Chapter Three
The dress was a trap.
Selene stared at herself in the mirror, breath shallow as servants adjusted the sheer black sleeves around her arms. The fabric clung like ink and moonlight—designed not to conceal, but to expose power. A Luna's gown, regal and sharp, fastened with obsidian clasps carved into fang shapes.
The collar dipped slightly to reveal the faded crescent scar on her collarbone.
A cruel irony.
"You look divine, my lady," the handmaid murmured, eyes averted.
Divine.
Selene had seen divinity. It lived in death and fire and ruin. It whispered to her when she was alone. It marked her soul in ash.
She didn't feel divine. She felt like a weapon disguised as a queen.
And tonight, that weapon would be unsheathed.
The great hall blazed with torchlight and the shimmer of polished stone. Shadow Fang wolves crowded the vast space—warriors, nobles, diplomats from allied packs. Selene felt every stare like a claw raking down her spine.
They all watched her with the same mix of awe and disbelief.
The Alpha had chosen a stranger.
A mystery.
A curse.
She descended the grand staircase slowly, every step measured, every flicker of movement calculated. Her mother had once told her—when you walk into a den of enemies, wear your silence like armor and your secrets like teeth.
Ronan stood at the head table, already watching her. Tall, dark-haired, dressed in black and silver like a prince of war. His presence pulled at her like gravity, unbidden and unwanted.
He didn't smile. He didn't look away.
The crowd parted like shadows before her. She reached him, and without hesitation, he offered his hand.
Selene placed hers in it.
A cold shiver climbed her spine as his fingers curled around hers.
The bond pulsed again. Silent, heavy, ancient.
The moment she sat beside him, conversation resumed around the hall—but hushed, edged with tension.
"Congratulations, Alpha," came a voice like silk dipped in venom.
Selene turned.
A woman approached, tall and radiant, dressed in crimson satin that shimmered like blood under a firelight. Her pale skin glowed against the flame, and her eyes—amber and unblinking—locked on Selene with a predator's stillness.
"You must be the outsider," the woman said sweetly. "The cursed mate."
Selene met her gaze evenly. "You must be the jealous one."
A few nearby wolves went still.
Ronan's fingers twitched on the armrest beside her.
The woman's smile didn't falter. "I'm Maera of the Crimson Hollow, Alpha-daughter. Ronan and I have known each other since childhood. We were… once considered an ideal match."
Of course. A rival. Gorgeous. Confident. Politically advantageous. The kind of Luna any Alpha would be expected to choose.
Selene leaned in slightly. "And now he's chosen someone who threatens you. I understand your bitterness."
Maera's gaze turned sharp, the smile cracking.
Ronan cleared his throat. "Maera, your presence is noted. You may return to your seat."
"But I haven't welcomed your mate."
"You just did," Selene said with a smirk. "And now you're dismissed."
The woman's eyes glowed with the faintest hint of golden rage—but she bowed her head with icy grace and glided back into the crowd.
Selene exhaled slowly, eyes ahead.
Ronan turned to her after a moment. "That was a bold move."
"I'm tired of being watched like prey."
"You're not prey."
"I'm not yours either."
He tilted his head slightly. "You keep saying that. But the bond disagrees."
Selene's throat tightened.
This wasn't a normal bond. It couldn't be. She felt it clawing beneath her skin, ancient and restless like something in her blood had recognized something in his.
But it wasn't love.
It was fate.
And fate was cruel.
Later that night
She found the library by accident—guided by the tug of magic more than memory. Vaulted ceilings, towering shelves, glowing stones embedded in the walls. Dusty scrolls. Spellbooks. Forbidden histories.
She wandered until her fingers grazed a spine bound in shadow-dyed leather.
Her blood chilled.
Chronicles of the Cursed Bloodlines.
The room around her seemed to be still.
She opened it with careful fingers, skimming symbols and names until—
A sketch. A mark.
A scar that mirrored hers.
A bloodline marked by crescent pain, tied to the original betrayal. A family touched not by the Moon Goddess—but by something older.
She didn't hear the footsteps until it was too late.
"Reading the truth about yourself?"
She spun.
Caelan leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, expression unreadable. His silver-blond hair gleamed in the torchlight, but his eyes were sharper than ever.
Selene closed the book slowly.
"I thought Ronan trusted me," she said carefully.
Caelan's voice was low. "He does. I don't."
"You're watching me."
"I'm protecting my pack."
She moved past him, brushing his shoulder with her own. "Then you'd better watch closely, Beta."
And as she walked away, the mark on her collarbone burned like it had been kissed by fire.
Because something had changed.
The bond wasn't just fate—it was a key.
And Selene had just unlocked the first door.
Flashback — Twelve Years Ago
Selene – Age 9
The world burned in shades of silver and red.
The screams echoed through the trees like haunted music, carried by wind and war. Selene clutched her mother's hand tighter as the forest lit up behind them—torches, fire spells, wolves howling in fury. The scent of blood, salt, and scorched pine needles filled her lungs.
"Keep running, Selene!" her mother whispered harshly. "Don't stop, no matter what."
Selene's legs ached. Her heart pounded like a frightened drum. She didn't understand why the hunters were after them. She didn't understand why the moon had turned red the night before. Or why the elders had screamed when they saw the mark bloom across her collarbone.
But she remembered what her mother had told her in the cave, the night the first dream came.
"You're not like them. You were never meant to be."
"Are we going to die?" she had asked.
Her mother had pulled her into trembling arms. "No, baby. You're going to become something they can't kill."
A sound snapped through the woods behind them. Selene turned just in time to see a flash of steel—a blade, glinting under the moon.
And then blood.
Her mother fell with a strangled gasp, her hand torn from Selene's grasp.
"No!" Selene cried, dropping to her knees.
But her mother grabbed her wrist with bloodied fingers, forcing a pendant into her hand. The black onyx wolf, cold and glowing faintly with ancient power.
"Run, Selene. Now. Or this curse will end with both of us."
Tears streaming down her face, Selene obeyed.
She ran, even as her heart shattered behind her.
She ran until the screams became silent.
Until the pain turned into rage.
Until the pendant burned against her chest—and something inside her woke up.
Present — Shadow Fang Library
Selene's hand trembled as she closed the book.
The scar on her collarbone pulsed. Not just memory—reminder.
Her bloodline had been hunted, erased from records, and branded heretics, and demons. Not for what they did—but for what they were capable of.
The power to bind and unbind fated mates.
The ability to rewrite destiny itself.
A curse wrapped in divine design.
No wonder the Moon Goddess turned her back on them.
Or perhaps… they had never been hers, to begin with.
Selene stood slowly, her breath unsteady, her heart aching with truth.
Ronan didn't just choose her.
Something far older led him to her.
And it wouldn't let go.
Not until it got what it wanted.