Selene barely slept that night. Her body lay still beneath the scratchy wool blanket, but her mind spun in endless loops, dragging her back through the shadows of her conversation with Lyra. Every word echoed in her skull like footsteps in a tomb. I know your secret, Selene. I know about your bloodline.
That single line had lodged itself like a thorn behind her ribs.
She lay staring at the cracked ceiling of her assigned room, eyes burning from lack of sleep. The cold crept into her bones despite the quilt wrapped tightly around her, and every creak of the old estate made her jump.
The house groaned as though burdened by centuries of secrets. She imagined it listening to her breathing. Waiting.
Morning came too quickly. Pale gray light bled through the slatted window, painting the walls in shadows. She sat up slowly, her muscles stiff and sore. The air smelled faintly of rain and old stone. A sense of dread wrapped itself around her chest like invisible rope.
Her door creaked open just after sunrise. No knock. Just a low, terse voice: "You've been summoned."
The words chilled her. She had hoped for a moment of peace, just a moment to gather herself. But peace was a luxury she no longer had the right to expect.
She dressed quickly, fingers trembling as she tied the simple belt around her waist. No one told her why she was being summoned — only that the Alpha wanted to see her. That alone was enough to send anxiety slicing through her gut.
Selene stepped into the hallway, her footsteps soft and hesitant against the stone floor. The corridors were colder than usual, the silence deeper. She moved like a ghost, careful not to draw attention from any wandering pack members. But she knew it was already too late for that. The whispers had already started. The curious glances.
The half-heard words that stopped the moment she walked into a room.
She was no longer just the outsider. She was noticed — and in this house, that was far from safe.
Two guards stood like statues outside the western study — the Alpha's domain. When she approached, they didn't look at her. They didn't need to. They opened the doors in unison, the heavy creak echoing down the hall like a warning bell.
Selene stepped inside.
The room was large, paneled in dark wood, the tall windows letting in a flood of silver morning light. Shelves lined the walls, filled with worn tomes and strange relics. A fire crackled low in the hearth, but it did little to cut through the tension that clung to the air.
Kael stood with his back to her, arms folded behind him, staring out at the forest beyond.
He didn't turn. Didn't acknowledge her.
Selene's throat tightened. "You asked for me, Alpha?"
A pause. Then his voice, low and hard: "I heard you've been making friends."
The words sliced through the air with deliberate cruelty.
Selene's stomach knotted. Her thoughts immediately flew to Lyra. Had she said something? Had she told him about the bloodline? About Selene's family?
"I wasn't—" she began, her voice unsteady.
He turned.
The look he gave her froze the rest of the words in her throat.
His eyes — silver and unreadable — held no warmth. No familiarity. Only warning. They pinned her in place like a wolf stalking wounded prey.
"I don't care what your intentions are," he said, walking toward her slowly. "But you will stay out of matters that do not concern you."
Selene's pulse pounded in her ears. She held his gaze, though every instinct told her to look away.
"What matters?" she asked, her voice small but steady.
Kael's lips curved into something that might've once been a smile. But it was sharp, humorless.
"My pack. My business. My… condition."
That last word struck her like a slap.
Condition.
So he knew she had seen him. Broken. On the floor. Barely able to stand.
She swallowed. "I wasn't trying to interfere."
"Weren't you?" His voice dropped lower, a dark warning. "Curious little mice don't survive long in this house. You'd do well to remember that."
The insult stung, but Selene said nothing.
She could feel the heat rise in her face, her fists clenched at her sides.
"You were brought here for one purpose," he continued. "Fulfill that role. Stay quiet. Stay useful."
A tremor ran through her.
"And if I don't?" The words escaped her before she could stop them.
Kael stopped a breath away from her. His presence was overwhelming. The air seemed to tighten around them.
"If you don't," he said slowly, "then you are of no value. To me. Or to anyone."
Each word landed like a weight on her chest.
She was nothing but a bargain. A solution to someone else's debt. A pawn in a game she hadn't agreed to play.
She hated how much it hurt.
But still, she lifted her chin. Her voice, though quiet, was steady. "I understand, Alpha."
He studied her — not with interest, but with cold evaluation, like she was a puzzle piece he had yet to place. Then, without another word, he turned his back on her again, dismissing her.
Selene turned and walked out. She didn't wait for permission. She didn't look back.
The guards closed the doors behind her, and the sound echoed like a final judgment.
She made it back to her quarters without speaking to anyone. Once inside, she shut the door and leaned against it, her hands trembling. Her chest heaved with the effort to keep calm. But inside her, a fire had started. One born not of fear — but of fury.
He thinks I'm nothing.
She moved across the room, pacing in tight circles. Her hands balled into fists. He thinks he can break me with a look, with a sentence.
But he doesn't know me.
If he expected her to fade into the background, to accept her place in silence — he was mistaken.
Whatever was wrong with Kael… whatever haunted this house… she would find it.
Because whatever this was — this life, this bond, this cage — it couldn't go on forever.
She wouldn't let it.