Chapter 24: A Luna’s Tears
Chapter 24: A Luna’s Tears (Celeste’s POV)
The shadows of the trees outside the car window flickered over my face, but I kept my gaze
fixed ahead.
I didn’t want to look at Victoria, and I especially didn’t want her to look at me. The suffocating
silence between us clung to the air, thicker than the frost collecting on the outside glass.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned pale. Though she
tried to sit poised, her wolf’s tension was palpable.
I could feel it rolling off her in waves, the faintest whines buried under the anxious energy that
swept through the car.
“Celeste.”
Her voice was faint, breaking through the oppressive quiet like a hesitant ripple. Yet even with
how soft her tone was, it still made my jaw tighten involuntarily.
I didn’t answer.
She tried again, her voice smaller, less certain. “Celeste… please. There’s more–something else you need to hear before we get back.“.
I wanted to close my ears, to stop her from twisting whatever “truth” she was about to share. But I didn’t speak.
My silence seemed to pummel her further. She shifted in her seat, her posture no longer elegant but heavy, weighed down with something. Guilt, perhaps.
“It’s important,” she added weakly when I didn’t respond. “You deserve to know everything.”
“Then say it.”
My reply was quiet but sharp, the edge of restraint cutting through my tone. My hands clenched into fists against my lap, and my wolf stirred slightly, not out of aggression but
weariness.
Victoria hesitated, and for a flicker of a moment, I almost thought she might back out. But then, as if steeling herself, she spoke.
“The mating arrangement,” she began, her voice trembling. “With Marcus.”
I turned my head slightly, my violet eyes narrowing onto her reflection in the rearview mirror.
Chapter 24: A Luna’s Tears
She avoided my gaze like it burned her, but her wolf let out the faintest whimper.
“It wasn’t just about appeasing Regina,” she forced out, each word clearly a battle.
And there it was. The first c***k of confirmation, the truth I had known all along but had
waited for her to admit.
“Go on.”
I wasn’t sure how I kept my voice so steady, so void of the emotions threatening to churn
beneath my skin. My wolf curled tighter at the nape of my neck, bracing itself against the
inevitable blows Victoria’s words would bring.
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She inhaled deeply, almost shakily, before continuing. “It… it also ensures Scarlett’s ceremony
with Alexander can move forward. Without issue.”
The rawness of her admission filled the silence between us, but I stayed quiet, refusing to give
her any reaction.
C
Her hands strangled the steering wheel now, her knuckles straining from the pressure as if the
physical force could somehow absolve her guilt.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” she tried to justify, her words stumbling over themselves. “We had to think about the pack–the alliances… Scarlett’s future.”
“And mine?”
The question was soft, almost emotionless, but it sliced through her rambling.
Her head bowed slightly, her green eyes lowering in shame, though she still avoided meeting my reflection. Her wolf whined louder now, a sound that might have made me pity her once.
“We…” She faltered, her voice choking on itself. She couldn’t answer the question. Not properly.
I leaned back in my seat. I didn’t push. I didn’t lash out. I simply waited in the kind of silence I had perfected during my years in Moon Shadow Prison. The kind of silence that spoke louder
than any scream.
Her breathing grew uneven, and when her voice returned, it wavered. “Your arrangement with Marcus ensures the pack’s stability. With him as your mate, there would be no disputes, no questions of position. Scarlett…” ‘
“Would remain unchallenged,” I finished for her, my voice eerily calm.
Victoria flinched at my words, her wolf keening faintly from the impact. “Celeste, please… this wasn’t just about her. It’s about protecting everyone. Marcus is…”
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Chapter 24: A Luna’s Tears
“A convenient solution to an inconvenient problem, I interrupted coldly, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. “Isn’t that what you mean?”
Her breath escaped her in a shaky exhale, and for the first time, she gripped her chest as though she were the one in pain.
“I never wanted this,” she whispered brokenly. Her words dripped with regret, but it did nothing to erase the weight of what she had done.
I tilted my head, studying her as cold detachment settled over my thoughts. “And yet here we
are.”
Her eyes flickered up at once to meet mine in the mirror. The raw emotion shimmering in her emerald gaze was almost too much. Almost.
“Does… does your wolf hate mine now, pup?” she asked finally, her voice trembling under the weight of her guilt.
My lips curved into the faintest, coldest smile as I shook my head. “No.”
A single word. Simple. Delivered with empty calm. And yet it seemed to hurt her more than if I had screamed my anger.
Her wolf howled softly, its pain evident across her face. “I was wrong, Celeste,” she whimpered. “I’ve made so many mistakes. Please, tell me how to fix this.”
“You can’t,” I replied easily, my tone flat. “But thank you for your honesty.”
The words landed like a blow, and Victoria’s wolf cried out instinctively. I glanced away from her trembling face, looking back out the window as the landscape began to shift toward the pack house grounds.
By the time Victoria slowed the car to pull into the driveway, her shoulders were slumped forward completely. Gone was the composed Luna, replaced by a woman who looked ready to
break.
The vehicle stopped abruptly. Victoria’s head fell into her hands, her wolf keening openly now, the sound causing her breathing to hitch.
I didn’t move to get out. I sat quietly, watching her unravel in front of me. Part of me wondered
why her tears only came now, but the answer didn’t matter. Nothing did.
Her shoulders shook violently, but I said nothing to interject. I watched, detached, as she tried and failed to compose herself.
“Celeste…” she whispered my name through a gasp, but the rest of her words failed her
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Chapter 24: A Luna’s Tears
entirely.
Before I could contemplate leaving, movement near the pack house caught my attention.
Lucas stood at the entrance, his posture confident as always, though his wolf bristled visibly when he spotted the car. His golden eyes flicked briefly between his mother’s trembling frame
and mine through the car window.
His stride was long and quick, purpose glowing in every powerful movement as he descended
the steps to reach us.
The moment he saw Victoria’s red, tear–streaked face, his wolf snapped. I could feel the dominance radiating off him like a storm, thick and oppressive in the crisp afternoon air.
“What happened?” Lucas barked sharply. His eyes didn’t bother searching Victoria’s. They
locked on me with a laser focus.
Victoria didn’t answer fast enough to quell his growing anger, her wolf’s continued whimpering seeming to push him closer to the edge.
Before I could step out of the car, Lucas’s hand darted out, grabbing my arm tightly. Pain spiked through me as his fingers pinned into the sensitive grooves of my silver scars.
I inhaled sharply through my nose, but my face didn’t flinch. I kept my expression steady, my gaze neutral even as pain rolled in waves from his grip.
“What did you do to make Luna cry?” His voice was low, dangerous. His claws began extending slowly, their tips dragging faintly into my already damaged skin.
I stared up at him, not speaking. Not yet.
His wolf snarled under the surface, rage flickering in his golden eyes. He didn’t loosen his grip,
not even slightly.
“Answer me,” Lucas demanded, his voice sharp like a whip c***k, ready to strike.
The irony wasn’t lost on me, standing here as the accused yet again. It seemed no matter how far I fell, I would always remain their target.
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