The ruins lay in silence, but Selene's chest carried a storm.
The visions from the temple had shaken her to her core. She hated what they revealed, hated even more the way they tugged at something buried deep within her. But what she despised most was the Beast—because every time his eyes found hers, her heart betrayed her, clenching as if it remembered him before her mind could.
She told herself it was madness. He was her enemy. Her curse. Her reminder of everything broken in her destiny.
And yet—
"Don't let him near you," the Beast said suddenly, his voice low and edged like steel.
Her lips curved in a smirk, though it trembled at the corners. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll choose him over you?"
His head snapped toward her, golden eyes blazing. "This isn't a game, Selene. Velkar doesn't destroy—he corrupts. He'll twist everything you are until you can't tell what's yours and what's his."
The air thickened, charged with something hotter than fear—something neither of them dared name.
Selene stepped closer, fire whispering from her fingertips, uncertain whether she wanted to burn him or touch him.
"And what about you?" she murmured, eyes narrowing. "You haunt my dreams. You fight my fire. And still—"
"Still what?" His voice was rough, dangerous.
Her heartbeat stuttered. "Still make me feel like I'm burning alive from the inside out."
Silence. Heavy, breathless, electric.
He moved. One step closer. Then another. Their breaths tangled. His shadow brushed her flame, heat meeting darkness in a collision that felt inevitable. His lips hovered over hers—
BOOM.
The temple shook. Stones cracked, dust cascaded like falling ash. The air shifted, poisoned by presence.
Velkar's presence.
Watching. Testing.
Selene's fire flared, the Beast's shadow-blades unfolding like wings of night. The almost-kiss shattered, but the ache it left behind burned hotter than flame.
They fell into stance, back-to-back. Enemies once. Something more now.
"Ready?" he asked, voice rough.
Selene smirked through the firestorm in her chest. "Let's dance."
---
The sky above Mars dimmed unnaturally, smothered in violet clouds swirling like spilled ink. Selene sat near a broken pillar, tracing a glowing rune with her fingertip. The stone hummed faintly—like a heartbeat not her own.
"I'm not who I thought I was," she whispered.
The Beast's shadow fell across her. His voice was quiet, stripped of all menace. "You never were."
She turned, startled by the gentleness beneath the gravel of his tone. He wasn't standing like a monster. Not now. He looked almost human.
"How do you live," she asked softly, "knowing you were cursed?"
"I don't live," he said. His gaze burned like a dying sun. "I survive."
Her throat tightened. For a heartbeat, there were no gods, no prophecies—only heat between them, fragile and real.
Then a whisper slid past her ear—cold as venom.
He fears you.
Selene jerked upright. "Velkar?"
The Beast tensed instantly, blades unfurling. "He's probing your mind. Don't let him in."
Her pulse spiked. "He said… he wants me."
"I know," the Beast growled, fury trembling in his voice. "He always takes what he wants."
Selene rose, fire snaking along her arms. "Then let's see if he can take me."
The ground split beneath them. Flame met shadow. Light clashed with void. Their training became a battle—a deadly waltz of fury and grace. Every strike was a heartbeat, every dodge a breath too close. Fire kissed darkness; shadow caressed flame. Violence and desire, inseparable.
When it ended, Velkar's whispers faded, but his beasts remained.
Selene fought like wrath incarnate, her flames burning white-hot. The Beast carved through monsters with blades of night. Together, they were chaos and creation—two forces that were never meant to coexist, yet could not survive apart.
At last, silence fell. The temple reeked of ash and blood. Selene slumped against a pillar, panting, sweat and soot streaking her skin. A cut bled along her ribs.
The Beast approached, his shadow stretching to cover her. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine," she said, though pain flickered across her face.
Without a word, he tore a strip from his cloak and knelt beside her. She flinched as his fingers brushed her skin.
"I won't bite," he murmured, his voice a low rumble. "Unless provoked."
Her lips twitched. "So you do flirt."
His mouth curved faintly, though his eyes remained grave. "Call it repayment. You saved me too."
His hands lingered as he wrapped the cloth around her ribs—slow, deliberate. His fingers grazed warmth into her skin, his scent all smoke and storm. Their eyes met, and the world seemed to fall away.
"You fight like someone who's lost everything," she whispered.
He hesitated. "And you fight like someone afraid to find something worth keeping."
Her breath caught. They leaned closer—
and the shadows screamed.
The Beast stiffened, clutching his head as a dark wave tore through him. Selene caught him before he fell.
"Hey! What is it?!"
The air curdled. A stench of rot filled the ruins.
Velkar's spawn had come.
The Beast's claws extended, his voice a snarl. "Ready?"
Selene's fire blazed. "Born ready."
They fought as one. His shadows shielded her; her flames scorched his enemies. Blood, light, and darkness intertwined in a rhythm older than war itself.
When the last monster fell to ash, Selene turned, chest heaving. "He's watching us."
The Beast nodded, golden eyes grim. "He knows who you really are."
Her pulse raced. "And soon… so will I."
Before she could say more, the Beast convulsed, visions clawing into his mind. His roar echoed through the ruins, filled with horror.
Velkar's bloodstained grin.
Selene chained in bone.
A blood moon rising.
His own claws—piercing her heart.
He tore himself free with a gasp. "No… I kill her."
Selene seized his face, forcing his gaze to hers. "What did you see?!"
His voice broke. "A future. If we don't stop him."
Far away, Velkar stood on a jagged cliff, his cloak whipping in the cursed wind. He smiled—a cruel, knowing smile.
"Let them dance," he whispered. "The fall will be all the sweeter."
But even his grin faltered when another face rose in the Beast's vision—eyes like Selene's, but colder. A smile sharpened to a blade.
"Lyra," the Beast whispered.
Selene froze. "What did you just say?"
His gaze lifted, dread shadowing his golden eyes. "There was another. She wore your face—but her soul was twisted. She stood beside Velkar."
Selene's blood ran cold. "Lyra… is my sister."
The truth cracked like thunder.
Lyra—the sister who vanished years ago. The one who envied her power. The one who once burned with a love she was never meant to have.
"She loved me," the Beast confessed, his voice barely a whisper.
Selene's palm pressed against his chest, flames pulsing beneath her skin. "Then let her try."
Their hearts thundered in unison—two defiant beats against fate itself.
Far beyond, carried on the wind, Lyra's laughter echoed—cold and triumphant.
---
The night deepened. Silence thickened between them like smoke. Selene stood at the broken altar, eyes fixed on the bleeding sky.
"I don't remember her," she said quietly. "Lyra. I don't remember anything."
"You weren't meant to," the Beast answered, his voice raw. "That was part of the curse."
"But she remembers," Selene whispered. "She remembers… and she hates me."
He stepped closer, golden eyes fierce. "She doesn't just hate you. She envies you—for your power. For your destiny. For… me."
Selene turned, fire coiling in her gaze. "Then let her come."
Lightning split the heavens, the temple trembling in response—as though the universe itself listened.
The Beast wasn't watching the storm. His eyes were only on her. The firelight carved her face into something half divine, half deadly.
"Selene," he said, voice breaking, "if this war tears us apart again… know this—I didn't choose her. I chose you."
Her breath trembled. "You were meant for me."
The words hung between them, fragile as glass, unbreakable as fate.
Years ago, Lyra's jealousy had driven her into Velkar's arms. Together, they had forged the curse that split the lovers apart. But now, the pieces were shifting again, aligning toward reckoning.
"They wanted to break us," the Beast said, rising to his full height, shadows curling like armor. "And they nearly did."
Selene turned away, her flames burning higher. "Then let's finish what they started. But this time—" she looked back at him, eyes blazing—"we finish it our way."
And somewhere beyond the ruins, Lyra smiled in the darkness.
"If I can't have his heart," she whispered, "then neither will she."