Chapter 35 – You're not prince Theron 

Chapter 35 – You're not prince Theron 

Selene’s POV

“You’re deceiving me!” The Alpha’s voice erupted with a harsh snarl that vibrated deep in his chest, twisting into a guttural growl that made my skin crawl. His enormous hands, along with the silent, looming presence of his Beta, yanked me roughly across the cold, unforgiving stone floor. My legs scraped uselessly, burning with a sharp sting as they dragged behind me, each jolt sending an unbearable pulse of pain spiraling up my spine.

I barely had time to brace myself before my back slammed hard against the damp, unyielding wall of the cellar. The cold seeped through my clothes, crawling beneath my skin and stealing the warmth from my bones. I curled inward, shrinking beneath their towering forms, powerless beneath the weight of their fury. The Alpha’s eyes were wild fires blazing with contempt. “You privileged vipers... all the same!” he spat venomously. “Feasting on everything while caring nothing for the rest of us but your own greedy coffers!”

My heart hammered like a war drum in my chest. Paralysis gripped me ... not from pain, but from sheer terror. I could only watch as heavy iron manacles clamped down around my slender wrists with a bone-chilling clank that echoed in the musty space. The chains, cold and cruel, were fastened to an iron ring set high in the wall, forcing my arms up painfully above my head. I didn’t struggle; even if I wanted to, the weight alone crushed any fight left inside me. My fingers trembled, and hope trickled away like blood from a wound. I was utterly alone in this dark tomb.

Still, I forced myself to speak. I had to defend Lucian ... he didn’t deserve this. This vendetta felt so wrong, so misplaced. “Please...” My voice was cracked and ragged as I strained against the chains, desperate to make him understand. “My husband… he’s not heartless. He listens. He would never order something so cruel without good reason.” But the Alpha ignored me completely, his fierce gaze locked on the chains, testing their strength with a merciless tug.

“Spare me your lies,” he hissed, venom dripping from every word. He gave the chains a savage yank that twisted my shoulders and forced the air from my lungs in a sharp gasp. “Tell me the truth, little bird. Give me what I want ... his direct contact ... and I’ll set you free. It’s simple.”

My pulse hammered frantically. I swallowed thickly. “I… I don’t have it.”

“Enough!” His fist exploded against the stone wall mere inches from my temple, sending dust and grit raining down onto my hair. I flinched hard, a sob ripping free as tears blurred my vision. “Please... believe me…”

“Silence!” he roared, pounding the wall again and again with savage blows ... Thud! Thud! Thud! The stones cracked beneath his fury, the sound reverberating inside my skull, a maddening drumbeat pushing me toward the edge of unconsciousness. I whimpered and curled my body as much as the chains allowed, trembling and broken.

His breath hitched, raw with rage, and in a blink, his claws flashed at my throat, sharp and unforgiving, pressing against the delicate pulse point. The world tilted violently; the pounding in my ears rose to a roar. My vision spun, stomach twisting in knots. I was slipping, slipping fast into the darkness when... 

The heavy oak door exploded inward with a deafening crash.

Dizziness clouded the edges of my sight, but at the center stood Lucian. He filled the doorway like a force of nature, his dark hair plastered to his temples by sweat, chest heaving fiercely. But it was the raw, suffocating rage radiating off him in palpable waves that stilled the air like a storm about to break. “Take your hands off her!” he bellowed, voice low but thunderous.

Strangely, I felt a flicker of fear sharper than any I’d known ... even sharper than the Alpha’s claws still digging into my skin. The Alpha barely spared Lucian a glance, his expression chillingly indifferent, like a predator sizing up a lesser threat. “You seem confused about who’s really in charge here.” His grip tightened cruelly, the claws digging deeper, drawing thin beads of blood. I gasped and arched my neck away, stinging tears streaming down my face.

Lucian hesitated, his forward movement arrested by the subtle threat. The Alpha’s smirk twisted into a cruel sneer. “See? You have no leverage. Her life means nothing to me. One flick of my wrist, and she’s dead. Choose your next move… carefully.”

Lucian was a master of control, always wearing that calm, unreadable mask ... but for a fraction of a heartbeat, that mask slipped. I caught the flicker of desperate calculation behind his storm-grey eyes, the agonizing understanding that any choice he made could cost me my life. His gaze locked with mine, wide and raw with unspoken fear. Then his voice cut through the tension like a blade, steady and cold: “Then take me. It’s me you want. Not her.”

The Alpha’s eyes gleamed with cruel amusement, a predator toying with his prey. He flicked his chin at his Beta. “Restrain him.”

The claws stayed at my throat, cruel and unrelenting, as the Beta lumbered forward and dragged a heavy wooden chair from the shadows, its legs screeching harshly on the stone floor. Lucian sat down without protest, positioning himself opposite me, and placed his arms behind the chair’s back. Shackles clicked tightly around his wrists.

Through it all, his storm-grey eyes never left mine, trying to send me a silent message of strength, of calm ... though inside, I knew, he was just as battered as I was.

My heart ached. The fierce, confident man I knew was now bound and vulnerable, held captive because of me.

No sooner had the Beta stepped back than the Alpha lunged forward, a brutal fist smashing into Lucian’s jaw. “No!” I screamed, yanking hopelessly at my chains.

“Quiet!” the Alpha snarled, striking again. Lucian’s head snapped to the side, a dark purple bruise blooming immediately.

Again, and again ... a blow to the nose sent a crimson trickle spilling down his chin, another cracked his brow. My breath caught in ragged gasps. Tears streamed down my face. I was drowning in helplessness, drowning in a tide of raw panic and sorrow.

Lucian lifted his head, and through swollen lids, his eyes found mine ... fierce, unyielding, impossible to read. My sobs echoed off the cold cellar walls, raw and desperate.

At last, perhaps worn down by the brutal display or stirred by my anguish, the Beta reached out and grabbed the Alpha’s arm mid-swing. “Darian... enough. Please. You’ve made your point.”

The Alpha whirled, wild and feral. “Enough?” he spat. “How can it be enough? That damn drowns my pack’s homes! And the Blood Moon Tree ... they plan to desecrate it! How am I to show mercy for that?”

The Blood Moon Tree. The name stabbed through my panic like a blade, a spark igniting deep in my mind. “Wait!” I gasped, voice raw and urgent. “Something’s wrong!”

Silence fell, heavy and thick. Every pair of eyes snapped to me.

I forced the words out, breathless. “The Blood Moon Oak... it’s sacred to Lucian. He’d never allow it’s destruction. Never.”

The room seemed to still entirely. Darian’s furious expression softened into a cold, sharp suspicion. He took a slow, deliberate step closer to Lucian, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “You... you’re not Prince Theron , are you?”