Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 266: Painful Truth

Astrid's POV

My body ached from the grueling training session I had endured all day. Every muscle felt like a knot, protesting at every slightest movement as I finally prepared to sink into the relief of my bed.

Sleeping had been my only source since I arrived to this pack. But just as I began to settle into the covers, my phone buzzed, pulling me sharply back to reality.

I frowned when Giselle's name appeared on the screen. Her message was terse, asking me to come to the Pack garden immediately to deliver the "urgent" papers she had requested earlier.

I frowned. Urgent? There had been nothing remotely pressing about those papers when she asked for them this afternoon, though she was in a rush like the world was on fire.

Something didn't sit right. Why the Pack garden? Why now? But I couldn't ignore her. She'd left me no valid excuse to refuse. Maybe it was important, or maybe I was just too tired to argue with the situation. I shoved my fatigue down and dragged myself out of bed, my body still screaming for rest. As I made my way to the garden, the weight of weariness clung to me like a second skin.

When I arrived, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

The garden was bathed in a soft, golden glow from twinkling lights strung through the trees. The romantic sound of violins drifted on the night air, creating an atmosphere that felt like a fairy tale. It was beautiful, romantic.

What's going on? My questions were answered when I finally entered.

At the center of it all were Giselle and Killian, seated at a candlelit table, intimate and far too close for comfort.

My heart twisted painfully in my chest, a lump forming in my throat as I froze. I couldn't move. I didn't need to wonder why Giselle had asked me to come. The answer was sitting right in front of me. She wanted me to see this.

She wanted to make sure I knew that Killian was hers now. That he cared for her more than he ever did for me.

Killian, seated across from her, saw me first. His expression shifted-surprise, tension, and something else I couldn't quite place.

something, like he was trying to reach out

he wanted to explain,

noticing Killian's attention had shifted, turned in her seat, her eyes gleaming with thinly veiled triumph. "Ah, Astrid, there you are," she

though she hadn't been waiting for this exact moment. "I almost forgot about those

said that to send a message to me. To make sure I'm aware of the reason why she called me

tightly I thought it might crack. My fingers dug into the edges

to stop the hurt that was radiating off of me. But I wasn't interested in his comfort. "Here," I said, my voice flat as I handed Giselle the documents she

back to Killian, her fingers

Giselle said, her tone dripping with insincerity. "The

wanted to snap back, to say something cutting, but I was in no mood to

could feel was

gnawing, unbearable ache of

That should be

one sitting on Giselle's seat as

I could feel his eyes on me, like he wanted to say something but couldn't. I could sense his hesitation,

was no point in

gritted teeth, my voice barely audible. I turned quickly, desperate to escape the twisted scene unfolding

and I had walked straight

as I took a step to leave, Killian's voice stopped me in my tracks. "Astrid-" he began softly, almost pleading, but I couldn't

something raw and unexpected was tightening

had moved on. had convinced myself that all I felt for Killian was anger, resentment, and bitterness over what

me cracked.

What words could possibly