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.

was trying to reach out to

to explain, I wasn't interested to hear

Killian's attention had shifted, turned in her seat, her eyes gleaming with thinly veiled triumph. "Ah,

those papers. Thanks for bringing them here,"

send a message to me. To make sure I'm aware of the

crack. My fingers dug into the edges of the folder I carried,

he wanted to explain, 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

barely glanced at them, her attention already shifting back to Killian, her

a lifesaver, Astrid," Giselle said, her tone dripping with insincerity. "The Pack

to say something cutting, but I was in no mood

I could feel was the

gnawing, unbearable ache of

That should be me.

be the one sitting on Giselle's seat

to say something but couldn't. I could sense his hesitation, his tension, but what did it matter?He had made his choice. He had chosen

point

barely audible. I

I had walked straight into

to leave, Killian's voice stopped me in my tracks. "Astrid-" he began softly, almost pleading, but I

something raw and unexpected

that I had moved on. had convinced myself that all I

him with her, something deep within me cracked. The

even say? What words