Chapter 98

Alaria

I didn’t cry that morning.

Not when I forced myself out of bed.

Not when I heard Anastasia’s laughter echo through the hall as her maid, Katie, walked her to the garden.

And not when I passed the patrol warriors nodding at me like I was some untouchable Luna they didn’t dare speak to, when deep down, I felt like I was falling apart at the seams.

I didn’t play Luna today.

I couldn’t.

And I hated that everyone expected me to play that role, that everyone saw me as the Luna in a place where I knew deep down that I didn't even know whether or not I belonged.

I walked through the packhouse like a ghost. I checked in with the kitchen, nodded at the schedule handed to me by one of the omegas, signed off on the supplies for the clinic. I went through the motions, smiled when I had to, but nothing… nothing felt right.

I didn't even understand why she was still handing me the paper and why I took it upon myse