Unwanted Changes

The gates slammed shut behind her.

Selene ran down the narrow road, her cloak flying around her legs. Drums and howls still echoed from the fortress. Her lungs burned, but she didn’t stop.

Not while his voice still followed her in her mind.

Not yet.

The words clung to her like smoke. She rubbed her wrist where he had held her. There was no bruise, no mark but she could still feel him there.

His golden eyes haunted her. His blood-covered body. Every time she blinked, she saw him again.

She joined the crowd of villagers leaving the fortress before the gates closed for the night. No one looked at her. Good. She pulled her hood lower and moved quickly.

But inside, she was shaking.

Her stomach twisted. Her heart raced. Each step away from the fortress should have made her feel safe, but instead, the fear grew heavier in her chest.

The road curved into darkness. Forests stretched on both sides. The cool air smelled of pine and wet earth. She breathed deeply, trying to wash the fortress out of her lungs but she could still taste the smoke and blood.

She stopped at the tree line, pressing her forehead against rough bark. Her hands shook. She wanted to cry, to scream, to forget the sound of his voice in her ear.

“You don’t own me,” she whispered.

The forest didn’t answer.

Even she didn’t believe her own words.

When she reached the village, smoke rose from the chimneys. The smell of soup and ale filled the air. Wolves stood in doorways, drunk and laughing after the ceremony.

Selene pulled her cloak tighter and hurried to the small cottage at the edge of the village. A single candle burned inside.

Nyra was waiting.

The door opened before Selene could knock. Her cousin stood there, arms crossed, dark braids over her shoulders, eyes sharp.

“You went,” Nyra hissed.

Selene slipped inside and closed the door. “Keep your voice down.”

“Do you want to die?” Nyra snapped. “The Moonfire is for nobles, not for us. If the guards had caught you”

“They didn’t,” Selene said quickly. Her chest still rose and fell fast. Her skin still tingled where Dorian had touched her. She pulled down her hood and rubbed her wrist.

Nyra’s gaze went straight to it. “What happened?”

Selene froze.

“Don’t lie to me,” Nyra said. “Something happened.”

For a moment, Selene saw it all again the fire circle, the blood, the crowd bowing, his eyes finding hers. She swallowed hard.

“It was nothing,” she whispered.

Nyra slammed her hand on the table. “Nothing? The whole village is talking! Someone said the heir looked at a cloaked girl. That he spoke to her. If they find out it was you-”

“Then I’ll deny it,” Selene cut in. Her voice was calm, but inside she was trembling. “They’ll forget by morning.”

Nyra stared at her, then shook her head. “You’re cursed, Selene. Just like the rest of us. But don’t drag me down with you.”

Selene’s chest tightened. “I didn’t ask to be born into this bloodline.”

“No,” Nyra said softly, her anger fading into fear. “But you’ll die for it if you’re not careful. And the Veyraths will be the ones to kill you.”

Silence filled the room. Selene turned away, still rubbing her wrist. She didn’t want to admit it, but she knew the truth deep down

She was already marked.

Nyra blew out the candle. Darkness filled the cottage. Only the moonlight through the shutters lit her pale face.

“You don’t understand,” Nyra whispered. “Our bloodline was never meant to survive. We’re not wolves. We’re offerings. That’s what the goddess made us.”

Selene’s chest ached. She’d heard the whispers all her life the pity, the names. But hearing Nyra say it out loud made it worse.

“That’s just an old story,” Selene muttered. “A tale to keep us afraid.”

Nyra shook her head. “It’s real. Our mothers carried it. Their mothers before them. Don’t you remember the stories about the blood moon? The goddess marked us as her sacrifice line.”

Selene’s throat tightened. She remembered her mother’s hollow eyes, her shaking hands on ritual nights, the way she cried after.

Nyra’s voice rose, sharp with fear. “And you stood in front of the heir? You might as well have thrown yourself into the fire.”

“I didn’t mean to”

“You never mean to,” Nyra said. “But it always finds us the goddess, the curse, the bloodline. We can’t escape it. And now…”

She looked at Selene’s wrist, where the skin still glowed faintly red.

“Now you’ve been seen.”

Selene hugged herself. She wanted to disappear. But the truth pressed down on her she had been seen. Not just by the crowd. By him.

Those golden eyes. That voice.

Not yet.

Her stomach twisted. She didn’t want to believe Nyra, but deep inside, something whispered, 

the curse had finally found her.

When Nyra fell asleep, Selene lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The fire was only embers now, but her skin still burned.

She threw off her cloak, tugged at her tunic, but the heat didn’t fade. Sweat covered her neck and chest.

It wasn’t just warmth. It was wrong.

Her body felt strangetoo tight, too full. She pressed a hand to her stomach. No wound, no bruise, but there was a heavy, pulsing feeling deep inside.

“The smoke from the ritual,” she whispered. “That’s all it is.”

But her heart said otherwise.

She’d felt strange since Dorian looked at her. Since his voice had brushed her skin. It was as if the goddess had used him to mark her.

Selene sat up, holding her knees. Her stomach twisted. Her head pounded. Still, she could feel the ghost of his hand on her wrist.

“You don’t own me,” she whispered into the dark.

But her body trembled.

Because part of her already knew

he did.