Rejected Luna of The Cursed Alpha のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

Aria's POVThe room was too quiet. I stood by the window long after Mrs. Evelyn left, watching people walk past the gardens. Everyone had a purpose, a task to fulfill.I didn't.For the first time since leaving Valemont, there was nothing that made demands of me. No duties as the Luna. No endless ordering. No one to tell me where to go, what to do.No Leo.The thought twisted in my gut and I pressed a hand to my heart, turning away from the window. Perhaps I should unpack.There was little enough to unpack. A few dresses, a shawl, the small comb Helen had somehow slipped into my possession before I left.And the tiny knit sock Leo had managed to shed during the ride to the ceremonial hall, with no one bothering to check the carriage after he'd fallen asleep. My fingers curled around the thin wool.It still smelled faintly of lavender.Like Leo.I sat on the edge of the bed, pressing the small sock to my chest. "I hope you're warm," I whispered. My voice cracked on the words and a stran

Aria's POV By the time the night sky turned to sunset, I had convinced myself not to go. I stood in front of the wardrobe Mrs. Evelyn curated for me, looking at the dresses inside. None of them were very appealing. Some lacked my style, but others simply had too much. I was about to wait for Nora's dress to come but, as the alpha's wife, even the best designers had barely managed to whip something up in such a short time. I grabbed the simplest dress, something plain in color that barely came down to my ankles. It would not garner too much attention and simultaneously would not announce that I did not care. That would do if Nora came without a dress, I thought as I tied the ribbon in my hair. A knock sounded at the doors 

"Some trees are really noisy," he stated, looking directly at me with his eyes.I gazed at him, confused."The wind makes them noisy, just saying, since you said you prefer trees, you've been listening to the trees."“I have had nobody else to talk to.” My words escaped before I could even stop them.Only then did I realize that he was smiling at me until his smile disappeared."Sorry, I didn’t mean..." Apologies automatically followed."You don't have to." He cut in on me before I could finish my apology.I looked at him for a brief moment before I hurriedly turned my head away from him. There was silence for some seconds while we listened to the sounds of the festival being held."I never thought kings wandered alone like that," I murmured after some time."Neither did I expect strangers to ask questions to kings.""In that case, we are both wrong."Another smile appeared, this time a little bit smaller than the previous one. “Maybe.”“Speaking about strangers, you never asked for m

There was a pause when everything came to a halt.All that could be heard from the warrior was his ragged breathing. His claws were back inside and the amber color was now gone from his eyes, leaving them human. He searched frantically, as though he had woken up in the middle of a dream that he didn't know how he had got into."What happened?"There was no answer.None of them knew, not the guards with their weapons out ready. Not the healers who were trying to rush over to him. Not even the elders who stood near the ceremonial fire and looked shocked on their faces.Especially not the girl who everybody was looking at.Aria lowered her hand slowly.She looked down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers as if searching for something inside her body. She was breathing quickly and her face looked confused and then shocked.She looked scared.Not of the wolf.But of herself.I looked at her as her eyes flickered between the young warrior and her own trembling hand and then back to the

The journey to the king's place seemed to take much longer than the one from Valemont.The guards walked some steps ahead of me without a single word. His stance was upright, his stride slow, and once in a while, he would look back over his shoulder to check on me.I wonder whether he was equally curious like everybody else.The festive place was almost deserted. Men were dismantling the last lot of lanterns while some other men were sweeping away the petals of flowers on the stone path. Gone were the laughs of the night; all there remained was the quiet talks and sounds of the wooden stalls being taken apart.Further into the pack, we saw people observing us.Actually, it should be said that they were watching me. Women holding baskets interrupted their conversation mid-sentence.Two warriors stopped in the process of sharpening their swords.An old couple looked at me, then at the guard who escorted me, whispered to one another, and exchanged some glances.I looked away.It was hard