The Luna He Discarded

Chapter2:The Murmurs

Liora's POV

I dropped to my knees immediately, gathering the broken pieces of glass with shaking hands.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so clumsy, I'll clean this up right away," I said, more to myself than to anyone listening, my voice barely holding together as I reached for piece after piece scattered across the floor.

The room had not fully returned to its celebration. I could feel eyes still lingering on me even as people slowly turned back to each other, and that was when the whispers started, soft enough that they probably thought I couldn't hear them, but I heard every word.

"She actually thought she deserved to be our Luna. How pathetic."

"Did you see her face? She looked like she was about to faint."

"I heard the Alpha used to keep her around before all this. Imagine thinking that meant something."

The words landed one after another, each one sinking deeper than the last, and I felt the sharp sting of tears building up behind my eyes. I blinked hard, refusing to let them fall, not here, not in front of all these people who were already enjoying watching me fall apart.

My fingers closed around a larger piece of glass and it cut straight into my palm. I gasped softly, pulling my hand back, watching as blood dripped from my hand to the cold hard floor.

"Ma'am, please let me" Philip's voice came from beside me, gentle and steady, already kneeling down to take over.Another servant, a younger girl I didn't recognize well, crouched down on my other side, reaching for the remaining pieces.

"I've got this, really, I'm fine" I said, even as my hand throbbed and the cut started to sting properly now.

"Ma'am your hand" Philip said, nodding toward the blood now trickling slowly down my wrist.

"I said I've got this" I repeated, my voice cracking slightly at the end despite my attempt to stop it.

Philip didn't argue further, but he didn't fully back away either, staying close enough to help. Thanks to the two of them, the glass was cleared up quickly, and I stood, holding my injured hand against my chest, the wine stain on my dress already drying.I didn't wait to see if anyone was still watching. I turned and walked as fast as I could without running, moving through the crowd until I found the hallway leading toward the nearest bathroom.The moment I got the door closed behind me, I let myself fall apart.

I turned the tap on and ran cold water over my hand, watching the water turn pink as it washed the blood away, and the tears finally came, fast streaming down my face no matter how many times I tried to wipe them away. My chest heaved with the effort of trying to stay quiet, trying not to let anyone outside hear me falling apart over a man who couldn't even look at me an hour ago.

I gripped the edge of the sink and let myself cry for a long time, longer than I wanted to admit, the image of his hand wrapped around Selene's played over and over in my head.

Eventually the tears slowed. I splashed cold water on my face, patted it dry with a hand towel, and wrapped a strip of cloth I found in the cabinet around the cut on my palm. I stared at myself in the mirror for a moment, my eyes still red and puffy, and told myself I needed to go back out there. Hiding in a bathroom wasn't going to fix anything.

I pulled the door open and stepped out into the hallway, and walked straight into Elder Mauve.

"Liora" she said, her voice smooth and cool.

"Elder Mauve" I said, straightening up quickly, trying to look like I hadn't just spent the last several minutes crying alone in a bathroom.

She looked me over slowly, her eyes pausing briefly on the wine stain still visible on my dress, then on the makeshift bandage wrapped around my hand.

"I think it's best you stay away from Kaius from now on" she said simply, like it was something she had been meaning to tell me for a long time now.

"Excuse me?"

"He has a mate now. A real one. Someone who belongs at his side in front of the council and the pack" she said. "I would hate for you to embarrass yourself further tonight, or to embarrass this family's name with whatever it is you think is still happening between you two."

I felt my throat tighten. "I don't know what you think you saw, but"

"I don't need to see anything, Liora, everyone in that hall saw exactly what they needed to see" she cut in, her tone sharpening just slightly. "You should be grateful. We pulled you out of the breeder chambers and gave you a room in the main house when we didn't have to. You've been treated far better than someone like you should expect."

Someone like me.

"You are worthless without this pack's generosity, and I would hate to see you forget that" she continued, her eyes flicking down to my bandaged hand one more time before settling back on my face. "Do not make this harder than it needs to be."

She didn't wait for a response. She turned and walked away, her heels clicking steadily against the floor until the sound faded down the hallway, leaving me standing there alone with her words sitting heavy in my chest.

Worthless. Generosity. Embarrass the family name.

I stood frozen for a long moment, staring at nothing, her voice replaying over and over until I almost couldn't hear my own thoughts anymore.Eventually I made myself walk back toward the main hall, telling myself I needed to at least show my face again, that running away completely would only give people more to whisper about.The celebration was in full swing by the time I stepped back inside. Music played softly in the background, people mingled in small groups holding drinks, and near the front of the room, Kaius stood with his arm wrapped around Selene's waist, leaning down to say something close to her ear that made her laugh and lean into him.He looked happy.

He looked like a man who had never once held my hand and told me he loved me.

I watched them for as long as I could stand it, watched the way he smiled down at her, the way his thumb brushed gently against her side, the way everyone around them looked on with approval like this was exactly how things were supposed to be.

I couldn't watch anymore.I turned and ran out of the hall, not caring anymore who saw me leave or what they whispered about it.