Kael's eyes lingered on her a moment longer, then he turned toward the door. "Sleep. Tomorrow will demand more of you."
He left without waiting for her reply. The enormous door shut, and Selene's knees nearly buckled with the effort of keeping herself still. She lurched away toward the bed and snatched the journal from its hidden place, her hands shuddering more than ever.
The half-burnt pages whispered to her in ash and ink. She skimmed frantically, seeking something solid amid the fragments.
The Council hides what they fear. One twin is the vessel, one the curse.
If the shadow rises, the Moon will fall.
I will not be sacrificed.
Selene clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle the moan twisting in her throat. The words seeped into her worst fear—that she was not just an error posing as another, but a danger written into prophecy centuries prior to her own conception.
Her gaze landed upon a crumpled piece prodded into the journal seam. She worked it gently out, not wishing to tear the cracking vellum. The ink was richer, newer than the rest—Lyra's writing again.
The Alpha King waits. The tower was not meant to hold her forever and when she is gone, I will rise unchallenged.
Selene's blood chilled, gone! She meant Selene. The rogue attack—the fire, the death of her guardian—it had never been random, Lyra had planned it.
The lantern sputtered, its flame bending under an unseen draft. Selene's head snapped up—she wasn't alone.
Beyond the mirror panel she had previously found, she heard the slightest scuff of a footstep. Every instinct told her to go, yet she froze, anchored instead.
Her whisper cracked the silence: "Who's there?"
No answer, only the hollow creak of stone settling.
Selene clutched the journal tighter, sliding it beneath the mattress this time, hidden deeper. Her nerves stretched to breaking. If someone had been listening…if anyone knew she had uncovered this secret, her lie would not survive the dawn.
And yet… curiosity burned hotter than fear. The journal wasn't finished, not even close. Pages remained, secrets waiting in the ash and ink.
She lay down finally, lantern dimmed, but sleep never came. The whispers of the Council, Kael's suspicion, Lyra's scorched words—all coiled around her like a snare.
-------
By the time the first threads of gray dawn touched the sky, Selene's decision was made. She would return to the hidden alcove, tear the rest of the truth from its shadows—before it swallowed her alive.
But she wasn't the only one watching.
Outside her door, just beyond scent's reach, Thorne lingered in silence. Kael's Beta had followed his Alpha's instincts, curious about the girl who returned from fire and ruin so… different. His sharp eyes rested on the faint crack of light under her door.
"She's hiding something," he murmured to himself, lips curving into something like grim resolve.
And he intended to find out.
-------
The council chamber loomed above Selene like a jagged crown. By midday, the room was filled—elders cloaked in gray, warriors lining the walls, and Kael seated at the high end with Thorne at his right hand. Every sound echoed in the carved stone hall, from the scrape of boots to the soft shuffle of parchment.
Selene kept her head bowed, pulse hammering. She had not been summoned here officially. She had come because she couldn't stay in Lyra's room with the journal burning under her mattress. She needed to know what the council whispered when they thought no heir was listening.
The carved archways made perfect conduits for sound as she slipped along one shadowed corridor, pressing close to the stone until the voices reached her ears.
"Her behavior has shifted," one elder murmured. "The girl is not the same."
"She was touched," another whispered. "Vanished into the woods and returned changed. The prophecy warned of this."
Prophecy. The word struck Selene's spine like ice.
A third voice—lower, careful. "If she is the cursed twin, we cannot risk her rise. Better to end it now, before she wears the Alpha crown."
Selene's breath caught. End it? Her vision blurred; her body frozen in place.
A cough silenced the whispers. Kael's voice followed, sharp enough to cut stone. "Speak such words in my presence again, and it will be your tongue I burn. She is mine to judge."
The air shifted. Selene closed her eyes, relief battling dread. Kael had defended her…but not out of trust. His words had carried a different weight, it is the tone of a man claiming possession, not protection.
The council members got up, their footsteps and chairs making noise as they left. Selene quickly moved back so they wouldn't see her. Her heart hammered, terrified of being caught. She stumbled toward the training hall, mind reeling. They knew or suspected. And Kael… Kael was the only wall between her and execution.
But what would happen when he realized she wasn't Lyra at all?
------
Night bled across Blackthorn lands once more, the moon pale above jagged rooftops. Selene returned to Lyra's chamber, closing the door softly. She went to the mattress, pulling out the half-burned journal again.
Her fingers shook as she turned the next intact page;
Two must stand under one moon. One will lead, one will fall. The Alpha King waits for the weak one's end. I will see it done.
A shiver crawled across her spine, weak one! That was her, it had always been her. Lyra had known, planned and hunted.
The crack of floorboards broke her spiraling thoughts. Selene snapped her head up, heart stopping.
The mirror panel she had discovered earlier… was ajar.
A sliver of darkness yawned behind it.
Slowly, as though summoned from the ink of her fears, a figure stepped through. Cloaked, silent, their face hidden by shadow. Selene's breath hitched; she held the journal clutched tight to her chest.
The figure tilted their head, studying her like prey caught unaware. Then, in a voice low and hoarse, they whispered:
"Looking for something, are we?"
Cold dread flooded Selene as she stumbled back, lips parting, but no sound came.
The intruder pushed forward, boot scuffing against the stone. And just as the candlelight showed their features, the mirror panel slammed shut behind them, sealing Selene inside her chamber—with a stranger who already knew too much.