Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 189

HADES

I stared at James, my face an unshaken mask of control, but inside, the thought of letting those bastards near Ellen made my stomach churn. My fingers twitched at my sides, aching to tear him apart, to make him bleed until his arrogance washed away in a flood of his own regret.

Instead, I exhaled slowly, stepping forward, letting each movement feel deliberate, a slow tightening of the noose around his throat. The tension in the corridor stretched unbearably thin, my presence smothering the air, pressing down on everyone like an invisible vice.

James swallowed. His smug little smirk faltered, just slightly, before he regained his composure. He thought he had won something here. Thought he had maneuvered me into a corner.

"Over. My. Dead. Fucking. Body."

The words dripped like poison from my lips, quiet but absolute.

A flicker of hesitation passed through his eye, but he caught himself, straightening. "You would really put fellow Lycans—your own subjects—in danger for a shell of a woman?" His tone sharpened, condescending, a sneer curling at the corner of his lips. "Or, like your people love to say... a mutt?"

Something inside me snapped.

Rage detonated through my veins, turning my vision a deep, bloody red. The Flux surged, and my body responded before my mind could rein it in. Shadows pulsed at my fingertips, curling, twisting, expanding into something far more monstrous than flesh.

The hallway darkened as the air crackled with the unnatural, the hungry tendrils of my power stretching toward him. James’ face flickered with something I hadn’t seen before—not smugness, not arrogance, but genuine, bone-deep fear.

I was going to kill him.

I was going to carve him apart, piece by wretched piece, until there was nothing left but a warning.

And then—

A door creaked open.

A soft footstep.

A familiar scent, fragile but unwavering, slipping through the suffocating tension like a knife through silk.

I froze.

My shadows trembled, wavering for the first time.

Ellen.

She stood in the doorway, her hair tousled, dark circles beneath her eyes, her exhaustion carved into every delicate line of her face. But her gaze was steady, fixed on James with a quiet, unshakable resolve.

"I accept your terms," she said, voice firm despite the weariness pressing against her. "My family will be granted a private audience."

The words landed like a cold slap.

I turned to her, stunned, disbelief tightening in my throat. No. No, she couldn’t be serious. She couldn’t—

"But," she continued, her gaze never leaving James, "it will be on my own time. And make sure your Alpha does not touch a hair on the head of my subjects."

James’ lips parted slightly, but whatever he saw in Ellen’s gaze stopped him from speaking.

I couldn’t breathe.

This wasn’t right.

She wasn’t thinking straight.

"Red," I started, my voice low, a warning, a plea.

She turned to me then, her expression softening—but only slightly.

"Come on, darling." She reached for me, her fingers brushing my wrist, grounding me in a way nothing else could. "You need to get some sleep."

Sleep? How the fuck was I supposed to—

"Good night, Kael," she added, her voice polite but distant.

Then, before I could argue, before I could rip her away from this madness, she pulled me into the room with her and slammed the door.

Silence.

I stood there, my breathing unsteady, my blood still roaring in my veins, the Flux still clawing at me from the inside out.

Ellen turned away, walking toward the bed as if this was just another night, as if she hadn’t just made a decision that would crack open a thousand dangers waiting in the shadows.

I exhaled sharply, forcing myself to move, forcing myself to push down the unbearable weight pressing against my ribs.

She was not ready, she had to know that. She had her back turned to me.

"Red..." I took a step towards her.

"I am not ready," she whispered and I halted at the tremor in her voice. I could bearly hear her. "I am not ready to face those people alone. Not without you. I am not strong enough." Sorrow bleed into her voice was the most potent poison.

I all but ran to her, wrapping my arms around her shaking slender frame, pulling her my chest. "You are the strongest woman I know."

"You don’t know a lot of women," she tried to joke but her tone remained tainted by dread. There was barely any joy. She could not even feign it.