บททั้งหมดของ Chosen by the cursed Alpha king : บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Being Luna is nothing like I imagined. It isn’t sitting on a throne or wearing fine dresses all day. It is walking through the pack with people watching you from the corners of their eyes, weighing your words, measuring your heart. It is listening more than speaking, smiling even when your legs ache, and pretending you don’t hear the whispers that still follow you sometimes. But I do it every day. I attend to disputes. I check on the injured. I sit with grieving families. I learn names, stories, fears. Slowly, the pack begins to soften around me, the way frozen ground thaws when spring comes quietly instead of all at once. The only problem is Damon. He has become unbearable. Not cruel. Not distant. Overprotective. He shadows me like a storm cloud, always near, always watching. If I visit the healers, he waits outside. If I walk through the square, warriors trail behind me. If I so much as pause too long near the forest line, his voice slips into my head, sharp and commanding.

Steam curls lazily toward the ceiling, carrying the soft scent of lavender and crushed herbs. The bath chamber is warm, almost too warm and for a moment I simply sit in the tub, letting the heat seep into my bones.Aria kneels beside me, sleeves rolled up, dark hair tied back neatly. She pours warm water over my shoulders, her movements practiced and gentle, like she’s done this a hundred times before.“Lean forward a little,” she says softly.I do, and she begins to scrub my back with a cloth, careful but thorough.I sigh without meaning to. “This still feels unreal.”Aria smiles. “The bath or the soft life?”“Both,” I admit.She laughs quietly and moves to my hair, working scented soap into my scalp. Her fingers are firm, soothing.“You know,” I say after a moment, “back at my aunt’s place, there was no tub. Just a deep well behind the house.”Aria pauses. “A well?”I nod. “Far back. Hidden behind old trees. I used to fetch water every morning and evening. Even in winter.”Her eyes

I had never been to the dungeon before. No….that was a lie. I had heard of it. The stories were enough to keep any sane wolf away. The stairs spiraled downward, each step colder than the last. The air grew thick with damp stone, iron, old blood, fear. Torches burned low along the walls, their flames hissing as if even fire hated this place. I pulled my cloak tighter around me, my heart hammering. Damon thought I was resting. For once, I was grateful he trusted me enough not to question it. The guards stationed at the dungeon entrance were nothing like the ones at the pack house. Their eyes were sharper. Their stances rigid. These were men who had seen monsters up close and become harder because of it. They straightened when they saw me. “Luna,” one said cautiously. “You shouldn’t be here.” “I know,” I replied softly. “But I need to see someone.” Suspicion flickered across their faces. “Marcela,” I added. That did it. Their jaws tightened. One of them shook his head. “S

Days passed quietly.Too quietly.The Red Moon pack settled into a rare stretch of peace, the kind that made people lower their guards without realizing it. Laughter returned to the pack square. Children ran freely again. The warriors trained without the tension of looming war.And I? I refused to sit still.Despite Damon’s constant objections, I continued my duties as Luna. I inspected food stores, settled small disputes, checked on the omegas, and made sure the widows from the war were still being cared for. Every time Damon caught me moving about on my own, his jaw tightened.“You’re stubborn,” he told me one morning.“I prefer determined,” I replied.He sighed like a man already defeated.It was on the fifth day of peace that trouble arrived.Not in our pack. But close enough.A messenger arrived just before noon, bearing the council’s seal. Damon read the message once, then again, his expression darkening with every second.“The Crimson Snow pack was attacked,” he said grimly. “

The seer’s house always felt like it existed slightly outside time.The closer Lena got to it, the quieter the path became as though the birds themselves held their breath. Wind chimes made of bone and crystal clinked softly above the doorway, swaying even though there was no wind. The scent of burning sage and crushed herbs hung thick in the air.Lena knocked once.“You may enter, child of moon and blood,” the seer called gently, as if she had been expecting her.Lena smiled faintly and pushed the door open.The old woman sat by the hearth, her silver hair braided loosely down her back, her back straighter than most warriors half her age. A kettle simmered quietly, steam curling upward like whispers seeking the ceiling.They had grown fond of each other, Lena realized that now. Perhaps because the seer had seen her before anyone else truly had. Or perhaps because the seer spoke to her not as Luna, not as Alpha’s mate, but simply as Lena.“I brought you moonbread,” Lena said softly, h