Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 204

Hades

We faced each other on the bed, my hand stroking her hair, the other resting against her back as I steeled myself to let it all out. The things I had kept within me for the past five years—the story I should have told at her funeral, the truth I should have spoken when I finally laid her to rest, like she deserved.

"It started with a game of chess," I murmured, tracing slow circles against Eve’s spine. I wanted to feel every shift in her body, to sense where the words might hit too hard—so I would know when to hold back, when to let the past spill free. "Between my father and the Obsidian Council. The men who beat him would have their daughters married to his sons."

"You and Alpha Leonard," she muttered.

"Yes. Leon and I."

A tremor passed through her, faint but unmistakable. My hand stilled on her back. "What’s wrong?" I pulled her closer, searching her face. "You shuddered."

She swallowed audibly, her face paling slightly before she forced a chuckle. "I’m fine. I just… didn’t know the great Alpha had a nickname."

I smiled, slightly relieved. "There are many things about my brother you don’t know, but that’s a story for another day."

She hummed softly and nestled against me, though neither of us looked away.

"It was no surprise when the shrewd and exceptionally intelligent Ambassador Montague won," I continued. "And it was convenient that he had two daughters."

"Felicia and Danielle."

I nodded. "The younger one, Felicia, was given to the younger of us."

Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t say anything.

"Yes, I was once engaged to Felicia. And Danielle—to Leon."

Her lips parted, but she hesitated before asking, "Then what happened?" _{frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓}

I exhaled slowly. "The night of the Ascension, Leon was supposed to reveal his chosen mate. But instead of Danielle, he called Felicia forward… and revealed she was pregnant with his child."

Eve’s brows drew together. "They had been having an affair."

I nodded grimly. "Yes. But Leon has always been untouchable. My father’s golden son, his perfect heir. Humiliating the ambassador’s ’dull’ daughter meant nothing to him. He wanted someone who could match his fire, someone who put people in their place. And that person was Felicia."

A bitter memory flickered through my mind—the way Felicia had smirked at Danielle when the announcement had been made. A silent, triumphant declaration: I won.

She had no idea who she had won. But anything was better than his monsters brother from hell.

"And Danielle?" Eve asked, voice steady.

"She was discarded." I let out a slow breath. "But through the whole fiasco, she and I were left… paired."

I could still see Montague’s face when it was revealed. His barely concealed fury, his desperate attempt to pull his daughter from the arrangement and save her from me—the so-called Hand of Death. But Danielle…

Danielle had other plans.

"She was the first person to smile at me that night," I murmured, the memory thick in my throat. "Since the moment I became what my father wanted, she was the first."

"And she danced with you."

I looked down at Eve, surprised by the softness in her voice.

She smiled, though there was something deeper behind it. "She sounds lovely."

I was quiet for a moment, reading her expression. Searching for jealousy. Bitterness. But there was none.

She nudged me lightly. "Go on, Hades."

I took a deep breath. "I never thought a political arrangement would turn into something real. But Danielle… she had a way of making you believe in things you’d long abandoned. For me, that was companionship."

Eve studied me carefully. "She pursued you?"