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Chapter 146: Her Fault
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2022-12-01 18:15:46Related chapters
The Returned Luna Chapter 147: Light of the Night
*Laurel?* *Where are you?*Laurel looked up as Adolph’s words came to her mind. She followed Delia through the garden away from the lights of the ballroom and into the night. The moon was full above them as they walked. “So, what is that you wanted to speak to me about?” Laurel asked. *I’m outside with Delia.*“I…” Delia blew out a pained breath as they walked. “It’s going to sound really insincere, considering everything, but…”They came to an outcropping of rock. She could barely make out the sounds of the party in the distance. The scent of wine and the wind made her shudder. Had it been so long since she was waking up screaming in terror from the memory of being pushed to her death. She looked up at the moon and felt the memory surfacing just a little, but pushed it away.*I’m coming to get you.*“I wanted to say I’m sorry.”“Sorry for–”Alice growled, *Move!*Laurel turned around just as Delia lunged for her and shoved her back. Her feet slipped, but she leaned forward, avoidin
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 148: Compelled To Truth
He settled Laurel into his lap as the carriage began to pull away. It had been a night of revelations and surprises. He had never known that Gavin couldn’t shift, though he wasn’t surprised that Gavin had hired staff that also couldn’t shift, whether they were human or simply out of contact with their wolves. He had never expected that Basil had gone through the shift alone. The grief made his heart clench. The first shift could be terrifying. Without guidance, it could have done so much damage. Then, there was the matter of his son on the edge of going rogue. He’d had his suspicions about them not being fated mates, but he had never imagined that they had no mating bond beyond a marked bond. His head ached. Basil would need treatment and he would need to speak to his son about his shifting experiences. Basil told him that he didn’t remember. Did that mean he only shifted under duress? Did he blackout during it? Had he ever *truly* shifted or did he just think he had? If he had
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 149: A Life For A Life
The silence was deafening. Laurel wasn't sure if she could handle hearing anymore. It wasn’t even a part of Morrigan’s plan, but Delia’s jealousy and hastiness? Her death had served no purpose other than satisfying Delia’s ambition? She hadn’t allowed herself to think about who had killed her, but she’d had plenty of ideas about why. They revolved around the kingdom’s stability and Basil’s incompetence. When Eden had her kidnapped, she had wondered if he knew why Laura had died, yet his answer as he lay in her arms had been honest. Morrigan hadn’t even seen her as an obstacle to getting Delia married to Basil. How could anyone be so cruel? She wondered, staring at a loss at Delia. Adolph squeezed her hand.“So why attempt to kill me?” Laurel asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Delia glared at her, “You’re just as much in the way as she was. What else?”Delia growled, turning her head and glaring at Eden, “Stop making me say things!”Eden lifted an eyebrow, “I didn’t. You’re j
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 150: Execution & Parting
Laurel didn't want to watch the execution, yet she stood at Adolph's side as Delia was dragged up to the execution block. She cried and wailed, declaring how innocent she was as the herald read the charges in a sharp brisk tone.The guards held her down against the chopping block as she screamed and pleaded for mercy, tears streaming down her face, yet she felt nothing.No remorse.No guilt.Had she been a real threat to their plan? Basil didn’t care for her while she was alive. It was only after she was gone that he’d seemed to realize her worth, and what woman needed that? Still, she wondered. If she hadn’t died. If she’d never have met Adolph and Basil had come to find her, would she have gone with him? Would she have forgiven him if not for his love then for the kingdom?Alice scoffed, and she almost laughed at the thought. No. She wouldn’t have because even at her lowest, she’d believed that she deserved better than the sham of a relationship they’d had. When Adolph had returne
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 151: Ambush
With Delia dead, she thought that maybe things would get easier, but there was still a feeling of danger looming around what felt like every corner. She’d hoped it would vanish as the days went on and her stomach grew larger, but it didn’t. If anything, it felt worse. She could only hope that Adolph's trip would help ease some of it. When the Wiccan delegation including Eden returned to the Wiccan lands, she had thought that maybe Adolph would relax, but she supposed that until they knew for sure that Gavin wasn’t a threat and that all the threats they had ever suspected had been neutralized, there was no chance that they would ever have peace.Adolph was almost certain it wouldn’t even be that simple, no matter how much he may have wanted it to be. There was still something wrong. His wolf still felt restless. Maybe Eden was still a threat. Maybe not.He'd find out soon enough. Eden was a cunning man. He'd either get Adolph alone with a plausible excuse or he'd manage to kill him in
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 152: The Desperate
“Luna Laurel,” a servant called. “You have visitors in the west parlor.”Laurel smiled and nodded before rising and following the servant. She had been expecting an alpha-luna pair from a potential noble pack to arrive. She assumed that the people waiting for her were them and looked forward to discussing their pack’s economic position, needs, and testing out their loyalty to the throne. She didn’t need any other traitors in their midst.As she reached the room, Alice stirred with apprehension. There was something wrong. The necklace didn’t warm with warning or danger, so it wasn’t a mortal threat. So what could be wrong?*What’s wrong?*Alice growled as the door opened and revealed Laura’s parents. She almost rolled her eyes at how well-dressed they seemed compared to the last time they saw one another when she was Laura, or even when she’d sought them out as Laurel. This had a noble written all over it. What was the plan? Use them to garner sympathy about Laurel taking Laura’s pla
Last Updated : 2022-12-01The Returned Luna Chapter 153: Ambush
Adolph and his escort reached the border before twilight. The generals greeted him grandly and he got a chance to peek in on Basil’s training for a moment before getting some sleep. It seemed that his son had taken to martial training as well as he had in his youth. A bit of pride went through him as Basil went from attacking with a sword to shifting into his wolf form and back to his human form smoothly enough to catch his opponent off guard. The smoothness and speed of the shift were usually untapped advantages in combat. He didn’t expect Basil to have to use it much in the future, but it was a good thing to have. “Would you like to join them for a bit?” A general asked. “You know you’re still more myth than man.”Adolph chuckled and shrugged, “Of course. At least before dinner.”The general grinned and stepped on the pitch before Adolph removed his cloak and followed. Basil’s eyes widened as he walked onto the pitch and took out a practice sword. He picked Basil’s partner and Bas
Last Updated : 2022-12-02The Returned Luna Chapter 154: The Face of the Vampire Nation
Adolph emitted hot, boiling fury the entire ride to Ash Castle. If he didn’t know that Adolph was a man of his word, Eden might have been worried that Adolph was going to kill him at any moment. As it stood, he was just glad that he’d gotten the man’s attention. The problem they faced going to the vampire nations was one that Adolph wouldn’t be able to begin to comprehend until he had seen it for himself. Morrigan’s evil had done more damage to the spirit of the people than the curse could ever do. People scraped together a living if they had hope. They found ways to survive famines, wars, plagues, and natural disasters. They found ways to rebuild under the guidance of a good leader. In the hands of a tyrant, in the hands of a monster like Morrigan, there was no hope. When he’d found his way to the Wiccan Alliance, he’d been shocked at the sight of the solar temple there and the lunar shrines in the smaller towns where vampires who had escaped Morrigan and werewolves who had found
Last Updated : 2022-12-02
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The Returned Luna Chapter 174: Jack
His stomach churned but he nodded, walking into the room. Fear filled him, but as he entered the room he started to relax. “You’re so beautiful… you take after your father.”Laurel lay among the sheets, dressed in a loose gown and cradling the baby to her chest.At the distance, he could only see a tuft of honey blonde hair in the swaddling blanket. The wetnurses bowed and stepped aside as he approached. Laurel smiled up at him, “Want to meet him?”“Him?”Laurel beamed at him, “Him… Nimue told me before, but I wanted it to still be a surprise for you.”Another boy. Adolph sunk onto the bed beside her, kissing her cheek before looking down into her arms. He had Laurel’s nose and hair pattern though the coloring was all his. Maybe when he grew up he’d take after his grandfathers, but he wouldn’t be able to tell that for a while.“Can I hold him?”Laurel nodded, offering the child to him. He smelled like fresh water and clean skin as Adolph took him, and held him close. He was so smal
The Returned Luna Chapter 173: Defense and Not
Nimue took a deep calming breath as Basil let out a mournful sob. The air began to warm slowly around them as the path between their world and the afterlife closed. She should have known when her first evocation yielded nothing that Olivia was going to be another troublesome spirit.She hoped Basil would be able to recover and accept the truth in time.“No… mother…” Nimue’s heart twisted with grief as she calmed her powers and Basil’s hand tightened on her ankle. “Why? She… She lifted it.”“She was prepared to sacrifice you,” she said solemnly.“She lifted the curse, Nimue! You didn’t have to!”Nimue looked down at him, “She only did so to save her existence, Basil. That was the test. It wasn’t about remorse towards what she’d done to your father… it was about what she did to you.”His eyes welled with tears as she set her staff aside, allowing it to hover in the air. “She was never your mother.”She kneeled beside Basil, placing a glowing hand near the dagger in his chest as he fell
The Returned Luna Chapter 172: Oblivion
Adolph’s voice was sure and even, but Basil couldn’t believe what he was saying. Didn’t he understand that they had no way of knowing how long that would be? A few months? A few days? His father was the strongest man he knew, but he wasn’t indestructible!“But father—”“You’d let Basil be king?” Olivia scoffed and laughed, “You know he’s not ready. He won’t ever be ready!”The twinge of pain that went through him took his breath away. He pushed it aside. This wasn’t the mother he’d imagined his whole life. He expected his father to say those things, not the woman who died giving birth to him. He winced at the thought. She hadn’t died giving birth to him. She’d died giving birth to a curse. There was no other choice to make.“Nimue, end the séance.”Nimue said nothing. Whether that meant she couldn’t or wasn’t going to, he didn’t know.Adolph shook his head, “Your father tried to make that true, but it’s not. Basil isn’t an idiot. He’s young and inexperienced, but that’s fixable. He h
The Returned Luna Chapter 171: Love and Obsession
Adolph narrowed his eyes down at Olivia. She was just as pretty as she had been before, but he saw the wicked light in her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be greeting our son whom you’ve never met?” Adolph asked. She smiled at him, poisonous and vicious, “I would never put anyone before you dear husband.”“You are dead,” Adolph said, “Speak to Basil.”“… very well.”Olivia turned her head and looked at Basil. Adolph was about to retract his statement at the hopeful look on Basil’s face, but it was too late. “You asked them to kill the man who raised you,” Olivia said, “You asked for the death penalty.”“Mother, they—”“Don’t call me that!” Olivia hissed at him. “All of them. Murdered and for what? What of your loyalty to me?”Basil’s eyes widened, “To you…?”“After what your father did to me?” Olivia said, “What is a bit of money?”“You… You knew?” Basil asked. “But—”“I love your father,” she said, her eyes glimmering with tears. “But… that wasn’t good enough. My love was never good enough f
The Returned Luna Chapter 170: Olivia
Laurel didn’t expect Basil to come quickly, so when the door closed, she was grateful that Nimue made herself a cup of tea and smiled at her. “You were once someone else,” Nimue said. “I am glad that the moon saw fit to bring the white wolf back to us.”Laurel blinked and sat across from her, “You’re… not much like Eden.”Nimue chuckled, “Eden and I have different gifts… He is what we would call an elemental Wiccan. Lightning strikes, fire, flashy shows of power that most associate with real magic. I’m a spiritual mage.”Laurel blinked and made herself a cup of tea, “What… does that mean?”“It means I have a connection to the living and the dead. Hence, I know the body you’re in right now is one you were reborn into. I can only guess how you died, but I assume that Basil knew you in your past life.”Laurel winced, “This… isn’t how I expected this conversation to go.”Nimue shrugged, “You make plans and the spirits laugh, but I’m not concerned about your aura. It’s more than healthy a
The Returned Luna Chapter 169: Mates and Fated Pairs
Adolph watched Basil leave. Nimue winced.“I… would like a moment to speak with my wife,” Adolph said slowly. Nimue nodded, “I’ll… go after him.”She left wincing. That had been a fucking disaster if she’d ever seen one. As she exited the room, she followed the trembling confusion, fear, and anger down the hall and around the corner. The thing about magical compatibility between fated matches was that it worked like a homing beacon. She found him in a parlor sitting on the couch with his head in his hand. He lifted his head and shot to his feet as she entered. “You—You can’t just say things like that!” Basil said, “You can’t just accuse her if you—You’re a healer! How would you know something like that anyway?”Nimue watched him, his shoulders heaving as he held himself still. “I am a healer,” she said. “But I am not just a healer. Sit down and calm yourself.”“Look me in the eye and tell me the truth,” Basil said, glaring at her. “Tell me you know for sure my mother did it. Tell
The Returned Luna Chapter 168: Lady Nimue
Basil had tried to keep his mind focused on the path ahead the next morning, no matter how Nimue’s scent had seemed to take over his senses and make him dizzy with need and desire. She smelled like fresh blooming flowers, fresh earth, and a hint of fresh sweet bread. It was a distracting, comforting, and maddening scent. His wolf growled in contentment and want whenever she grew near, so he took to riding further ahead to try and keep his mind clear. *I hate you*, his wolf huffed and growled. *You and your stupid pride and fear and…**Not now*, Basil thought, stubbornly. *Focus on getting back to the capital, okay?*He huffed, *And your need for distraction instead of facing the truth…*Basil sighed, tuning out his wolf’s whining. This wasn’t the time for thinking about such things. Adolph and Laurel were supposed to be staying at the temple until the baby was born. There was no reason they should have called him back unless the baby was early or something had happened to his father
The Returned Luna Chapter 167: Forgiveness
Taliesin sent the message off with a heavy heart. While his judgment was sound and he knew he wasn’t wrong, the likelihood that it would all go to plan was slim. Curses laid by the dying or the dead were harder to get rid of than living curses and he was not an expert in such dark magics. He had no affinity for creating or breaking them. His late brother and twin, Merlin, had no such limitations, but he had gone into Eternal Repose after his wife, Viviane, had been killed in the war against Morrigan. Merlin could not help them.Taliesin couldn’t blame him. The war had taken so much from all of them and raising the barrier had taxed them both greatly. There was little hope that he would ever wake up, and Taliesin had accepted that centuries ago, focusing on raising Merlin’s daughter as if she were his.“Nimue?” Taliesin called as he returned to the meeting hall. She was seated on the old stone bench, looking up through the canopy of the ancient oak trees that were always in bloom. Hi
The Returned Luna Chapter 166: Cursed Last Moments
Laurel woke up, frozen in terror in bed. The last time she’d had a vision of the moon goddess, she’d been pushed off a cliff. She wasn’t sure if hearing that her husband’s late wife put a curse on him was better or worse. How bad was the curse now? How much longer did they have? Could she break it? If she couldn’t, what would happen to him?Her stomach turned as she turned over to see Adolph sleeping peacefully beside her. The days of his insomnia seemed to have caught up with him all at once. The strain of the days seemed to be gone now as he slept.His scent was just as bloody and lovely as ever, but that blood that she had once found just a bit sexy seemed tainted with danger now. It wasn’t just the scent of someone who had seen a great deal of war, but it was affecting his mind. An alpha werewolf like Adolph could be dangerous if they lost control of their strength. She knew that Adolph was much stronger than the average wolf. Was it anything like going rogue? Would it kill him?
