Selene made it to the servant's corridor before her legs gave out. She collapsed against the wall, sliding down to sit on the cold stone floor, her whole body trembling.
She just uncovered another mate bond. With Lucian Nightfall... brother of the Alpha who rejected her first mate bond. It was like watching a Kdrama unfold.
Selene couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly at the whole situation. She had been given a second chance with another Alpha. One who wanted her. One who stood up to his brother for her. One who offered territory and alliance for her... a wolfless slave.
Why?
The question echoed in her mind, painful in its confusion. She wasn't worth that. She wasn't worth anything. Darius had made that clear for five years. Every beating, every insult, every moment of humiliation had driven home the truth: she was worthless.
So why would the Moon Goddess give her to someone like Lucian? Someone who looked at her like she mattered?
It had to be a mistake. Or a test. Or another way for fate to torture her.
Because now she had something she couldn't have. A mate who wanted her, trapped on the other side of an Alpha's refusal. The bond would pull at her, make her ache for Lucian's presence, but Darius would never let her go. He'd die before he gave his brother that victory.
And she'd be stuck in the middle, suffering.
Selene pressed her hands to her face, willing herself not to cry. Tears were weakness. Tears solved nothing.
"Are you alright?" A voice suddenly drifted into her ears.
She jerked her head up to find one of Lucian's wolves standing a few feet away. He was younger than his Alpha, maybe late twenties, with sandy hair and kind brown eyes. He held his hands up in a gesture of peace.
"I didn't mean to startle you," he said gently. "My name is Finn. Alpha Lucian's Gamma."
"What do you want?" Selene snapped. The words came out harsher than she intended, but she was too drained to modulate her tone.
"To check on you. That was... a lot. In there." Finn gestured toward the great hall. "Are you hurt?"
The question was so unexpected that Selene actually laughed, the sound bitter and broken. "Am I hurt? I've been hurt every day for five years. This is just another Tuesday."
Finn's expression tightened with sympathy. "I'm sorry. For what you've endured here. For what my Alpha... your mate, is about to put you through by fighting for you."
"He should let it go." Selene pushed herself to her feet, needing to feel less vulnerable. "Tell him to let it go. I'm not worth the trouble."
"You're his mate. That makes you worth everything." Finn said with a wry smile.
Selene scoffed. "I'm wolfless. Cursed. Your Alpha deserves better."
"Our Alpha," Finn corrected gently, "deserves his fated mate. And you deserve better than this." He gestured around them, at the cold stone walls, the servant's corridor, the life she'd been forced into. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I wanted you to know... we're here. Alpha Lucian's pack. We're on your side."
The words settled into Selene's chest, warm and unfamiliar. Someone on her side. Multiple someones, apparently. It felt like a trap, like the setup for another betrayal.
But the bond hummed in agreement, and she felt Lucian's presence even from rooms away, a steady pulse of determination and protective fury.
"Thank you," she whispered, because she didn't know what else to say.
Finn smiled. "Hold on. I know that's asking a lot. But hold on just a little longer. Alpha Lucian won't leave you here."
Before she could respond, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Finn melted into the shadows, vanishing with the practiced ease of a trained warrior.
Selene barely had time to compose herself before Kira rounded the corner.
"There you are." The Beta's smile was predatory. "Did you really think you could hide?"
"I wasn't hiding," Selene said gently. "You told me to leave."
"And now I'm telling you to come back," Kira grinned. "We're not done with you yet."
Dread pooled in Selene's stomach. "The feast..."
"Is continuing just fine without you. But Alpha Darius wants to see you. Now." Kira grabbed her arm, nails digging in hard enough to bruise. "You've created quite the problem, you little wretch. Time to face the consequences."
She dragged Selene back toward the great hall, and with each step, the bond pulled harder, recognizing that she was moving toward Lucian. Toward her mate.
Toward whatever nightmare Darius had planned next.
Inside the great hall, the feast had continued, but the atmosphere had shifted. Where before there'd been celebration, now there was tension. Pack members ate and drank, but their attention kept drifting to the head table, where Darius and Lucian sat in strained silence.
Lucian's eyes locked onto Selene the moment she entered, and she felt his wolf rise in response to seeing her again. The bond flared, warm and insistent, and she had to fight the urge to go to him.
"Alpha." Kira shoved Selene forward, forcing her to her knees in front of the head table. "The slave, as requested."
"Thank you, Kira." Darius stood, moving around the table to loom over Selene. She kept her eyes down, her heart hammering. "Do you know what you've done?"
Selene breathed. "Alpha, Darius, I—"
"Silence." His boot connected with her ribs, not hard enough to break anything but enough to knock the air from her lungs. She gasped, curling instinctively. "You've embarrassed me. In front of my brother. In front of my pack. You've disrupted an important evening with your... presence."
Selene winced. "I didn't mean—"
"Be quiet!" Another kick landed in her side, harder this time. Pain exploded through her entire gut.
"Stop!" Lucian's chair scraped violently as he shot to his feet. His wolves moved with him, hands going to weapons. "You will not touch her again."
"I'll do what I want in my own territory." Darius's smile was vicious. "She's mine, remember? My property to discipline as I see fit."
"She's my mate." Lucian's voice dropped into a growl, his wolf very close to the surface. "And if you touch her again, brother or not, I will tear you apart."
The hall went deathly silent. The threat was explicit, undeniable. A direct challenge in Darius's own territory, in front of his entire pack.
Darius's expression darkened dangerously. "You dare threaten me? Here?"
"I dare protect what's mine." Lucian retorted.
The two Alphas faced off, power crackling between them. Selene felt the bond screaming at her to run to Lucian, to let him shield her, but fear kept her frozen.
This would end in blood. She knew it with cold certainty. And it would be her fault.
"Enough." The word came from one of Lucian's wolves... an older male with gray streaking his temples. He stepped forward, placing himself between the Alphas. "Both of you. This serves no one."
"Stay out of this, Marcus," Lucian growled.
"No." Marcus's voice was firm but respectful. "You're about to start a war over this woman. Right now. In hostile territory. Think, Alpha. Is this how you want this to end?"
Lucian's jaw worked, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. But slowly, painfully, he forced himself to step back. "You're right," he sighed. "Forgive me, brother. My wolf... reacted poorly to seeing my mate harmed."
The apology was empty, just words to defuse the situation. But it gave Darius an out, a way to save face.
Darius studied his brother for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Your wolf is newly bonded. I understand. Perhaps it's best if you retired for the evening. Let tempers cool."
It was a dismissal, a clear order to leave the hall. Lucian's eyes flashed with anger, but he nodded stiffly.
"Of course." His gaze dropped to Selene, still kneeling on the floor, and she saw the agony there. "I'll see you in the morning, brother. We have much to discuss."
"Indeed we do." Darius replied.
Lucian turned and walked out, his wolves following. But Finn glanced back, catching Selene's eye, and mouthed one word: "Soon."
Then they were gone.
The hall exhaled collectively, the tension easing slightly. Darius turned back to Selene, his expression unreadable.
"Lock her in her room," he ordered Kira. "No food. No water. She's to stay there until I decide what to do with her."
"Yes, Alpha." Kira hauled Selene to her feet, clearly delighted with the assignment.
As she was dragged away, Selene looked back once. The feast continued, pack members slowly relaxing back into conversation and celebration.
But everything had changed.
The mate bond thrummed in her chest, connecting her to an Alpha who actually wanted her. And that terrified her more than anything Darius had ever done... Because hope was the cruelest thing of all.