CHAPTER - 5
1163 Words
Selena barely made it back to her room before the walls felt too tight around her. Her pulse was still unsteady, echoing with Lucienne’s voice, his golden eyes, and that low command that stirred something she didn’t want to name.
She pressed a hand against the mark on her wrist. It burned faintly… not painful, but alive, like it was responding to him even across the walls.
A soft knock came.
Darius.
He leaned casually on the doorframe, his usual calm smile in place. “You’re trembling again.”
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“No, you’re not.” He stepped closer, voice lowering. “You should know something about my brother, he doesn’t like showing emotions, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel them.”
Selena’s heart jumped. “He shouldn’t. He already has too much power.”
“That’s not how the bond works,” Darius said quietly. “It doesn’t ask for permission. It just… consumes.”
Before she could reply, footsteps echoed down the corridor. Heavy. Controlled.
Lucienne.
Darius stepped aside immediately, his expression neutral. “Alpha.”
Lucienne’s eyes swept over Selena, then lingered. “You start training today.”
“Already?” she asked, startled.
He nodded. “If you carry the Moon’s mark, you learn to wield it. I won’t have weakness in my territory.”
Darius frowned. “She barely slept..”
“She’s not fragile,” Lucienne cut in. His voice softened slightly, but the edge remained. “Are you?”
Selena swallowed. “No.”
“Good.” His lips almost curved, but he turned before she could read him. “Meet me in the training field in ten minutes.”
When he left, Darius sighed. “You’ll get used to his tone. Eventually.”
Selena looked down at her hands. “And if I don’t?”
Darius smiled faintly. “Then you’ll learn to make him listen.”
---
The training field stretched wide behind the mansion, bordered by old pines. Lucienne stood at the center, dressed in dark leather, sunlight glinting on his armguards. His wolf stirred beneath the surface, power radiating off him like heat.
Selena approached cautiously.
He tossed a wooden blade at her feet. “Pick it up.”
“I thought we were training control, not combat,” she murmured.
“Control begins with obedience,” he replied simply. “Pick it up.”
Her fingers wrapped around the hilt, surprisingly steady.
Lucienne circled her slowly, his gaze sharp, assessing every movement. “You’re smaller than most warriors. You’ll have to rely on instinct.”
“And if I have none?” she asked, her tone faintly teasing despite the tension.
He stopped in front of her, close enough that his breath brushed her cheek. “You do. I felt it last night, when you defied the Moon’s pull, even for a second. That takes instinct.”
Selena blinked, thrown by the raw honesty in his voice. For a heartbeat, she forgot to breathe.
Lucienne moved again, deliberately keeping the space between them too small. “Attack me.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” His eyes glowed faintly gold. “Show me what you have.”
Selena hesitated, then swung the blade toward him. He dodged effortlessly, catching her wrist midair. His grip was firm but not painful. “Too slow.”
She tried again, faster this time… and he caught her again, spinning her until her back pressed against his chest.
Her breath hitched.
Lucienne’s voice dropped low beside her ear. “Better. But you think too much.”
“Maybe I prefer thinking to breaking bones,” she whispered, trying to steady her voice.
He chuckled under his breath, a sound rare and rough. “You’ll need both.”
Their eyes met briefly when he released her, the air thick between them. For a fleeting second, neither moved.
Then a voice shattered the tension.
“Well, isn’t this sweet?” Seraphine’s tone dripped venom. She stood by the entrance to the field, her mother beside her. “A training session or a private dance?”
Lucienne straightened instantly. “This is none of your concern.”
“It is when the entire pack whispers that their Alpha is bewitched,” Alara said coolly. “You should be careful, Lucienne. The Moon’s mark can deceive.”
Selena stiffened. “I didn’t ask for this bond.”
Alara’s gaze was ice. “You didn’t need to. The cursed never do.”
Lucienne’s eyes darkened dangerously. “Enough.”
Seraphine stepped closer, feigning innocence. “I only came to help, Alpha. Perhaps I should train too, as your intended Luna.”
Lucienne’s voice was flat. “The Moon chose differently.”
Seraphine’s mask cracked for a second. “The Moon made a mistake.”
He turned to Selena instead. “We’re done for today.”
“But…”
“That’s an order,” he said softly.
She dropped the blade, her chest rising and falling too fast. Without another word, she walked past Seraphine and Alara, refusing to look at either of them.
---
By evening, the mansion felt colder.
Selena stood by her window, watching the moonlight stretch across the courtyard. Her thoughts swirled like storm clouds… the training, Lucienne’s touch, Seraphine’s glare.
She didn’t hear the door open until Lucienne’s voice broke the silence.
“You handled yourself well today.”
She turned, startled. “I thought training was over.”
“It was,” he said. “This isn’t training.”
“Then what is it?”
He hesitated, eyes searching hers. “Understanding.”
She frowned slightly. “Of what?”
He took a slow step forward. “Of why the Moon chose you.”
Selena’s throat tightened. “And have you found the reason?”
“Not yet,” he said quietly. “But I’m beginning to see it.”
He stopped close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating off him. His gaze dropped to the faint glow of the mark on her wrist. His hand lifted…slowly, hesitantly, until his fingers hovered above it. “Does it still burn?”
“Sometimes,” she whispered.
“When?”
“When you’re near.”
His eyes snapped to hers, the air thick with unspoken things. “Then perhaps we both burn.”
Before she could answer, the door slammed open.
Seraphine stood there, eyes blazing. “Mother wants to see you, both of you.”
Lucienne stepped back immediately, mask slipping back into place. “We’ll come.”
Selena’s pulse raced, her mind a blur. Seraphine’s glare lingered on her before she turned away.
And as Selena followed them down the corridor, the silver pendant against her chest pulsed again… alive, warning her.
Something in this house was changing.
Something dangerous was coming.
And when Alara’s voice echoed from the hall ahead, calm and cold, Selena knew, this was only the beginning of the war under one roof.
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