The heavy silence of the mountain night was broken only by the low, predatory hum of the forest, but inside the cramped quarters of the Moonshine pack house, the air felt thick enough to choke.
Selene had barely made it back to her room before collapsing onto the quilt, her body trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and skin-crawling revulsion.
"That bad?" Megan's voice was a soft anchor in the gloom.
Selene let out a groan that was half-sob, half-growl, burying her face in the pillow. "He asked if he could mark me," she muffled into the fabric. "Right there. In the middle of that... that slaughterhouse he calls a restaurant."
Megan let out a sharp, audible gasp, her eyes widening. "That was fast. Even for a desperate Alpha."
"I said no, obviously," Selene said, rolling onto her back to stare at the timber ceiling.
Leah walked in a moment later, her expression uncharacteristically grim, and sat beside Megan. The three of them formed a small circle of light in a place that felt increasingly dark.
Selene leaned in, her voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "Do you guys know anything about how this pack actually functions? The women... they're treated like livestock. They stay inside all day to 'tend to mately duties.' It's a prison disguised as a household. They are forced into these traditional roles that feel more like domestic slavery."
Leah's jaw tightened. "It's the Old Way," she murmured. "But even the Old Way had honor. This... this sounds like rot."
"And the best part?" Selene's laugh was brittle. "Nik bragged about killing his parents and his older brother for the title. He even killed his sister because she was 'judgmental.' He called her a bitch, Leah. Like her life was worth nothing because she dared to speak."
The two Lycan women sat in stunned silence. The King was feared, yes, but he was a man of cold, hard justice. Nik was a man of chaotic, selfish cruelty.
"So, are we leaving?" Leah asked, her hand moving toward the hilt of the blade hidden in her boot. "Are you choosing Leo?"
Selene closed her eyes, her heart aching for the emerald-eyed King who was likely clutching a stuffed wolf miles away. "I'm giving it three days. I have to. I made a promise to the Goddess and to myself that I wouldn't be the one to break the pact. I need to know I gave him a proper chance so that when I reject him, it's final."
"You have such a huge heart, Selene," Megan said, shaking her head sadly. "Just don't let him abuse it. We're with you, no matter what."
Day three arrived like a funeral shroud.
The atmosphere in the Moonshine pack had curdled. Selene spent her time walking through the village- accompanied by a glaring Nik, and what she saw made her blood run cold. She saw bruises hidden under sleeves. She saw the way men spoke to their fated mates- not with love, but with a terrifying, casual ownership. She saw the rampant cheating, the discarded children, and the hollow eyes of women who had long ago stopped fighting.
And then there was Nik.
Every word out of his mouth was a testament to his narcissism. He spoke of his "manhood" with a vulgarity that made Selene want to claw her own ears off. He spoke of his impending victory over the King as if Leo were a mere nuisance. He viewed Selene not as a partner, but as the ultimate trophy- the white wolf that would legitimize his cruelty.
By the afternoon of the third day, the air pressure began to drop. A storm was brewing in the mountains, but a deadlier one was brewing in the hallway.
"Selene, follow me, will you?" Nik asked. His smile didn't reach his eyes; it was a hungry, jagged thing.
Megan and Leah shared a look of sharp alarm as Selene stood. She gave them a small, reassuring nod, though her own stomach was in knots. She followed Nik toward the Alpha's private wing, the heavy thud of his boots echoing like a countdown.
The moment they crossed the threshold into his room, the tone shifted. Nik didn't just close the door; he slammed it, the heavy iron bolt sliding home with a finality that made the hair on Selene's neck stand up.
"I'm claiming you, Selene," he stated, turning to face her. The facade of the "suitor" was gone, replaced by the raw, ugly reality of the predator. "You're not choosing that city-dwelling King over me."
Selene didn't back down. She crossed her arms, her blue-violet eyes flashing with a spark of the ancient power she had been trying to hide. "I haven't made a decision yet, Nik. And you are not marking me. Not today."
Nik let out a low, condescending tut. He began to circle her, his movements fluid and dangerous. "Oh, you have. I can smell the scent of him on you- that cedar and smoke. You've already picked him in your head. But I'm the Alpha of the North. I don't lose."
He lunged.
"No, Nik!" Selene hissed, trying to shove his hands away, but he was a wall of muscle fueled by a centuries-old entitlement. He grabbed her waist, his fingers digging into her skin with bruising force. "I said NO!"
"I'm done playing nice," Nik growled, his face inches from hers. "I tried to win you over with dinner and boots, and you looked at me like I was dirt. Now, we're doing this my way. Once the mark is set, the bond will snap into place, and you'll forget all about your perfect little King."
He shoved her. Selene hit the mattress with a thud that knocked the wind from her lungs. Before she could roll away, he was on top of her, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand.
"NO! Nik! STOP!" she screamed, thrashing beneath him. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, not with the flutter of attraction she felt for Leo, but with the frantic, cold terror of a cornered animal.
Nik ignored her. He reached down, his fingers fumbling with the buttons of her jeans. When they didn't give way fast enough, he let out a frustrated snarl and bit down on her neck- not a mark, but a brutal, punishing kiss that made her skin crawl.
"You're mine," he panted against her skin. "Mine to use. Mine to breed."
His hand moved lower, grabbing her breast with a crushing, violent grip. Selene let out a sharp yelp of pain, tears of rage and hurt springing to her eyes.
At that moment, the elements themselves seemed to react to her distress.
Outside, the sky turned a bruised, angry purple. The windows of the room blew inward with a deafening crack, the glass shattering as a gale-force wind swept into the chamber. Rain began to lash against the floor, and a peal of thunder shook the very foundations of the lodge.
"Shit!" Nik cursed, momentarily distracted by the sudden fury of the storm. He reached for his leather belt, whipping it off with a practiced motion. He used the heavy leather to lash Selene's wrists to the iron bedpost, the buckle digging into her skin. "Stay put, you bitch!"
He turned his back to wrestle with the shutters, the wind howling through the room like a wounded beast.
Selene didn't wait. The summoning magic she had been suppressing surged through her veins like liquid silver. She didn't just pull at the belt; she focused her intent on the molecules of the leather, making them slick and pliable. With a raw, guttural scream of effort, she ripped her hands free, the leather snapping under the sudden pressure of her magic.
She bolted for the door, her breath coming in ragged sobs. Her fingers found the lock, but before she could turn it, a heavy hand slammed into the wood beside her head.
Nik spun her around, his face a mask of pure, demonic rage. He didn't just grab her; he backhanded her. The blow caught her squarely on the side of the head, sending her spinning. Her vision blurred, black spots dancing in the corners of her eyes as she slumped against the door.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he growled, his voice a distorted rasp of Alpha dominance.
He grabbed her by the hair, dragging her back toward the bed. Selene groaned, the world tilting on its axis. The thudding in her head was rhythmic and deafening.
"Stop being irritating and just let me fucking mark you!" he spat, shoving her back onto the mattress. Selene tried to crawl toward the other side, her limbs feeling like lead, but she tumbled off the edge, hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
"Stop running from me!" Nik screamed. He reached over the bed, catching a fistful of her hair and hauling her upward. "Once I have you, we're taking that goddamn King down! I'll use your bond to lure him into a trap and I'll gut him while you watch!"
He threw her back onto the sheets and pinned her down with the full weight of his body. His wolf fangs elongated, glistening with saliva in the strobe-light flashes of the lightning outside. He dipped his head toward her jugular, the intent to violate her soul as well as her body clear in his eyes.
"Enough playing around," he whispered, his breath hot and foul against her skin. "I'm marking you now."
"No... you're not."
The voice didn't come from Selene.
It was a sound that didn't belong in the mortal world- a deep, resonant boom that carried the weight of ancient mountains and the heat of a dying star. The heavy oak door didn't just open; it exploded off its hinges, the wood splintering into a thousand shards as it crashed against the far wall.
Nik froze, his fangs inches from Selene's throat. He let out a frustrated snarl, his head snapping around toward the doorway. "Why the fuck are you interrupting me!?" he roared.
But as he stood up, his bravado vanished as if it had never been. His face went from flushed red to a deathly, waxen pale. His knees buckled slightly, his Alpha aura flickering out like a guttering candle in a hurricane.
Standing in the doorway was a figure cloaked in the shadows of the storm. The air around the newcomer was so cold it turned the falling rain into frost. Their eyes weren't green, and they weren't gold. They were a brilliant, blinding white, glowing with the power of a thousand moons.
"Because," the figure spoke, their voice vibrating in Selene's very marrow, "that is not how you treat a woman. Especially not one who belongs to the heavens."
Selene looked up through her blurred vision, her heart leaping. It wasn't Leo. It wasn't Nik.
It was something much, much older.