Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 320: Forgiveness Astrid's

POV

Killian shook his head, his tears falling freely now as he rested his forehead against mine.

"Don't be sorry," he whispered. "You had every reason to believe what you did. I didn't fight hard enough either. I should have told you the truth sooner, but I was too ashamed. Too afraid."

A sob broke from my chest as I leaned into his touch, my heart aching for him, for everything we had lost.

"I blamed you for everything," I whispered. "But you never blamed me. You carried all of this guilt alone. I should have known."

He held me tighter, his arms wrapping around me as though he could shield me from the pain that had been festering between us for so long.

"We were both innocent," he whispered, his voice cracking. "It was all lies. None of this should have happened.'

I pulled back just enough to look into his eyes, my heart still heavy but lighter than it had been in years. "Can we start over?" I asked, my voice small but hopeful. "Can we forget everything and build something new?"

Killian smiled softly, his thumb brushing away the last of my tears. "Yes," he whispered. "We can start over. We can build something better. Together."

I nodded, taking a deep breath as the weight of the past finally began to lift from my shoulders.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt free. I felt hope.

And as I looked into Killian's eyes, filled with love and sincerity, I knew that we could make this work. We had always belonged to each other.

"I love you, Astrid," Killian whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I've always loved you. I never stopped."

I whispered back, "I love

it was the reason why my heart had no room

I was

Killian. And in that moment, as we stood there holding each other, we finally shared the kiss we

soft at first, a tentative connection, but as our lips

all the years of longing, of pain, of love that

finally pulled apart, our foreheads still resting together, I knew that this

each other again, and that was

could face

hand gently cupped the back of my neck, his touch grounding me

was an edge to it, a

deal with Giselle," he said

my skinz"1 don't care about the protocol anymore. As long as she is alive, I know

en

back to reality, reminding me that while we had found each other again, the shadow of

his eyes searching mine for confirmation, for

breathing, Astrid, we'll always be looking over our shoulders. I won't

echoing in my own heart. I wanted this

wanted to move on, to live the life we should have had

stolen so much from us; she couldn't be allowed to take

my voice trembling slightly. "She has to be punished.

"What? Why would you want to speak to her after everything

stilled, the words catching in my throat. I think Giselle knows that something is wrong with me. I think she knows about