Novel & Cerita Manacled By Senlinyu

And the ritual chamber slams me like a physical force. Light black and gold flies around. The walls are cracked like spider webs. Two Elders are pinned to the floor by pressure, choking. Then I see her. My heart stops. Selene is hanging above the stone, hair floating, eyes glowing with this unreal white light. Power spills off her, making the air shake. The sigil overhead is done spinning – shattering apart. Her wrists are free. Restraints are gone. But she’s beyond waking. She’s breaking. “Selene.”

At the center, Alpha Selene stood on the stone dais. Naked. Her body gleamed with oil, her skin painted in streaks of ash and blood. The ceremonial chain of silver coiled around her neck and breasts, a symbol of power and bondage both. Her hair spilled wild down her back, her presence eclipsing even the moon overhead. Beside her, two men knelt. Kade—her brute, scarred and seething, broad shoulders bowed in submission. Lucian—her silver-eyed schemer, smirking even on his knees, but with wrists bound tight in ceremonial leather.

Warning: Torture ahead! Steel's POV I glanced at Prez and almost missed the exchange between him and Knives. But, surprising everybody with a nod, I did as he told me. Ink and Bunny helped out as a confused, fighting, and screaming Sin was taken off the floor and strapped to the table instead. Knives had him on his back with all of his limbs tied to each table leg. “What the hell are you doing to me?!” Sin screamed and fought to get loose.

“But the anchor has to be powerful enough to hold it.” Silence stretched. Winter’s eyes slowly widened. “You don’t mean...” “No,” Gabriel snapped. “Absolutely not.” I already knew. The pull inside my chest answered before my mind did. “Me,” I said quietly. Fenrir stirred faintly, as if he could hear us even now. Gabriel turned fully toward me. “Selene, listen to me. You are already bound to the seals. You are carrying more strain than anyone alive should. If you anchor an elven prince’s life-force on top of that.”

He was a warrior who knew a dozen ways to kill a man, but he had no knowledge of how to comfort this. With a focused effort that made the veins in his temples throb, he called upon the ancient magic of his bloodline, the Rennar power that could unbind the silver forged by their line. The manacles clicked open, falling away with a heavy, final clank that echoed in the silent cell. But the damage they had done remained, a brutal testament to his failure to protect her.

“Emotion, compassion, they are limits. They are flaws in the armor, I have removed those flaws. And I will burn every pack that clings to them until the world is cleansed.” He turned to a hooded figure I hadn’t noticed, standing in the shadows of the trees. “Take her. Chain her next to the aunt. Let them have a moment before the finale.” The figure moved forward, as the rough hands grabbed me, hauling me from the thorny net, my eyes met Luma’s. Her eyes were open now, full of pain, but also a fierce, undimmed fire. They dragged me to the dais. The chains were cold. The manacles clamped shut around my wrists with a final click. I was strung up beside Luma, our shoulders almost touching.

“Everything’s ready.” “The Luna?” the other asks. “She doesn’t know yet,” the first snickers. “But Selena made it clear. The Alpha’s mate stays breathing until the last chant.” My vision goes red. The chains rattle violently as power surges through me, raw and furious. The sigils blaze, searing my skin, but I push through it with a roar torn straight from my chest. The guards barely have time to react. One turns, eyes widening. “What the..”

“You carry the crown of a broken order.” Darius didn’t flinch. “And you carry the past.” The wolf’s eyes flicked back to Seraphina. “And she carries the Moon.” A ripple passed through the First Howl as one of them stepped fully into the arena. “Moonbound,” it said. “You woke us.” Seraphina shook her head. “I didn’t mean to.” “You were never meant to mean to,” the wolf replied. “Balance does not ask permission.” The Moon Sentinel raised its staff, silver light flaring. “By ancient decree, you are bound. Return below.”