The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Ellie POV

By the time I’m dismissed for break, my hands are shaking.

Not from the work.

Okay, a little from the work.

But also from holding everything in.

I make it outside before my knees finally give, sinking down onto the cold concrete steps behind the locker rooms. The chill seeps straight through my clothes, biting into skin already raw and sore, but I welcome it. It’s grounding, distracting.

I bend forward, elbows on my knees, staring at the scuffed toes of my boots.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

My leg throbs dully, the ache spreading now that I’m still. My fingers sting when I curl them, skin scraped and angry. I could cry.

But that feels just pitiful.

Footsteps crunch nearby.

I groan.

“Dom,” I groan, my head lifting. “Two seconds, I just need two-”

“He’s got you working this hard while injured, huh? He must be pissed.”

Lucas.

I stare a momment. My my brow lowers.

I’m on my feet instantly brushing my

“What do you want?” I

knees.

He stops short, clearly taken aback. “Ellie-I just-”

す

“We shouldn’t be seen together,” I try to walk past him. “It’s bad enough with the rumors right now.”

He steps into my path. “Please. Just a second.”

It doesn’t soften anything.

“I’m busy,” I say flatly. “Can’t you tell?”

He looks at me then-really looks. At the grime streaking my clothes, my hands red and raw, the way I’m favoring my leg even now.

+25 Bonus

His face tightens, “I’m sorry, it should be me doing this work. You should be resting.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “Well apparently I deserve it. Two timing two Alphas. I told you two to stop fighting. Told you to leave me alone Makè distance, and now…ugh, I never wanted this Lucas.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I say with a sigh, knowing it isn’t exactly his fault either.

“For all of it,” he says quickly. “The photo. The rumors. The punishment. Dominic. None of this was supposed to-” He swallows. “Hurt you like this.”

“I’m not hurt,” I say, voice shaking a bit. “I’m frustrated.”

“I never meant for it to happen,” he insists. “I would never-”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant,” I poke his chest. “I was so clear in the beginning! I wanted nothing romantic! I was going to do it right this time! I had a plan. I told you to back off! Want nothing to do with you. Or him. And yet somehow I keep ending up right here-” I gesture vaguely at myself, filthy, humiliated, aching. “In your wake. His wake. Turned into gossip. Into spectacle. Into collateral damage.”

His mouth opens. Closes.

“I didn’t ask for either of you,” I continue, words spilling now. “I didn’t ask to be fought over, punished, photographed, whispered about like I’m something disposable. I just wanted to exist without being dragged. I mess up once, I fall and instead of a mistake it’s breaking news. I can’t even… stumble.”

His eyes soften. Like it hurts him to see me like this.

“I care about you,” he says softly.

“That’s the problem,” I fire back snap. “Your care keeps costing me.

I step around him this time, limping slightly as I do. He reaches out, then stops himself.

“Ellie-”

“Leave,” I say, not looking back. “Before someone sees us. Before it gets worse.”

“I don’t want to leave you like this.”

“I don’t want you here,” I say, finally turning to face him. “Go.”

He hesitates, conflict etched across his face. Then he nods once, stiff and resigned.

“I’m sorry,” he says again, quieter.

Then he turns and walks away.

“Ellie,” he says, voice crisp. “Over there.”

He points to the dumpster around the corner.

The trash one.

୮

The metal lid is propped open, the smell already thick in the air. Sour. Rotting. Old food and chemicals and something else I don’t want to identify.

My breath catches.

“You want me to… what?” I ask, even though I already know.

“Climb in,” he says. “Clean it. Top to bottom. Until it’s spotless.”

+25 Bonus

“Clean it,” Bren sneers.

Karina steps forward, grabbing Dominic’s arm like she owns it.

“She deserves this,” she says loudly. “Every second of it. She’s a terrible woman. She ruined everything- for you, for us, for everyone.”

Something snaps.

Violently.

Like every inch of restraint I had, this life and the last, breaks.

Before I can think, before I can stop myself, my hand swings.

Karina’s head whips to the side as the slap lands, hard enough to leave my palm stinging.

For a heartbeat, the world goes dead silent.

Karina stares at me, stunned, one hand rising slowly to her cheek.

“You. Stupid. Bitch!”

And she’s on me.

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