Selene's POV
The wind smelled like ashes.
That was all that remained of my home, just smoke and ruin drifting through the air like a cruel memory that refused to fade.
I staggered forward as one of the guards shoved me from behind. His grip was sharp and unforgiving. My bare feet scraped against the rough, jagged path that led toward the gates. Every step sent another jolt of pain through my swollen ankles. My legs trembled beneath me, barely holding me upright, my skin raw and streaked with grime, blood, and dried tears. The filth had long since crusted over my pale skin. I couldn't tell what hurt more, the ache in my bones or the shame digging deeper than any wound.
The chains rattled with every movement. Thick iron cuffs bit into my wrists, crusted red where they had rubbed the skin raw. A heavy chain wrapped tightly around my waist, binding me to the others behind me. There were only five of us now, five noble daughters who had survived the fall of our pack. Warriors, elders, ranked wolves... all of them were gone. Slaughtered in a single night.
Only the women and children remained. And of those, only the lowest omegas had been left untouched. Because they were worthless, powerless, not even worth the trouble of chaining.
But not me.
I am Selene Moonveil, the daughter of Alpha Eirik Moonveil.
The monster who ruled Crimson Fang pack with violence. The tyrant who had once brought an entire rival pack to its knees in war. And now his enemies had returned, stronger than ever, and they had come not just for him... but for me.
My long silver hair was tangled with blood and dirt, hanging in heavy knots down my back. My lips were cracked and split, the taste of iron still fresh in my mouth. I could barely see through my right eye, the skin around it was bruised and swollen shut. My collarbone throbbed where the chain had scraped through the top layers of skin. Every breath I took was shallow, my lungs too tired to do more.
I am only seventeen. I hadn't even awakened my wolf yet.
And I was being marched through enemy territory, chained and marked like a prisoner of war.
Each time the distant gates loomed larger, my chest tightened. My steps slowed, even when I was yanked forward. I could feel it in my bones that the real punishment is still far ahead for...
A war criminal.
The words kept echoing in my head, twisting around my thoughts until I couldn't tell what was real anymore.
I didn't kill anyone.
I didn't even fight that day.
I was barely thirteen.
They think I did.
But why can't I remember?
The questions never stopped. They stabbed at me from the inside, louder than the guards' insults, heavier than the chains around my waist.
A harsh tug from the guard behind me snapped me back to the present. I stumbled and nearly fell. He spat at my feet and hissed, "Keep walking, murderer."
I didn't speak. My throat was too dry. My tongue was thick and heavy in my mouth, and I tasted blood every time I tried to swallow. The other girls, noble daughters like me...kept their eyes on the ground. They didn't speak either. We were all chained now. Even they, with their Beta and Gamma bloodlines, hadn't escaped the shame.
But still... none of them were treated like me.
They weren't beaten.
I was.
I lifted my head only once, just as the tall black gates groaned open before us. The sound made my skin crawl. What lay beyond them wasn't safety. It wasn't hope.
It was the Silver Dawn Pack, but for me...my nightmare.
It was cold...not in temperature, but in spirit. Everything was dark and precise, the pathways paved with perfect stone, the walls tall and fortified like a fortress carved from obsidian. There was no warmth here, only discipline, control and mistrust carved into every structure.
Eyes watched us from every direction. Warriors along the battlements. She-wolves behind shuttered windows. Even pups peeked out from behind the legs of stronger wolves, their stares wide and full of fear... and hate.
And then came the whispers, soft and cutting like blades in the wind.
"That's her."
"The alpha's brat."
"The one who slit our people's throat."
"Why isn't she dead yet?"
I wanted to scream. To beg them to believe me.
I didn't do it.
I don't even remember that night.
I didn't kill anyone. I swear it.
But I knew they wouldn't listen. Not with the Moonveil name trailing behind me like a shadow I could never outrun. Not with my wrists in chains and my body marked with the scar of a whips.
Then... I saw them.
Standing beneath the sigil of the Duskdraven bloodline were four tall figures.
My blood ran cold.
I knew who they were even before the guards dragged me closer.
Aeron Duskdraven, the firstborn. The leader, his expression was unreadable, carved from stone. His steel-gray eyes watched without flinching. It was cold and calculating.
Luca Duskdraven, the second. The one who couldn't hide his anger. His jaw was clenched so tight I thought his teeth might crack. His hands twitched at his sides as I approached. Rage lived just beneath his skin.
Kael Duskdraven, the third. He was refined and silent. There was a sharpness in his gaze, a stillness that made him the most dangerous. Like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
And the youngest...Lucian Duskdraven.
He didn't hide his amusement. He watched me with a slow, dangerous smirk, like this was a game and I was just another broken toy tossed at his feet. It wasn't kindness in his expression. It was cruelty in silk.
By the time we reached them, my legs had given up. My knees buckled, and I collapsed. The guards didn't bother helping me. My knees slammed into the stone courtyard. I tasted blood again. I stayed there...face down, gasping and head spinning.
The chains coiled around me with a hollow clink.
Silence settled around us like a storm waiting to break.
And as I knelt in the heart of their territory...before the men who annihilated my people, I realized something I hadn't let myself admit before.
They would never see me as anything but a monster.
Even if they found the truth...
Even if the Moon Goddess herself stood beside me...
They wouldn't care.
Because they didn't want justice.
They wanted me broken.
And deep down... I knew they were going to succeed.