Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 155

Chapter 155

At first, I thought I was losing my mind.

Because the second her scent hit the dungeon air–strawberries and mint–my entire body pulled so hard the silver chains rattled against the stone.

*Emily.”

She stepped into the blue light slowly. Exhausted. Still wearing that cursed collar.

She looked so beautiful I couldn’t even process the sight of her. The rogues shoved her toward my cell, but she lidn’t seem to notice them. Her eyes locked on me, and I saw her defenses crumble.

‘Nathan…”

She rushed forward. The guards made a move to block her, but one of them laughed.

“Let her say goodbye.”

The word cut through me like a real blade. Emily dropped to her knees in front of the iron bars, reaching through o grab my chained hands.

“They told me…” Her voice cracked. “They said midnight…”

I forced myself upright, forcing my body to ignore the silver collar burning into my throat.

“Yeah.” I tried to smile. “Apparently we have a schedule now.”

A broken laugh escaped her, followed by a sob. I hated hearing her cry. More than the pain. More than the chains, More than the thought of dying.

“He said he’s going to kill you,” she whispered, her fingers squeezing mine desperately. “And take my powers.”

I looked away for a second. Because that part terrified me. Not my own death–never that. But leaving her alone

vith him.

“How’s the pack?” she asked shakily.

I bit my lip to keep my temper back. “They chained everyone.”

Her face drained of color.

“Varga gave the order to kill the survivors and burn the territory.”

Horror filled her eyes. “No…”

‘Baby-”

44

2:03 pm P P

Thesitated. “No.” I shook my head slowly. “Zynair knocked me and my mother unconscious before it happened.”

Emily suddenly turned toward the guards standing outside the cell. “Right,” she muttered. “Right. Of course.”

Something in her expression shifted. She was thinking. Calculating.

I frowned. “What?”

She looked back at me too fast. “Nothing.”

A lie. Definitely a lie. But before I could push for the truth, another thought hit her.

“The Moon Goddess…” She looked around the dungeon room desperately. “Where’s Meredyth?”

Pain twisted through me instantly.

“I don’t know.”

Fear crossed her face. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I can’t feel her,” I tugged weakly against the silver restraints. “This damn metal blocks the bond connection. She was bleeding badly from that bitch’s blade…”

Emily flinched hard. “Her name is Cindy,” she whispered bitterly. “She’s Declan’s mate. I actually thought she was good person at first. Turns out the Moon Goddess just has a sick sense of humor when pairing people up.”

For a second, I genuinely thought the silver collar had cut off the oxygen to my brain. “Then why did he mark

You?”

Emily let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Because he’s a psychotic rogue.”

“Careful how you speak about our King, bitch,” one of the guards leaned against the wall, smirking. “Show some espect for the man who runs this place.”

Emily didn’t even turn around. She just tilted her head, her voice dropping to ice.

“And you should remember who’s about to become his Luna, puppy,” she snapped coldly. “Which means I’ll be

unning you. So watch your mouth.”

The rogue’s smirk vanished completely.

I almost laughed. Even now. Even here. Still fearless.

“You know,” I murmured quietly, watching her through the bars, “that attitude is probably what got us into this

situation.”

She looked back at me, and her tough front completely crumbled. Tears flooded her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered brokenly. “Nathan, I’m so sorry…”

2:03 pm P

The sight tore me apart.

“No,” I said, softening my voice. “No, baby. None of this is your fault.”

“It is!” she cried quietly. “Everyone keeps getting hurt because of me!”

‘Emily.”

She was shaking violently now. “I should’ve died in those trials.”

Rage exploded through me so hard the chains snapped tight against the wall. “Don’t you ever say that again.”

The guards straightened up, looking nervous. Even wounded and bound, I still terrified them. If this collar wasn’t nuffling me and I could fully feel Asher, they would’ve pissed themselves. Asher knew how to inspire true fear.

Emily stared at me through her tears.

“If I die tonight,” I said quietly, “you listen to me carefully.”

‘No.

‘Emily.”

“No!” She grabbed the bars harder. “Don’t do this-”

“You survive.”

The room went completely still.

“You hear me?” I forced her to hold my gaze. “You survive him. No matter what.”

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “I can’t.”

“You can.” I leaned my forehead carefully against the cold iron between us. “Because you’re the strongest werewolf I’ve ever met.”

Her breath hitched.

୮

We just stayed there, holding each other through the iron bars. The dungeon smelled like blood, silver, and smoke rom our destroyed home. But with her hands in mine, this cage felt warmer than anywhere else in this miserable

astle.

A soft laugh escaped my throat.

The sound caught her off guard. She shifted, looking up at me through the iron bars, her eyes wide. “What?”

I managed a genuine, crooked smile, completely ignoring the heavy chains and the blood on my skin. “It’s just…

unny.”

“What is?”

2:03 pm PPTM

I kept my eyes locked on hers, letting all the warmth I felt for her show in my gaze. “The first time we met. You were the one locked in my dungeon.”

Emily blinked, and I knew she was remembering it too. The dark cells of my pack house. The raw fear in her eyes. Me towering over her like her worst nightmare.

“You thought I was a rogue,” she whispered, the corner of her mouth twitching.“I thought you were going to kill

ne.”

“I thought I was going to kill you too.”

The reality of how everything had flipped was crazy, but looking at her now, I wouldn’t change a single thing.

I glanced down at the silver cuffs around my wrists, then looked right back into her beautiful eyes.

“And now look at us,” I said, my voice dropping to a gentle whisper. “I’m chained up in the Rogue King’s dungeon,

but I have the most beautiful woman in the world sitting right beside me.”

The sadness in her expression melted into something incredibly soft. I kept my smile put, wanting her to see my

strength, not my pain.

“Moon Goddess has a pretty wild sense of humor, doesn’t it, baby?”

Emily rested her forehead against the bars. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I know,” I said, my voice rough. “I should have told you first. I should have told you a long time ago.”

“You tried.”

“I had plans.” I smiled weakly. “A whole dramatic speech after the ceremony.”

“Of course you did.”

“I’m an Alpha King. We’re legally required to be dramatic.”

She laughed again quietly.

Then the heavy weight of reality settled over the dungeon. Because both of us knew–midnight was getting closer.

We stayed like that for a long time.

Holding each other through the iron bars while the silver burned into my skin. The collar cut into my throat every ime I moved, and the cuffs around my wrists felt like pure fire. But I welcomed the pain. It meant she was still

here. Still beside me. Still alive. I wanted to memorize every second, every breath, every touch.

Then, heavy footsteps echoed down the dungeon stairs.

Emily froze in my arms.

The girl who hurt my mother stepped into the blue light.

2:03 pm PP

The silver blade that had stabbed my mother hung at her hip. Black glowing veins crawled beneath her pale skin, Butsing up her throat and into her face. Her eyes didn’t look human anymore.

“You.” A dark growl–ripped from my chest.

Cindy barely looked at my way “It’s time,” she said coldly to Emily.

Emily stood up.

“Please,” she said quickly. “It’s not midnight yet.”

For half a second, she sounded like she was talking to the old Cindy. The girl she used to know. But whatever humanity had once existed inside her was gone.

“Declan wants you dressed,” Cindy said flatly. “He wants his Luna looking beautiful tonight.”

Emily went completely pale. “…Dressed?”

Cindy smiled, a faint, cruel twist of her lips. “That means undressed first.”

Something inside me snapped.

I lunged at the bars with a roar so violent the dungeon shook. The chains tore deep into my flesh, and the rogues ushed forward, raising long silver staffs crackling with electricity.

“NATHAN, NO-”

The shock hit me hard, blinding me. Agony exploded through every nerve in my body. I crashed to the stone floor, haking violently while the electricity kept ripping through me again and again.

Emily screamed, trying to kick her way free from the guards. “LET HIM GO! PLEASE, JUST LET HIM GO!”

“Oh, we will,” Cindy said flatly, watching me convulse. “We’re letting him go straight to the afterlife.”

The guards grabbed Emily, and she fought them with everything she had. Kicking. Screaming. Trying to claw her vay back toward me.

୮

NATHAN!”

Another shock tore through me, cutting off my air. The last thing I saw was Emily reaching desperately for my

age as they carried her up the stairs.

Then darkness took over.

When my eyes finally opened, the rogues were gone. I lay flat against the cold stone, tasting blood while my nuscles jerked weakly from the remaining electricity.

Everything was hazy, but through the blur, I caught a movement. Someone was standing outside my cell.

iam?

2:03 pm P PTM

I blinked slowly, my mind racing. No. That wasn’t possible.

“Damn,” I rasped, blood sliding down my chin. “They really fried my brain if I’m already seeing dead people.”

The figure crouched down near the bars.

Then he whispered, “Try not to die before we break you out, brother.”