Reclaiming My Broken Luna by Selene Souchon

Chapter 363: Liora’s Memories Nova's POV

The attic was darker and colder than I'd expected. Dust floated in the dim light that streamed through a cracked window, and the air carried the faint scent of cedar and time.

This part of the Shadowfang Pack house had been sealed off for years-ever since Liora's death.

Drystan had given me permission to look through her things, but stepping into the space felt like crossing into sacred ground.

Her scent was long gone, replaced by the mustiness of disuse, but I could still feel her presence here.

Liora had always seemed larger than life, unbreakable, but here she was just a collection of forgotten memories, packed away in old boxes.

I moved cautiously, my fingers trailing over the stacks of wooden crates and trunks.

A soft creak from the floorboards behind me made me turn.

"You don't have to do this," Drystan said, his voice low. He stood in the doorway, his face shadowed but his concern clear. "I can look through it if you want. You don't need to carry this."

I shook my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I need to, Drystan. I need to understand. She hid so much from me, and if there's anything here that can help us..." My voice trailed off.

Help us with the rogues. With the Rogue King. With understanding why she made the choices she did.

He nodded, stepping back but not leaving entirely.

He was giving me space, but I could feel his presence just outside the door-a silent reassurance.

I turned back to the room and began opening the boxes. The first few held little of note: old clothes, trinkets, and faded photographs of a time I barely remembered.

then, in a smaller chest near the back of the room, I found something

journal. Its edges were worn, and the clasp that once held it

I opened it. The handwriting inside was unmistakably

dust covering the leather was removed and I started

were fragmented, scattered across years. Some were simple recollections of our time in the forest, little moments I'd

reflected her state of mind. "Nova doesn't understand, and I pray she never does. The rogues are not what they seem.

thought I could outsmart him, but I was wrong. He knows what I did, knows I'm hiding

I read the words, the full weight

I hadn't realized just how deeply. entangled she'd been in the

how

protect me.

final entry, scrawled hastily

happens to me, find the man with the mark. He knows the truth. He knows what the Rogue

The man with the mark. Who

read through the pages thinking that I would find answers, but instead more questions entered my

facing such things on her on and carrying the burden of protecting

didn't hear Drystan step inside until he was standing behind me. His

he asked, his voice

turned the

a

entry. "She was looking for someone-a man mark She said he

the Rogue

brow furrowed as he leaned closer, reading the words. "A mark..." he murmured. "What kind of