<i>GET </i><i>IT </i>NOW


    +25 <b>BONUS </b>


    Chapter <b>269 </b>


    When the kitchen finally began to empty for the night, I found Anya standing near the windows. Her name had been called too earlier–she’d made it to the next round, just like I’d known she would after all that practice.


    “Can you believe it?” she said, grinning at me as I came to stand beside her. “We both made it! This is amazing!”


    “About that,” I said carefully. “I’m actually nning to drop out tonight.”


    Anya’s face fell. “What? But why? You were incredible today. You scored higher than most.”


    “I’m just here for the job. I never wanted to join the Luna Trial.” I touched her arm gently. “But you don’t need me, anyway. You’re good enough to do this on your own.”


    “I’m not, though.” Anya shook her head. “I barely made it through today, and it’s only going to get harder. Without you to teach me…”


    “You can do it,” I said firmly. “You want this more than anyone else here, and that counts for something. Besides, you’ve got natural grace. You just need to trust yourself and have confidence.”


    Anya looked like she wanted to argue, but something in my expression must have convinced her I’d made up my mind. “Will you at least guide me from the sidelines?”


    I hesitated for a moment. I really didn’t want to get involved with the Luna Trial anymore, but… Anya was a sweet girl who apparently needed this. Unlike the other contestants who were mostly just trying to win for glory or the chance to be Alexander’s Luna, Anya wanted to help her family. It was a noble cause.


    “Alright. I’ll help you.”


    Her smile was radiant. “Thank you. You’re the best friend I’ve had in years.‘


    That word–friend–hit me harder than I’d expected. I couldn’t remember thest time someone had called me that and meant it. Not since…


    Well. Not since I’d died. <fnb485> Follow current nov?ls on F?ndNovel</fnb485>


    After saying goodbye to Anya, I slipped out of the house through the back door and picked a few flowers from the garden, then walked across the grounds and toward the small cemetery where Ashw pack buried their dead.


    I’d never visited my own grave before. The thought had seemed too morbid and strange. But tonight, something pulled me toward the freshly turned earth where they’did my old body to rest.


    The headstone was simple but elegant: “Here lies Luna E Sce. Beloved Luna and Mother.”


    <b>1/3 </b>


    Below that were the dates of my birth and death<b>, </b>separated by not nearly enough years.


    I knelt beside the grave, cing the small bouquet of wildflowers I’d picked from the garden on <b>the </b>headstone. My throat constricted as I stared at my own name carved into the stone.


    “I’m sorry,” I whispered to the woman buried beneath the earth. “I’m sorry you never got to hold your son. I’m sorry you died thinking Alexander hated you. I’m sorry for all of it.”


    The words felt strange in my mouth, like I was talking to someone else entirely. But in a way, I was. The woman in that grave had died. I had her conscious, but I wasn’t… her. Not really.


    I was an Omega now. An ex–rogue. A woman who just looked like her but held none of her status. Even Lucien would never view me as his mother because… well… I wasn’t, was I?


    I was just the nanny.


    <b>“</b>I’ll take care of Lucien,” I promised. “I’ll make sure he knows he was wanted, even if I can’t tell him who I really am. And I’ll try to be better than you were. Stronger and more focused. Less foolish about love.”


    Suddenly, a twig snapped behind me, and I spun around, heart hammering in my chest. I feared that Alexander had overheard me. But it was Liam who I found standing at the edge of the cemetery with a small bundle of flowers in his hands.


    “Ste?” He stepped forward and nced at the blossoms I’d justid on E’s headstone. “What are you doing here?”