That night at the Silver Dawn estate was the first ti I was allowed to attend sothing real. I don’t know the reason why did he brought here, but i could not care less when it was like my dream co true.
After that Aeron had approached with a quiet grace and told my posture was admirable for soone my age.
Kael had thrown teasing remarks my way, testing , but I had matched him beat for beat with sharp replies. His grin widened with each exchange.
And Luca...stoic, cold had given a single nod of approval. That one gesture felt like being knighted.
"You’re different from the other pups," he’d said, voice rough but sincere.
I floated the rest of that evening. They were legends to —warriors, heirs, brothers tied by blood and destiny. And ? Just a girl from a rival pack. Yet for a few fleeting hours, I felt truly alive after my mother died.
I went to bed that night dreaming of a future that could never exist.
Maybe, just maybe... one of them would rember . Not as Eirik Moonveil’s daughter, but as Selene.
But dreams are cruel things.
The next ti I returned to their lands... everything was in ashes.
My father was dead. My people... gone. Our lands burned. Our na erased from history.
And I? I was dragged back in chains. Treated like a beast. Thrown in a cage and Branded like a slave.
Lucian didn’t even look at when they seared the mark into my skin
A sob ripped from my throat, and I buried my face into the sheets.
"They once praised ," I whispered, broken. "And now they treat like I’m nothing."
I rembered the way Lucian’s fingers had gently curled around mine. The way he had smiled at —. The way Aeron’s voice had rumbled softly when he complinted my grace. The way Kael had laughed. The way Luca had seen —really seen —for who I was.
And now...
Now Lucian barked cruel orders. Now Aeron refused to et my gaze. Now Kael looked at with disgust. Now Luca... he didn’t look at at all.
My hands curled into fists, my knuckles turning white.
"Why did you gave confidence..." I whispered, teeth clenched, "if you were always going to crush ?"
The pain was a tide that never stopped. It was relentless and I felt i might drowning in it.
So days, I wished I had died with the others. That I hadn’t survived. That I hadn’t been spared—if this is what living ant.
I reached for the dry shirt and slowly dragged it over my head. It was too big. Slled like dust and laundry powder. But it was dry.
The fabric scratched against my bruises. I winced, biting back a cry.
My legs wobbled as I stood and looked at the mirror.
The girl staring back wasn’t .
Swollen lip. Hollow cheeks. Red-rimd eyes. My silver hair was tangled and limp. The red brand burned like a curse on my arm.
~~~
(Author’s pov)
Nest day, Selena was scrubbing the hallway floor just like yesterday. her assigned work was to clean the every part of the alpha quarters. She has to rub the every inch of floor while continuosly kneeling and after one hallway is complete she has to go on another hallway.
She was kneeling for hours, her knees were now bruised and raw, the coarse towel burning her skin with every pass—when the footsteps stopped beside her.
She didn’t look up.
Looking up had consequences. She had learn this in juts few days.
"Hey," ca the sharp voice of another oga maid. "Stop scrubbing here. Go clean that room."
Selena blinked and lifted her head slightly. The maid, a young wolf with sharp eyes and an impatient frown, gestured down the hallway to a large arched door frad with silver and dark wood.
Selena hesitated.
"That room?" she asked quietly.
The oga huffed. "Yes. Don’t make repeat myself. You’ve been dragging your feet all day."
"But the older maids said... we’re not allowed in private rooms without permission."
The girl narrowed her eyes. "And I’m giving you permission now. Get moving."
Selena swallowed hard and rose on shaky legs. She didn’t argue again.
There was no point.
She walked toward the massive door, every step making her skin itch. Her instincts scread sothing was wrong. The air felt heavier here. The door alone looked more expensive than anything she’d ever owned.
Still, she entered.
And the mont she did, her breath caught.
This isn’t a guest room.
This was a chamber of power.
Velvet drapes. Glass walls with views of the mountains. A carved desk large enough to seat three. Black and silver tones. The faint, familiar scent of cedar, leather, and—
She froze.
Cologne.
Her heart skipped. Her fingers trembled.
No. This can’t be...
But it was too late.
The door behind her clicked shut.
Selena turned quickly, clutching the towel to her chest like it might protect her.
And then—
He stepped into view.
Lucian Duskdraven.
Her heart dropped.
It had been days...more than a week, since she had last seen him. Since the branding, after that she never t him.
But now here he was, standing in his own quarters, staring at her like the breath had been knocked out of his lungs.
His grey eyes widened for a mont, flickering with sothing unreadable.
Shock? Guilt? No. No—it’s gone already.
It vanished beneath a cold, blank stare.
Selena took a slow step back. Her fingers gripped the towel harder.
"I—I was told to clean," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "I didn’t know this room was yours, Alpha. I’ll leave—"
"Stop."
His voice wasn’t loud, but it froze her.
Selena obeyed. She couldn’t move even if she wanted to.
Lucian walked slowly around her, eyes lingering on the fresh bruises on her knees, the way her oversized tunic hung off her shoulders. His gaze wasn’t hungry.
It was haunted.
He had wanted to see her for days. Since that branding but he always held himself from visiting her. He hated how much he wanted to see her.
Because he rembered.
He rembered her soft laugh at thirteen.
He rembered her silver eyes filled with wonder.
He rembered her dancing with him at his birthday like she thought the world was beautiful.
And he rembered her expressionless and icy face, as his mother’s life spilled across the floor four years ago..
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