Chapter Seven

Cassiopeia Nyx

My fingers shook as I curled into myself on the bed, rocking my entire figure as if I could shake myself out of this nightmare.

The Alpha King. My mate. I had lived my entire life surrounded by alpha males, but none like him. They ruled with strength, but he ruled with fear, and now my fate was tied to his—a fate I would never escape.

I had been surrounded by alpha males all my life, and now I was bound to the worst and cruelest of them all.

What more could the Moon Goddess want from me? Had my birth offended her so deeply? First, she let my pack shun me, marked me with disgrace. And now, she’d cursed me to this fate, bound to a man whose name alone made wolves tremble.

Did she really hate my existence so much that she had to line up all these tragedies for me? Was I really cursed?

Did I really deserve all this?

Maybe I did. My life began with the end of another.

A frustrated cry escaped my lips as I fisted my hair. I wouldn’t even be having this thought if I had just died in peace.

Why couldn’t I die?

The Alpha King was my mate.

Tears dribbled down my cheeks, wetting the strange clothes that adorned my body. The room felt like a prison, its four stone walls closing in on me. The bed was too soft, the air too cold, the scent of lavender thick in my nostrils. Everything about this place made my skin crawl, a reminder that I didn’t belong here. I just needed to leave.

I didn't know how long I sat by the edge of the bed, dreading the moment the Alpha King would come to reign his wrath and terror on me.

A knock on the door sent spine-shattering fear through me, my eyes wide open in seconds. The knock resounded again, but I remained silent, hoping that whoever it was would just go away and leave me alone.

I fisted the sheets, my eyes darting across the room, searching for somewhere I could hide, at least to stall the torture.

There was nothing.

A small cry for help escaped my lips as I fisted the sheets helplessly.

“Luna, please, can I come in?” a small voice called out, soothing my worries a little. At least it wasn’t the Alpha King. But as a certain thought formed, my breath hitched, the tiny reprieve I felt vanishing in an instant. My chest tightened, and a wave of nausea churned inside me as panic set in again.

He could have sent someone else to torture me. After all, back at the Moonstone pack, I’d lost count of how many times they came for me. Women—many of them mothers, daughters, and sisters—sent by the Alpha to break me. Some hesitated, regret written on their faces. Others enjoyed it, their fingers digging into my skin with savage delight. Each lash, each bruise, had reminded me that I wasn’t worth saving.

The door opened suddenly, without my consent, and a small scream tumbled out of my lips. I scrambled backward, my shoulder clashing with the headboard, sending tendrils of pain through my back. I reined in the scream with gritted teeth.

A girl no taller than me walked in with a tray of food in her arms, the look in her eyes none other than pity as she sought out my huddled form at the far end of the bed, wrapped in a heap of blankets as if trying to make myself invisible.

She tried to move closer, but I shook my head vehemently, halting her motions.

“Please, my queen, just a bite,” she whispered, her voice small, like a child afraid of being caught. Her eyes flicked toward the door, nervous. “You’ll get sick if you don’t.” She persuaded, a worried look etched on her face.

A shiver of disgust racked through me at the sound of the title that felt more like a chain. It sounded like I would forever be this Luna queen, a slave to the most cruel and heartless person that had ever walked the earth. He was so cruel that the Moon Goddess had denied him a mate, and to further punish us both, she then mated me to him.

Well played.

“I don’t want anything from this place,” I yelled in frustration, startling her in the process. “Leave me alone!”

She seemed at a loss for words, resorting to taking a few steps backward as if that were to change my mind somehow.

“Please,” I whimpered, my voice cracking at the end. A flood of emotions washed over me as I closed my eyes in exhaustion.

“Forgive me, Luna Queen,” she mumbled with a curt bow before stepping out of the room.

I sighed in relief as the door closed behind her, leaving me in the sanctity of my solitude.

My short-lived relief evaporated the moment an ominous knock sounded on the door again. This time, the knock was hesitant, as if the person behind it was contemplating whether to come in or not.

I knew who it was already.

The Alpha King.

His presence washed over the room like a storm cloud, heavy and suffocating. Even before I saw him, I could feel him—the sharpness of his power cutting through the air. The Alpha King didn’t just enter a room; he consumed it.

My heart rate skyrocketed to a painful tempo, which I could feel in my entire body. There was a certain buzz in the air; it was intoxicating as well as nerve-wracking.

Was he finally here to play with me?

I steadied my heartbeat, ready to brace myself for the pain. I had gone through this a hundred thousand times.

The Alpha King was nothing.

My toes curled in the bedsheets as the door started to push open, my breath catching in my throat.

I looked like a rigid board, not a single sign of movement.

His figure swallowed the entire room as he walked in with the tray that had seemed so large in the arms of the previous girl, now resting carefully in his palm. The tray now resembled a plate.

Oh, the Alpha King was everything.

I didn’t dare look at his face, instead focusing my gaze on the floorboards, exhaustion and weariness creeping in like a silent viper.

“Cassie,” his voice was softer than I expected, almost a murmur. “You need your strength.” His eyes, sharp as knives, locked onto mine, but there was something else there—hesitation, as if he wasn’t sure how to approach me.

He looked apprehensive as he stood by the door, there was a heaviness in his movements, as if he was afraid to step into the room.

I eyed his movements carefully as he closed the door behind him, his eyes never leaving my figure. It was torture. I needed to breathe, but his presence seemed to be taking up all the oxygen in the room.

“Can I come closer?” he asked again, his voice lowering to an almost indecipherable tone.

I shook my head vehemently.

I didn’t want anyone, least of all him.