Page 4 of Luna's Forgotten Vow

So, I watch Ronan kiss the woman, deeply, with a tongue that has tasted every inch of my skin.

My gaze shifts and collides with Luna Kaida's. Her smile stretches, brown eyes alight with delight and satisfaction.

This, it is supposed to be my humiliation. To put me in my place. The tremor begins in my fingers. Then my lips. My bones.

My fingers are ice-cold but my skin burns. My entire body is tight with rage. It grows beneath my skin, rising up my throat, and I can't decide if I want to scream or shatter something.

No. I refuse to be that woman.

I straighten my shoulders, lift my chin and push past the crowd, ignoring their cheers, their amused laughter. It feels like I'm the joke.

Already, my mind conjures reasons why he'd do this to me. Was it that she had more to offer than I did? Was he merely fulfilling the wishes of the council and his duties? Did he grow bored with me? Did he mean any of the things he said? Was it ever even real?—

I slam into something solid and rebound. My heels slip on the marble and I brace for the fall, only to feel fingers snap around my wrist, steadying me.

I drag in a breath, blinking up.

It's him again. The Northern male. He studies me, his gaze flicking over my livid features before settling on where his fingers press against my skin. He tilts his head slowly and murmurs, "In a hurry?"

I don't hear the words or so much as register the deep timbre of his voice as the anger inside me takes on a new target.

"Don't touch me," I snap, yanking my arm free.

His fingers uncurl immediately like touching me burns him. Not that I care. He makes no move to reprimand me for speaking to him vehemently. He just watches, and I can swear his gaze follows me all the way outside.

CHAPTER 2

SERAPHINA

The pounding on the door worsens and I ignore it, stuffing my clothes—there are only a handful of them—into my duffel bag.

"Seraphina," Ronan growls. "Open the damned door."

Too many things to say. I have way too many things choking me up. And this rage I don't know how to handle.

An obscenely loud rattle and the door bangs against the wall viciously. Ronan appears in the doorway, eyes swirling a dangerous gold as he notices my empty wardrobe and packed bags. His expression turns murderous. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving," I punctuate the word by shoving my only other pair of worn boots into the bag.

He's crossed the room in a matter of seconds, snatching the bag from my grip and hurling it across the small room. "You will not."

"Why?" I snarl, stepping up to him, fighting the monstrous aura that tries to force me to harken, to bow my head low and sink my knees to his feet. "Will I spread roses on your matrimonial bed and welcome your children with her?"

Ronan grips my shoulders. "I beg you to calm down, Fina?—"

I push him off. "Don't tell me to calm down! It's all I've ever done where you're concerned. Patience while you hide our bond and court other women at the behest of your parents. Perseverance while I have to bear the scorn of your people who call me your whore while you sit there and do nothing to defend me. You asked for time. Two years, Ronan! Two years and you picked some random stranger?—"

"Tova isn't some random stranger!" he snaps, emotions flashing in his eyes.

The sharpness in his tone takes me aback, forcing me to reconsider what I've been pushing from my mind. "You've been seeing her. How long have you been cheating on me?"

Ronan blanches for a second. "That is hardly the point of this conversation, Seraphina?—"

"Tell me! That," my finger pokes into his chest, "is the least you owe me."

His nostrils flare and his lips pull tight in displeasure. "I've known her since she was a child, but we only started seeing each other over a year ago. She always was taken with me. I saw the opportunity and did what was necessary."

My mouth dries. "By necessary, you mean you slept with her. No. You've been sleeping with her. And me."

---