The Luna's Queen Revenge: Cursed To Love My Enemies

Restless

Aurora’s POV

“Where is it? Where’s the damn thing?”

My hands flew across the vanity, scattering combs, pins, and powders onto the floor.

A jeweled brush clattered under the bed, forgotten. I ripped open drawers, slammed them shut again, each one more useless than the last.

“It was here. I know it was here!”

My voice cracked, too shrill. and I pressed my teeth against my lip.

Dropping to my knees, I yanked up cushions, shoved aside rugs, clawed through parchment stacks. My breath came fast, ragged.

The parchment was gone.

“No…” My throat tightened. “It can’t be gone.”

For a long moment, I just knelt there, palms pressed flat against the carpet as if I could will it back into existence.

But the truth clawed at me. I had lost it. Carelessly. Stupidly.

I pushed to my feet too quickly and swayed as blood rushed to my head.

“I hope this doesn’t ruin everything. I hope our plans…”

“How do I tell him I lost it?”

My whisper trembled. Then I shook my head.

“No. He’ll understand. He always does.”

A bitter laugh broke loose, jagged and ugly. I cut it short with a hand to my mouth. I couldn’t afford hysteria. Not now.

Not when the banquet was only days away, when every eye would weigh me and decide if I was truly destined to be their queen.

And what did I have? Trembling hands and a missing parchment.

Time was slipping. If I didn’t secure them soon, it would all unravel.

Kael flashed first in my mind, sharp as a blade, calculating, impossible to fool for long. No, not him.

But Rael…

Poor, sweet Rael. He wore his doubts like scars. Gentle. Breakable. Longing for someone to soothe the storm he carried. I could be that. I would be that.

If I held Rael, Kael would follow. Brothers bled for each other. Bind one, and the other would not be far behind. With both, came the throne.

A slow smile spread across my lips, unsteady at first, then sharper, harder.

“Yes… Rael. He’s the key.”

I turned toward the mirror. My reflection stared back with eyes that gleamed too brightly, lips curved too cruelly. Almost inhuman.

I straightened, smoothed my hair, pressed the mask back into place. The tender, worried mate who only wanted to ease her beloved. That was who Rael would see. That was who he needed.

“I can do this,” I whispered.

My skirts whispered around my ankles as I rose. Rael would be alone now, restless after another of his brooding runs.

This was my chance to weave myself into his sorrow until he couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.

I paused at the door, casting one last look at the chaos I had left behind. A battlefield. My battlefield.

Putting on the mask I would wear until he was mine.

Rael’s POV

The run hadn’t helped. My wolf still clawed inside me, restless, pacing.

My chest burned, my muscles ached, but it wasn’t the kind of ache that faded. It was the curse gnawing, biting deeper each day.

I shoved open my chamber doors, only to stop cold.

Her scent hit first. Sweet. Heavy. Clinging.

Aurora sat waiting on the edge of my bed, her hair spilling like fire in the candlelight, eyes soft and knowing.

“I could feel you from down the hall,” she murmured.

“The storm inside you.” She lifted a tray where steam curled from a cup. “So I brought something warm. Wolves burn fast. You need to settle, Rael.”

My throat was dry. The honeyed scent teased my senses. She poured the brew into a cup, sliding it into my hand with practiced gentleness.

“Drink,” she coaxed. “Let me quiet your wolf.”

I hesitated, but her steady gaze pulled me in. I drank.

The bitter warmth spread through me, heavy, grounding, seeping into my veins.

Aurora moved closer, her gaze a tether.

“You run, you fight, you bury yourself in duty. But I see it, Rael. Your wolf won’t rest.”

Her fingers brushed my jaw, soft as silk.

I gave a short laugh. “If I don’t carry it, who will?”

“You don’t have to do it alone.” She guided me down to the bed, her hand light on my arm. “Sit. Let me… help you.”

Her thumb traced slow circles across my skin. My breath hitched.

My body leaned in before my mind caught up, pulled by the warmth of her scent.

Aurora tilted her head, brushing her lips against my cheek, then lower.

“You never rest,” she whispered. “Let me help you relax.”

Something inside me tightened. My wolf stirred, restless, silent, neither rising nor retreating.

I told myself it was nothing. She was my mate. She was supposed to ease me. Her lips brushed mine. Sweet. Soft. My body responded instantly, heat rushing through me.

For a moment, I let go. My hands found her waist, her heart hammered, mine pounded to match.

Aurora deepened the kiss, nails grazing the back of my neck.

“See?” she breathed. “You need me. Let me carry this weight with you.”

And for a heartbeat, I almost believed it. It felt good. Gods, it felt good, to be wanted, to be touched, to forget the curse. My body ached for it. For her.

But beneath the heat, a hollow ache grew. My wolf remained quiet, watchful. Not leaping forward as he should.

I broke away with a shudder, dragging in breath.

“Aurora…” My voice cracked. “You should go.”

Her eyes widened, then narrowed so slightly it might have been imagined.

“I only wanted to help. I’m your mate, Rael.”

But it didn’t feel right.

I pushed to my feet, dragging a hand over my face.

“I… I can’t. Not like this.”

Aurora rose too, slipping her mask back on, her voice soft as silk.

“You’re hurting. Let me take the weight, even just tonight.”

My jaw clenched. Every instinct screamed to accept, to bury myself in her comfort. But something inside me recoiled. I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t name it. Only that this, this, wasn’t enough.

“It doesn’t feel right,” I muttered, more to myself than to her.

Her smile flickered, but she smoothed it into something sweet.

“Then I’ll wait,” she whispered, though her eyes gleamed sharp in the candlelight.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

*******

Aurora left, and I sank back onto the bed, trying to make sense of the storm inside me. My wolf shifted, restless, and I could feel his tension as if it were mine.

“What is it, boy?” I muttered, rubbing at my jaw. “Why are you so quiet?”

Cairn’s presence shifted, a low hum of agitation, but no words came.

“Are you giving me the silent treatment, dude?” a weak laugh escaped from me.

He didn’t answer, just circled, uneasy.

Something felt… wrong. I could smell her, Aurora, but it didn’t settle me. My chest tightened, the comfort he thought would feel with his mate absent. Cairn’s restlessness only made it worse.

“You’d better have a reason for being like this, Cairn. “Not saying anything, not wanting to… anything.”

Cairn growled softly, a low vibration in my mind, pressing, urging, but he stayed quiet.

I frowned, glancing toward the empty door.

“Is it… because we haven’t marked her yet? Is that why you’re holding back? Time’s running out anyway, I think we should do it soon…”