All Chapters of ONCE A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE LUNA NOW THE DEMON ALPHA'S BRIDE: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

"POWER DOESN'T ANNOUNCE ITSELF. IT WAITS UNTIL YOU'VE FORGOTTEN TO BE AFRAID OF YOURSELF."STELLAThe corridor felt colder than usual that morning. Every step sent a dull ache through my body, but somehow the pain sitting inside my chest hurt far more than any of it. His words wouldn't leave me alone.“I don't need your name.”“You're simply the woman who keeps my bed warm.”I wrapped my arms around myself as I walked. The palace was only just beginning to wake — servants hurrying through the halls with buckets of water, baskets of bread, fresh flowers bound for the royal chambers. Life going on exactly as it always did, as though mine hadn't just been reduced to nothing more than someone's convenience overnight.Outside Lady Valentina's chambers, she was already waiting. She didn't greet me. She never did. Instead she held out the familiar glass vial."The herbs."I accepted it without a word and swallowed the bitter liquid, the burn crawling down my throat the same way it always did

"SOME EYES DON'T JUST SEE... THEY NOTICE."STELLA"Mira."My voice came out as nothing more than a terrified whisper. She didn't waste a second. Grabbing the unconscious servant beneath the arms, she started dragging her toward the nearest side corridor, the girl's shoes scraping loudly against the polished marble the whole way. Every sound felt deafening in that silence."Hurry!" I hissed."I'm trying!"Mira disappeared around the corner just as another sound reached us. Footsteps. Slow. Measured. Coming this way.My blood turned to ice. No. No, no, no. Not now. Not here.My gaze dropped to the shattered porcelain scattered across the floor. If anyone saw this, if anyone looked beyond it, everything would unravel. My hands trembled as I dropped to my knees, frantically gathering the broken pieces into my apron. One shard sliced across my palm and I barely even felt it. All I could think about was the unconscious servant lying only a few feet away. Please don't wake up. Please don't

"SOME SECRETS DON'T DESTROY YOU... THEY MAKE THE WORLD FEAR YOU."STELLA"My... kind?"The words barely escaped my lips. The servant shrank farther against the wall, hugging her knees tightly to her chest, looking at me the way prey looks at a predator."I don't know what you're called," she whispered. "My grandmother used to tell stories when I was little." Her eyes never left mine. "Stories about wolves whose voices could command others."A chill crawled down my spine."They said one word from them could make even the strongest Alpha kneel."Mira and I exchanged a quick glance. Impossible. That couldn't be me. Could it?"I always thought they were just stories." The servant let out a bitter laugh. "Children's tales meant to keep us obedient." She swallowed hard. "But then..." Her voice trembled. "I couldn't stop."The memory alone seemed enough to make her shiver."My hands..." She looked down at her bandaged palms. "I wanted to stop cleaning. I was screaming inside my own head, tel

"SOMETIMES THE GREATEST DANGER ISN'T THE MONSTER... IT'S THE MAN WHO CAN SEE STRAIGHT THROUGH YOU."STELLAThe room was far quieter than the rest of the palace, almost abandoned. Only the occasional crackle from the fireplace and the soft rustle of my feather duster disturbed the silence. Mira had been right — Alpha Damien barely stayed here. Judging by the untouched bed and the thin layer of dust settled across the shelves, no one had occupied these chambers in weeks, which made me wonder why anyone would keep a room they never used.I sighed softly and kept dusting the towering bookshelf near the windows. There were far more books than I expected — histories, war journals, ancient pack records, even books on herbs and healing. None of it fit the image everyone painted of him. The bloodthirsty prince. The cursed Alpha. The man with a demon inside him.My gaze drifted toward one object sitting alone on the highest shelf. A small wooden wolf, unlike everything else in the room, worn fr

"THE GREATEST ACTS OF COURAGE OFTEN LOOK LIKE FOOLISHNESS TO EVERYONE ELSE."STELLABy the next morning I had heard enough stories about Alpha Damien to fill an entire library. It seemed like every servant in the palace had woken up with a new tale to share, each one passed along in a hushed voice like it might summon him just by being spoken too loudly."He ripped a rogue in half with his bare hands.""They say his demon comes out during the full moon.""I heard he doesn't even eat with other people.""My cousin worked at his estate years ago. She resigned after two days.""No... I heard she disappeared."Every servant seemed to have a different story, and each one sounded worse than the last. I scrubbed the marble floor outside the west wing, pretending not to listen, but I did — every word, every whisper, every terrifying rumor, my knees aching against the cold stone while my ears stayed tuned to every conversation drifting past me. The strange thing was that none of them sounded c