soon. I want to see him clearly. I want to memorize every lie.Kael sits beside me on the floor. Not the couch. Too far. The rug is rough against my legs. His shoulder presses against mine. Warm. Solid."Tell me about him," I say."Who?""Darius. You knew him before."Kael is quiet. The television hums. Static. Waiting."We were allies once," Kael says. "The territories were smaller. Enemies on all sides. We fought together. Bled together.""What happened?""Power." Hard. Sharp. "He wanted it. I wanted peace. We became what we are."I turn to look at him. Screen light paints his face blue and shadow. The burns. The scar through his eyebrow."Why do you hate him? Really?"Kael's hands fist on his knees. Large hands. They shake."My sister," he says. "Celeste. Luna of the South. Good. Kind. She believed in Darius. Believed he could be better."I wait. I kn

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: THE MEETING The old church stands at the territory's edge. Broken windows. Collapsed roof. Moonlight filters through gaps, painting the floor in silver stripes. I walk through the door at midnight. Alone. Visible. Kael is somewhere in the trees. Hidden. Watching. We argued for an hour. "I go alone," I said. "She said alone." "Trap," he said. "Obvious trap." "Maybe. But she knows about my mother. About your war crimes. Information worth risk." "Not worth you." We compromised. I walk in open. He shadows from outside. If I scream, he comes. If I don't, he waits. The church smells of mold and old smoke. Pews rotted. Altar collapsed. A figure waits near the broken altar. Hooded. Small. Female. The voice from the phone. "You came," she says. "Good." "Who are

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: THE LIE OR THE TRUTH The safe house smells of onions and doubt. I chop vegetables at the counter. Badly. Uneven pieces. My hands still shake from the church. From the blood. From the words. Your mother is alive. Kael sits at the table. Reading. Old newspapers. Records he has collected for years. His side is bandaged. My leg is bandaged. We match. Two broken people pretending to be functional. "She could be lying," he says. Not looking up. "The old woman. Paid to trap you. Maybe her last words were another trap. False hope to make you reckless." I set the knife down. Too hard. It clatters. "Or she told truth. Dying confession. Clearing conscience." "Wolves do not have consciences." "You do." Kael looks up. His eyes are tired. Gray. Not wolf now. Just a

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: THE TRIAL BEGINS The arena smells of blood and anticipation. I stand in the viewing box. Stone walls. Hard bench. My hands grip the railing white-knuckled. Below, the sand waits. Empty. Hungry. Kael stands in the fighter's gate. Stripped to the waist. Bandages gone. Burns exposed. He refused to hide them. Said they would heal or they would not. Said showing weakness is sometimes strength. I disagree. I want to wrap him. Protect him. Keep him here, safe, with me. I cannot. He fights for us. For me. For the right to stand beside me. The crowd murmurs. Council members in gold seats. Alphas from five territories. Darius sits opposite me. Clean. Smiling. Lila on his arm. Luna title gleaming on her neck. She waves at me. I do not wave back. A horn sounds. Deep. Ugly. The opposi

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