All Chapters of The Rejected Luna's Dark Gift: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The next days blurred together. Or weeks. Time lost meaning.Draven kept his word in his own twisted way. No more torture. No more pain. Just education.Teaching me to use my gift properly. Under his direction.Start small, he'd say. Find one mind. Push calm. Just enough to alter mood. Not enough to alert them something's wrong.I practiced on guards. On prisoners. On wolves who'd already broken.The wards still hurt. Still damaged me. But less each time. My gift was adapting. Learning to work within constraints.Or I was breaking more completely. Hard to tell the difference.Through the bond Kael felt everything. His anguish was constant. Knowing what I was becoming. Powerless to stop it.They kept him chained in his cell. Brought him out occasionally to watch my "progress." Draven's way of showing how thoroughly he controlled us both."You're doing well." Draven's praise felt like poison. "Your control improves daily. Soon you'll be ready for more complex tasks."We sat in the obser

The first trigger hit at dawn. I woke from restless sleep with Kael's name on my lips. Terrified. Disoriented. No memory of the last four hours. Kael stood by the window. Back rigid. Staring at nothing. "What did I do?" My voice came out small. He turned. His face was carefully blank. But through the bond I felt everything. Horror. Grief. Rage at Draven. Fear of me. "You attended the council meeting." "I don't remember any council meeting." "I know." He moved to the bed. Sat beside me but didn't touch. Like I was something dangerous. "You argued for opening our southern border. Reducing patrols. Said Draven's rogues weren't a real threat. That we should focus resources elsewhere." My stomach dropped. "Did they listen?" "Rowan questioned it. You..." He stopped. Swallowed. "You used your gift. Pushed calm. Made everyone agree. Made it seem reasonable." I'd used my empathic abilities to undermine our defenses. Without knowing. Without choosing. Just Draven's perfect pu

I walked through corridors like a puppet. Stone cold under my feet. Torchlight making shadows dance. The smell of damp and old blood everywhere.My body obeyed. My mind screamed.Behind me, Kael followed. Weak from my empathic push but refusing to quit. Through the bond his determination burned hot.The compulsion pulled me to a door I'd never seen. Heavy iron. Symbols carved deep. My hand pushed it open.Draven sat waiting. Human form. Relaxed. Smiling like he'd been expecting me for hours."There you are." Satisfaction dripped from his voice. "I was beginning to think you'd resist longer."I wanted to spit in his face. Wanted to scream. Wanted anything except standing here like a doll.Nothing came out."The seed is clever." He circled me. "Hiding yourself where I couldn't find you. But it doesn't matter now."Through the bond Kael's presence grew closer. He'd recovered. Was coming.Draven felt it too. His smile widened. "Your mate is predictable. Love makes wolves stupid."Guards a

Voices pulled me back. Distant. Muffled like underwater.My mother crying. Thea's sharp commands. Kael's hands holding mine too tight.Pain came next. White-hot across my chest. Every breath felt like knives.I tried to open my eyes. Managed slits. Blurry shapes. Stone ceiling. Torchlight dancing.Still in the compound. Still underground. How long had I been out?"She's waking." Thea's face appeared above me. "Don't try to sit up. You've lost a lot of blood."My mouth tasted like copper. Like I'd been chewing on pennies. My chest was wrapped tight in bandages. When I tried to move, fire licked through every nerve."Kael?" The word came out raspy."Here." His face replaced Thea's. Battered. Bruised. Wrist wrapped. But alive. "I'm here."Through the bond I felt his relief. His joy. His absolute terror he'd almost lost me."Draven?""Chained. Secured. Elena and the others are guarding him." Kael's thumb rubbed circles on my hand. "He's not going anywhere.""The hostages?""Safe. Your par

Three days passed in the infirmary. Three days of Thea's scrutiny. Of slowly healing. Of planning next moves.The wound across my chest was closing. Slowly. New pink skin forming over claw marks. It would scar. Four lines. A reminder of the monster I'd broken.I was okay with that.On day four, Thea declared me fit for light duty. Emphasis on light."That means walking. Talking. Thinking." She held up a finger. "Not running. Not fighting. Not doing anything that makes me regret clearing you.""Yes, Healer." Mock solemn.She rolled her eyes. Knew I'd push the limits. But trusted I wasn't stupid enough to tear stitches.Kael helped me to the war room. Rowan had been busy. Maps covered tables. Notes pinned to walls. Intelligence gathered from freed prisoners.Five compounds. Scattered across rogue territories. Each one smaller than Draven's main fortress. But still holding maybe twenty wolves each.A hundred prisoners. A hundred broken wolves waiting for hope they'd stopped believing in.