Selene's Point of View.
The cell reeked of old blood, wet stone, and rust.
I sat in a corner, my wrists bruised raw from the chains, my knees pulled to my chest, back against the wall. I could still taste the iron from the gag they'd used on me when I screamed too loud on the way in.
The door creaked open but I stayed mute.
I had nothing left to say to anyone in this place.
I heard the sound of boots scraping the floor and two guards entered, followed by a third man, he was taller, in polished leathers, probably one of Lucian's appointed thugs.
He looked down at me like I was something he'd scraped off the bottom of his boot.
"So," he said. "This is the Luna of Bloodmoon."
I laughed once, dry and bitter. "Funny, I don't recall being crowned."
"You were bonded."
"I was bound," I snapped. "There's a difference."
He crouched down so we were eye level. "You humiliated the Alpha, what gave you the guts?"
"He insulted me first."
"Then you decided to call him unworthy."
"Because he is." I spat out.
His face twisted in horror and before I could react, his hand moved so fast I barely registered it.
He slapped me hard across my face, snapping my head sideways.
Pain bloomed in my jaw but I didn't cry out, instead, I breathed heavily.
"You don't speak that way about your Alpha," he hissed. "You should be thanking the Moon you're not already dead."
I slowly turned my head back toward him, eyes narrowed.
"I've already died once, let him try something new."
He stood up, a look of hate in his eyes.
"She thinks she's brave," one of the guards muttered.
"Yeah, she thinks she's still in control," the other added.
They laughed, low and cruel.
He turned back to me. "Here's how it works now. You're going to sit here in silence until the Alpha decides what to do with you. No food or comfort shall be rendered to you, and definitely no sympathy."
I scoffed as I spat to the ground, the taste of blood in my mouth.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting any," I said with a smirk."After all, I'm just a rogue, right? Not fit to lick the dirt from your noble boots."
"You're filth," the guard snarled. "And the only reason you're still breathing is because the priest said killing you would bring down the Moon's wrath."
I tilted my head. "Sounds like someone's afraid of prophecy."
He motioned to the other two. "She talks too much, let us leave her in the dark."
One of them came forward, stared at me then laughed before they walked away.
The door closed with a final, deafening clang.
I sat there, blinking into darkness.
"They're afraid of you," my wolf whispered.
Then why am I the one in chains?
"Because you didn't break."
Not yet, I thought, but I'm getting close.
Hours passed by but I didn't care. I laid on the cold ground and suddenly, I heard a voice, soft but nervous.
"Selene?"
I sat up, blinking my eyes.
A servant girl stood at the door, glancing nervously over her shoulder, she was holding a lamp.
"I'm not supposed to talk to you," she whispered. "But… I thought you should know."
I frowned as I wondered how she got in without the guards seeing her.
"Know what?"
"It's Kaya."
My chest tightened. "What about her?"
"She's gone."
My brows furrowed.
"What?"
"She ran away with another rogue early this morning before sunrise, they say he was her mate. They slipped past the guards before dawn and vanished."
I swallowed, feeling a little sad.
I knew that I have never acknowledged her as a friend but hearing her fine broke my heart a bit.
"She left without saying goodbye?"
"I think she wanted to, but… she knew if she told anyone, they'd stop her."
Silence filled the cell like water rising in my throat.
The girl stepped back. "I shouldn't have told you, I'm sorry."
With this, the lady walked away leaving me in the dark.
Kaya was gone.
The only person who had spoken to me like I was something more than a burden. The only soul who saw me as Selene, not as Luna or prisoner or curse.
Now she was free, and I was still here. In chains. In silence.
"She left us," my wolf said, quiet, almost numb.
"No," I whispered. "She escaped. Just like we should have."
The ache in my chest deepened and this time, I didn't argue with it.
*
A few hours went by, when I woke, the cell was still dark.
Not the kind of dark that felt peaceful, this darkness was thick and pressing, like it had weight, like it wanted something from me. I lay still for a moment, waiting for it to pass, but it didn't.
"Gosh! I am starving." I muttered, touching my stomach.
My stomach growled loud enough to echo, a deep, hollow ache gnawing from the inside out. I hadn't eaten since the day before, not that I would've accepted food from those guards if they had offered.
My wrists throbbed where the iron cuffs had rubbed my skin raw. A faint layer of dried blood clung to the edges, stinging every time I shifted.
"I am dying." I whispered but my wolf was silent.
The hunger was worse now, my stomach clenched in on itself, protesting the emptiness. My throat felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and dust. My wrists throbbed from the raw rub of the iron cuffs, now caked with dried blood and bruises I could feel but not see.
I pushed myself upright slowly, joints stiff, and dragged the chains with me as I stumbled to the bars.
I forced myself to stand, dragging the chain with me as I approached the bars, there were two guards watching me this time.
"Hey!" My voice cracked. "Water, that's all I'm asking."
One of the guards leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, chewing on what looked like a piece of dry meat.
"Oh look," he sneered. "The queen speaks." They both laughed.
"I'm not a queen," I muttered. "I'm a prisoner who hasn't had a drop to drink in twenty-four hours."
"You should've thought of that before insulting the Alpha," the other one chuckled.
"Funny," I said, eyes narrowing, "I didn't realize having a backbone was punishable by dehydration."
They both ignored me and my body couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Water!" I shouted, voice raw. "Just a glass, gods, I'm not asking for a feast!"
At once, footsteps shuffled.
Both guards appeared beyond the bars, one was chewing something greasy and thick, the smell of it curling into the cell like mockery.
He leaned against the bars, smirking. "The royal Luna has a mighty sharp tongue for someone groveling for water."
I gritted my teeth. "Do I look like I'm groveling?"
"You look like you're about to pass out."
"Then maybe toss in a flask and watch."
The other guard laughed. "She's got fire, I'll give her that. No wonder the Alpha is pissed."
I said nothing.
I turned away and slid back to the corner of the cell, curling my knees up and leaning into the wall.
Time passed, maybe hours, I couldn't tell anymore.
I kept my eyes fixed on the sliver of moonlight filtering through the cell's only window, just a small circular grate high on the wall, wired tightly with steel mesh to keep wolves like me from slipping through in beast form, not that I had the energy to shift right now.
The full moon stared down at me, cold and impassive, as if amused.
"Is this your idea of balance?" I whispered. "Because I'm not laughing."
Suddenly , I heard the sound of keys coming, the sound cut through the stillness like a blade.
"You've got a visitor," one guard muttered, his voice low and it surprised me that I felt fear from his tone.
I looked up.
The figure who entered moved slowly, and gracefully, his robe, deep violet with silver lining, flowed around his boots like moonlight through smoke. His silver hair was braided down his back, his eyes a strange, penetrating gray, eyes that seemed older than even this stone.
"I am Voran," he said softly. "Priest of the Bloodmoon Pack. I knew this day would come."
I leaned back against the wall, unimpressed. "Well, Congratulations," I said flatly. "Tell the Moon she has terrible timing."
He didn't flinch.
"You were chosen, Selene, not cursed."
I laughed, shaking my head. "Right, I was chosen to be chained, mocked, and starved. Sounds divine right?" I scoffed, "Funny, feels a lot like a curse."
He stepped closer to the bars. "You have no idea how important you are."
"Then maybe you should tell that to your Alpha. The one who stood me in front of a hall full of strangers and stripped me with his words."
Voran's face remained calm, but there was sorrow in his eyes.
"I didn't choose him," I snapped."I didn't choose whatever this is, it must be broken."
"Yes, you didn't," he said gently. "But the Moon did."
I stared at him. "Why?"
He didn't answer right away.
"It was never meant to start like this," he muttered.
I scoffed again.
"Oh, you mean I wasn't supposed to be dragged in chains and starved in a dungeon? That's comforting."
He came closer, stopping just beyond the bars. "You're stronger than most would be."
"I'm angrier than most would be."
He nodded, "I understand your feelings. The alpha is powerful and feared by all, but he is also incomplete without a Luna, and his bloodline fractures. The bond grounds the Alpha, without it, even the strongest will fall."
I stared at him.
He spoke to me softly but I looked away.
"You're asking the wrong wolf," I said coldly. "Find someone else to complete him."
"There is no one else," Voran said, voice low, reverent. "Only you."
A heavy silence fell between us.
Then he added, almost like an afterthought, "Do you know his name?"
I blinked. "No."
"Lucian Blackthorn, son of the late Alpha Alaric, now heir to the throne of the Eastern Wilds."
My throat tightened because the truth is that I knew the name.
Everyone did.
I'd trained to fight warriors under his father's command during my stay at the rogue assembly. I'd heard the legends of the Bloodmoons, their war, their conquest, their brutal justice, and now I was fated to one of them?
Why?
I folded my arms, leaning back into the stone.
"I'm not interested in saving your pack," I said. "I've got my own problems."
"Pleade, thinks about this, he is powerful, Selene, but his strength is only half of what it could be. Without a Luna, the line fractures and this weakens the pack."
I shook my head as I couldn't understand why this man was trying to persuade me.
"You want me to accept this bond, to smile and bow. I am sorry but I don't owe you that, neither do I owe him anything."
He heaved a sigh but he wasn't giving up.
"No one is asking you to smile," he said gently. "Only to understand what's at stake."
I narrowed my gaze.
"Everything's always at stake. Isn't it? Packs, prophecies and thrones, but what about me?" My voice cracked, just once. "What about what I want?"
He was silent for a moment, watching me."I believe what you want is to be seen but that won't come from denying who you are."
I turned away, arms wrapped around myself. "You have no idea who I am."
"I know you carry guilt," Voran said, "and I know it's heavy, but this path, it is not punishment but your destiny."
"I never asked for power," I whispered.
"No," he said. "But you were born with it."
His words sank into me like stones in water.
"I've ordered them to bring food and water. I will return at first light, I only ask that you think deeply before you give your final answer."
I said nothing.
Voran gave me one last long look, then turned and disappeared into the corridor.
"What the hell?" I muttered very frustrated.
Minutes later, the guards returned. They said nothing, just shoved a tray of bread, stew, and clean water through the bars.
I ate slowly, the priests words not leaving my head.
"No, I can't." I muttered to myself as I laid on the cold floor, my eyes fixed on the moon.
"I just can't."
*
I stood before the grand castle of Bloodmoon, its towers rising into a blood-red sky. My hair whipped around my face as the wind howled like wolves in mourning.
A crown of silver and bone rested on my head.
"Luna."
I turned around, Lucian stood on the steps, watching me with soft eyes and to my shock, a smile on his lips.
Wolves surrounded us and they all bowed in silence.
I stepped forward, my feet moved on their own and the crown burned on my head like fire.
I looked down, and suddenly, the ground beneath me cracked like glass.
The earth whispered:
"Luna, Luna, Luna…"
At once I screamed and my eyes flung wide open.
I woke up gasping, sweat chilling my skin.
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no." I shook my head aggressively.
I stumbled around the cell, pacing, pulling at my hair, heart pounding like a war drum.
"You saw it," my wolf whispered. "The Moon has shown you what's coming."
"She's wrong." Fear gripped my voice.
"You can't outrun it forever."
"I won't be a puppet."
"You can't stay here forever either." my wolf reminded me.
"Shit!" I cussed out loud as I bit my lower lip.
I collapsed into the corner again, head in my hands.
"I hate this," I growled.
"Then change it, but don't pretend you don't feel it too."
I didn't say a word as I let the silence settle again.
*
Morning came sooner than I expected. I couldn't sleep again and I kept my eyes wide open throughout the remaining hours of the night thinking of the decision to make.
A few hours after sunrise, I heard footsteps, I looked up to see the priest again, he came just like he said.
He stepped into the cell room once more, robes trailing behind him like shadows.
"I have returned," he said calmly. "What is your final decision?"
I looked away, "I didn't expect you to come this early."
He nodded, "I have a pack to save."
I stood up, the chain still attached to my wrists, but my spine was steel.
I looked him in the eye, and for the first time in hours, I felt something solid beneath me.
My wolf stirred.
"Say it." it growled at me.
"I have thought deeply about your words, and I have agreed that I'm going to be bound to your alpha, but…."
I stepped forward. "…it'll be on my terms, not his."