CHAPTER 3

My eyes widened.

Did I hear him right? Did Damon really say they were planning to kill my father? And me?

My heart dropped like a stone in my chest. What had I done to deserve this? What could my father have possibly done to bring us into this nightmare?

The words echoed in my head like the strike of a heavy bell, loud and merciless. My pulse was racing, my hands shaking as I stared at Damon, waiting for him to take it back, to say it was a cruel joke.

But he didn't. His voice was steady, almost cold.

"Your father has killed many." My lips parted as I froze, unable to process. "W-What do you mean?"

Damon's gaze locked on mine with something sharp, something unrelenting.

"No... that's not true! It was all a lie! He only kills deer…” I whispered, shaking my head. "My father would never..."

Damon's jaw clenched. He glanced to the side, and I followed his gaze. One of the men stood by the window, silent, his eyes like daggers piercing through me. The atmosphere in the room shifted, heavy with unspoken accusations.

"The ones your father killed had families too, Selene," Damon continued. His tone softened slightly, but it didn't make the truth easier to swallow. "Mates, children, loved ones who waited for them to come home... but they never did."

I pressed my lips tightly together, my throat burning as if I had swallowed fire. My chest felt too tight for air.

"That can't be..." I muttered. I wanted to cover my ears, to block out the words. Yet they slipped through, cutting deeper and deeper.

"Selene," Damon said, stepping closer. "You need to understand. This is not a game. The bond you carry, that bracelet, it is pulling you into our world whether you like it or not. If you deny it, you and your father will both pay the price."

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. "But... he's my father. He's all I have. Why are you telling me this now? Why me?"

Damon's expression was unreadable, but there was something in his eyes... a flicker of conflict, of restraint.

"Because, Selene... whether you want it or not, you are already part of this. And once the jade claims you, there is no turning back."

My whole body trembled. My voice cracked as I looked up at him.

"So, I am supposed to just accept this? That my father is a killer? That I am suddenly bound to someone I do not even know? Tell me, Damon... what happens to me now?"

For the first time, I saw Damon hesitate. His lips parted as if he wanted to answer, but no sound came out. The silence between us screamed louder than any words.

My head snapped up, eyes narrowing as his words sank in.

"You're going to marry Alaric."

For a moment, I thought I had misheard him. My ears buzzed, my thoughts scattering like broken glass. Marry? Did he just say marry?

I let out a nervous laugh, more hysterical than amused. "Excuse me... what? Did you just—marry? As in wedding bells, vows, rings, and all that happily-ever-after nonsense?"

Damon didn't flinch. His eyes stayed on me, calm but unyielding, as though he had dropped an unshakable truth into the room.

"Yes, Selene. You are bound to him."

"Bound?" My voice cracked. I pressed my hands against my temples, as if squeezing them would make sense fall into place. "What do you mean bound? I don't even know him! I've only heard his name because you dogs keep throwing it around like some cursed destiny. How can I marry someone I've never met?"

"You have met him," Damon said quietly.

I froze, blinking. "What?"

His gaze didn't waver. "The wolf you kissed in the forest... the one who carried you back when you fainted... that was Alaric."

The air whooshed out of my lungs. My mind replayed that moment—the warmth of the arms around me, the steady heartbeat I heard before everything went black. I had dismissed it as a dream, but now...

"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, no, no. This is insane. You can't just force me to marry some dog wolf just because I wore a bracelet I didn't even ask for."

Damon's expression hardened. "This is not about what you asked for. It is about what fate has given you. That bracelet chose you, Selene, and through it, the jade chose you to the Alpha."

"Alpha..." I spat the word like it burned my tongue. "So what? Just because he's your precious Alpha, I suddenly lose my freedom? My choices? My life?"

"You think this is about choice?" His voice rose, sharp, but there was something behind it... desperation, frustration. "Selene, if you don’t have the jade, you will die. And not just you... your father as well. Do you understand now?"

My knees buckled, and I sat heavily on the edge of the bed. My chest heaved, tears stinging my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wanted to scream, to claw at the walls, to wake up from this nightmare.

"I don't want this," I whispered, more to myself than to him. "I didn't ask for any of this."

Damon's silence was heavy, but his eyes... his eyes softened for a moment, almost pitying. Then he said it again, slower this time, as if sealing my fate with every word.

"You are going to marry him. Alaric doesn't love you, Selene. Your bracelet is cursed and you can't do anything about it—"

Damon's words cut short as the door creaked open.

I turned my head sharply, my tears blurring the figure in the doorway. A woman entered, her steps slow but deliberate. She was older, her hair streaked with gray, her back slightly bent with age. A long scar dragged down across her left eye, leaving it clouded and lifeless.

Damon stiffened. His jaw tightened as if he had been caught saying something he shouldn't. Then, with a short nod in her direction, he left without another word, his footsteps fading down the hall until it was only me and the old woman.

The silence between us was deafening.

I wiped at my cheeks with the back of my hand, my eyes locked on her face. And then it hit me like a punch to the gut. The lines of her mouth, the shape of her nose, the way her single eye seemed to pierce through me...

"You..." My voice cracked, trembling. "It's you. You're the one... you're the one who gave me this bracelet."

She said nothing at first. Just stood there, her gaze steady, as if waiting for me to piece the truth together on my own.

My heart pounded so hard it hurt. I clutched at the jade band around my wrist, my fingers digging into it. "Why? Why did you give me this? What is this thing? You ruined my life with it!" My voice rose, raw and shaking, spilling all the fear and anger I'd been holding in. "Because of this, they want me to marry some dog... because of this, they want to kill me and my father!"

Finally, she spoke.

Her voice was low, rough, yet it carried a strange weight, like every word had been carved from stone.

"You do not understand, child. That bracelet did not ruin your life... it revealed it."

"What the hell does that even mean?" I snapped, my tears spilling over again. "I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for any of this! Why me? Why not someone else?"

Her lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile but wasn't pity either. "Because the jade chooses. And it chose you."

I shook my head violently, backing away until my shoulders hit the wall. "No... no, take it back. Please, just take it off me. If it's cursed, then break it, destroy it, I don't care… just make it stop glowing, make all of this go away!"

The old woman's good eye softened, but her answer was merciless.

"I cannot. Once it binds, it binds forever."

The words crushed me, and I slid down the wall, curling into myself as sobs shook my body. My whole world was unraveling, every thread cut by this cursed stone, and the one person who could have freed me only confirmed there was no escape.

She stepped closer, kneeling slowly in front of me, her scarred face lowering until she was eye level with me. She lifted a trembling hand, not to touch me, but to point at the bracelet pulsing faintly on my wrist.

"That curse you hate so much... it is not just a curse. It is a key. And one day, you will see why you were chosen."

Her words wrapped around me like chains. I wanted to scream at her, to beg, to tear the bracelet from my skin... but all I could do was sit there, shaking, as her truth sank into me like poison.