CURSED By the Moon

Chapter 3.

Chapter Three: The Chains of Fate

Torin’s fingers graze my cheek, cold as a blade, and my body locks up, every muscle screaming to run. The council chamber of Blackthorn Academy feels like a tomb, the lunar carvings on the stone walls pulsing with faint silver light. The three elders at the table watch me with cold eyes, their silence louder than the storm raging outside. Torin’s steel-blue gaze pins me, his smirk curling like smoke, and I can’t breathe. My wolf, that faint spark I felt in the courtyard, cowers inside me, whimpering under the weight of his presence.

“Cecilia,” Torin purrs, his voice a velvet noose. “You look well. Hiding suits you.”

“Get away from me,” I choke out, stepping back, but my heel hits the wall. Trapped. My hands shake, and the memory of his cruelty—his hands, his voice, the mate bond that choked me—floods my mind. I rejected him, fled the Ironclaw Pack, but the bond is still there, incomplete, a thread he’s pulling now.

“Enough.” Eryx’s growl cuts through the room, low and lethal, vibrating in my bones. He steps from the shadows, his amber eyes blazing, his leather jacket still wet from the rain. His presence is a storm, and my wolf stirs, traitorously drawn to him. “You don’t touch her, Varn.”

Torin’s smirk doesn’t falter. He tilts his head, sizing Eryx up like a wolf eyeing prey. “The Nightshade heir,” he says, his tone mocking. “Protecting a reject? How noble.”

“Step back, or I’ll make you,” Eryx says, his voice steady but edged with violence. His hands flex, claws glinting faintly, and the air crackles with his Alpha energy.

The head elder, a gaunt woman named Eldress Mara, rises, her silver robes rustling. “Enough, both of you,” she snaps, her voice sharp as a whip. “This is a council matter, Maddox. You have no authority here.”

“Then why’s an Ironclaw Alpha in your chamber?” Eryx shoots back, his eyes never leaving Torin. “This isn’t a parley. It’s an ambush.”

My stomach twists. He’s right. The elders’ silence, their cold stares—it’s not judgment. It’s complicity. They’ve let Torin in, knowing what he did to me, knowing I’m a Lunaris Reiecta. My heart pounds, and I glance at the door, but two Ironclaw guards block it, their red eyes glinting in the dim light.

“Cecilia,” Torin says, stepping closer, ignoring Eryx. “You broke pack law. You fled before the rejection ritual was complete. You belong to me.”

“No,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I rejected you. I’m free.”

“Are you?” He leans in, his breath hot on my face, pine and blood choking my senses. “Your wolf still sings for me. I feel her, Cecilia. She’s mine.”

My wolf howls inside, not in longing but in fear, and I hate her for it. I clench my fists, my nails digging into my palms, and that flicker of lunar energy sparks again, tingling in my fingertips. I don’t know how to use it, but it’s something, a weapon I didn’t have three years ago.

“Back off,” I say, louder now, forcing my voice to steady. “Or I’ll make you regret it.”

Torin laughs, a cold, hollow sound. “You? A broken healer with a dead wolf? You’re nothing without me.”

“Try me,” I snap, and the spark in my hands flares, a faint shimmer rippling through the air. Torin’s eyes widen, just for a second, and I seize the moment, shoving him back. He stumbles, more surprised than hurt, but it’s enough to give me space.

Eryx moves, placing himself between us, his body a shield. “You heard her,” he says, his voice low, dangerous. “Leave, Varn, or you’re not walking out of here.”

The elders murmur, their faces tight with disapproval, but Eldress Mara raises a hand. “This is not your place, Maddox. Cecilia Raelle is a fugitive under pack law. Torin has a claim.”

“A claim?” Eryx spits, his eyes flashing. “He abused her. He doesn’t get to crawl back and demand her like property.”

My chest aches at his words, at the way he defends me, but I push it down. I don’t trust him. Not with that pull in my blood, that whisper of mate my wolf keeps screaming. Second-chance mates are a myth, and Eryx’s intensity—his claim that I’m his—feels too much like Torin’s obsession.

“Enough!” I shout, my voice echoing off the stone walls. “I’m not a prize to be fought over. Not by him”—I point at Torin—“and not by you.” I glare at Eryx, my heart pounding.

Eryx’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t argue. Torin, though, laughs again, stepping closer despite Eryx’s growl. “You think you have a choice, Cecilia? The Moon Goddess bound us. You can’t escape fate.”

“Fate can go to hell,” I snap, and the lunar energy flares again, stronger this time, a pulse that makes the carvings on the walls flicker. The elders gasp, and even Torin pauses, his smirk faltering.

“What is that?” Eldress Mara demands, her eyes narrowing. “What power is this?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, my voice shaking but defiant. “But I’m done being your pawn.”

Before anyone can respond, the chamber doors burst open, and Lila storms in, her platinum hair wild, her arm bandaged from the courtyard fight. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she says, her green eyes blazing as she takes in the scene. “A council meeting with an Ironclaw thug? What’s next, inviting shadow wolves to tea?”

“Lila, stand down,” Eldress Mara says, but Lila ignores her, striding to my side.

“You okay, C?” she asks, her voice low, her hand on my shoulder.

“No,” I say honestly, my eyes locked on Torin. “But I will be.”

Torin’s smirk returns, and he claps slowly, the sound mocking. “Such spirit. I missed that, Cecilia. It’ll make breaking you again so much sweeter.”

Eryx lunges, but I grab his arm, my touch stopping him cold. His eyes meet mine, and for a moment, the world narrows to just us—the heat of his skin, the pull in my chest, the way my wolf howls for him. I let go, my heart racing, and turn to Torin.

“You’ll never touch me again,” I say, my voice steady now, the lunar energy humming in my veins. “I’d rather die.”

“That can be arranged,” Torin says, his eyes glinting with malice. He nods to the Ironclaw guards, who step forward, claws extended.

“Enough!” Eldress Mara’s voice cuts through, sharp and final. “Torin Varn, you will present your case tomorrow at the full moon council. Until then, Cecilia remains under Blackthorn’s protection.”

Torin’s face darkens, but he bows mockingly. “As you wish, Eldress. But know this”—his eyes lock on mine—“I’ll have what’s mine.”

He turns, his cloak swirling, and strides out, the guards following. The air in the chamber shifts, lighter but still heavy with tension. The elders dismiss us, their eyes cold, and Lila pulls me toward the door, Eryx trailing close behind.

Outside, the storm has eased to a drizzle, but the air feels electric, charged with something I can’t name. Lila keeps a hand on my arm, her voice low. “You’ve got some explaining to do, C. What was that glowy thing you did?”

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “It just… happened.”

Eryx stops us, his hand grazing my shoulder, and I flinch, my wolf stirring again. “You’re stronger than you think,” he says, his voice soft but intense. “That power—it’s lunar energy. Rare. Dangerous.”

“Stop,” I say, pulling away. “I don’t need your pep talk, Maddox. I just want to be left alone.”

His eyes darken, but he nods, stepping back. “You can’t run from this, Cecilia. Not from him. Not from me.”

I turn away, my heart pounding, and follow Lila toward the dorms. But as we reach the shadowed path, a faint howl echoes through the woods, sharp and chilling. Ironclaw. They’re still out there, watching. Waiting.

Lila curses under her breath. “We need to get you somewhere safe, C. Torin’s not done.”

“I know,” I say, my voice hollow. My hand brushes the cut on my arm, still stinging from the courtyard, and I feel that spark again, that lunar energy pulsing under my skin. It’s new, wild, and it scares me as much as Torin does.

We reach the dorms, but as Lila opens the door, a shadow moves in the corner of my vision—a figure, cloaked, standing just beyond the torchlight. Not Torin. Someone else. Their eyes glow silver, not red, and my wolf howls, not in fear but in recognition. The figure vanishes into the mist, but a whisper carries on the wind, soft and ancient, like a voice from a dream.

“Cecilia Raelle,” it says, “the Moon Goddess sees you.”

My blood runs cold, and Lila grabs my arm, her voice urgent. “C? What’s wrong?”

I can’t answer. The whisper lingers, and as I step into the dorm, my wolf clawing at my soul, I know—Torin’s not the only one hunting me. Something bigger, something divine, is watching, and it’s not letting me go.