The Choice & the offer

Lana still held Selene's hands, her touch warm and grounding.

"There's a way to make you stronger, my lady," she said gently. "But it's not something you can learn through scrolls or battle training. This strength… it comes from within you."

Selene furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

Lana hesitated. "It begins with a sacred bond. A very specific kind of connection."

"A bond?" Selene echoed softly.

Lana nodded slowly. "With one of the clan Alphas. Your body was not made like ours, but it was chosen — sacred, rare. You are the Chosen Womb. But your body is… sleeping. To awaken it, you must share yourself."

"Share myself…?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. She already sensed what Lana was trying to say.

Lana lowered her eyes, then looked directly into hers. "Through intimacy. Through sex."

Selene froze. Her heart skipped a beat.

She tried to laugh, but nothing came out.

Lana's voice was careful, not cold. "I'm sorry. I know this is much to ask. It doesn't have to be tonight. No one will force you."

Selene stared at her lap, words tangled in her throat.

"But," Lana continued softly, "the longer you wait, the more your body will begin to awaken… on its own. Your scent will start to form. And once that happens…"

She paused, choosing her words.

"…you will attract the males. And not all of them will stop if you say no."

Selene's fingers tightened around the blanket. Her breath caught.

"The scent of a fertile chosen," Lana said, "is like blood in water to some of the beast kind. It draws them. Possessive. Instinctual. Some will lose reason. And it will only get worse if no Alpha marks you first."

Selene shook her head slowly. "I didn't ask for any of this…"

Her voice cracked.

"I know," Lana said gently. "But fate doesn't ask."

Before either of them could say more, the door creaked open.

A pulse moved through the room, not loud or jarring — but heavy. Warm. Commanding.

Ronan stepped in.

He filled the doorway without trying. His tall figure was wrapped in dark robes trimmed with thick grey fur, damp from the cool evening mist. His long black hair was loosely tied back, a few strands falling around his face. Golden eyes scanned the room—sharp, calm, unreadable.

He saw Lana first. Then his gaze locked onto Selene.

"I heard what happened," he said, voice low and firm.

Selene stiffened. Did he mean the prophecy? The system?

But then he added, "Bai Lihua. Yuexin. They cornered you, didn't they?"

She said nothing. Her silence answered for her.

Ronan's jaw tightened. He stepped closer, slow but steady, his steps padded but full of power. He came to stand in front of her, then crouched slightly so their eyes were level.

His hand moved gently, brushing a loose lock of her hair behind her ear. His fingers paused—too long to be casual, too careful to be forceful.

"You shouldn't have had to face that alone," he said, voice lower now, almost soft.

Selene's heart pounded at the intimacy of the gesture. His touch was warm, his skin slightly rough—real. Alive.

He turned to Lana.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "You can go now."

Lana stood and bowed. "Of course, Alpha."

She looked at Selene with a mixture of sympathy and reassurance. "Rest well, my lady," she said gently.

Then, with a final glance toward Ronan, she slipped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

Ronan took the chair beside the bed.

He didn't touch her again.

Instead, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, the posture of a man carrying weight far heavier than himself.

"I wanted to wait," he said softly. "Let you adjust first. But this world… it won't give us that time."

His voice was steady, but there was something else beneath it — regret, maybe. Or restraint.

Selene stared at him, heart thudding so loudly she wondered if he could hear it.

"I didn't want to scare you," he continued, voice low, "but now you've seen what happens when they think you're unclaimed. Bai Lihua and Yuexin were only the beginning. The other clans — Tiger, Serpent, Crow… once they hear of you, they'll come."

He looked up.

His golden eyes glowed faintly under the soft light of the lanterns.

"And if they find you without a mark… they'll see you as wild prey."

The words struck deep.

Selene's breath caught. Her body went cold.

Wild prey.

He wasn't being dramatic. He was warning her, in the only way he knew how.

Ronan reached for her hand but stopped just short, letting his fingers hover just above hers.

"If you let me mark you," he said, voice low and calm, "you'll belong to the Wolf Clan. You won't be touched by another. Not without my permission. You'll be safe. For now."

His restraint was painfully clear. There was no hunger in his gaze, no pressure in his words. Only sincerity.

He was being careful.

Respectful.

And yet…

Her body betrayed her, again.

A soft heat bloomed low in her belly, warmth spreading through her limbs. The memory of his touch returned in a rush, his hand on her back, the way her mark had burned under his fingers.

Her body remembered even if her mind didn't want to.

Still, she whispered, barely audible, "I don't want to die."

Ronan's gaze didn't waver. "Then choose how you live."

[System Notification]

[New Mission: Form Your First Bond]

[Description: Establish your first sacred connection with a dominant clan leader to awaken your womb's strength.]

[Warning: Your scent will awaken in 5 days.]

[After that, you will be hunted.]

[Note: The stronger the bond, the greater the power awakened.]

[Additional Note: Alpha Ronan does not know the full prophecy.]

[He believes claiming you will make you his alone. But you were not sent here to belong to one beast.]

[Your destiny is not singular. You were chosen to unite them all.]

Selene gasped. "Five days?!"

The System went quiet.

But the last line echoed in her head:

You were not sent here to belong to one beast.

She turned her head slightly, her eyes drifting back to Ronan.

Now she understood. The way he spoke. The way he offered protection. The promise of safety if she gave herself to him. He thought she was meant to choose him, and only him.

He doesn't know…

Her heart sank under the weight of the truth.

Because no matter how gentle his voice or warm his eyes, he didn't yet understand the full cost of her role.

She was never meant to be just one Alpha's mate.

She was meant to carry the bloodlines of many. Unite the clans. Through pleasure. Through breeding. Through her body.

And he didn't know.

Ronan stood slowly.

His voice dropped, deep and rough with quiet emotion. "I won't force you. But if you let me… I'll protect you with everything I have."

He looked down at her, not as a beast gazing at prey, but as a man offering everything he had.

Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. The mark on her stomach pulsed faintly, warm and alive.

This world was brutal. Unfamiliar. Hungry.

But somehow, Ronan made her feel steady in the middle of it all.

Her lips parted. Her voice trembled.

"…Tell me what I have to do."