Nobela ni ALEXA

CASSIAN. My eyes flew open.A sharp breath tore from my lips as I stared at the ceiling, my heart slamming against my ribs. Slowly, I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. My hand pressed against my left pec, right over my heart. It achedA strange, deep ache.My gaze wandered over to the window, the soft moonlight creating long shadows on the floor.I glared at nothing, his thoughts a storm.Could it be…Was it her?My stomach turned, an old, almost primal sense settling heavy in my belly.If my gut was correct…Then I was about to see her soon.My heart revved up a gear. Excitement. Dread. Anticipation. Fear. Pain.It all twisted into a living, breathing thing, curling in my chest like a tempest waiting to break.I released a rough breath, shoving my hand through my hair. No time for wallowing.I shrugged my shoulders, cracking mu knuckles before I headed into the bathroom.By the time I came out of my room, I was all business.After all, he wasn’t just anyone.I

SELENE. Pain.It was all I knew.The lash of the whip, the searing burn as it bit into my flesh. The wet warmth of blood trickling down my back, soaking into the ragged edges of my dress.I’d endured countless wounds throughout my existence. Beatings. Bruises. Humiliation. But never before had I honestly wanted to die as I did now.I tried to block it out, to let myself float, but Kieran's raging demands pulled me back to the land of the living."Tell me the truth, Selene!"I lifted my head, blear-eyed. "I don't— " my throat was sore from screaming. "I don't know what you're talking about."The whip descended again.I gagged on a sob.Somewhere outside the dungeon's little, barred window, the sky had gone dark to a deep crimson.A Blood Moon.How fitting. How symbolic.I was going to die under a Blood Moon.Kieran exhaled a rough breath, stepping back, his expression changing from anger to frustration. He was wearing thin.The guards glanced at each other nervously, sensing tension.

SELENE. I was hauling grain*m to the pack storehouse when i initially heard the commotion.I barely reacted.My head was blank, my feelings numb. I’d been operating on autopilot for the past week, forcing myself to go through the motions just to live. It was the only way of keeping the overwhelming despair at bay, from claiming my entirely.I stooped to pick up another sack when I heard the silence.People were parting ways. Making a path. Then, "Miss Selene?"The way it was said made me pause. I turned and saw two guards in front of me, looming over me.Their faces were full of scorn. Sneers curled their lips, their eyes glinting with barely concealed disdain. They looked at me like I was lesser than the dirt beneath their boots. One of them, a burly man with a deep scar across his jaw, crossed his arms. “You’re to come with us.”I barely had time to process the words before they grabbed me. Rough hands clamped around my arms, yanking me forward.I cried out, stumbling as they

SELENE. The Moon Festival arrived in what felt like the snap of a finger. The pack had prepared for weeks, and now the celebrations had begun. The entire village was bathed in silver and gold, with silk banners stretched between the houses, the glowing lanterns illuminating the streets, and garlands of white flowers hanging across made archways. The smell of roasting meats and wine and spices filled the air, and there was laughter everywhere.I finished my work early, making sure that I would not get in anyone's way. In the late evening, the pack square was beginning to fill with wolves streaming towards the festival grounds.Now alone in the little room I’d been allocated, I brought out a dress I’d had kept for years, something I’d had never found the courage to wear. It had belonged to my mom. It was simple but beautiful, pale blue soft fabric that glistened faintly in the light. I held it over my body in the cracked mirror of the hallway, looking at myself. What if I actually met

SELENE.To survive in Lycoris, you had to be up there. It was up there or nothing. If you were down here, then you were lower class, the scum. And I was the scum of scum. But I had noble blood. Beta blood. It didn’t matter, though. Not anymore. Not since I was seven, when my father, the honorable Beta of the Moonveil Pack, was publicly put to death for treason. His name was soiled in the mud, his family stripped of their status, and his only crime being loyalty to the wrong person, the former Alpha, deposed by Kieran's father in a vicious coup.Three days after my father was beheaded, my mother had killed herself. They were fated to be mates, joined together by passion so strong that each could not survive without the other. I remembered that morning clearly, waking up to icy arms around me, the scent of lilacs and rain abandoning my mother's body.I had been alone since then.The pack hadn't killed me. No, they had done something worse. They had left me alive as a slave.For ne