002:the day they chose him

Selene’s POV

The call came at dawn.

Even before I answered, 1 already knew what the healer would say.

“NegatIve,” Elder Mira’s voIce drifted through the line, soft but firm. “The Moon Mother didn’t bless this cycle, Luna. Your body’s still recovering from last month’s imbalance. You should rest.”

I shut my eyes. The words didn’t wound the way they once had. They just landed, quiet and heavy—as if they’d been waiting there all along.

Another failed moon. Another empty den.

“Thank you, Elder,” I murmured and hung up.

I didn’t tell Damon.

Not after what he’d said last nIght.

HIs love was no longer tIed to me It was tethered to the throne.

Before I could even draw breath, a sharp knock echoed through my Chamber.

“Have you spoken to your father?” Damon’s tone carrIed the same command hIs mother had perfected cold, clipped, Alpha-born.

1 forced myself to nod. “I will.”

But I already had.

My father’s decision had been made before I opened my mouth.

“The Council stands with Damon,” he’d told me, voice steady as iron. “It’s for the good of the pack, Selene. The Northern Lands need a firm hand. Your mate will be a fine Alpha King.”

He meant well, but his words hollowed me out.

“Father, I—”

He’d cut me off. “You’ll understand when you stand beside him.”

But I already understood.

Power didn’t care about love. It devoured it.

The day of betrayal came cloaked In ceremony.

Only Elders were allowed Inside the Moon Hall; the rest of us waited In the marble corridors, straining to catch the whIspers that slipped through the cracks.

By the time word reached me, It was over.

The Council had chosen Damon as Alpha KIng.

Only three packs refused to bow.

Ronan didn’t even protest. He left without a word boarded a chopper to the western ranges, vanishing beneath the storm clouds like he’d never belonged here.

No challenge.

No roar.

Just silence.

And silence, once again, was the cruelest betrayal.

That evening, the fortress blazed with light. The celebration began before the moon had even risen. Crystal lanterns swung from the rafters, music echoed through the grand hall, and every wolf who’d once ignored me now bowed with polished smiles.

I could see it clearly:

Luna Ivana—the Queen Mother keeping her distance, her warmth toward me reduced to ceremonial nods.

They had no use for me anymore.

My father had delivered hIs allegiance, and now, he was as replaceable As the daughter he’d offered.

Ivana drifted through the ballroom like frost graceful, untouchable. Her silver gown shImmered under the firelight, her laughter sweet and poIsonous. She no longer clung to my mother’s sIde. She was building her own empIre, brick by brick, lie by lie.

And for the first time, 1 saw her for what she was.

Not a Luna.

A predator.

When the ball ended, 1 went to bed early. Damon never came home.

By morning, the whIspers had already changed: the barren Luna, the failed mate.

Even Diana’s soft congratulations felt empty.

“You’ll be Luna Queen soon,” she whispered as she helped me dress.

But the title meant nothing. It had never been my dream, not like this.

Days passed. The palace filled with visitors, other pack daughters, noble and eager, their smiles sugared with venom.

“Luna Selene, such elegance.”

“You will bring strength to the Crescent Throne.”

“You’ll give us heirs one day. The Goddess always rewards devotion.”

Where were they before?

When I was bleeding under the healer’s knife, praying to the Moon Mother for a miracle?

Now they bowed. Hypocrisy wore perfume and pearls.

I escaped to the gardens that afternoon, needing air that didn’t reek of deceit. The moonflowers were blooming white, fragrant, fragile. I touched one and thought how easily beauty broke when handled too roughly.

When I returned to my wing, the scent hit me first.

A stranger’s scent. Female. Sweet and young.

Diana was standing near the door, her eyes swollen from crying. A tray of untouched tea sat trembling in her hands.

“Who’s here?” I asked quietly.

Her lips quivered. She didn’t answer.

But the answer was already waiting in my chamber.

Ivana sat like a queen in my chair, her gown glinting like moonlight on ice.

Beside her stood a young woman barely older than me, soft brown eyes, hands folded neatly in her lap.

At her feet were two pups a boy and a girl—no more than three winters old.

And Damon.

My mate.

Silent.

Ivana’s smile was all elegance and venom. “Selene, darling,” she purred. “Meet Rowan and Elara. And this is their mother Lyra.”

My heart stilled.

My world tilted.

Ivana rose, smoothing her gown. “You’ve failed to produce heirs,” she said sweetly, “but the Goddess has blessed Damon elsewhere. These are his blood. My grandchildren.”

The silence roared in my ears.

“You will announce them at the Moon Gathering tomorrow,” she continued. “You will smile. You will thank Lyra publicly for giving the Alpha what you could not. You will behave like a Luna should.”

She leaned close enough for me to smell her perfume jasmine and arrogance.

“Your father’s influence is gone, child. Your position remains only out of courtesy. Do not test me.”

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Then I laughed.

Not the kind of laugh you give out of politeness—no. This one was sharp, wild, unhinged.

Ivana’s poise cracked. Lyra looked away. Damon’s jaw tightened.

“You want me to thank her?” I said softly. “You want me to call this betrayal the Goddess’s will?”

Ivana’s eyes narrowed. “Careful, Selene.”

I stepped closer, meeting her gaze head-on. “No, Your Majesty. You’ve forgotten who you married your son to. I am not your puppet.”

The air thickened with power. Even Damon flinched.

They could have the crown.

The pups.

The throne.

But they would never silence me again.

Because I was still the Moon’s chosen.

And my voice carried farther than their lies.