Selene
My world was already crumbling into ash, long before the words were spoken aloud to the pack.
But the moment the former Grand Alpha made that horrific proclamation—that I would not be stepping onto the altar with the triplets…
that they would be bound to Lyra instead…
my mind didn’t just shatter.
It collapsed into complete dark chaos.
A low, bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat, but it died before it ever reached my lips.
This couldn’t be real.
This had to be a nightmare, a sick joke crafted by the gods simply to drag my pride through the dirt in front of the entire kingdom.
I won’t be marrying the triplets.
Lyra will.
I repeated the words over and over in my head, tasting copper and bile with every syllable.
Lyra.
That unwanted, invisible servant.
My wolf thrashed violently behind my ribs, pacing, snarling, wild with fury.
It’s her fault!
I growled inward, letting pure venom saturate my thoughts.
My wolf, who normally held back, was just as disgusted as I was—disgusted with the elders, disgusted with the ancient laws, disgusted with Lyra…
and maybe, deep down, disgusted with me for letting it happen.
After the feast ended—if anyone could call that political disaster a feast—the triplets tried to manage the damage.
Each of them came to my private chambers, one by one, looking tense and deeply apologetic.
They took my face in their hands, kissed my brow, and whispered all the hollow promises they thought I needed to hear.
They swore that regardless of the ceremony, their hearts belonged strictly to me.
That nothing would change between us.
That they still loved me above all else.
I nodded like a obedient little doll.
I smiled like I swallowed their excuses, pretending I wasn’t bleeding out from the inside.
But beneath the surface?
I was boiling alive.
I wasn’t satisfied—not even close.
Lyra needed to suffer.
She needed to feel a fraction of the agony she was causing me.
And then the pathetic girl had the nerve—the absolute audacity—to ask for my help.
To run away.
To vanish into the night.
A dark, bitter part of me wanted to shout yes instantly.
Let her run.
Let her disappear from this territory and from the triplets’ lives forever.
Let her become a nameless shadow.
But me aiding her?
Me risking the wrath of the former Alphas by facilitating her escape?
Never.
“Are you completely out of your mind?!” I spat, glaring down at her broken form, the blood on her face, and the gigantic tear she had just ripped through my perfectly orchestrated future.
“You want to bring the guards down on my head?!”
Her voice came out weak, quivering, and infuriatingly desperate.
“Selene, please,” she rasped, like we were sisters sharing a quiet secret.
“I’m not trying to drag you into this.
It solves both our problems.
I get my freedom, and you get the triplets.
It’s that simple.”
That simple!
As if she understood a single thing I had sacrificed to build my reputation.
As if rank, power, and the Luna crown could be traded away like cheap trinkets at a market!
My vision swam with crimson rage.
“Keep your mouth shut!” I snarled, every word cutting like broken glass.
Before she could even blink, my right hand whipped across her bruised cheek—harder than I intended, or perhaps exactly as hard as I wanted.
CRACK!
The slap echoed sharply off the stone walls.
Her head snapped violently to the side, her tangled hair spilling over her face as her shoulders shuddered.
For a long second, the air in the room froze.
I stood over her, shaking with a volatile mixture of hatred and heartbreak…
and all I could think was:
This was supposed to be my fairytale.
My mate bonds.
My coronation.
My destiny.
And somehow…
this worthless girl was stealing it out of my hands without even trying.
I was still suffocating under the weight of my own panic when the heavy door swung open and my father strode into the suite.
“Selene, darling, I’ve been searching the entire estate for you!” he called out, his breath heavy as if he had run up the stairs.
His tone was full of worry, softening the moment his eyes locked onto me.
For a heartbeat, my blood ran cold.
Then I watched his gaze slide across the chamber—first landing on Lyra, tied to the door hinge with a cloth gag stuffed into her mouth, and then moving back to me.
His brow furrowed instantly, suspicion and shock warring across his face.
I didn’t need to read his mind to know the conclusion he was reaching.
And I couldn’t let him make it.
I stumbled forward, clutching the fabric of my silk gown as if trying to hold my collapsing spirit together.
“Dad…” I sobbed, my voice trembling violently.
“I came in here to wish her well…
I really did.” I forced a ragged, broken sob, letting the tears I’d been holding back spill over my lashes.
“But then…
I opened the door and found her like this.” My voice cracked with perfection.
“She was tied to the frame and I tried to cut her loose, I swear I tried!”
The lies fell into the room like fragile glass—sharp, convincing, and deadly.
“She wouldn’t let me touch the ropes,” I whimpered, pressing the back of my hand against my wet cheek.
“She just started screaming at me instead.” I let out a soft, hiccuping breath, my shoulders shaking.
“She told me…
no matter what I do, the triplets will always belong to her.” I blinked rapidly, letting the tears track down my face.
“I just lost my future to her, Dad…
and she’s still trying to destroy me.”
Pure outrage ignited across his face like dry tinder meeting a spark.
“How dare you, Lyra?!” he roared—and his voice wasn’t the soft tone of a father anymore.
It was the Beta’s voice: heavy, commanding, and lethal.
Before Lyra could attempt to move or plead—not that she could with the fabric stuffed between her teeth—his heavy palm struck her cheek with brutal force.
The sound echoed like a whip cracking against wood.
A muffled cry escaped her throat as her head snapped sideways from the impact.
My father didn’t hesitate.
He grabbed the fabric binding her wrists, ripped the knot loose from the iron hinge, and shoved her away from the door.
Lyra crashed onto the hard floorboards, her palms slapping the stone to break her fall.
She remained crumpled on her side, gasping through the gag, her hair veiling her face completely.
“You are no daughter of mine!” my father thundered, his chest heaving with uncontrolled fury.
“And you will never be fit to stand as Luna!”
Then, turning back to me with a sudden, gentle warmth that felt almost absurd, he cupped my shoulders, stroking my arm with tender, soothing movements.
As if I were a delicate, precious treasure he needed to shield from the dark.
“It’s all right, my sweet girl,” he murmured softly, smoothing hair from my face.
“I’m right here.
You’re safe.”
“Guards!” he barked toward the corridor.
Two pack enforcers rushed into the doorway instantly, bowing their heads in deference.
“Lock Lyra in these quarters,” he ordered, pointing a finger at the bruised girl on the floor without giving her a second glance.
“No food.
No water.
Nothing until she is marched to the altar tomorrow evening.”
“Understood, Beta!” both warriors answered, stepping into the room to take up position.
Lyra let out a choked, muffled sob against the floor, but the sound was thin, pathetic, and utterly ignored.
My father wrapped a heavy arm around my shoulders, guiding me out into the cool corridor.
I leaned into his side, trembling delicately, letting the mask of the innocent victim wrap around me like armor.
As the heavy door slammed shut behind us, I didn’t turn around to look.
I didn’t need to.
Her fate was sealed.