The rain tapped rhythmically on the roof; the sound lost beneath the laughter echoing through the house.
Selene stood barefoot on the cold marble floor, hidden behind the grand staircase banister. She watched from the shadows as her parents, Beta Alaric and Luna Mirella, doted on her adopted sister, Aria.
Aria, glowing in a silver silk dress that shimmered like moonlight, was twirling in front of the mirror while her mother clapped with pride. Her golden curls bounced, her violet eyes sparkled, and her delicate features were framed perfectly by the enchanted chandelier's light.
"Oh, Aria," Mirella said breathlessly, brushing an invisible speck from Aria's sleeve. "You look every bit the future Luna. The Moon Goddess herself must've blessed you the day we found you."
"Found her," Selene whispered to herself, hugging her arms to her chest.
Selene was born to this house. Born of Mirella's own blood. And yet she was the ghost in the hallway, the forgotten child.
"Selene!"
She flinched at the sound of her brother's voice. Kieran stood at the top of the staircase, glaring down.
"What are you doing down there like a damn creep? You're going to ruin her mood," he snapped.
"I wasn't" she began.
"Go to your room. Don't ruin tonight for the family."
Family. The word was a joke when it came from him.
She nodded silently and turned away, her bare feet padding up the stairs. Behind her, the sound of joy and praise continued, but she had no part in it.
That night, Selene sat cross-legged on her bed. Eighteen. Today she turned eighteen. No celebration. No cake. No mention of the fact that she was now of age to shift, to awaken her wolf, to possibly meet her mate.
Her wolf remained silentsleeping or perhaps afraid.
She pressed her forehead to the cold window, watching the raindrops race. Her chest felt hollow, her reflection faint in the glass. The only gift she received was a letter, slipped under her door hours ago.
She picked it up again. Unfolded it. Read it a second time.
Selene,
You are to be sent to Nightshade Estate under the guardianship of your Aunt Meridia.
Your presence here continues to cause tension in the pack.
Do not return unless summoned.
Alaric
No explanation. No goodbye.
No love.
Just a cold dismissal. They were getting rid of her.
They were getting rid of the burden.
~~
Her Aunt Meridia's estate was perched on a cliff overlooking the endless Blackwater Sea. Vast, gothic, and surrounded by mist, the estate resembled the kind of place haunted by memories and secrets.
Aunt Meridia didn't speak much. She never smiled, and her eyes sharp and silver studied Selene as if she were some strange artifact from a different world. She was a strange womannot cruel, not loudbut quiet to the point Selene sometimes wondered if she was mute.
But unlike her parents, Meridia didn't lie. She didn't pretend to love her. And that honesty, cold as it was, gave Selene something new: freedom.
Her aunt gave her an entire wing to herself. Her own library, her own garden, and enough books to drown in. She was left alone, fed, clothed, and respected as long as she stayed out of trouble.
That was more than she had ever received.
Days turned to weeks. Then months. And Selene slowly rebuilt herself.
She read ancient texts about the Moon Goddess, about reincarnation, bloodlines, curses. She learned of wolves born marked by fatewolves who died again and again, stuck in cycles they could never understand.
She painted. She wrote. She whispered to the moon.
And sometimes, when the wind howled loud enough through the cracks in the old estate, she imagined it was her wolf finally calling back.
A few months later came the royal masquerade an event attended by every pack, where Alphas and Betas gathered to pay tribute to the Alpha King and Queen. It was held once a year on the night of the Blue Moon, a sacred day said to draw the Moon Goddess herself to earth to bless her children.
Selene wasn't supposed to attend. It was a gathering of the elite. She had no place among them.
But she received a summons from her parents regardless. Not out of love but obligation. People had started asking questions. And Alaric and Mirella couldn't afford their perfect image to crack. So they brought her along. A formality. A shadow.
Selene, cloaked in midnight-blue silk, followed behind her family like a silent wraith.
The ballroom was gold and glass, filled with masked dancers, glowing chandeliers, and the intoxicating scent of magic and wine.
And that's when she saw him.
Lucian.
Tall. Regal. Hair black as midnight. His mask was silver, etched with ancient runes, and his presence consumed everything in its radius.
Their eyes met across the room, and something inside her shattered and reformed all at once.
Mate.
Her wolf silent for so long whispered the word with reverence.
He was the Alpha of the Crimson Fang Pack, second only to the king. A born warrior. Dangerous. Respected. Untouchable.
And she was just Selene.
But in that instant, he walked toward her. The world blurred.
"I don't know your name," he said, voice like rough silk.
"You don't need to," she replied, breathless. "You already know me."
His hand slid around her waist, and they danced a single, spellbound circle. Time halted. The stars outside seemed to draw closer.
That night, she dreamed of forests and firelight.
Of kisses beneath a blood moon.
Of promises.
'~~
Her happiness didn't last. Her love wasn't enough.
She wasn't enough.
Aria arrived at the palace weeks later invited by royal decree.
Everyone was enchanted by her. Lucian included.
Selene saw the shift immediately. The confusion in Lucian's gaze. The pull of something unnatural.
How could he have two mates?
But soon, it became clear. Lucian believed Aria was the destined one.
And Aria? She played the part to perfection.
"She's obsessed with me," Aria whispered into Lucian's ear one night. "She followed me here. She's tried to poison me, Lucian. I've been too afraid to say anything."
Selene was dragged from her room at dawn.
Chains. Guards. No trial.
Lucian stood before his pack, eyes hard, jaw clenched. Cold.
"She's a threat to the future Luna," he declared. "A wolf with no control. Born of chaos."
Selene trembled. "Lucian, I'm your mate."
He hesitated only a second. "I made a mistake," he said. "The bond must have been confused."
"No… no, please"
Her voice broke as she was forced to her knees in the courtyard, the wind howling through the stone arches. She could see the faces of the crowd her parents, Aria, nobles she didn't know.
No one stepped forward.
Not her family.
Not Aria.
Not even her wolf.
Lucian raised the ceremonial blade.
As the metal caught the moonlight, Selene's breath caught in her throat. Not from fearbut clarity.
So this is how it ends.
Not in fire. Not in war. But in betrayal.
By the one who was supposed to love me above all else.
She wasn't angry. Not anymore.
Just… tired.
I did nothing wrong. I never harmed her. I loved you, even when I knew you didn't love me back. And still, you believe her. You believe them. Maybe I was never meant to be anything more than a shadow.
Maybe that's all I ever was.
Lucian's eyes flickeredjust for a moment.
Hesitation?
No.
The blade plunged through her chest.
Selene gasped.
Not from pain but from shock.
How could love become a death sentence?