CHAPTER 04: Chains and a Hidden Mark

I still see it when I close my eyes. The way the light caught the edge of the cliff, turning the grey rock into something sharp and cold. I saw my mother first her hair blowing wild in the wind, her hands outstretched as if she could reach me even from where she stood. Behind her was my father, his shoulders squared even then, like he was still trying to protect her even when there was nothing left he could do. They were the only ones who had ever looked at me and seen something other than a disappointment. The only ones who never laughed when I said I still hadn’t shifted, or called me weak, or treated me like I was less than because my wolf hadn’t shown itself yet.

And then they were gone. Just like that. One moment they were there, and the next, the air was empty, and the sound of their screams was swallowed by the wind and the waves crashing far below.

After that, everything turned dark. They dragged me away before I could even scream or run, shoving me into a small, windowless room beneath the pack house. The walls were made of rough stone, cold even in the middle of the day, and the only light came from a single flickering bulb hanging from the ceiling. For days maybe weeks, I lost track of time they came to question me. Different faces, all of them sharp and suspicious, asking over and over again who was behind it all. Who had planned the attack? Who had ordered my parents pushed over that cliff? Where was the proof?

But I had nothing to give them. I didn’t know who was truly responsible. The real mastermind was probably sitting somewhere warm and comfortable right now, laughing while I sat here in chains, taking the blame for something I never did. And worse than that… I had no news of Jazzen.

I wrapped my arms around myself, pulling my thin, scratchy shawl tighter against the chill. I whispered the words I had been repeating to myself since the day I was locked up, my voice so soft it was almost lost in the quiet.

“Moon Goddess… please watch over him. Keep him safe. Whatever happens to me, just let him be alright.”

I closed my eyes, and for a moment, I could almost feel the warmth of the old days. I remembered my mother brushing my hair while telling me stories of the moon and the wolves that walked beside us. I remembered my father teaching me to run through the woods, telling me that even if my wolf hadn’t come yet, my heart was still strong. They never abandoned me, even when everyone else in the pack whispered that I was cursed, that I was no true werewolf. They loved me anyway.

The sound of the heavy iron door scraping against the stone floor broke through my thoughts. My eyes snapped open. Footsteps echoed, slow and deliberate, and then there she was.

Catherine.

A twisted, cruel smile played across her lips, painted bright red and stretched too wide. She leaned against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest, looking down at me like I was something she had found stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

“Look what we have here,” she purred, stepping fully into the room. “The great werewolf. Or should I say… the useless little thing who can’t even shift into her own wolf?”

I sat up straighter, ignoring the ache in my bones. I wouldn’t let her see how much she scared me.

“Lily,” she went on, dragging the name out like it tasted bad. “Is that even your real name? Or just something your parents gave you to make themselves feel better? If you had just stayed in your place if you hadn’t tried to reach for things that were never yours your parents would still be breathing right now.”

Before I could answer, she swung her arm. Something hard and heavy hit me square in the side of my head. Pain exploded across my temple, and I fell sideways onto the cold stone. I touched my fingers to my skin, and when I pulled them back, they were red and wet. The edge of the bag she had thrown was sharp, cutting deep enough to draw blood.

I looked up at her, my vision blurring slightly, but my voice steady despite the pain. “What do you want from me? My parents are gone. I have no one left. What more can you possibly take?”

She laughed, a sharp, cold sound that made my skin crawl. “It’s simple, really. I want you to know exactly where you stand. You are nothing. Less than nothing. You will be treated like the trash you are for the rest of your days in this pack. And Jazzen? He will never look twice at you. I am the only one worthy of standing beside him. I am the one who will be his Luna.”

I stared at her, shocked by the sheer madness in her eyes. “You’re delusional,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “You can’t force someone to love you. A mate bond is built on choice, on willingness not on threats or lies or hurting people. You’re not even acting like a proper lycanthrope. You’re acting like a monster.”

Her smile widened, turning into something almost gleeful. “Oh, but I haven’t told you the best part yet.” She stepped closer, leaning down until her face was inches from mine. Her breath smelled like sweet perfume and something sharp and bitter. “I am the one who shot Jazzen that night. I planned every single detail. Can you believe it? I’m not just beautiful I’m a genius too.”

The words hit me harder than any blow. My blood ran cold. “You… you did that? And you framed me for it?”

“Of course I did,” she said, laughing loudly. “And you walked right into it. Just like you walked into the trap I set for your parents. You think you’re so special? You think anyone would ever believe a word you say against me?”

“The Moon Goddess will not let this stand,” I said, my voice trembling but full of fire. “Karma will come for you. You took my parents’ lives. You hurt Jazzen. You lied to everyone. She will punish you for this.”

I tried to stand, to lunge at her, but the heavy iron chains around my ankles pulled tight, yanking me back down to my knees. I stumbled, catching myself on my hands, the rough stone scraping my palms raw.

“Look at you,” Catherine sneered, kicking a small stone across the floor so it bounced off my shoulder. “You can’t even stand up straight. You’re the pitiful one here, not me. You’re the fool who fell for every trick I laid out for you.”

She turned to leave, but paused at the door, looking back over her shoulder with a look of pure satisfaction. “And I have one more piece of bad news. You are no longer allowed to attend the pack school. The council has decided you will work here, in the pack house, for the rest of your life. Cleaning, scrubbing, doing whatever the others don’t want to do. That is your place now. Serves you right, you stupid little girl.”

The door slammed shut, and the lock clicked into place, leaving me alone again in the dim light.

I pressed my hands to my face, the tears finally coming. I had never asked for much. All I ever wanted was to belong. To feel like I was part of this world. To be loved, truly loved. Was that such a terrible thing? Was it wrong to hope that maybe, one day, I would shift? That maybe Jazzen would look at me and see me, not just the girl who couldn’t turn into a wolf?

The life of an omega had always been hard. We were the lowest rank, expected to work until our bodies ached, given just enough food to keep us alive, rarely treated with any kindness or respect. But this… this was worse than I ever imagined. Now I was not just an omega I was a prisoner, a scapegoat, someone everyone believed was a criminal.

 

TWO MONTHS LATER

Time began to blur into a never-ending cycle of cold, sore muscles, and harsh words. The small room was no longer my only home now I was allowed out during the day, but only to work.

In one week, it would be Jazzen’s twentieth birthday. I had heard the others talking about it while I scrubbed the floors. The pack was preparing a huge celebration. It was more than just a birthday when a werewolf turned twenty, the mate bond would finally reveal itself. Whoever the Moon Goddess had chosen for him would feel the pull, and he would know his Luna.

My chest ached every time I thought about it. I hadn’t seen him since that terrible day. I heard he had recovered from the gunshot wound, that he was strong again, but no one would let me near him. Everywhere I went, there were eyes on me guards following at a distance, other pack members watching me with suspicion or disgust.

But even after everything, I still found myself hoping. I still prayed every night, whispering to the Moon Goddess under my breath. Please… let it be me. Let me be his mate. Maybe then everything will be set right again. Maybe then he will know the truth.

“Lily! Over here!”

The sharp voice cut through my thoughts. I looked up to see Meda, the head of the omega workers, standing with her hands on her hips. She was older, her face lined with years of hard work, and she never spoke to me with anything but impatience.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said quickly, grabbing the mop and bucket at my feet.

“This hallway needs to be spotless before the guests start arriving tomorrow,” she said, pointing to the long stretch of floor. “If there’s so much as a speck of dirt left, you don’t get your evening meal. Understand?”

“I understand. I’ll do it right away.”

I got to work, moving the mop back and forth across the stone floor. My arms were already sore we were only given two small meals a day, just enough bread and thin soup to stop the hunger pains from being too sharp. It was hard work on so little energy, but I kept going. I had no choice.

I rolled up the sleeve of my rough tunic to wipe sweat from my forehead, and that was when I saw it again. The mark.

Ever since the night Catherine had thrown that bag at me, a strange marking had appeared on my left arm, right above the wrist. It looked like a crown, woven from fine, golden lines, as if it had been drawn there with liquid sunlight. It didn’t hurt, and it hadn’t faded, no matter how many times I scrubbed my skin until it was red and raw. No one else seemed to notice it, or if they did, they never said anything. But I wondered. What did it mean? In all the stories my mother told me, I had never heard of a mark like this appearing on someone who couldn’t shift. Was it a sign? Or just another strange thing about me that made me different?

I finished the hallway as fast as I could, checking every corner twice to make sure it was clean. Just as I was hanging up the mop, another worker came over.

“Come on,” she mumbled, not meeting my eyes. “We have to clean the main dining hall now. It’s the biggest room we need to get it ready for the feast.”

I followed her down the long corridors. As we walked, I could hear the whispers.

“Look, there she is. The one who tried to kill Alpha Jazzen.”

“I heard she’s a witch, not a real wolf.”

“Disgusting. She should be thrown out instead of being kept here.”

Something hard hit my shoulder. I stumbled slightly and saw a tomato roll past my feet. Someone had thrown it from the shadows. Then came a splash of cold water, soaking the back of my tunic, making me shiver in the cool air. I bit my lip and kept walking. If I reacted, if I showed them I was hurt, it would only make it worse.

When we reached the dining hall, I started wiping down the long wooden tables, polishing the benches until they shone. The room was huge, with high ceilings and large windows looking out over the pack lands. It would be filled with people soon, all there to celebrate Jazzen.

Then the doors flew open.

The sound echoed through the whole room. I froze, the cloth still in my hand. Catherine walked in, her arm linked tightly through Jazzen’s. She was wearing a deep red dress, her hair styled perfectly, her face covered in layers of makeup. She looked up at him, smiling as if she owned the world.

“Jazzen, I’m so excited for your birthday,” she said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “I just know it’s going to be wonderful. And I have no doubt that the Moon Goddess will choose me. I am the only one worthy of being your Luna. Not some random, useless girl who can’t even do anything right.”

Her eyes landed directly on me, and the smile on her face turned sharp and cruel. She let go of Jazzen’s arm and walked straight toward me, her heels clicking loudly against the floor.

“Now you filthy little rat,” she spat, stopping right in front of me, “how dare you show your ugly face here? You saw him enter and you thought you could try to steal him again, didn’t you? You have no shame!”

I stood my ground, my hands shaking slightly but my voice steady. “Jazzen… please. I didn’t do anything wrong. That night, I waited for you just like we agreed. I heard a gunshot, and when I ran to find you, you were already lying on the ground, hurt. I never wanted to hurt you. I tried to help you.”

I looked up at him, hoping praying that he would see the truth in my eyes. That he would remember the times we had talked, the way we used to walk through the woods together when we were younger. But his face was cold, hard, and empty of any kindness.

Before I could say another word, his foot shot out, hard and fast, striking me right in the ribs. The pain was sudden and sharp, knocking the breath right out of me. I doubled over, gasping, my hands flying to my side.

“Save your lies,” he said, his voice cold and harsh, cutting through the air like a knife. “I don’t want to hear any of this nonsense. I have never had any feelings for you. This obsession you have is just foolishness and delusion. Stay away from me. Don’t let me see your face again, you murderer.”

The word hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Murderer.

I fell to my knees, the pain in my chest mixing with the pain in my heart. Tears spilled over, hot and fast, running down my cheeks and dripping onto the wooden floor. I looked up at him, but his gaze was already turned away, as if looking at me was something dirty. Catherine stood beside him, looking down at me with a triumphant, satisfied smirk.

Everything I had ever hoped for, everything I had ever believed in, shattered right there in that moment. The boy I had cared for, the one I had trusted, had turned against me. He believed every lie Catherine had woven. He saw me as nothing more than a criminal.

I pressed my hand to my side, feeling the ache spreading through my ribs, but the hurt inside was far worse. I had lost my parents. I had lost my freedom. And now, I had lost even the last small hope I had held onto.

I lowered my head, letting my hair fall forward to hide my face. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on me full of judgment, full of disgust, full of hatred. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

But as I sat there, tears falling silently, I felt a faint, warm tingle against my skin—right where that golden crown mark lay hidden beneath my sleeve. And deep down, in the quietest part of my heart, I made a promise.

One day… all of them would know the truth. One day, they would see exactly who I was. And one day, the chains would break.