All Chapters of The Rogue's Forbidden Luna: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Luna's POV The forest felt heavy around us - like it was holding its breath, waiting to see if I would pass or fail.Kael stood a few steps ahead, his back straight, shoulders squared, the faintest glow from the firelight catching in his eyes. “Focus,” he said quietly, his voice deep but steady. “Just me. No one else. Nothing else.”My heart skipped. Just him? That was the problem. I could pretend to block out Magnus, the whispers, even the sharp pull of the mark under my skin - but Kael? He was impossible to ignore.I nodded anyway, keeping my face calm. “Alright.”He tilted his head, watching me with a mix of patience and intensity. “Step closer.”I did. The crunch of dried leaves under my boots felt loud in the silence. When I stopped, we were so close I could see the tiny flecks of gold in his irises, the faint shadow of stubble along his jaw.“Closer,” he murmured.I hesitated, then took one more step. The air between us shifted - denser, warmer. My chest brushed his with every

Luna's POV We never saw the net until it was too late.One second we were walking through a stand of thin pines, the ground soft with needles, the morning quiet. The next, a weighted mesh snapped up from the earth and yanked us off our feet. I hit the air with a gasp and slammed shoulder-first into the grid, Kael’s arm coming around me on instinct even as the lines bit into his skin.“Hold on,” he gritted, muscles bunching. He twisted, trying to turn his body so the worst of the rope scraped him, not me.Figures stepped from the trees - six, then eight, then more - men and women with Magnus’s colors in leather bands on their arms. Two had bows drawn. One held a long hook and a length of chain.Kael’s eyes went cold. “Back away,” he warned.The hook man smiled. “You’re in no place to warn anyone, rogue.”“Put me down and I’ll show you exactly where my place is,” Kael said, voice low and calm in a way that made the hairs on my arms rise.A woman with a scar across her nose lifted a ha

Luna's POV The night was quiet except for our footsteps and the wind moving through the trees. We’d been walking for hours since we left Magnus’s camp. My legs ached, but my mind hurt more. His words had been chasing me just as hard as his men ever could.You don’t know what he’s really done for you.I’d told myself to let it go. I’d promised myself to wait until we were safe. But the truth was clawing at me now.“Kael,” I said finally.He didn’t slow. “We should keep moving until-”“No,” I cut in, sharper than I meant. “We’ve been moving all night. We need to stop.”He glanced at me then, reading my face like he always could. His jaw worked, but he gave a short nod. We stopped by a fallen log, the air heavy with damp earth and pine. The moon lit his profile in silver, and for a second, I almost forgot to breathe.I crossed my arms. “What did he mean?”Kael’s brow furrowed. “Luna-”“Don’t do that. Don’t tell me another night. Don’t protect me from this like I’m a child. I’m not goi

Luna's POV We chose a clearing the size of a small room - soft ground, tall ferns, a ring of birches that made the wind sound like a whisper. Late afternoon light slipped through the leaves in thin gold lines. It felt almost gentle… which was funny, because nothing about this was.Kael stood a few steps away, sleeves shoved to his elbows, hair pushed back like he’d already raked his hands through it three times. He looked calm. I knew better.“Ready?” he asked.“No,” I said honestly. “But we’ll do it anyway.”His mouth twitched, the ghost of a smile. “Good answer.” He tapped his chest with two fingers. “Remember the rules. Eyes on me. Breathe with me. If the mark pulls, you pull back harder. Anchor.”“Anchor,” I repeated, even though the word still felt new in my mouth.He took a slow breath in; I matched it. He let it out; I did too.“Closer,” he said.I closed the space until his breath warmed my cheek. My pulse was already too fast. The trick was to pretend it wasn’t.“Hands,” he

Luna's POV Dawn came thin and gray, a quiet light slipping through the trees like a secret. I woke to the smell of wet earth and the weight of Kael’s coat still around my shoulders. He’d moved sometime in the night, but not far - he was crouched by the embers, coaxing a small flame with patient hands.“Morning,” he said without looking up. “You slept.”“Barely,” I muttered, sitting up. “You?”He grunted. Which meant: not really.I rubbed my eyes, stood, and stretched. The forest felt still, but not peaceful. The kind of still that made the hairs rise on your arms.“Something’s off,” I said.Kael’s head tilted. “I know.”A twig snapped to our right. Another to our left. I reached for my knife.“Don’t,” a woman’s voice called lightly from somewhere above. “If I wanted you dead, you’d never have woken up.”Kael moved before I could blink - between me and the sound, body angled, every line of him ready.A figure dropped from the low fork of an oak, landing soft as mist. She straightened