Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 251

KALEB

I diligently stood in front of my mother’s grave solemnly, and after staring at the ornately carved slabi to dust off the stone. This was my first visit in quite some time, and the thick coating of grime on the ston it had been in a while. I normally didn’t allow it to get this bad, but as of late, things had been infinitely busy had a moment alone.

As I cleaned it, I pondered the state of things and then allowed myself to consider my mother. Ever since she died, l’a had a nightmare about her passing or otherwise. Nor had I after I’d killed all of my siblings and most of my cousins. Not even when I’d ended my father’s life.

I wasn’t afraid of ghosts or gods. I wasn’t afraid of punishment from the Moon Goddess for the acts I’d committed in the

past.

But last night, I had a nightmare, one that I couldn’t shake. It was haunting my thoughts and bleeding into the waking world so vividly it made me uneasy.

In my dream, I saw my mother groaning in her bed. The scent of death permeated the air and filled my nose so much that I was practically choking on it. She was calling out for my father, her voice strained and pitiful. The agony of it was chilling. If it weren’t for her voice, I would have thought she was already dead. She appeared so weak, so feeble. Her skin was practically translucent, and her eyes, once vibrant, had lost their beauty.

Though she was barely clinging to life… she was still my mother.

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Despite being the lowest among all of the king’s wives, a desperate and cunning maid who seduced the king and elevated her status to become one of his mistresses because of her pregnancy, she delivered a prince. She made the king a legitimate

son.

She had always said she was lucky that she was fertile. She told me that I was a gift from the Moon Goddess, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she truly believed that idea. Was her life confined in a small room, waiting for a man who would never visit again, better than her life as a maid?

In the dream, I walked closer to her, trying to stop her groaning. As I approached her bedside and the stench of death grew stronger, I stifled my urge to retch and tried to calm her down. I told her gently that Father wouldn’t come. I wanted nothing more than for her to pull herself together and stop calling out for him.

But when I caught sight of her hollow face and stared into her eyes, I realized that the woman in bed wasn’t my mother.

It was Cassandra.

pink lips… all weren’t normal. Her face was ravaged and contorted into anguish. Even her long, copper hair was brittle and matted. It was

words, and then they gave way to more specific things. She cursed me for what I had done: the nasty things I’d done in the dungeon, the ugly face I’d worn when I slit my father’s throat, all of the pain I’d caused since I’d become king of Yurene.

these events, her words conjured up vivid images, and they grew so intense that I couldn’t think. All I could see was myself committing these atrocities over and over again, meanwhile, Cassandra’s voice continued to call me such vile

going to dissolve as it grew stronger. It burned within me like a wildfire, and just as I became consumed by the

For Small

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Chapter 251

gripped my sheets for comfort. Rationally, I knew that the dream wasn’t consistent, nor had it been real, but still, I felt a great burden

but as I stood in front of my mother’s grave, I wor had received from Anubis had

before he could approach the king. He asked if Roxy should be abandoned, and that he needed because if

some time, unsure of what to

be

essage I

I would be decisive without any hesitation, but that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t make up my mind on the matter, but why? Roxy was useful

was the very reason I kept these pawns. I cared for them as my trusted companions to gain their trust and loyalty, and

wind rippled through my hair, a thought crossed

I’d done to my sister,

dungeon. It was a brutal fight. We were all too clever, too hesitant, too indecisive. We were wasting time at first. We were all so young and stupid

we had overestimated our willpower as well

began to fight.

training sessions. I was always excluded by my siblings when they accepted fighting lessons from the outstanding soldiers of Yurene. They loathed me for carrying a low-status

All except Eleanor.

treated me like a brother rather than a nuisance. After their lessons with the

the future ruler of Yurene, and the only one

I was chased and nearly killed by one of my brothers, Eleanor had protected me. She made a promise to me that she would take me out of the dungeon with her and together, we would make this country a better place.

But instead…