274

These chapters are Free!!

DIANE

"Why...?" I choked out, a soft sob escaping my lips. "Why would you do all of this just to hand it away?"

"Because you were the only real thing in this place," Dom replied quietly. He looked around. “Everything here is fake. Rubbish. There's nothing here. Just you. You. Please take it.”

My fingers moved on their own. I reached out, my cold hands brushing against his warm fingers as I took the golden seal into my own grip. The metal felt heavy, solid, and real in my hands.

Just as my fingers closed around the gold, a loud, heavy rumble of engine noise echoed from the side road behind the court square.

I turned my head slowly.

A large, black transport van covered in iron bars was moving slowly along the outer driveway. It was surrounded by six armed guards oneback, their weapons drawn.

Through the heavy iron grates of the van window, I saw a face.

Julian.

He was stripped of his fine suits, wearing a dirty gray tunic. Heavy iron chains were wrapped around his neck, wrists, and ankles. His hair was wild and messy, his face pale and bruised.

Julian’s eyes locked onto mine through the iron bars as the van rolled past the square.

He smiled. And I knew what that smile meant.

This guy was getting away.

A sudden, sharp wave of agony slammed into my chest.

All the memories came flooding back at once. The fake smiles. The daily cup of poisoned tea. my father’s murder. The years I spent believing I was going crazy while the man I married systematically destroyed my life. Every dam thing!

A deep, trembling breath shook my entire frame. I clutched the golden seal tight against my stomach, my knuckles turning completely white as fresh tears poured down my face.

Dom felt the shift in the air instantly.

He turned his head, his dark eyes tracking the transport van as it slowly disappeared down the dusty road toward the pack borders.

Dom looked back down at me.

Dom stepped right up beside me. He leaned down slightly, his deep voice falling close to my ear, warm and steady against the cold wind.

Dom whispered softly, his voice dripping with a dark, deadly calm. " if you think that ride is going to be easy for julian... you are wrong."

I looked up into his face, my chest heaving.

“He's getting away from it. We know how lawless the west is.”

Dom gave me a small, quiet smile—a smile that seemed more like a promise than a smile..

. "Julian will never go scot-free. Not on that road. Not in his home land. Not ever. Be assured his journey will be a living hell before he reaches the end."

A long, slow breath escaped my lips.

“Dom…”

“I sent a file. It's your father's. Anthor wanted me to get it for him. You will receive it after I leave. I bet you will recognize it when you see it. Careful of him. He's not that kind either.”

“Where are you going?” I whispered.

Dom took two steps back, pulling his shoulders straight. He looked at me holding the golden seal, his expression full of deep, unspoken respect.

"Rule well, Luna Diane," Dom said, his voice booming out so the whole crowd could hear his final command. "Lead these people better than the monsters who came before you."

Without waiting for a response, without taking another look at the throne, and without touching me one last time, Dom turned his back.

He walked off the platform, as he stepped down into the crowd. The people parted instantly, clearing a wide path for him as he walked away, leaving the land, the power, and the throne entirely in my hands.

I stood there alone on the high stage, tears drying on my skin, clutching the golden seal tightly against my chest as the sun shone brightly over my new reign.