The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 02

The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 02

I stand beneath the rose tree for a long time.

Eleven years ago, Nathan stood right here and placed a Sacred Rose seedling in my palm.

“Helena, I believe in you. When you grow a Crimson Gold Rose and become the Luna Trial Champion, I’ll announce in front of the entire realm that you’re my Luna Queen.”

He holds out his fist.

“For now, you’ll have to put up with keeping your distance from me. I don’t want people gossiping about you.”

I smile and bump my fist against his.

“Deal.”

Maybe the wind is simply too strong. That’s why my eyes sting and burn.

“Whenever you’re upset, you always come here to be alone and deal with it.”

A familiar voice comes from behind me.

Nathan walks over and holds out a cup of hot cocoa, “You haven’t eaten again?”

I don’t take it. My eyes remain fixed on the steam curling from the hot chocolate.

When I was sixteen, my father died protecting our pack. I was so busy that I barely had time to eat, and that’s when Nathan entered my world.

“You’re the Gamma whose hands can sense the life force of roses?”

I ignore him, but he keeps coming to our pack every day.

Until one day, I faint from low blood sugar in the rose garden. When I wake up, I’m lying on his back.

He carries me a long way home. The soles of his shoes wear through, and his feet are covered in blood, but he never puts me down.

From then on, whenever Nathan comes to see me, he always brings a cup of hot cocoa.

I take a step back, “I don’t need it anymore.”

Nathan frowns, “Helena, don’t take your anger out on your own health. If you don’t eat, your blood sugar could drop again and you could faint.”

I cut him off and get straight to the point, “When did you and Olivia start?”

Nathan is silent for two seconds, “The year I gave you the Sacred Rose seedling.”

I can’t help laughing, though my eyes sting.

“If you fell in love with someone else, why didn’t you tell me? Was it fun deceiving me with everyone else for eleven years?”

His brows knit together.

“Don’t make it sound so terrible. My feelings for you haven’t changed. Do you know how badly I want to tell everyone that someone as incredible as you is my future Luna?”

“But Helena, you’re too independent. You can revive roses without me, grow Sacred Roses, and hand them over to the pack doctors to make healing potions. You can support yourself, protect the pack, and even earn the respect of the pack doctors and our people. Olivia is different. She needs me.”

The moment he mentions Olivia, his expression softens without him even realizing it.

“She doesn’t have your abilities. She needs me to protect her.”

“Then why didn’t you make her your Luna Queen? Why did you keep putting me through the Luna Trial year after year, only to let me fail and break my heart every time?”

“Olivia is a Lycan. She can never become my Luna Queen, so I had no choice but to keep her identity hidden from the public. The Luna Trial is a royal tradition. We use it to choose a Luna and find rare roses that can be turned into healing potions. I can’t simply change that. As the Alpha King, every decision comes with a price. There are too many things I have to consider. This isn’t some game I can play however I want!”

“So you wanted her, and you wanted the healing roses I could grow. You wanted to keep both of us, so you sacrificed me instead.” I stare straight at him. “You let me spend eleven years chasing a promise you never intended to keep. You watched me fail again and again, knowing exactly why. And you call that a game of power?”

“You made me the sacrifice because you wanted everything, Nathan. Her love, my roses, my loyalty. You just never cared what it cost me.”

As I speak, Nathan suddenly steps closer.

“I can’t let Olivia carry the shame of being called a homewrecker. But aside from giving you the Luna Queen title, I’ll make it up to you.”

I’m about to speak when silver words suddenly flood before my eyes.

[What’s wrong with King Nathan?! Don’t tell me he really loves Helena?!]

[Don’t get excited! His words are actually brutal when you think about them. He signed a bond-sealing deal with Olivia ten years ago! So tell me, who’s really the homewrecker here?]

[Olivia said she wanted a family. Nathan told her rules were meant to be broken, then sealed their mate bond the very next day with his parents as witnesses.]

My fingers suddenly curl into fists.

Then Nathan’s phone rings.

He glances at the screen, and he can’t hide the urgency in his eyes.

I speak calmly, “You should go.”

He visibly relaxes, but he still insists, “Then at least finish the hot cocoa.”

Only after I finish every last drop does Nathan finally answer the call and hurry away.

I stand there, watching until his figure disappears from sight.

After a long while, I turn toward the Crimson Gold Rose, pull out an axe, and swing it down with all my strength.

The rose tree crashes to the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.

I drop the axe.

Then I walk away without looking back.