The Luna Choosing Game

The fact was, for whatever the reason, he hadn’t revealed my secret yet. If I played his game, maybe he’d

continue to keep it.

I pressed my hand to his elbow and nudged him closer to the door, further from Elva. I didn’t want her to know the truth yet. We’d have our own conversation in time, when she was old enough to understand.

voice low, just in case, I confessed, “Elva isn’t mine.”

Julian’s perfect veneer finally cracked. His eyes widened for a few solid seconds before he recovered

himself. “Really?”

“She’s the daughter of my twin sister,” I said. The memories burned through my brain, painful and hot.”

sold my wolf to pay off Elva’s ransom.”

“She was being held for ransom?”

“My sister owed too much to so many people. They’d taken Elva as payment. They only gave me so

many days… I did what I had to do.”

practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he sorted through this new information, but

to do with

he had reached a conclusion.

being taken weren’t mere

hadn’t. “What do

sister with the implicit

wolf had

and my

himself, then nodded. “Alright. I won’t

I exhaled in relief.

for how long I’ll

inhale, my anxiety returned. He’d hold this over my head then, for who knew how long.

who knew what purpose.

was now indebted to Julian, and that

you to investigate for yourself,” Julian said. “You might find there is some

perhaps it might ease the burden of this

I turned the words over in my mind, trying to decide if they were a threat or not, Julian slid his gaze

Elva.

line, the child’s future abilities would

she might

casually, as if

clearly the danger referenced. Weak as I was, I wouldn’t be able to protect Elva if those same