Shadows Of The Past

Diva stood alone in the dim corridor, the cold stone walls pressing in like the weight of her own tangled thoughts. The flickering torchlight cast long, uncertain shadows that stretched and twisted with every breath she took. Around her, the great mansion lay silent, but inside her mind, a storm raged fiercely.

Her hands clenched tightly around the silver pendant she always wore—the mark of the Luna. It glinted faintly in the torchlight, but to her, it was a chain as much as a symbol. The bond that had tied her to Derek had unraveled, a fading thread that left her untethered, unsure, and more alone than ever.

Derek Luna.

The name burned bitter on her tongue.

Because she remembered. How could she forget?

Since the Smoothsayer had named her as his Luna, everything had changed. There was no tenderness, no whispered promises in the dark. Only control. Derek had claimed her like a prize but never as a partner. Every step she took, every breath she drew, was watched, measured, and twisted to serve his will.

She had become his possession — a wolf caged not by iron but by expectation, by the weight of a bond she had never truly asked for.

She remembered the coldness in his eyes, the sharp edge beneath his words, the way his hands never quite held her gently but gripped tightly, as if fearing she might slip away. His commands had shaped her days, and his silence had haunted her nights.

There was no love in those memories. Only power and possession.

And yet... she had stayed. For what? Loyalty? Duty? Or fear of what the world would say if she walked away?

The pack had always whispered about her — the weak Luna who followed a broken Alpha, the girl bound by fate but lacking the fire to claim her own path. Diva had felt their judgment like claws sinking into her skin, the relentless bite of their doubts and scorn.

If I leave, she thought, what then?

Could she survive the cold truth outside these walls? A life where her name was nothing but a joke, where weakness was all anyone remembered? A lone wolf cast out, stripped of status and protection, hunted by the ghosts of her past?

The thought twisted in her gut, tight and suffocating.

Her claws scraped the stone floor as she paced, restless and searching. The moonlight filtering through the tall windows only deepened her shadows — a cruel reminder that even beneath the brightest light, darkness lingered.

She sank down against the wall, the pendant slipping from her fingers to clatter softly beside her. Her eyes closed, seeking solace in the silence, but the memories came crashing back like storm-tossed waves.

Derek’s voice. Harsh, commanding. “Stay where I can see you.”

His eyes. Cold and sharp, scanning her as though she were a wolf to be tamed, not a mate to be loved.

His grip. Unyielding, a reminder that she was never free.

Was this love? she asked herself bitterly.

No. It was control masked in the guise of protection.

Yet despite it all, despite the pain and the endless struggle, a part of her still ached with the faintest glimmer of something she couldn’t name — perhaps the ghost of hope, or the weight of duty still lingering in her bones.

The pack’s distant howl echoed through the night, a primal call that stirred the wild blood inside her veins. It was a call to freedom, to wildness, to running free beneath the endless sky.

But could she answer it? Could she leave Derek and face the world alone? Could she survive the cold eyes and whispered rumors? Could she reclaim the fierce wolf inside her without losing herself completely?

Her breath caught, ragged and uneven. The fight with Ronan, the fading bond, the bitter memories — it all left her raw, vulnerable, torn between who she was and who she might become.

She imagined herself running free through the forest, her wolf untamed, her howl ringing out without chains. That wildness called to her, tempting her with the promise of freedom and power beyond any bond.

But then her mind shifted, and she saw Derek’s face — not the cold Alpha, but the man beneath. Weary, burdened, and strangely… hopeful.

He had started to soften, in ways he hadn’t shown before. The way his eyes lingered a moment too long, the rare flickers of concern beneath his harsh words. He was changing, just as she was. Yet she didn’t know if that change was enough to hold them together.

Her heart ached with the question: Could she love him? Did she want to?

Or was she just afraid to be alone?

The moonlight shifted as clouds passed overhead, and the corridor plunged briefly into darkness. Diva’s fingers curled into fists, nails digging into her palms. She had no answers. Only this ache of uncertainty, this battle raging inside her.

The bond was gone. The control was slipping. And with it, the path ahead was hers to choose — but which way should she step?

Could she stay, claim what little peace remained with Derek, and try to rebuild from the ashes?

Or should she break free, risk everything, and find her own strength beyond the shadow of the Luna she had been forced to become?

She opened her eyes, the silver pendant catching the light once more. It was no longer a chain, but a symbol of choice. The past had shaped her, but it would not define her.

Whatever she decided, the wolf inside her was awake now, fierce and wild and ready to fight for her own destiny.

For now, the night held its breath — waiting for her to decide.