My tortured Luna

Chapter 13

Valens POV

Three days.

Three days since the training hall.

Three days since I'd watched Jayden carry her away while she screamed at the sight of me.

I hadn't gone near her since.

Every instinct inside me had fought against the decision, but every report from Jayden and Valeria had told me the same thing. She was calmer when I stayed away. Not well. Far from it. The panic attacks still came. She still woke from nightmares almost every night, and according to Valeria she'd barely left her room. But she wasn't jumping at every sound anymore. She wasn't searching every corner before entering a room. She was... trying.

Trying was enough.

It had to be.

"The western patrol requested another six warriors." The Delta walking beside me kept talking as we crossed the corridor leading towards the dining hall. I answered automatically, not entirely sure what I'd agreed to.

"Approve it." He nodded, continuing with another report. I never heard it.

A laugh drifted out through the open doors.

Soft.

Uncertain.

Beautiful.

My steps slowed before stopping altogether.

"My King?" I barely registered, the Delta turning towards me.

That laugh...

Cain lifted his head immediately.

Mate.

I knew.

I stepped closer to the doorway before I saw her. She sat between Valeria and Deletio, while Penny was in the middle of what looked like another completely unnecessary argument over breakfast. Jayden leaned back in his chair, clearly enjoying every second of it.

"I don't need another strawberry." Sage looked at Penny with the smallest hint of annoyance, though the smile tugging at the corner of her lips ruined the effect completely.

"You said that about the last one too." Penny folded her arms triumphantly.

"I was right."

"You ate it."

"That doesn't mean I needed it." Deletio laughed.

"You've always been stubborn."

"I had a good teacher." She looked towards him. Then... She laughed. Not because she had to. Because she wanted to. Everything inside me became still. For one impossible moment... She didn't look like the frightened girl we'd carried out of the Blood Moon Pack.

She looked...

Happy.

Just a little.

It was enough.

Without thinking, I took another step.

I needed to see her properly. Needed to know she was really smiling and that I hadn't imagined it. The bond stirred the exact second my scent reached her. Her smile vanished. I felt it before I saw it. The sudden twist in her stomach. The nausea. The overwhelming rush of panic she tried so desperately to swallow down.

No.. Her thought brushed against mine so faintly I almost missed it. She lowered her fork. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the table. Valeria noticed immediately.

"Sage?" She leaned slightly closer, concern replacing the smile she'd been wearing only seconds earlier.

"I'm..." Sage swallowed hard, keeping her eyes fixed on her plate. "...I'm sorry." She pushed her chair back so abruptly it scraped loudly across the floor before hurrying from the dining hall with one hand covering her mouth. Silence followed her. Valeria looked at me. Then Jayden. Neither of them needed to say a word. I understood. This wasn't helping anymore. I turned before anyone could stop me.

Amelia looked up the moment I stepped into her office. One look at my face was enough for her to quietly close the journal she'd been reading.

"I take it breakfast didn't go well." She studied me for a moment before gesturing towards the chair opposite her desk. A humourless laugh escaped me.

"She laughed." I remained standing, my eyes drifting towards the window behind her. "I'd never heard her laugh before." Amelia didn't interrupt.

"For one moment..." I shook my head slowly. "...I thought she was getting better." Silence settled between us.

"Then I walked into the dining hall." My fingers curled against the windowsill. "She caught my scent." Amelia frowned slightly.

"I felt it." She looked up.

"Felt what?"

"The bond." I swallowed hard. "The moment she realized I was there..." I closed my eyes briefly. "...her stomach turned." Understanding slowly crossed Amelia's face.

"She became nauseous."

"I did too." The words tasted bitter. "I felt every second of it." Neither of us spoke for several moments.

"The vomiting has become more frequent." Amelia finally reached for the journal again. "Valeria mentioned she'd been sick twice yesterday as well."

"So she's getting worse."

"I don't know."

"You said that last time."

"I know."

"You told me every test was normal."

"They are."

"You examined her."

"Yes."

"You took blood."

"Yes."

"You weighed her." Amelia nodded.

"She's lost another kilogram. That's eleven. " I lowered my head.

"Twelve." The words came without thinking. She looked surprised.

"What?" She frowned, not knowing what I meant.

"Twelve kilograms." My voice had become almost emotionless.

"Not eleven." She stared at me.

"I remember exactly how much she weighed when we found her." Of course I did. I'd carried her. I'd felt how frighteningly light she'd been in my arms. Now she weighed even less.

"I don't understand it." Frustration finally slipped into my voice. "She's eating. Penny practically follows her around with food. The kitchens are making whatever she asks for." Amelia offered me a sad smile.

"The problem isn't that she isn't trying."

"The problem is that something is happening to her body that I can't explain." She looked down at the journal again, her fingers absently tracing the edge of one of the pages.

"I've gone through every blood test twice. I've repeated every examination. If this was an illness, I should have found it by now." I frowned.

"What are you saying?" She hesitated.

"I think it's time I ask someone else to look at her." My eyes met hers.

"Another healer?" She slowly shook her head.

"A mage." Silence settled between us.

"A mage?" The word sounded strange coming from my own mouth.

"They see things we don't." Amelia leaned back in her chair. "

Magic. Curses. Broken bonds. Sometimes there are illnesses that don't belong to medicine." She let out a quiet breath.

"I'm not saying that's what this is."

"No. Not yet." I simply said. I don't trust a mage. The room fell quiet once more.

"There is..." Amelia hesitated before continuing. "...one possibility." I slowly looked back at her.

"It isn't the explanation I believe is most likely."

"But?"

"The nausea. The vomiting. The weight loss..." She lowered her eyes to the journal. "...they're also symptoms we often see early in pregnancy." Everything inside me stopped.

"But..." My throat suddenly felt too tight. "...we haven't..."

"I know." She answered before I could finish.

"I know." The room became painfully quiet.

"When we examined her after you rescued her..." Amelia's voice became gentler. "...we found evidence of repeated s****l assault."

I stared at the floor. Not because I couldn't look at her. Because I suddenly couldn't stand. My legs felt weak. Images flashed through my mind faster than I could stop them. Sage. Curled into herself on that cold stone floor. Covered in bruises. Apologizing while she bled. She'd already survived more than anyone ever should. The thought of Jack leaving something behind... Something that would force her to remember him every single day...

"No..." The whisper escaped before I realized I'd spoken. Cain made a sound I'd never heard before. It wasn't a growl. It wasn't rage. It was grief. Raw. Broken.

Not her...

My chest tightened so painfully I struggled to draw breath.

"Yesterday..." I spoke quietly, almost to myself. "She cried because someone filled a bathtub for her." Amelia looked away.

"This morning she laughed." I swallowed hard. "She laughed over strawberries." Another silence.

"And now you're asking me to imagine telling her she might be carrying the child of the man who destroyed her."

"I'm not asking you to imagine anything." Amelia's own voice had grown quieter. "I'm asking you not to ignore the possibility." I closed my eyes.

"I can examine her today."

"No." The answer came so quickly it surprised even me.

"My King..."

"No." I shook my head slowly. "Not today."

"If she is pregnant, the sooner we know—"

"The sooner we know." I corrected gently before meeting her eyes. "Not her." Amelia frowned. I took a slow breath.

"She has finally started taking small steps forward." My voice was barely above a whisper.

"She left her room. She trained. She found a friend. She laughed." I looked down at my hands. "If that hope is about to disappear..." I couldn't finish the sentence. Amelia remained silent.

"I need one favour." She nodded.

"If you ever believe the possibility is strong enough to test..." Another breath.

"You tell me first." She looked confused.

"Why?" I let out the smallest laugh.

"Because I'll need one minute." Her expression softened.

"One minute?"

"One minute to fall apart." I smiled sadly.

"After that..." I looked towards the window again.

"...I'll be her King." Amelia's eyes filled with tears. She didn't try to hide them.

"You love her." I closed my eyes.

"I've loved her since the moment I carried her out of that prison." Another long silence settled between us.

"I just wish..." My voice cracked for the first time. "...she didn't have to pay the price for finding me."