All Chapters of The Rejected Luna : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

“What happens when the monster starts playing back? ”Luna didn’t answer. The words hung between them, heavy as smoke, the fire’s light glinting against the gold threads in Roman’s black shirt. He moved closer, slow enough for her to feel each shift of air between their bodies, deliberate, unhurried, intimate in a way that made her skin crawl and thrill at once.She wanted to step back. She didn’t.Roman noticed. Of course he did. He always noticed. His eyes, that cold, unreadable grey, studied every breath, every twitch of her hand. “You stand so still when you’re afraid,” he murmured. “As if I might vanish if you don’t move.”“Maybe I’m hoping you will,” she said. Her tone was too steady for his liking. His lips curved, not in anger, but in interest.He circled her like a predator studying its prey, but it wasn’t hunger that fuelled him; it was curiosity. “Do you believe fear makes you weak?”“I believe fear keeps people alive.”“Alive,” he echoed, stopping just behind her. His voice brus

“Drink it, and you’ll sleep easier tonight,” Mira whispered, her voice as thin as the moonlight spilling through the cracks of the stone walls.The scent was sweet , too sweet , and clung to her senses with an unnatural pull. Around her, the other maidens drank without question, their eyes dull, their movements precise, obedient.She hadn’t yet learned all their names. They spoke little, as though language itself had been trained out of them. Even now, they stood in perfect lines, robes pale against the rough stone, each sip of the wine marking their submission.Mira’s bony fingers trembled as she pushed the chalice closer. “Don’t let him see you hesitate. He watches even when you think he doesn’t.”Luna lifted her gaze to the older woman. Mira’s face was worn, the skin drawn tight over hollow cheeks, her hair streaked with silver. But her eyes , her eyes burned with the kind of clarity that only came after too much pain.“What is this?” Luna murmured. “What’s in it?”Mira’s breath

"Luna, are you trembling or resisting?" Even in whispers, Roman's rich, steady voice commanded authority as it floated through the candlelit room. The silk hem of Luna's gown brushed her ankles as she stood in the middle of the marble floor, barefoot on the chilly stone. "Neither," she muttered. "I'm not afraid of you." Roman took a step forward, his boots clinking faintly in the emptiness of the cavern. With arched ceilings glistening with gold filigree and a single chandelier burning low above them, the room itself was a cathedral of shadows. It was too elaborate, too purposeful, and the kind of beauty that was painful to look at. similar to him. Slowly, like a hunter examining his latest curiosity, he circled her. "You tell lovely lies," he whispered. "Your heartbeat itself is a work of art." Luna's black eyes caught the candlelight as she cocked her head slightly to follow him. "Then perhaps you are being deceived by your imagination." He made a low, menacing laug

“Do you ever wonder what it feels like to lose your breath, Luna?” Roman’s voice carried through the courtyard before she even saw him. “Not because you’re choking, but because someone else decides when you’re allowed to breathe.”Luna froze at the edge of the stone archway. The morning light had turned pale and gray, seeping across the training yard where a line of servants knelt, heads bowed. The metallic scent of damp iron hung heavy in the air. Roman stood at the center, a gloved hand resting on the shoulder of a trembling girl.The girl’s neck gleamed silver.Luna’s stomach tightened.“What is that?” she asked, stepping into view.Roman didn’t look at her. “Discipline made visible.”The collar was seamless , a band of polished steel etched with runes that shimmered faintly in the light. A soft, rhythmic pulse came from it, almost like a heartbeat. When the girl flinched, it flickered brighter.“Her name is Ada,” Roman said, his tone almost gentle. “She thought she could run.”Ad

“Do you ever get tired of pretending?” one of the maidens whispered, her voice trembling like the flame of a dying candle.Luna froze by the window. The night air carried the scent of pine and iron from the training yard, where the torches still burned. The whispers behind her were sharp, secretive, desperate.“I’m tired of kneeling,” another murmured. “He says we belong to the Alpha, that our purpose is service. But tell me, who decided that?”A faint tremor of rebellion stirred the shadows. Luna turned, eyes tracing the group of five women crouched in the dim corner of the hall. Their faces gleamed with sweat and fear. They had chosen a dangerous hour to gather, Roman’s patrols would sweep the quarters before dawn.“You shouldn’t be here,” Luna said softly, her voice low but firm. “If the guards find you, it won’t be lashes this time. It’ll be blood.”The eldest among them, a maiden named Mara, lifted her chin. “Then maybe it’s time blood was shed. His, not ours.”The silence that f