Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Room in the Corner
Selene’s POV The room they gave me was at the far end of the hallway. It used to be a storage closet. No windows. No carpet. Just four walls, a tiny bed, and a bucket of cleaning supplies in the corner. I didn’t cry when I saw it. I sat down slowly, holding my breath, letting my bones remember the pain from yesterday. I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t even taken off my shoes. My body was tired, but my mind wouldn’t stop spinning. “You’ll be my maid,” Sasha had said. Not a maid. Her maid. She wanted me close. Not out of kindness — but to watch me break. Slowly. Piece by piece. There was a soft knock on the door. Before I could answer, it opened. Sasha stepped in, arms folded, her expression calm like she wasn’t the reason I felt like I was suffocating. She looked around the small room and smirked. “Comfy enough?” I stayed silent. She walked over to the bed, tapped the frame with her knuckles. “I asked the guards not to give you anything fancy. Didn’t want you getting too comfortable.” Still, I said nothing. She turned to me. “You start at five. Sharp. My room needs to be cleaned before breakfast. Floors. Sheets. Closet. You’ll wash my training clothes and polish my boots. You’ll stand behind me during every pack meeting unless I say otherwise.” I nodded once. That wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted me to cry. Beg. Explode. But I wouldn’t give her that. She stepped closer, tilting her head. “You think you’re strong, don’t you?” My voice came out quiet. “I don’t think anything.” She leaned in, lowering her voice. “You lost, Selene. You’re not special anymore. You’re just a servant now. My servant. And the faster you accept that, the easier it’ll be.” I met her eyes for the first time. “I’m not here to make it easy.” Her smile dropped. She stared at me for a second, then stepped back. “Good. Because it won’t be.” She turned and left, slamming the door behind her. I sat in the silence again. The bed creaked under my weight as I lay down. My throat felt tight, but I didn’t cry. Instead, I closed my eyes and whispered into the darkness: “Just survive today.” ⸻ The sound of footsteps outside my door woke me before dawn. I got up, washed my face with cold water from a bucket, tied my hair back, and headed to her room. Her door was already open. She was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair like nothing in the world had changed. “You’re late,” she said without looking at me. “It’s 4:57.” “I said five. You should’ve been here earlier.” I didn’t argue. She threw her towel on the floor. “Pick it up.” I did. She kicked off her shoes and walked into her bathroom. “Clean that too.” “Yes, Alpha.” She froze for a second. I knew it hit her — the sound of me calling her Alpha. It made her smile. She thought she’d won. But deep down, I knew something she didn’t. Obeying doesn’t mean surrendering. I picked up the towel and scrubbed the floor. I folded her clothes and made her bed. When she finally left the room, I stood in the silence again — like a ghost cleaning up someone else’s life. I hated it. But I’d do it. Not because I was weak. But because I still had something to fight for — even if I didn’t know what it was yet. Maybe not the title. Maybe not even Ronan. But me. And I would not disappear.Chapter Forty One : The Night I Was Set FreeRonan’s POVI was dying. Not from wounds, not from poison—though my body ached in places I couldn’t even feel anymore. I was dying because my soul had been caged. Because my heart, the only thing I had left, was being crushed with each passing day.The prison was cold. The stone floor was harder than anything I’d ever slept on. No bed. No food. Just a rusted bucket in one corner. The walls smelled of mold, rot, and old blood. Maybe mine. Maybe someone else’s.I didn’t know how many days had passed.There was no window. No way to tell night from day, except for when the guards came to mock me.They’d toss scraps near the bars, but I was too weak to move most times. When I did try to crawl over, a boot would slam into my stomach and leave me breathless.Still, I didn’t beg.Not once.Because my pain didn’t matter.Only one thing did.Selene.I kept seeing her in my dreams—her soft voice calling my name. Her smile. The way she used to roll her
Chapter Forty: The Quiet FearSelene’s POVI woke up to silence. Again.The room was warm, the bed soft, the windows wide enough to let the early light touch my face gently. But still, I felt cold inside. Not from the air. But from something else… something I couldn’t name.I sat up slowly, my body still aching in places, but nothing hurt more than the fear growing quietly in my chest.I reached for the glass of water beside the bed, but it was empty. I didn’t remember drinking it.For a moment, I just stared at it. Then I looked around. No one had come to check on me since morning. That was strange.Before, the servants always came early, smiling carefully, offering food, or asking if I needed anything. But now? Nothing. No knock. No sound. Nothing.I got up and walked to the door. Slowly. Quietly.I placed my hand on the handle and opened it just a little. Just enough to peek.There were two guards by the door. Different faces. Not the same ones who had been here before.They were w
Chapter Thirty Nine - Sasha’s Move— Sasha’s POV —“She’s in the East Border. She’s with the Lycan King… in Ardent Claw Pack.”The guard’s words hit me like cold water.I stood there frozen for a moment. My fingers gripped the doorframe, my nails digging into the wood as his words echoed in my mind.Selene?With the Lycan King?How?How did she even get close to someone like him?And not just any Lycan King — Evric. One of the most feared and respected Lycans alive. A man whose name makes warriors freeze and elders bow. What was she doing there?What if he finds out who she really is?What if he comes here… and tells everyone the truth?What if he takes everything I’ve built and hands it back to Selene?I pressed a hand to my chest. My heart was racing.No. I won’t let that happen.I can’t let that happen.I’ve worked too hard. I’ve climbed too far. I stole everything from her—her name, her rank, her future. I became her. I became Alpha.No one can take that from me.Not even Selene.
Chapter Thirty Eighr: Even in Chains, I Wait for HerRonan’s POVThe cold stone floor beneath me had long since numbed my body, but the pain in my chest wouldn’t go away.My throat was dry. My lips cracked. It had been days since they gave me anything to eat or drink. My stomach was tight with hunger, but I didn’t care anymore. Not about food. Not about water. Just her.Selene.I kept my back against the wall of the tiny cell. No light came in. No sound either, except the scratching of rats and the occasional footsteps of guards outside the iron door. The air was damp and heavy. I could barely breathe.I had come here just to ask Sasha one question.“Where is Selene?”That’s all I wanted. Just to know if she was safe. If she was alive.But Sasha didn’t even blink. She laughed—laughed like I was a fool—and then ordered her guards to throw me in here. Like a dog. Like my life meant nothing.And now I was rotting in her prison.I closed my eyes, pressing my head back against the cold wal
Chapter Thirty Seven : A King, A Scar, A PromiseSelene’s POVThe room was silent.Too silent.The fire in the corner made soft crackling sounds, but they did nothing to warm the cold inside me. My hands lay still over my lap, and I could feel the soreness deep in my bones. Every breath I took reminded me I was still hurting. Still healing. Still trapped.I didn’t know how long I’d been in the Lycan King’s palace, but it couldn’t be more than two days. Still, it felt like weeks. Maybe months. I had lost sense of time the moment I said yes to the proposal.I hadn’t even seen him since last night.Evric.That was his name. Cold and sharp. Like something carved from stone.There was a knock on the door, soft but sure. Before I could answer, the door opened. A woman stepped in quietly, holding a leather bag that smelled of herbs.She was older, with silver hair tied neatly behind her head. Her eyes looked tired, but kind. Her presence calmed the fear rising in my chest.“You must be Selen
Chapter Thirty-Six: The Scar That Saved MeSelene’s POVThe room was quiet. Too quiet.I sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the soft carpet beneath my feet. My fingers clutched the sides of my gown. It was beautiful—smooth, silky, expensive—but I hated it. I hated how it clung to my body. I hated how it reminded me of what I feared was coming.I had barely finished breathing in when the door creaked open.I didn’t move.I already knew who it was.The air shifted. His scent filled the room—a mix of pinewood and smoke, something dark, something heavy. I kept my eyes on the floor as the door clicked shut behind him. Every part of me stiffened.His steps were slow, controlled, like he had all the time in the world. But I didn’t.I was running out of courage.“You’re quiet,” he said.I swallowed hard. “I didn’t know you were coming.”“I live here. You live here now too. Why wouldn’t I come to my wife’s room?”My stomach twisted at that word. Wife. I wasn’t even sure what I was anymore.