Chapter 2

Elara shook off the hand Cassian tried to catch her with.

Only when the council chamber doors closed behind them did she turn around.

"You knew she was coming."

It was not a question anymore.

Cassian did not deny it, just as he had not on the altar.

He walked to the table but did not sit, only looked at her in silence.

Elara stared at him.

"How long?"

...

"Cassian, I asked you. How long?"

"...Three years."

Elara went quiet.

Three years.

From the day he became Alpha to the day she became Luna.

So for those three years, while she thought she was walking toward a future with him, he had already known that road had an end.

"So for three years, you knew I was going to die?"

"Yes." Cassian finally spoke. "But I've been looking for a way out..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Elara cut him off.

"Because I knew what you would choose."

Cassian's voice dropped low. "If you'd known how little time you had, you would have refused to become Luna three years ago.

"You would have left Mooncrown. You would have left me."

Her Alpha did know her well.

"So you hid it from me for three years?"

"I only wanted to protect you."

Elara looked at him.

This was the man who had once told her they would grow old together.

But he had understood perfectly that she would never get the chance to grow old.

She was going to die at twenty-seven, at her best.

"So you decided for me?"

Cassian did not answer.

"You decided I would go on being Luna, accept the title, and wait to die without knowing a thing."

Every word came out like a sentence handed down for his crime.

"Elara..."

"Did you ever once think about how I wanted to live?"

Cassian's face went white.

But she did not wait for another explanation.

"You don't know me at all."

Elara turned and walked toward the door.

Her hand on the handle, she suddenly stopped.

She looked down at the Luna mark on her wrist.

In five days Seraphina would become the new Luna, and she would be gone.

If Cassian would not tell her the truth, she would go find it herself.

She was the Luna. At least for now she still was.

"Have the carriage brought round."

The maid stared at her.

"Where are you going?"

"To see Seraphina."