Selene's Point of View.
"A woman he wants."
The morning air was cool and sweet.
The castle's rear gardens stretched like an emerald maze, veined with gravel paths and lined with rows of climbing roses, pale lavender blooms, and silverleaf hedges. The mist from the fountains shimmered under the early light, and dew still clung to the petals as if the world hadn't yet decided to wake fully.
But I was already awake.
I had my breakfast in my room, alone, as usual. The food had arrived silently, and I hadn't spoken a word to the maid who delivered it.
What was there to say?
Today, he would bring another woman into this palace.
And I would be expected to stay silent and regal while the rest of them pretended this was normal.
I walked the edge of the gardens slowly, hands folded at my waist, eyes tracking the manicured hedges, the curve of the stone archways. My thoughts, however, were chaos.
I didn't feel jealous.
That would have been easier.
This was something colder and deeper.
A sense of being displaced, miscast, like a piece of someone else's story. As if the Moon had spun the thread wrong, tangled the strings, given the wrong girl to the wrong man.
"Why bind me to someone who didn't want me… when he already had someone he did?" I muttered to myself.
I rounded a bend in the path and nearly walked into someone.
I looked up to see Cassian.
He stood near one of the old stone columns, staring out over the western edge of the garden where the morning fog was still clinging to the treetops. His arms were crossed loosely, his expression unreadable until he noticed me. Then it shifted, into something softer.
"Selene," he greeted, a nod of quiet respect. "Didn't expect anyone out this early."
"I couldn't sleep," I replied simply.
He tilted his head. "Understandable, who would be in your shoes when my cousin is giving you hell."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
The breeze stirred between us, rustling the nearby flowers.
"Do you know anything about her?" I spoke out, breaking the silence.
Cassian blinked. "Who?"
"The woman Lucian's bringing into the pack today."
His mouth pressed into a line.
I crossed my arms. "Please don't lie to me, everyone already treats me like I'm fragile or blind. You don't have to."
He sighed, rubbing a hand along his jaw. "All I know is what I was told, he met her about a year ago during a northern summit. She's a princess from one of the mountain territories, that's it."
I nodded once, slowly.
Then the anger slipped out, controlled, quiet, but unmistakable.
"So why agree to the mate bond?" I asked, my voice sharper now. "Why go through the ritual, tie me to him, let the bond burn in my blood, when he already had someone waiting in the wings?"
Cassian opened his mouth, but I kept going.
"Why keep me here, humiliate me, starve me, assign me servant's work, when he knew from the beginning that I was never the one he wanted? I never asked to be Luna. I never begged the Moon for a mate, I didn't want this, he didn't want this. So why trap us both in a bond we clearly hate?"
My chest rose and fell too quickly.
I hadn't meant to spill that much but it had built up, the poison needed to come out.
Cassian's eyes didn't waver, his voice was low.
"Because he's prideful," he said. "He's furious the Moon didn't let him choose, right from when we were kids, Lucian always wanted to choose a mate for himself. You stood there and didn't break when he pushed, and that made him angrier than anything."
"That's not an answer," I snapped. "It's an excuse."
He looked away for a long moment, then nodded. "You're right."
I turned from him slightly, arms tightening around myself as the cold settled deeper into my bones. "He's going to parade her through these halls, right in front of me."
Cassian's silence was all the answer I needed.
I looked up at the sky, watching as clouds shifted past the pale morning sun.
"She must be beautiful," I murmured. "He wouldn't let anyone close unless they were carved from perfection."
Cassian was quiet again.
Then finally, he said softly, "She's not you."
That made me flinch, not because it was meant as comfort, but because it sounded like a warning.
I turned my gaze toward the horizon, where the trees bowed gently in the wind.
He would bring her soon, and I would watch it happen.
*
It was noon already.
I laid on my bed ready to take a nap.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my chamber door that came with the same rhythm all palace servants used, soft, fast, and hesitant.
I didn't answer right away, I sat up and brushed the ends of my hair with slow, practiced strokes, my thoughts tangled far worse than my strands.
The knock came again, firmer this time.
"Yes?" I said without turning.
The door creaked open and a young maid stepped inside, her eyes flicking nervously from my gown to the untouched tray of lunch at my table.
"My lady," she said with a curtsy. "The Alpha requests your presence in the throne room immediately."
I didn't need to ask why.
I already knew.
Still, I turned slowly, setting the brush down with quiet precision. "Did he say what for?"
The maid swallowed. "No, my lady, only that you are to come at once."
Of course.
I dismissed her with a nod, and as she slipped out the door, I rose. My gown, a soft indigo trimmed in silver, whispered against the floor as I made my way out of the room, each step silent but heavy with dread.
I passed courtiers in the halls who either bowed too quickly or pretended not to see me at all.
It didn't matter because I wasn't there for them.
Not today.
The throne room loomed like a cathedral of silence.
High ceilings stretched overhead like the ribs of a slumbering beast, and light filtered in through tall windows, casting cold shafts across the floor.
Lucian was already there.
He sat lazily on the throne, one elbow propped against the armrest, fingers curled near his mouth as though he were halfway through biting down a cruel thought.
When I entered, he watched me with stern eyes.
His golden eyes dragged over me in that same impassive way someone might look at a blemish on their boots.
I stopped several paces before the dais and bowed, not too deeply.
"You summoned me, Alpha?"
He tilted his head slightly. "How observant of you."
I straightened, biting back the urge to roll my eyes.
"What do you need from me this time?"
His tone was sharp, precise. "There will be a guest arriving this evening, you are expected to attend."
I clasped my hands behind my back, keeping my voice even. "May I ask who…?"
"No," he snapped, standing now.
I raised a brow. "Not even a title?"
He smirked, but there was no warmth in it. "I'm sure you'll survive without knowing."
I already know, I wanted to say, and you're too much of a coward to admit it.
But I said nothing.
He stepped down from the dais, stopping a few feet in front of me. Close enough for me to smell the sharpness of steel and pine that clung to him.
"You will wear something appropriate," he continued. "You will be present, quiet, and useful. If anyone asks, you are Luna, so you better try to behave like one."
"Of course," I said with clipped politeness. "I wouldn't want to embarrass you… especially in front of your guest."
His eyes narrowed just slightly, but he said nothing.
I offered a cold smile and gave another shallow bow.
"If that's all, I'll take my leave to prepare."
His silence was permission.
I turned and walked out, the hem of my gown trailing behind me like a shadow.
But just before the doors closed behind me, I glanced back over my shoulder.
"I hope she's everything you've been waiting for," I said softly, not loud enough for the guards to hear, and then I left him standing in the hollow quiet of his perfect hall.
*
Evening finally came.
I stood staring at my reflection as three maids surrounded me.
The gown was navy silk, as deep and dark as the midnight sky before a storm.
It clung softly to my skin, layered in delicate folds that brushed the floor when I moved. The sleeves were sheer, threaded with silver stitching like fractured constellations. Around my waist, a belt of glass beads cinched the fabric tightly, too tightly.
The maids fluttered around me in silence, their hands swift and practiced. One adjusted the gown's drape, another worked braids into my hair, weaving in strands of silver ribbon until it glimmered like moonlight down my back.
Their faces were calm, but I could feel their curiosity clinging to the silence like mist.
One of them, older than the rest, with kind eyes and trembling fingers broke the silence.
"You'll be beautiful beside him tonight," she said softly, as if she thought the words might soothe me. "They'll finally see the Luna you truly are."
I didn't answer because I knew she was wrong.
This wasn't about being seen.
This wasn't about beauty or status or even power.
Lucian hadn't summoned me to the bouquet tonight to share his stage.
He'd called me to witness a performance, and I already knew I wasn't part of the script.
When they were done, I dismissed them with a nod and stood in front of the tall mirror near the window.
I looked like someone else.
My reflection was elegant, regal, even breathtaking.
But none of it mattered because none of it was mine.
It had been chosen to match the tone of the night, to blend me into the background, and to remind me that I was present, but not wanted.
My fingers brushed over the soft silk at my side, and I felt nothing but the tightening coil of dread under my ribs.
"Go," my wolf growled from somewhere deep inside me. "You have to see it."
I nodded, "I will, I already know what I'll see."
I turned from the mirror and walked toward the door.
The corridors echoed as I passed, the clack of my heels swallowed by marble and velvet. The music, soft and lilting, floated in from the open archways ahead. The melody was graceful, festive, threaded with flutes and harp strings.
The air smelled of honeysuckle and wine.
Guests laughed quietly in the distance and I… walked through it all like a ghost.
When I reached the archway that led to the royal gardens, I paused.
Lanterns floated in the dusk sky above the courtyard, flickering softly, suspended on glimmering threads of magic. The garden had been transformed, white roses curled up the pillars, petals carpeted the ground, and long tables draped in velvet were covered in trays of gold-rimmed goblets and bowls of sugared fruit.
The nobles stood in small groups, sipping wine, whispering behind half-covered mouths, and at the center of it all Lucian.
His back was straight, posture perfect, expression carved from steel. He wore dark ceremonial robes edged in crimson and gold. He looked every inch the ruler he claimed to be.
Cold and magnificent.
I looked to his right, beside him stood a woman.
She was cloaked in soft blue, the fabric rich and heavy. The hood was drawn over her head, shielding her face, but her presence was striking and delicate.
I stepped forward.
The moment I entered the garden, conversation dulled to silence and all heads turned, their eyes found me.
Lucian's gaze did too.
He didn't move but the moment our eyes met, he lifted a hand and his voice rang out, cutting through the stillness like a blade.
"This," he said, turning slightly toward the hooded figure beside him, "is the woman I love." he introduced me, and for the first time since I met him, there was a smile at the corner of his lips..
Gasps rippled across the assembly.
I stood frozen, my eyes not leaving, and then slowly, he turned to me.
Not as a man caught between duty and love, but as someone who wanted to drive the dagger deeper.
"You can see now, Selene," he said, his voice calm and sharp as ice. "I love her, she is the woman I want as a mate."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Even the wind held its breath.
The hooded woman stepped forward, and turned to me.
Immediately my eyes fell on her, my heart dropped to my stomach.
The world tilted and I felt color drain out of my face and the air seized in my lungs.
Standing in front of me was a young lady with long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, one I was very familiar with.
A delicate face, older now, matured, but unmistakably familiar. The shape of her cheekbones, the slope of her nose, and the softness of her lips.
My heart stopped and it felt like time had frozen, we were the only ones alive and staring into each other's eyes.
The marble floor beneath me suddenly felt unsteady. My knees buckled, and I dropped without realizing, the silk of my gown pooling around me like water.
My hands trembled violently as hot tears filled my eyes, pain and guilt gushed through my veins like a flowing ocean.
The silver embroidery on my sleeves blurred.
Colors faded from my vision as if the light had been sucked from the sky. My skin turned cold, and my lips parted, but no sound came.
I staggered towards, my legs were weak but I didn't care.
Finally, my voice, small and raw, broke free from my throat.
"Sister…" I muttered as a tear rolled down my face.
My vision swam and everything fell apart.
"Elira stood before me, alive, radiant, and beside the man who had sworn he wanted no one but her."