MasukBristonI was in the training grounds when I heard the roar that shook the entire fortress. It wasn't a normal wolf sound. It was the sound of my father's cursed beast and it made every hair on my body stand on end. I dropped the practice sword I was holding and ran toward the main building while my heart pounded in my chest.The guards in the hallway were backing away from the dining room with fear written all over their faces. I pushed past them and burst through the doors to find a scene that made my blood run cold.Melissa was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She was back in her human form and her body was twisted at angles that weren't natural. Her shoulder was torn open and I could see bone through the mangled flesh. Her ribs looked caved in on one side and her breathing was shallow and wet.My father stood in the center of the room with blood dripping from his hands and his eyes still glowing red from his shift. He looked at me with no remorse and no explanation.
MelissaI ran into my chamber and slammed the door behind me with enough force to rattle the frame. My hands were shaking as I wiped the tears from my face and tried to catch my breath but the sobs kept coming in waves that I couldn't control. I pressed my back against the door and slid down to the floor while my chest heaved with the weight of everything that had just happened.Property. He had called me property in front of his son and the entire household staff like I was a piece of furniture he had purchased at a market.I stayed there for a moment and let myself cry until my throat was raw and my eyes burned. Then I forced myself to stand up and look around the room that had become my prison. The expensive furniture and silk sheets meant nothing when I was locked in here every night like a criminal. The beautiful dresses hanging in the closet were just costumes I wore to play the role of Luna while everyone knew I was nothing more than a slave.I had no worth here. My boyfriend K
BristonI finished buttoning my shirt and was about to head out when the guard who had delivered the message cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to the other."And your young stepmother is there as well," he added with a shake of his head. "Oh poor thing, I feel so much pity for her."I stopped in my tracks and turned slowly to face him."What did you just say?" I asked quietly.The guard looked up at me with confusion and opened his mouth to repeat himself."I said your stepmother is there and she's such a poor..."My hand connected with his face before he could finish the sentence and the sound of the slap echoed through the room. He stumbled backward and grabbed his cheek while his eyes went wide with shock."You call your Luna a poor thing?" I growled as I stepped toward him. "How dare you?"I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of him."She is your Luna," I hissed in his face. "You will address her with
BristonI watched Melissa walk out of the training room and I couldn't stop staring at her like I was trying to read something written in a language I didn't understand. Her eyes looked like someone who had been going through hell, someone desperate for help but too proud or too scared to ask for it. The exhaustion was written in every line of her face and the way she moved with careful deliberation like her body was one wrong step away from breaking.Where did my father even buy her from? I thought to myself as I stood there frozen in place. Were her parents aware this was how she was being treated?I looked at her hair pulled back in a tight bun as she gathered her things from the bench and suddenly I remembered the previous night at dinner when my father had dragged her by that same hair.The memory made my jaw clench and my fists tighten at my sides. The sound of her screaming echoed in my head and I felt anger rise in my chest all over again.She had tried to defend herself and
BristonI stood in the library long after the guard had left and stared at the shelf where she had been hiding and tried to make sense of why I had intervened in the first place. What was she doing sneaking around the library like a thief? Did she think I was going to report her to my father for reading a book? The thought was absurd and yet she had hidden from me like I was the enemy.My wolf Gorne growled low in my chest and I felt the familiar heat of his presence pushing against my control."Gorne, that's my father's Luna," I said out loud to the empty room. "She's out of bounds."Gorne didn't respond but I felt his disapproval radiating through our bond and I pushed him down harder until he retreated into the back of my mind with a snarl.I walked out of the library and headed toward my chambers while trying to scrub the image of her sitting on the floor with that book from my thoughts. I had almost reached my door when a guard intercepted me and bowed his head."The Alpha reques
MellisaI woke up to the sharp ache of swollen feet and a body that felt like it had been trampled by an entire pack. I tried to sit up but the pain shot through my legs and forced me back down onto the mattress with a gasp. I lay there for a moment and stared at the ceiling while I tried to gather enough strength to move.The sound of voices outside my door pulled my attention away from the pain."The Alpha is gone now, we should rest," one guard said loudly."It's your turn to watch the Luna's door," another voice argued back."No, it's yours. I did it yesterday.""You're lying. I was here yesterday."I listened to them bicker back and forth like children and realized that this might be my only chance to do something for myself. I needed to know about the curse. What curse did Draven have and how was it going to affect me? The thought had been eating at me since Briston mentioned it the first night, and I couldn't just sit here and wait for answers that would never come.I forced my







