Chosen

Seraphina

“Crescent Moon envoys are here!” The shout tore through the slave quarters like lightning. Chains clattered, bodies scrambled.

“What?” “From Crescent Moon?” “Are they here to take prisoners back?” “Maybe they’re freeing us!”

A girl beside me dropped her mop and started crying. Another laughed like she’d lost her mind.

Hope. A dangerous, stupid and beautiful hope.

My hands froze around the scrub cloth. Crescent Moon? My old pack? My heart slammed so hard it hurt. No. They wouldn’t come for me. They already sold me.

But still.. My feet were moving before my brain caught up.

I rushed to the small crack near the outer wall, the one the older slaves used to spy through. I pressed my eye against it.

And then I saw them. Three familiar figures walking through the gates. My breath vanished. Tara. Lena. And Elder Amira.

For a second, my chest filled so painful I almost sobbed. They came. They actually came. Maybe they found the truth. Maybe they finally knew. Maybe…

“They’re heading to the conference hall,” someone whispered.

All of us crowded the wall, straining to see. Guards escorted them inside. The doors shut. And we waited.

******

Time crawled.

Every second stretched like torture. “They must be negotiating,” a boy muttered.

“They’ll free us,” another said. “They have to.”

“They wouldn’t come all this way for nothing.”

I hugged my arms tight. Please. Please let this be for me. Please let someone finally believe me. I didn’t even want revenge anymore. I just wanted my name back.

An hour passed. Then the doors opened. My heart leapt. They stepped out but… They weren’t smiling.

Tara wouldn’t look up. Lena’s eyes were red. Elder Amira’s face was carved from stone. Cold and empty.

My stomach dropped. “No. No no no.” They walked past without even glancing toward the slave wing.

Like we didn’t exist. Like I didn’t exist. The gates opened.

They left. Just like that.

Around me, the slaves broke. “They’re leaving?” “That’s it?” “They didn’t even look at us…” “Liars… all of them…”

Someone started crying. Someone punched the wall. Hope died fast. Faster than anything else in SilverShade.

I slid down the stone, my legs giving out. So that was it. Even innocent… I still wasn’t worth taking back.

Footsteps approached.

One of the younger wolves leaned into our corridor. Grinning. “They proved you weren’t the killer,” he called lazily.

My head snapped up. “What…?”

“They found the real murderer,” he continued. “Your name’s clean.”

My heart stopped. Clean? I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t a monster. I didn’t kill him. Relief hit so hard it hurt more than pain.

“But,” he added, smirk widening, “SilverShade refused to return you.”

The words sliced straight through me. “What?”

“Our Alpha said no.”

No?

“They offered trades. Prisoners. Deals. But it didn't matter.”

My chest felt hollow.

“He kept you.”

Kept me? Like some property. Like an object? How?

The wolf laughed and walked off. “Big ceremony tonight. Everyone’s summoned. Don’t be late, slaves.”

The wolf’s laughter echoed down the corridor as his boots faded away.

Silence followed. Heavy. Suffocating.

I stayed where I was, staring at the empty hallway like the words hadn’t just split my world open.

He kept me. Not saved, not protected. Kept!

My fingers slowly tightened around the rag in my hand. I wasn’t going back home. Even innocent… I wasn’t going back.

Around me, the other slaves began whispering. “At least your name’s cleared,” one girl muttered.

“You’re lucky,” another said. “Do you know what that means?”

I didn’t answer.

“It means they won’t work you to death anymore,” she continued. “SilverShade eases up once you’re proven useful.”

“Yeah,” an older man added. “You won’t be treated like a murderer now. That alone cuts your workload.”

“Better than before,” someone else said softly. “Way better.”

Lucky? The word felt wrong. If this was luck… I didn’t want to know what fate looked like.

I kept staring at the ground. My thoughts spiraled. Why would he refuse? Why would Alpha Ragnar keep me? What had I ever done to him?

I had never met him before coming here. So why me? Punishment? Revenge? Or something worse? Maybe… maybe I should ask him.

The thought came suddenly. If I could just speak to him. Just once. Ask why. Maybe I’d finally understand what my life was turning into.

But how?

I couldn’t just walk into the Alpha’s wing. Slaves didn’t even breathe near him without permission. Maybe his Beta. Rowan. He looked less terrifying. Or the Gamma.

Someone easier to approach. If I slipped away during duties… maybe I could…

“BACK TO WORK!”

The roar shook the corridor. A warrior stormed in, whip already in his hand.

CRACK.

The sound split the air. A boy beside me screamed.

“Move!” the warrior barked. “You think this is story time?”

CRACK.

The whip struck again, catching a woman across the back. She collapsed.

He didn’t care. “Anyone standing idle gets ten lashes!”

Panic exploded. Buckets lifted, chains clattered, bodies rushed. I grabbed my scrub and dropped to my knees, heart hammering.

The whip snapped inches from my shoulder. “Faster,” he growled.

My hands shook as I scrubbed the floor. Harder and faster.

Talking to Ragnar? Or Running to Rowan for help? Slaves didn’t get dreams. We got orders and pain.

By sunset, the entire pack gathered in the central square. Slaves, warriors, elders. Everyone.

Torches lit the stone walls gold and red. The air buzzed with whispers. “What’s happening?” “Why call everyone?” “Is it punishment?” “Execution?”

Chains rattled as we were forced to kneel near the front. My knees hit stone. I barely felt it. My mind kept replaying one thing. He kept me. Why? Why me?

Then he arrived. Silence fell instantly.

Alpha Ragnar.

Walking through the crowd like the world belonged to him. Tall, calm and terrifying. Power rolled off him without effort.

He didn’t shout. Didn’t posture. He didn’t need to. Everyone simply moved out of his way.

He stopped at the platform. Rowan and the elders behind him. His gaze swept over the crowd. Cold and calculating.

Then… It paused on me.

My breath caught. Just for a second. But I felt it. Like being pinned by a blade.

“The elders of SilverShade have raised a concern,” Ragnar said, voice deep and steady.

“We lack a Luna.” Murmurs spread.

“A Luna brings balance. Stability. Unity.” He sounded bored.

Like he didn’t care.

“But I do not choose based on comfort.”

His eyes never left me. My pulse pounded. “I choose based on strength.”

He went silent. Everyone glanced at each other. “You want to know who will stand beside me.”

The entire square held its breath.

My stomach twisted. Why do I feel like this is about me?

His voice cut through everything. “I will be choosing…”

A pause.

“…Seraphina.”

The world stopped.

“…as my bond slave Luna.”

Gasps exploded everywhere. “What?!” “A slave?!” “The Crescent Moon girl?!” “Impossible…!”

My ears rang. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Me?

He stepped down from the platform. Walked straight toward me. Each step slow and certain. Like this had always been decided.

He stopped in front of me. Looked down. His eyes unreadable. “You belong to SilverShade now,” he said quietly.

My heart pounded so loudly I thought everyone could hear it. I came here as a slave. And somehow…I had just been made Luna.