The sickened luna’s last chance

Three weeks passed by after that night without a hitch.

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My life slowly evolved into a simple but comforting routine. Each day was the same–something that might have given me anxiety before but now served as a pleasant reminder that I got to spend every waking moment with my son.

Each day, I woke up at dawn. I would change Lucien’s diaper. Feed him his morning bottle while he blinked up at me with those mismatched eyes. Take him downstairs for some fresh air in the garden while the other servants prepared breakfast. Put him down for his morning nap. Clean his nursery. Repeat.

It was simple work, but it was work that mattered. And every day, I was lucky enough to watch as Lucien grew a little stronger. His breathing was less labored. He cried less at night. The oxygen tubes were only needed for a few hours instead of all night long.

And every day, he seemed to recognize me more. He’d calm down the moment I picked him up. He’d follow my movements with his big, mismatched eyes when I walked around the room. And sometimes, when I was feeding him, he would wrap his tiny fist around my finger and hold on tight.

Those moments made everything else bearable. The cramped servants‘ quarters, the gray uniform that marked me as the lowest rank in the pack, the fact that I had to answer to a new name.

Nothing could fully blot out the constant chatter about Alexander’s fucking Luna Trial, though. Because that was all anyone could talk about anymore. It quickly became the talk of the territories, and even wound up all over the news. I couldn’t even turn on the television in the servants‘ den anymore without seeing live coverage of the incoming applications.

As the weeks passed, the applications kept rolling in from all over the territories until there had to be thousands. Every eligible bachelorette within reasonable distance of Ashclaw was apparently vying for a place in the trial. Everyone except for me.

Of course, I’d told Alexander to remove my name from the list and I was glad I did. I had already spent six years trying to be the woman he wanted, and I wasn’t about to do that again.

Not for the man who couldn’t even grieve me for a week before he announced his plans to replace me.

My heart turned more and more bitter each day, although my wolf grew more agitated and desperate each time the trial was mentioned. I did my best to ignore her, choosing instead to focus on Lucien and the time we’d been blessed to have together.

But eventually, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. The day the application results–when the list of one hundred bachelorettes who made it to the first round of the actual trial would be released–finally arrived, dawning gray and dreary with a constant rain drizzling against the window.

The weather was very fitting for how I felt on the inside, at least.

I fed Lucien in the kitchen that morning, just as I

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Chapter 257

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down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from saying “Fuck no!”

in the pack. I knew she was excited for

King Alexander. He was probably just doing this for his image

Anya’s sake, I forced a smile and said, “Sure. Let me just finish my morning chores and we’ll

“Oh, thank you. I

one to secretly put my name in the running, because I knew she was just trying to help. I also hadn’t told her that I’d found out and that I promptly told Alexander to remove

I mean… Figure of

smirked, finishing Lucien’s bottle and standing. “Well, put

scurried off, and I shook my head good–naturedly as I watched her go. Lilith, who was sitting on the other side of the table working on mending a hole in a pair of pants, shot me

were posted. A crowd of young women had already gathered and were

Anya said, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer. “Let’s get to the

the mass of bodies to see the results. I was surprised to find that there were a lot of names on the list; maybe Alexander

all.

It had to be Sophia, anyway. I still couldn’t get the

Both

list in search of her name, then let out a squeal and

made it, Stella!” she cried, gripping both of my hands in

I shoved her down. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. Alexander wasn’t our

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wanted me anyway.