Brielle's POV
"Return to your room."
The words dropped from Alpha Cassian's mouth so unexpectedly, I blinked—unsure I had heard correctly. Did… did he just say room? Not dungeon? Not cell? Not chains?
Even the others in the council chamber looked stunned, their expressions a mix of disbelief and irritation. Luna Selena didn't bother hiding hers. "What? You're just going to let her—"
"Enough," Alpha Cassian snapped, his voice sharp, final.
I didn't miss the flicker of panic in her eyes, the way her jaw clenched in disapproval. She wanted me buried and bleeding, and she wasn't the only one. But the Alpha—he'd changed. It was almost imperceptible, but something in his gaze was… different. I couldn't explain it. Maybe it was my imagination, but ever since he heard the Lycan Alpha was coming, his hostility toward me had shifted, like I'd gone from a curse to some kind of… asset.
Still, I didn't question it. I just turned and walked out as fast as my sore, half-broken body would let me.
The moment I entered the room, my legs gave out. I collapsed on the bed—the same bed I once slept in as a child, back when this house was mine, before it became a prison in the hands of strangers.
And I cried.
Not just soft tears. The ugly kind—the kind that tore from deep inside your soul and dragged up every wound life had ever carved into you.
"Descendant of the Evil Moon Goddess."
That's what they called me.
Did the Moon Goddess truly hate me this much?
Wasn't I already miserable enough?
I knew the stories. I knew what it meant. A cursed bloodline. A taint so dark that death was considered mercy. I didn't need a scroll or seer to tell me my fate. But still—why me? Why now?
Was this why I awakened my wolf at just fourteen? While others waited until twenty—or eighteen, if they were lucky—I was already fighting to control mine at an age where I should've been learning how to braid my hair in peace.
And now they wanted me dead for a power I never asked for.
My chest tightened painfully. My body still ached. My head throbbed. I wanted to scream, to tear something apart. But all I could do was cry. Quietly. Pathetically.
Then… I remembered.
Draven.
The name made me sit upright, rage blazing fresh through my veins.
Draven Valrath. The Lycan Alpha. The monster who slaughtered my father and left my family in ruins. He didn't just kill a man—he shattered a legacy. Our pack was strong, proud, peaceful. Until he burned it all to ash.
And now they said he was coming here?
Good. Maybe I couldn't escape my execution. Maybe I really would die for powers I didn't understand.
But if I had to die… I wanted to take him with me.
Only… no matter how hard I wished, I knew it was impossible. The powers they feared in me? They weren't even fully awakened. I wouldn't come of age until I was twenty. A whole damn year from now.
I wiped my face quickly as I heard the door creak open.
"Mum," I whispered.
She stepped in, carrying a tray in her shaking hands. The smell of food hit me—and only then did I remember I hadn't eaten all day.
But before I could speak, she dropped the tray and rushed to me, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.
And I broke all over again.
I clung to her like I had when I was a child hiding from thunderstorms, only now the storm was real—and it was never-ending. She cried into my hair, and I cried into her shoulder. She was the only person left who understood me. The only one still alive who saw me—not as a curse, not as a servant—but as her daughter.
"You must eat, Brielle," she said between sniffles. "You haven't had anything since morning… and Alpha Cassian said—he said you should be fed."
I froze. "He said that?"
She nodded, and I could see it in her eyes—she was just as stunned as I was.
"I thought it was odd too," she admitted. "But… something about him changed. Ever since the Lycan Alpha said he was coming, it's like… he sees you differently. Like… like maybe you're valuable now."
Valuable?
I didn't know whether to laugh or spit. First, I was cursed. Now I was valuable?
Still, I reached for the food, my body too weak to reject it. "Thank you," I said quietly.
She nodded, but her gaze dropped.
"There's something else," she said after a moment. "He told me… after you eat and freshen up… you're to report to his chambers."
I stiffened. "Why?"
"I don't know."
"Why would he call me there now? He's never—" I broke off.
Was this a trick? Another setup? Or worse…?
My mother gave me a small, trembling smile. "Don't worry, Brielle. The Moon Goddess will help you. She's watching."
I said nothing.
Because I didn't believe it.
If the Moon Goddess truly existed… then she was cruel.
---
After eating, I washed up and changed into something cleaner—simple but decent. My skin stung with every movement, the welts from the whipping still raw beneath the fresh fabric. Still, I pushed through and made my way to Alpha Cassian's chambers.
The guards let me in without a word.
He sat at his desk, scribbling something, and didn't look up until I stepped forward and greeted him quietly.
"Alpha Cassian."
He leaned back slowly, meeting my eyes with a look I couldn't read.
"You want to live?" he asked.
I hesitated, unsure where he was going with this. But the answer was simple.
"…Yes."
He smiled—cold and sharp.
"Then prove yourself worthy…"
His next words were a dagger to the chest.
"…by killing Draven Valrath. The Lycan Alpha."