Selene’s words clung to me like a curse.
He says you are too tame. Too dull. Too barren.
They wrapped around my throat, coiling tighter with every heartbeat, choking the air from my lungs. I could still see her lips curved in that triumphant smirk, still hear the silk in her voice as she whispered how Lucien had undressed her in the very gown he later gifted to me.
The memory of that cursed pink satin clung to my skin like ash. I had worn it with pride, trembling with joy when he called me beautiful. I had believed I was cherished. But the truth—Selene’s truth—burned the memory to ruins. That gown had smelled faintly of another because it had belonged to her first. His caresses, his whispered mine, his low growls of desire had not been mine to treasure. They had been rehearsed, echoes of what he had already given her.
“You lie,” I rasped, though my voice broke like brittle glass.
Selene’s smile deepened, her eyes gleaming with the satisfaction of a predator that has toyed with its prey until it can no longer stand. “Do I? Then watch him tonight. See where he goes. See whose bed he warms. He cannot resist me.”
And then—without warning—she tipped her glass.
The crimson wine spilled in a dark rush across my gown, staining the fabric like fresh blood. Gasps rose from nearby wolves as she gave a dainty cry, clutching her hand to her chest as though I had shoved her. The glass tumbled dramatically to the floor, shattering into sharp shards that scattered across the marble.
“Oh no,” she exclaimed, her eyes widening with mock dismay. “Clumsy me.”
Her lips twitched with amusement, the truth flashing there for only me to see. “Now you’ll look as much a mess as you are.”
Rage surged, hot and wild. My wolf pressed against my skin, scratching to be let out, to tear, to claw. My fists shook at my sides. For moons I had endured her cruelty, her veiled barbs and sharpened lies. But the weight of Lucien’s betrayal, her smugness, the laughter in her eyes—it broke something inside me.
Before I knew it, my hand shot forward, shoving her arm away.
Selene staggered back with a startled gasp that pierced the air. Her cry echoed through the corridor. She collapsed gracefully against the wall, clutching her wrist as though I had shattered her bones instead of brushing her sleeve.
Gasps erupted around us. Wolves turned, eyes wide, eager for spectacle.
And then his voice thundered through the hall.
“Liora!”
Alpha Lucien.
The crowd parted like water as he strode in, golden eyes blazing with fury, his presence crashing over us like a storm. His Alpha aura pressed down on the gathered wolves, silencing them, bending them to stillness. His gaze found me, and it seared like fire, hot and merciless.
“What have you done?” His tone was cold steel, every syllable a lash.
“I—” My voice faltered, splintered. “I didn’t—”
“It’s my fault,” Selene interrupted swiftly, her eyes brimming with tears that shone like jewels. She cradled her wrist delicately as though my touch had left her broken. “Please, don’t blame her. I should never have provoked her. Forgive her, Lucien, for my sake.”
The crowd’s murmurs swelled, their sympathy flowing toward her, their contempt settling heavy upon me. To them, I was the jealous Luna, violent and graceless, lashing out at the gracious sister who bore her cruelty with dignity.
“Why did you hurt her?” Lucien’s voice boomed, his Alpha authority weighing down on me like stone. The command trembled in his tone, forcing my wolf to whimper and bow within me.
“I didn’t!” My cry cracked in the air, desperate and raw, but drowned in Selene’s sobs.
He didn’t listen. He never listened.
Before I could gather breath, Lucien moved. He swept Selene up into his arms with terrifying ease, cradling her as though she were fragile glass. My chest cracked open at the sight—his tenderness, his protectiveness, the softness in his gaze. I had begged for that softness for years. He had never once shown it to me in public.
Selene sniffled, burying her face against his chest. “Please… don’t be harsh on her. She’s your Luna. She just doesn’t understand.”
The crowd shifted uneasily, some lifting their phones, their recording stones, their enchanted lenses. I saw the gleam of cruel delight in their eyes as they captured my humiliation, etching it permanently into memory.
Lucien’s jaw clenched. His pride was everything. And I, his Luna, had become a stain upon it.
“Enough!” His voice cut through the air like a blade. He shifted Selene gently into Marcus’s arms, his Beta, before seizing my wrist. His grip was iron, unyielding, burning my skin as he dragged me away from the crowd.
The hall blurred into stone and torchlight as he pulled me down a narrow passage. My feet stumbled, my lungs burning, until he shoved me into a small chamber once used as storage. The door slammed shut.
“Fetch the healer’s kit,” Selene’s sweet voice called from the doorway, her tone wrapped in false concern. “I’m sure Liora will be glad to help.”
Lucien turned, his gaze blazing, his shoulders tense with restrained fury. “You heard her. Get it.”
The words struck like a whip. My wolf whimpered inside me, caged and powerless under the Alpha command. My body trembled, my pride screaming—but my hands still obeyed. I moved numbly to the shelves, retrieving the kit with shaking fingers.
When I returned, Selene was seated on a chaise, her head nestled delicately against Lucien’s chest as though she belonged there. His arm curled around her, steadying her, protecting her.
My stomach twisted so violently I thought I might collapse.
“Massage her feet,” Lucien commanded.
The words froze me. “What?”
“You heard me,” he growled, his Alpha dominance slamming into me like a storm. My knees weakened under the weight of it. “Do it.”
My wolf whined in submission, but something deeper—my pride, my last fragile shard of self—fought back.
“No.” The word tore from my throat, weak but defiant.
His eyes narrowed dangerously, golden irises glowing with suppressed rage. “What did you say?”
“I will not!” My voice cracked, tears spilling freely.
The next moment, pain exploded across my body. He shoved me, hard. I hit the stone floor with a sickening thud, agony lancing through my abdomen. Instinct took over—I curled protectively around my belly, my hands flying to shield the fragile lives within me.
Fear ripped through me, sharper than pain. Not them. Goddess, please, not them.
Selene gasped, her tone dripping with false horror. “Alpha, don’t! She’s carrying your children!”
The chamber fell into stunned silence. My secret—my one fragile hope—was no longer mine.
Gasps rippled from the doorway as onlookers realized what she had revealed. My pregnancy, my last shield, stripped away with a single sentence.
Lucien’s eyes widened for the briefest heartbeat, then narrowed, his jaw tightening like stone. “Even if you carry my heirs, Liora, you will remember your place.”
My vision blurred. My tears fell like rain.
Selene’s voice slid through the silence, silken and cruel. “She deserves this, Lucien. She stole me from my family’s love, from your love. Don’t hold back on my account.”
“Selene,” Lucien snapped, though his gaze never left me. “She deserves worse.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. My voice shattered, raw and hoarse. “Stop pretending you care, Selene! Stop hiding behind your lies!”
The chamber split with the sharp crack of his hand against my face. My head snapped to the side, the sting burning like fire.
Silence followed. Heavy. Suffocating.
My tears dripped onto the cold stone floor. My pride lay shattered at my feet. My wolf whimpered weakly inside me, wounded beyond repair.
And in that silence, truth settled heavy in my chest.
There was no bottom to this humiliation. He would drag me lower, lower still, until nothing of me remained.
