Chapter 3 Three

Selene's POV

I should've died in that river.

The current was fast, the rocks were sharp, and the cold bit into my skin like punishment. But instead of slipping beneath the surface and letting it all go, I crawled out like some stubborn shadow that refused to fade.

And now, I've traded water for chains.

Perfect.

"You smell that?" one of the guards mutters as they drag me between them. "Burnt pine and... something wrong."

"It's her," the other one grunts. "Rogue bitch nearly torched an entire border patrol."

I smile, blood in my mouth. "You should've died slower."

He punches me in the side. I grunt, but I don't stop smiling.

If I'm going down, I'm going down feral.

They shove me into a wide hall, stone walls, torches flickering, ancient carvings that hum with power. The Blood Moon Packhouse. I've only heard rumors about it. About him.

Alpha Aidan.

The Cursed Alpha.

Great. Just my luck.

I stumble forward as the doors swing open. And there he is, on a raised platform, flanked by two Betas. Broad-shouldered, stone-faced, arms crossed like a man born to command. His eyes....dark, unreadable....landed on mine.

And everything else falls away.

Snap.

The bond hits me like a blade to the ribs.

Pain.

Heat.

Need.

Oh, Moon.

No.

"Alpha," one of the guards says. "We caught her breaching the eastern border. She fought off three of us. Killed one. She's-"

"Leave us."

The guard freezes. "Sir?"

"Now."

"But-"

A growl rolls through the room. Deep. Ancient. Not a warning. A promise.

They scramble out without another word, slamming the doors behind them.

Now it's just the two of us.

Alpha Aidan stares at me like he's already dissecting every part of who I am.

I straighten, blood dripping down my arm. "You going to kill me, or just stare until I rot?"

His voice is calm. Cold. "You felt it."

"Didn't ask for it."

"Neither did I."

We stand in silence, the bond pulsing between us like a living thing, clawing at my chest, demanding submission.

I bare my teeth. "Don't expect me to kneel."

"I wouldn't insult you by asking."

His words are gentle. But there's steel under them.

He moves closer, one step at a time. No sudden moves, like I'm some wild thing he doesn't want to spook.

Smart man.

"You trespassed," he says. "You killed one of mine."

"In self-defense."

"You resisted arrest."

"They weren't exactly polite."

"You crossed into my land."

"I was running from worse."

He narrows his eyes. "Rogue hunters?"

"Not just any hunters. The kind that know what I am."

"And what are you?"

I laugh, sharp and broken. "You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

I meet his eyes. The pull between us is maddening, like a thread wrapped around my lungs.

"Part wolf," I say. "Part something else."

He tilts his head. "Witch?"

"Not exactly."

"But close."

"Close enough to make most packs want my head on a spike."

He circles me now, slow and deliberate. "Why come here?"

"I didn't mean to."

"And yet here you are."

I snap, "What do you want from me, Alpha? A confession? An apology? I didn't ask for this bond."

"No one ever does."

His voice sounds... tired.

I glance at him sharply. "You've felt this before."

He stops behind me. "Three times."

I stiffen.

I've heard the stories.

Three mates. All dead.

All marked by the Moon.

"Then you know how this ends," I whisper.

His voice is like ice behind me. "It doesn't have to."

I spin to face him. "You think you can break it?"

"No."

"Then we're both dead men walking."

"Maybe," he says. "Or maybe this time... you're different."

The bond tugs again, tighter. I can feel his power...dominant, ancient, impossible to ignore and still, my wolf refuses to submit.

He notices.

"You're resisting it," he says.

"Wouldn't you?"

"Every second."

We stare at each other, breathing hard, the bond simmering between us like a wire ready to snap.

And then, softly, he says, "What's your name?"

I hesitate.

Giving him my name feels like handing him a blade.

But something in his quiet, almost reverent voice makes me speak.

"Selene."

Aidan exhales. "Selene."

And the sound of my name in his mouth? It almost breaks me.

Almost.

He moves to the table, pours a glass of water, hands it to me. I stare at it like it's poison.

"Drink," he says. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine."

"You're not."

I take the water. Drink it. My hands shake.

He notices that too.

"What do they want with you, Selene?"

"Who?"

"The rogue hunters."

I say nothing.

He steps closer again. "Tell me."

"They think I'm part of some prophecy."

His brow furrows. "What prophecy?"

I laugh bitterly. "The kind that gets you killed."

"Be specific."

I lift my gaze. "They think I'm the key to ending the curse. Yours. Mine. All of it."

His jaw tightens. "That sounds like fantasy."

"Everything about this is fantasy."

He studies me. "Do you believe it?"

"I don't have the luxury of belief. I have survived."

And then his scent shifts.

Something in him goes tense. Cold. I feel it before I hear the words.

"There's someone inside the walls."

I still go. "What?"

He turns toward the door just as it slams open.

Marcus barrels in, eyes wild. "Alpha we've been breached. Someone just took out two guards near the north wing."

Aidan's entire posture changes. Alpha mode. Power radiates off him in waves.

"How many?"

"Unknown. But whoever it is... they're looking for her."

Both their eyes swing to me.

I swallow. "They found me."

Aidan steps forward, eyes burning. "Then you stay with me."

"I don't need-"

"You do. Until I understand what's haunting you and why this bond snapped like fate itself shoved you into my arms, you don't leave my sight."

My pulse hammers.

His voice is hard. Final.

"You're mine now, Selene."

I open my mouth to argue-

-but a blast rocks the wall behind us. Dust rains down from the ceiling.

Marcus swears. "They're inside the packhouse."

I whirl toward the noise, heart slamming in my chest.

And then I feel it.

A power...dark, cold, wrong...pressing against the edge of my senses like fingers trailing across my spine.

Not wolves.

Not hunters.

Something older.

Something that knows my name.

Aidan moves to stand in front of me, shielding me without thinking.

I should hate that.

But I don't.

Because deep in my gut, I know:

Whatever's coming...

It's not here for him.

It's here for me.