Chapter Three

Damen’s POV

“Alpha!” My Beta announced. “The invite for the ball to introduce the new Alpha and Luna of the Crescent Moon Pack has arrived.”

Finally! I was starting to worry about Selene’s silence. My texts went unanswered, and then my scouts discovered that the Crescent Moon pack was on lockdown. No information has been forthcoming from the pack for a month now.

It was somewhat unusual but not unheard of for a new Alpha to cut all communications to the outside world to help consolidate their power. After the murder of Alpha Hunter’s parents, I probably would have done the same thing to find the killers.

“When’s the party?”

“Next week,” is the response.

“Tell them we accept.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I leaned back in my chair, contemplating the mating gift I should give the couple and a small gift for my friend Selene.

Even though she’s wolf-less, I feel something special about her. Selene was intelligent and quick-witted with the patience and empathy of a wolf born to lead. She would make an excellent Luna.

Too bad she was fated to that jerk Hunter. Selene told me of all the rotten things he did to her over the years. The worst was when she found the dead bodies of the animals she’d rescued and nurtured outside her bedroom door.

Only a psychopath would do something like that!

I know it would be impossible for Hunter to harm Selene physically, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t verbally or emotionally abuse her. The thought made my stomach turn and my anxiety rise.

Next week couldn’t happen soon enough!

Selene’s POV

It’s been a month since the ceremony.

How do I know?

I’ve been whipped every night since then. I counted thirty sessions, making it one month.

“You up, Loser Luna?” Grace taunted. Little does Grace know, I’ve been up since my last whipping session because Hunter and Sandy were probably fucking again. The pain in my gut finally dissipated about two hours ago.

“Yes,” I dully responded, dressed and rising to my feet to follow her to my servant duties.

I didn’t even dare look at my reflection anymore, knowing the person I saw would be a stranger. I had lost weight, and my once lustrous brown hair was dull. My skin was sallow and sickly.

But the one thing I would recognize was my eyes, which reflected the anger and need for revenge.

I trudged behind Grace silently, following her to help prepare for tonight’s Alpha and Luna ball. I was able to swallow my meager breakfast before being tasked to scrub all the pots and pans in the kitchen. Then I was tasked to polish all the silverware until it sparkled.

When I was released from duties, the first guests were beginning to arrive, but I was immediately escorted back to my cell. My hope to see Alpa Damen was quickly diminishing.

A minute after the servant left, I heard a loud click echo down the dungeon. I was locked in, and my hope was shattered.

-

Damen’s POV

“ALPHA DAMEN OF THE FULL MOON PACK!” Announced the emcee.

All eyes turned to me since my pack was the biggest and strongest on the continent. A few heads turned and bowed in greeting.

I ignored them and began walking to the dais where the Alpha and his Luna sat. I am reaching into my inner pocket to grab the gift for the Luna. The Alpha and Luna “gift” was parked outside.

When my fingertips land on the prize, I shift my gaze up, and I stop. Shock ran through me, and my wolf, Apollo, growled in my chest. Sandy sitting in Luna’s throne was the last thing I expected.

Selene and Sandy were close friends, and I socialized with both women when I visited. Additionally, Sandy is the Beta’s daughter. But her sitting on the Luna throne with her fingers intertwined with Alpha Hunter’s made my hackles rise.

And my wolf doesn’t like it one bit.

But I was a shrewd politician and had to play ignorance because something was seriously wrong here.

“Alpha Hunter,” I slightly nod. “Luna.”

“Welcome, Alpha Damen,” Sandy spoke. “We’re so pleased for you to come tonight!” Sandy was a beauty, I’d give her that. But I always thought her smiles were fake. Like the one she had on right now, because it doesn’t reach her eyes.

Sandy knew I was friends with Selene, but I don’t think she knew I was aware of Selene’s fated bond with Hunter.

“Congratulations on your mating!” I try to sound happy, not letting my real feelings show.

“Thank you, Alpha,” Hunter responds. “Your support towards my and Luna’s rule is greatly appreciated.”

I nod in response and leave the couple.

” Beta!”I mind link to Grayson.

” Yes, Alpha?”

” Go find Selene! She’s not the Luna.”

” Yes, Alpha!”That’s the one thing I love about my Beta. He took orders without question. Especially when he knows the order is about the well-being of a trusted friend, he feels compelled to act.

Grayson knows Selene also and knows her scent. He’s a skilled tracker and will find her in no time.

A few minutes later, after endlessly mingling with the Alphas and their Lunas from the other packs, Grayson mind-linked.

” She’s locked in the dungeon, Alpha.”

WHAT?!

My mind was reeling at the news. What would make Alpha Hunter imprison his own mate?!

” Grab her and get her out of here. I’ll stay to keep up the pretense until it’s time to go.”I ordered him.

” Yes, Alpha!”

Grayson was the best at black OPs. He’ll be able to extract Selene from the dungeon without anybody noticing until tomorrow morning. No one will be able to find her once we get her into Full Moon territory.

And then I’ll find out what the fuck is going on with Crescent Moon Pack!

Selene’s POV

“Miss Selene!” Someone urgently whispered my name as I was being gently shaken.

My eyes opened to Beta Grayson, and relief flooded me.

“We need to leave now!” He urged, and I wobbly stood, my body weak from not eating since this morning. Grayson frowned at my physical condition, his lips flattening into a straight line. But he didn’t say anything as he grabbed my hand and gently pulled me behind him.

I followed him to the dungeon door until he stopped to peek down the corridor to see if anyone was there.

It seems as if the entire house staff was working the ball. We stepped into the hallway, and Beta Grayson quickly relocked the dungeon door to buy us more time if someone were making checks.

“Is there a back way out of here?” He quietly asks, understanding he wants to avoid the crowds at all costs.

“Follow me,” I respond, tugging him behind me and leading him through the maze of my once beloved home. I guided us outside through the gardens and towards the driveway.

I stopped in shadowed bushes beside the driveway halfway between the main gate and the house, breathing hard from the exercise.

“Stay here,” Beta Grayson ordered. “I’m going back into the party and will wait until the end. We’ll pick you up when we leave.”

“Okay,” I tiredly sigh.

Beta Grayson left swiftly, and there I sat. I let my eyes drift closed, mentally going through the torture I endured at the hands of Hunter and Sandy.

They will pay!

I must have drifted off to sleep because I suddenly found myself being carried. I began to fight, the arm holding my back making me groan in agony.

“Shhhh, Selene. It’s me.”

Alpha Damen!

I stopped fighting, enduring the pain as he slid my body into a car. I sat up and moved so he could sit next to me. I leaned against the cushioning below the window and closed my eyes again. I felt wetness trickling down my back, but I was too tired to care. I let the darkness take me.

Damen’s POV

Selene weighed next to nothing as I lifted her to place her gently in the car. All I felt was bones. My anger knew no bounds when I saw her miserable state.

My Beta warned me of her condition, but the reality didn’t hit me until I saw it myself. A beautiful woman whose vitality was sucked out. She was a shadow of her former self.

Once I got in the car, Grayson slowly moved the vehicle as if nothing had happened. I glanced over at Selene, noticing she was already asleep. I slipped off my tuxedo jacket to give her warmth when the copper scent of blood hit my nostrils.

Turning on the interior light, I checked Selene and noted a dark red color seeping through the back of her shirt. Curious about the wound, I lifted her shirt to be met with a horrifying sight.

Raised red welts crisscrossed her back. Some were openly bleeding while others scarred over. My wolf’s growl rattled in my chest as a surge of protectiveness flowed through me.

HUNTER IS FUCKING DEAD!

Selene’s POV

Antiseptic filled my nostrils as awareness took hold. I slowly opened my eyes, realizing I was lying on my side, and was greeted by worried amber eyes. Relief filled me because I thought it was a beautiful dream of being rescued.

“Alpha Damen,” I sighed gratefully. “Thank you.”

“What happened?” He asked. His voice sounded gruff, and I braced myself because he was my savior and probably started a war.

I told him everything as coldly and emotionally detached as possible.

And the more I said, the more pissed he looked until I finished.

“They’re dead!” He spat. “They’re both fucking dead!”

“I’ll get my revenge in time,” I calmly told him. My fury turned into something cold and festering over the weeks. I now had time. “I first need to recover and get back on my feet. When the time comes, I’ll be there to strike.”

“The doctors were wondering about the bruises on your abdomen. They kept on forming on the first night I brought you in.”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “I bet no fated wolf has been marked, then rejected and cheated on by their mate. Is there a way to remove the biting mark? I’m tired of being kicked in the stomach for hours every night.”

“I’ll consult our witch,” Damen responds.

“Thank you, Alpha Damen,” I state as tears form, the only emotion I let slip. Gratefulness. “I’ll repay your kindness as soon as I can.”

“Rest for now and heal. That’s all I ask,” he says as he leaves. “I’ll have the witch here in a few days.”

“Thank you, Alpha.”

It was then that I noticed I was on an IV drip, and I wasn’t feeling any bodily pain. Must be on the good stuff. I let myself go back to sleep and dream of nothing. Heaven.

I was in the hospital for two days, being fed intravenously and kept on painkillers until my back fully healed. The doctors informed me that I was severely malnourished, and if I had been kept in the state I was in, I would have been dead in a few weeks.

The doctors also prescribed sleeping pills, so I didn’t feel the pain my cheating mate was causing. However, I noticed no new bruises when I woke up after speaking with Damen the first morning. I guess my escape has put a cock-block on Hunter’s and Sandy’s fucking.

It gave me no satisfaction.

On the second day, I became restless and wanted to stand up and move around. I asked a nurse for help releasing the wheels on the pole holding the IV bags. She complied and slowly followed me out of my room and down the corridor.

I noticed the wing was empty of patients except for a few nurses and doctors watching me pass by.

“Why are there no patients here?” I murmur to the nurse.

“Alpha blocked the whole floor for you,” the nurse replied.

“Is the hospital overflowing with patients on the other floors?” I was concerned that other people who needed treatment were not receiving proper care because I was taking up too much space and resources.

“No, Miss Selene. This floor is rarely, if ever, used.”

Hearing that made me feel better, but I still worried it was too much.

My body fatigued faster than I expected, and I returned to my bed to settle into the comfortable sheets that had been changed during my short exercise.

“Thank you,” I told the nurse before she left. She gave me a small smile in return.

I must have dozed off because I was being softly shaken.

“Selene,” Damen’s voice broke through my mental haze.

I woke up and saw him standing next to the bed. A tiny old woman was beside him. My wolf reared her head inside me and sniffed.

” Witch.” I could smell the magic rolling off the woman, filling my nostrils with sage and other herbs.

“Selene, this is our pack witch, Rhiannon,” Damen said.

I nodded in respect and returned my eyes to stare into her black orbs. I sensed timelessness in those eyes, judging me, making me blink.

“You wish to sever a mating bite,” she stated. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

“It cannot be done.” My hope began to die. “But I can block it. Your mate won’t be able to hurt you anymore when he’s with another.”

“That’s all I want,” I told her.

She nodded, pulled out a small bottle, and handed it to me. “Drink this potion. But,” she warns. “If you sleep with him, the magic will be destroyed, and you will be bonded. Not forced.”

“Trust me,” I scoff. “I’d rather die than for him to touch me again! Bottom’s up!” I pulled the cork out and drank the entire disgusting contents.

Warmth enveloped me as I felt the bite mark going cold.

“You have one more request,” the witch stated, surprising me.

“Yes. Is it possible to break an Alpha’s command?”

The witch cocked her head, studying me. “Is the Alpha alive or dead?”

“Dead.”

“Yes. But it will be painful to break.”

“I don’t care!” I nearly yell. “I want to control my life!”

“Okay,” was all she said, and she began muttering words I didn’t understand. The energy in the room grows heavy as an itch starts in my chest and grows.

The witch’s eyes begin to glow, her words becoming faster and echoing around me. The itch turns into an inferno, climbing up my throat. I want to scream, but can’t. Diana is howling and shifting beneath me, but I grit my teeth until words form in my throat, forcing their way out.

“I HAVE A WOLF!” I finally screamed, and the magic and pain instantly disappeared. Sweat and tears were running down my face as my vision cleared. Damen’s handsome face was shocked, and the old crone was smiling.

“Welcome, Alpha,” she said and nodded in respect.

WHAT?!