Page 68 of Luna's Forgotten Vow

Flanked by two guards, I am led through a series of familiar hallways, past familiar faces with eyes that pop wide in surprise, narrow in suspicion or glare with reproach. No happiness. No welcome. Then again, this was never my home.

We stop by Ronan's study and I imperceptibly place my hands on the gun holster as the guard knocks twice.

A muffled "come in" comes from inside and I am pushed inside.

I am greeted by a throaty moan, and the sight of a glossy dark head bumping up and down Ronan's groin. The woman's ass is barely in her uniform anymore and I avert my gaze from her red thong pushed to the side.

Ronan grabs at her hair roughly, pulling her off his dick, and his eyes are on me, dark and hungry. More jarring is when the woman turns to me, licking her lips. She has a full dark head of hair, not as frizzy as mine. Her eyes are a bright cobalt blue, her lips nearly as full as mine, her nose a small knob.

She rises to her full height, adjusting her skirt and I am unsure whether to be surprised or violated by the fact that she could very well impersonate me in a room filled with people who have only seen me from afar and get away with it.

The woman has my height, my proportions, my skin shade, and though her face is different, if you wished it hard enough, you could almost see a resemblance.

She fixes me a brutal look of jealousy as she scurries out, adjusting her dress.

Then it hits me right in the chest as Ronan smiles at me, warmly.

Soren isn't the only one Ronan is obsessed with. He might want to be Soren, but he wants me. He wants to break me so I never leave him, and he is not beyond ruining everything I hold dear to achieve that.

Even if it means hurting Landon.

He raises a hand, dismissing the guards and when the door clicks shut behind me, he inclines his head towards the seat on the other side of the desk. "Come, Fina. It's been too long."

I pull out the gun from the holster and his head jerks up, brown eyes widening with surprise and...excitement. The sick fuck. He leans back in his chair, his muscles straining against his silk blue dress shirt. "I thought I'd seen every damned angle. This is by far, the sexiest you've ever looked."

I aim for his head and pull the trigger.

But he isn't in his seat anymore. One blink he's right there, relaxed. In the next, he's in front of me, his hand grabbing at my throat and slamming me into the wall. Portraits fall off the wall and pain runs a singular path down my back.

He smells the same. Like myrrh. But now, it is the most disgusting thing ever. My grip on the gun tightens as I try to twist it and aim, but beating up one Beta guard is nothing at all like going up against a Head Alpha.

His free hand catches my wrist, cracking bones as he slams my hand again and again into the concrete, until the bones in my fingers break. Until my hand hurts so bad, I can no longer clutch the gun and it tumbles to the ground.

I muffle a cry of outrage, the anger blocking the pain out and I jerk my knee into his groin. He moves at the last minute to avoid the hit and the space gives me enough leverage to head butt him.

But my head only connects with his nose and in retaliation, he grabs at my hair and throws me into the desk. My side slams into it hard and the mahogany cracks, crashing to the ground with me.

For a moment, I can't bring myself to move or breathe past the pain. I may have broken a rib. Or three.

Hands rove my face and I flinch, not wanting to be anywhere remotely even close to Ronan, but he crowds me with his body, his hands. "Fuck, I'm sorry, Fina. You forced my hand. I'm sorry."

"Don't touch me," I snap, crawling away from him but Ronan traps me to the ground with his hand on my hip.

"I understand your rage, but you will never try that again, Seraphina, or I swear to the gods that you will never see Soren again."

I stiffen, chest rising and falling hard. "Where is he? Where have you kept him? Where is Landon? Where?—"

He threads his fingers through my hair with a soft smile. "It's been so long since we had a conversation like this. I've missed you so much. I've missed our fights, your fire."

I slap his hand off my face, scrambling back, and he laughs as I clutch my broken wrist to my chest. "Landon is well. He is being looked after by the best wet nurses. Winter..." He shrugs, straightening. "He's alive, but not for much longer."

I scramble to my feet, fear prompting me. "I am who you want, aren't I? The reason you have done all of this was to get me back here. I'm here. Landon is here. Let Soren go."

I'll figure it out somehow. He won't hurt me or Landon, but the sick glee that brightens his eyes every time we speak of Soren tells me he has no such reservations towards him. When Soren is safe and back home with Eric, I'll come up with something. Hopefully, my hasty message to Baldwin counts for something.

I hate to use his desperation to have me in the family like this, but I had no one else to turn to. No one else to plead with to save my son and husband.

Ronan takes one step forward and I retreat one step back. His honey brown eyes take on a chilling shade as he reads my face. "You let him fuck you, and fuck with your mind, too. Why do you look at me with so much hatred, Fina? You don't even remember me."

---