Chapter 3 The Alpha's Warning

"You're up late again, Selene. That's the third night in a row."

Selene didn't need to look to know the voice. Lyra's concern always wore the same edge, part warmth, part quiet disappointment.

"I couldn't sleep," Selene murmured, arms wrapped tightly around herself. The moon bathed the clearing in a soft silver light, but it did nothing to ease the chill that clung to her bones. "Thought the air might help."

"Or maybe it's the silence you like," Lyra said, stepping closer, her voice low. "No one here to stare. No one whispering about how you're still... you know."

"Broken," Selene finished for her. She didn't bother pretending anymore. "You can say it."

Lyra flinched. "That's not what I meant."

"But it's what everyone thinks." Selene turned to face her friend, her voice calm but hollow. "They just don't say it out loud. Not always."

Lyra sighed, her arms folding as she leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree. "They don't understand you, Selene. That doesn't make them right."

"It doesn't make them wrong either."

The night settled between them, quiet except for the faint rustle of the trees and the occasional distant howl from one of the outer patrols. Selene stared into the shadows, wishing she could disappear into them.

"Caelum cornered me earlier," she said after a long pause. "Told me I had no place here if my wolf doesn't come soon."

Lyra's breath hitched. "He said that?"

Selene nodded slowly, every word from earlier echoing in her mind like a curse. "Told me I'm a flaw in the system. That I'm wasting time. That I'm expendable."

"That bastard," Lyra snapped, pushing away from the tree. "He doesn't get to decide your worth. He's not the goddess. Just because he was born Alpha doesn't mean he knows everything."

"He wasn't wrong." Selene's voice was quiet but firm. "What am I, Lyra? Everyone else has their bond. They're stronger. Faster. They belong. I'm still just... human."

"No," Lyra said firmly. "You're more than that. You're the strongest person I know, and that's not just talk. You've stayed. Even when everything in this place screams at you to run, you stay."

"I don't stay because I'm strong. I stay because I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Still," Lyra said, "you don't back down. That matters."

Selene closed her eyes. For a moment, she let herself feel the warmth of those words. But it didn't last.

She turned, starting toward her cabin. "I need to be alone. Just for a little while."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Her voice was tight. "I'll be fine."

Lyra didn't push. She just nodded and watched Selene slip into the trees.

The path to her cabin was narrow, hidden beneath roots and thick brush. It wasn't far from the others, but it always felt like another world. Her world. The outsider's corner.

When she stepped inside, the quiet swallowed her whole. No lanterns were lit. No fire crackled. She didn't bother lighting one. She just sat on the edge of her bed, letting the darkness press in around her.

Her fingers trembled as they unlatched the small wooden box under her bed. Inside were relics from a life before the disappointment, before the silence, the day she first believed her wolf would awaken. A feather. A smooth stone. A ribbon from her childhood.

She used to keep hope in that box. Now, it just held memories she couldn't bear to burn.

The knock came sudden and sharp.

Selene flinched. Her body stiffened as her eyes flew to the door. It was late, too late for anyone to be visiting.

Another knock.

She rose slowly, each step to the door deliberate. She opened it just a crack.

Lucian.

"You're not good at staying alone," he said, arms crossed casually over his chest.

"How did you find me?"

He shrugged. "Wasn't hard. You leave a trail without realizing it. Heavy feet. Sad eyes."

"Go away." She tried to shut the door, but he caught it.

"You asked me something yesterday," he said. "You asked why I cared. You didn't let me answer."

"I don't want your pity."

"I don't offer pity."

"Then what do you offer?" Her voice cracked with exhaustion.

Lucian stepped inside before she could stop him. "A way out."

Selene blinked. "Out of what? The pack? This life?"

"Out of this cage they've built around you," he said, voice low. "You've been conditioned to believe you're less because your wolf hasn't shown. You're not. You're not less. You're just different."

"And that matters?"

"It does to me."

Selene stared at him, not trusting the sincerity she saw in his eyes. "You don't know me."

"I know enough. I know you've been dying here. Slowly. Quietly. And I know I can help."

"How?" she whispered. "You're not a healer. You can't conjure a wolf out of thin air."

"No," he said. "But I can take you somewhere that might awaken what's inside you. Somewhere away from these chains."

She hesitated. The idea was tempting, more than tempting. But it was terrifying too.

"If I leave," she said, "they'll never take me back."

"Good," he replied simply.

She swallowed. "And if I don't find anything there either?"

"Then you'll at least know it wasn't because you stayed in the wrong place."

Silence fell again. Selene stared at him, searching for the lie, but there was none. Just stillness. And something close to hope.

"I need time to think," she said finally.

"You don't have much," Lucian replied. "Caelum's making plans. They involve you, just not in the way you'd like."

"What does that mean?"

Lucian didn't answer. He turned to leave, pausing at the door.

"When you're ready, come find me. I'll be watching."

Then he was gone.

Selene closed the door and leaned her head against it. Her hands were shaking again. But not from fear.

From possibility.

From change.

For the first time in months, something stirred in her, not her wolf, not yet, but something close. A flicker of strength. A flicker of belief.

She stepped back into the room, lit a single lantern, and sat down on her bed.

This wasn't over.

She just had to choose the right moment to rise.