Can You Be My Luna

Chapter 15 THE BATTLE WITHIN

After the incident, Vanessa never showed her face in the mansion again. Lucas, however, became worse. He returned to his old self. He was grumpier, harsher, always shouting. He worked me until my body ached, ordered me to do impossible tasks, and punished me for the smallest mistakes. But something about him had changed. Before, his gaze had been cold, sharp with cruelty and disdain. I had learned how to survive that kind of hatred. It was familiar.

Now… it lingered. His eyes followed me as I moved through the halls, as I bent to pick something up, as I stood quietly in the corners of rooms. It wasn’t anger anymore. It made my skin crawl.

I felt his stare on my back, on my neck like invisible fingers tracing places they had no right to touch. Every time I dared to look up, I found him watching me.

So, I began to avoid him. I kept my head down. Stayed silent. Stayed out of sight.

That evening, I was in my room, preparing to sleep when a servant knocked.

“Master Lucas requests your presence,” she said softly, refusing to meet my eyes.

My heart sank. I followed her through the dim corridors, every step heavy with dread. When we reached his door, she left me alone. I stood there for a moment, my hand hovering in the air, hoping that if I waited long enough, he would change his mind.

“Come in,” Lucas called.

I obeyed.

“Close the door.”

The sound echoed far too loudly.

I stood frozen as his eyes moved over me slowly, from my face to my hair, down my body, and back up again. My stomach twisted painfully.

“Come closer,” he said.

I took a step.

“Closer.”

Each step felt wrong, like I was walking toward something I couldn’t escape. When I reached the edge of the bed, he told me to sit.

I did. My hands clenched tightly in my lap. My entire body was rigid.

He reached out and touched my hair.

I froze.

His fingers slid through it, and every instinct inside me screamed danger. My breathing grew shallow.

“Your hair is so soft,” he murmured. “And your body…” His gaze darkened. “You’re very sexy with all your curves.”

His hand slid to my waist, possessive. His words were low, heavy with meaning, and fear tightened painfully in my chest.

I stood up abruptly.

“No,” I said, my voice trembling. “I don’t want this. I never will.”

His expression hardened instantly.

He rose and stepped toward me. His hands reached out, trying to pull me closer as he leaned in. Panic flooded my veins. I turned away.

“Stop,” I pleaded, tears blurring my vision. “Please.”

His grip tightened painfully around my shoulders.

“You are my wife,” he snapped. “You will obey me.”

Then he shoved me onto the bed and climbed on top of me, pinning my wrists above my head. His weight crushed the air from my lungs as he tried to force a kiss.

I cried, begged him to let me go, but he didn’t stop.

And then something inside me broke. It wasn’t fear anymore. It was rage, and it was wild and uncontrollable.

My body burned from the inside out. A scream tore from my throat as power exploded through my body. Strength surged through me far beyond anything human.

I pushed him.

The force sent Lucas flying across the room. He slammed into the wall, crashing into the mirror. Glass shattered violently, scattering across the floor. He collapsed, unmoving, blood streaming from his head.

Silence swallowed the room. My body trembled as the burning sensation slowly faded. I stared at my hands then at Lucas.

“No… no…”

I rushed to him, my heart pounding wildly. Blood pooled beneath his head. I pressed my ear to his chest.

He was breathing. Unconscious—but alive.

Fear crushed me. If he woke up… if he knew what I had done… He would kill me.

Panic took over. I backed away, then turned and ran. Out of the room. Down the halls. Out of the house. I didn’t stop at the gates. I kept running.

The woods swallowed me whole. Branches tore at my skin, stones cut into my feet, but I didn’t slow down, l kept on running. I fell, got up, and ran again. Shadows chased me. The night pressed in from all sides.

I didn’t care. I just needed to be far away. Then suddenly, I hit something invisible. My body lurched forward as the ground vanished beneath me.

I fell hard. My body slammed against rocks, pain exploding through me. My vision blurred. My strength drained away. And then everything went black.