TWO

ISLA'S POV

The room stilled. Even the shattered glass on the floor seemed to freeze in disbelief. The silence coating the air was so deafening I could hear my own heartbeat.

Me? I signed, not believing my ears.

Serene’s words had dropped like a stone into still water, and the ripples reached everyone. Even her parents had been rendered speechless.

The Luna buried her face into her hands.

Seeing his wife's distress, the Alpha rose from his seat of power, brows furrowing in fury. “How dare you?!”

Serene, always the whirlwind, moved again before anyone could fully collect themselves. “We send Isla instead of me.” She repeated. “We trick Alpha Lucien. He doesn’t know my face. He’s never met me. Isla can be quiet, sweet, obedient. She can go in my stead. Just for the ceremony. Once it's done, it won’t matter.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. No. No.

“I forbid it!” the Alpha bellowed.

Serene finally turned to me, brushing her dress aside with a rustle as she reached out to me and grabbed the hand she had rejected only a moment ago. She pinned me with an intense look, eyes soft with desperation and frustration all tangled up, her grip on my hand tight and bruising. “Please, Isla. You’ll be saving me.”

Not giving me a chance to respond, her gaze whipped back to her parents. “No one will know. He’s expecting a quiet bride. She won’t talk back. Just send Isla.”

My throat burned.

I wanted to scream.

But all I could do was stare.

“Have you lost your mind?!” The Luna all but shrieked. “You want us to offer a maid to an Alpha? She belongs to this household alone.”

“A common maid?” the Alpha echoed, disgust curling his lip.

Serene jumped to her feet, fists clenched. “She’s not a common maid—”

I reacted at once, pinching her arm sharply.

She turned to me, confused, whispering, “But you’re not—”

I signed a sharp No.

There was a moment—so brief—that I could feel the weight of unsaid things sitting heavily between us. Who I was. Who I wasn’t. But I couldn’t let that door open. Not now. Not ever.

Not catching on to what had just transpired between us, the Luna carried on. “You’re being absurd,” she said, rubbing her temple. “This whole idea is absurd.”

“I will not hear of it.” Her husband solidified.

But Serene wasn’t done. She had always been spoiled, always used to the world bending around her tantrums and tears. She looked at her parents now, with that same stubborn glint that made even the Alpha pause.

“Do you really think this is right?” she demanded, her voice shaky but sure. “Giving your only daughter to a man no one truly knows? A man with a reputation soaked in blood? He’s cruel, cold, and every rumour says he has no capacity for compassion.”

She looked between them, eyes glossy with tears that I couldn’t tell were real or just well-practiced.

“You’ve raised me in love,” she said, voice trembling. “How do you expect me to go and live in a marriage where there’s none? Would you be able to sleep knowing I was stuck in a loveless life, stuck in fear and caged like a prisoner?

You've heard what people say. That he’s cold. Ruthless. That he hasn’t smiled in years. That he kills without blinking.”

She paused, sobbing before delivering her punchline, her parents already halfway convinced.

“Papa, mama, if you truly love me, you will not marry me to a man they call the mad king.

And there it was.

The Alpha and Luna looked at each other then, something uncertain flickering in their stern faces. I saw it—the crack in their resolve and for a moment, no one spoke.

I sat frozen, my heart hammering so loudly I was sure they could all hear it.

Then, the Luna broke the silence. “What if he finds out?” she said, voice lowered, almost hesitant.

That was all it took.

I stood up abruptly, humming low in my throat in protest. I signed quickly, frantically— I don’t agree to this. I won’t.

Serene grabbed my wrist at once and pulled me to a corner. “You owe me,” she hissed under her breath. “For five years, Isla. I’ve taken care of you. Protected you.”

I jerked my hand back, shaking my head sharply. Protection… she called what I've suffered, what I've endured ‘protection’.If laughter were a language I could use, I would have let it ring now.

My fingers moved quickly— I've been mocked. Bullied. By the servants.

By even you.

Serene stepped in closer. “Don’t give me that. If I hadn’t told them to keep you in the pack, if I hadn’t kept you near me, you’d be dead in some forest or sold to rogues.”

That stopped me in my tracks and just like all the times she'd pulled that up, guilt settled within me. But I refuse to let it distract me this time, not when she was going to let them marry me off to a monster. It was clear that her ‘protection’ was a different kind of cage. I was never safe here, not from the maids. Not from her whims.

No.

She looked taken back by my defiance. I didn't blame her, I've never been that kind of girl.

“This isn't something you can refuse,” she said through clenched teeth. “This is happening and that's final.”

My breath shook. I wanted to fight her on this, to scream that this wasn’t protection, this was betrayal. But the truth lay heavy in my gut: I didn’t have a say. Not really. I never had.

Please. I pleaded. Please don't do this.

But there was no going back.

Serene smiled, triumphant. Aware that her victory was sure. Just then, Luna called out behind us, her voice sounded relieved, lighter than before.

“We must act fast, the Alpha is to return soon.”

“Now is the time to repay me.” Serene said for my ears alone, one last time, before we returned to her mama and papa.

“Come, child.” The Luna said, rising to her feet. “We have to prepare you, have you ready in time.” She said just before calling out for the guards outside.

Helpless, I watched as she gave them instructions for the maids. Helpless, I did nothing as I was firmly carted away by them.

Serene’s last words lingered in the air, echoing through the room like a cruel trick of fate.

I looked back at her one more time, at the bright smile on her face and her mocking wave of encouragement. The weight of her betrayal settled heavily on my chest.

She had offered me up like a lamb to slaughter. And had succeeded.

I never stood a chance.