All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S CURSED LUNA : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

LYRA'S POVThe floor is cold.That is the first thing I notice every morning. The second thing is the ache in my knees. I have been scrubbing these hallways since I was old enough to hold a brush.Before the sun even thinks about rising, I am on my hands and knees. My brush scratches against the stone floor. My bucket of soapy water smells like lye and failure. The packhouse hallway stretches in front of me like a never-ending river of dirt. Behind me, the kitchen staff shouts and bangs their pots. Above me, in warm beds, my family sleeps.I am the Beta's daughter. But no one treats me like one."Faster, Lyra!" Marta's voice cuts through the morning like a whip. She is the head maid, and she hates me. I do not know why. Maybe because I remind her that her job could have been mine. "The Alpha's guests arrive this afternoon. Every speck of dust must be gone.""Yes, Marta," I say quietly.I dip my brush into the bucket and keep scrubbing. The soap burns my cracked knuckles. My back screa

LYRA'S POVThe fortress gates open like a mouth swallowing me whole.Iron groans against iron. Torches flicker on both sides of the entrance, casting orange light across cold stone. The guards push me forward. I stumble on the uneven ground, but no one catches me. No one helps me up.I am alone.The courtyard is bigger than I expected. Wolves train with swords in one corner. Others carry supplies across the muddy ground. Everyone moves fast. No one laughs. No one smiles.There is a heaviness here. A weight in the air that presses against my chest.The guards lead me past the training yard and into the main building. The hallways are dark and narrow. No windows. Just stone and more stone. The packhouse back home felt warm compared to this. This place feels like a tomb."Wait here," a guard says.He pushes me into a small room. A table. Two chairs. A fireplace that has not been lit in years. The walls are bare except for a single painting, a woman with dark hair and sad eyes. I wonder i

LYRA'S POVSleep will not come.I lie on the bed in the east wing and stare at the ceiling. The room is small but clean. A bed. A table. A single window that looks out at the mountains. The guards locked the door from the outside. I am a prisoner now. Not a guest. Not a Luna. A prisoner.My mate put me in a cage.I turn onto my side and pull my knees to my chest. The tears are gone. There is nothing left inside me except a dull, aching numbness. My wolf is quiet. She is hurt too. She does not understand why our mate rejected us.Neither do I.The hours crawl by. The fortress settles into silence. I hear the wind outside. The river below. The distant howl of wolves in the mountains.And something else.Footsteps.Soft. Careful. Not the heavy boots of the guards. Something lighter. Someone trying not to be heard.I sit up slowly. My heart begins to race.The footsteps stop outside my door.I wait. Nothing happens. The footsteps move away. I tell myself I imagined it. I tell myself I am

LYRA'S POVThe morning comes too bright.Sunlight pours through the broken window. I did not sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the knife. Every time I breathed, I smelled smoke and metal. Every time I moved, I felt the weight of his words.Especially not me.I press my palms against my eyes and try to push the memory away. It does not work.A servant brings breakfast. Bread. Cheese. Warm tea. She sets the tray on the table and backs away like I might attack her. I am too tired to be offended."What is your name?" I ask.She flinches. "I am not allowed—""To speak to me. Yes. I know." I pick up the bread. "Thank you for the food."She stares at me for a moment. Something softens in her face. Then she hurries out the door.I eat alone.---When I try to leave my room, two guards block the door."You are not permitted to leave the east wing," one says. His voice is flat. No emotion. Just orders."Alpha's orders?" I ask."Yes."I step back inside and close the door.So this is my

MAGNUS POV I wait until the girl is gone before I allow myself to breathe.The archive is dark and cold. The torches flicker. Shadows crawl up the walls like living things. I lean against the table and press my hand against my chest. My heart is pounding too fast. I am too old for this kind of shock.Lyra.The servant girl. The debt payment. The mate of Alpha Kael.She carries the mark.I have not seen that mark in fifty years. Not since the night the Silver Crescent Pack fell. Not since the night I held the hand of my dying queen and watched the light leave her eyes.She told me to protect the secret. She told me the heir would return one day. She told me to wait.I have waited.For fifty years, I have waited.---I walk to the back of the archive. Past the shelves of common records. Past the locked cabinets of pack history. Past the iron door that only I have the key to.My hands shake as I unlock it.The room beyond is small. A single shelf. A single book. The book is bound in whi