All Chapters of LUNA'S CURSE; Her Three Messiahs: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Kai POVI sat behind the mahogany table in my office. Sunlight spilled in through the adjacent window, falling in pockets over the floor and the reports I was reading. Supply report. Recruitment report. Casualty report. I've always known that I'd have to become the alpha some day. I was the oldest, and that meant responsibility. It meant being a leader that everyone could trust to put the pack's interest over his own like… like my father did. Thinking about my father broke my heart. That was still a fresh wound, too raw to prod or touch. What made it worse were my feelings. Every one of them was treasonous. As I sat there, details of the pack's misfortunes in front of me, I wasn't thinking about the pack. I was thinking about Keira. Thinking about her hurt, too, but the pain was different. I had a vague feeling that she was still alive, but in pain and far away. I'd never had a mate before, so I wasn't used to my admittedly new senses. He couldn't tell what direction she'd gone

Keira POVI troubled the food in my plate with my spoon. I didn't feel hungry, although my stomach grumbled now and then. I was sitting on the stone floor, my legs crossed underneath me. After my victory in the arena, Kaden had ordered that I get new lodgings. My refusal at first had been because I didn't want to be separated from a familiar environment. In the end, Kaden had instructed all of us relocated. This new place was larger and more spacious than the previous. It still had the look of a dungeon, but it was markedly cleaner and didn't smell entirely like shit or dead, decaying bodies. One window was fixed into the wall, and I would have had to stand on the tips of my toes to see through it.And of course, we were still kept under lock and key. I was still a prisoner. The thought made me glum. I worried my food in my tin plate — boiled beans with a gracious sprinkling of herbs, no doubt intended to promote healing. I didn't feel like eating. Eating, like everything lately, f

Keira POVMy feet felt raw and painful. I had to move quickly, even while dodging the too sharp rocks and whatever damn thing pushed out of the ground, obscuring the way. I could make out Kaden at the head of the troop. He sat astride a white stallion, and his gold-trimmed cloak billowed behind him. Beside him rode Maria, his betrothed. I observed with disgust that neither of them were panting. It was obvious why. They were riding. The rest of us, the “recruits” for Kaden's army, had to walk. The sun pulled itself out of the horizon. It looked like mist, but slowly, it unfuzzed, the light tempering into a solid circle of gold. The glare stung my eyes, and I had to push my hair over my face to prevent myself from staring at the sky head on. “March, you sorry lasses!” The gamemaster's voice. He cracked his whip, and I felt fear nestled inside my ribcage. I'd seen him use the whip several times today, once on a boy that couldn't be much older than I was, and another on a girl. I looke

Keira POVThe sun slipped beneath the horizon, sinking like a ball of gold over the other edge of the sky. My feet were worn raw from walking barefooted, and when Kaden gave the order for the march to ended, I collapsed where I stood. I laid there now, curled in a fetal ball, my face between my knees. I didn't know when the tears. They spilled out of the stores of my eyes, drenching my face. My chest rose and fell in soft sobs. I felt my cries building like a drum in my chest, beating like my racing heart. When I felt huge arms wrap around me, I didn't have the strength to fight back. I was tired. My feet were numb, and even looking at their ragged soles made me wince. I saw Thea through the film of my tears, and the big girl, who'd promised me that I didn't matter to her beyond my use, gave me a sad, sympathetic look. She carried me back to the space Kaden had alloted for his recruits. There wasn't a tent in sight. Nor was there a fire. Our “camp” was merely a field cleared of roc

Riven POVFor the first time in weeks, I found myself relaxing. I stood barechested in front of a window that looked out to the forest and the rising sun, and I felt peace. It was because of the children. Seeing them safe and alive was like being injected with life. Even now, I could hear them laughing, my presence making them all happy. With my arrival, Gerald finally had enough supplies to ensure that they didn't starve. It warmed me to know that I was doing something. This is what home is supposed to feel like, I thought. What would it be like yo never leave? My place was among this children. With Anabel and Thorne and Miskin and Ritchie. My place was with my old friend Gerald. With me here, none of them would ever have to worry about their safety. Never have to starve. The thought made me feel instantly guilty and maybe a little selfish. What right did I have to a peaceful life? I was one of the three possible heirs to my father's throne, an alpha and a warlord. His death made g