Bound by Moonlight

Chains and Silence

Morning came like a punishment.

A faint drip from a leaky pipe echoed through the concrete walls of the laundry room — her prison, her bedroom, her cage. The damp hung in the air like a second skin, musty and cold. Her thin blanket clung to her like tissue, still damp from the night’s sweat and the persistent chill. The mattress beneath her was a torn, yellowing cot cushion laid over rusting storage crates. Rats didn’t venture here anymore. Even they sensed the rot.

She blinked slowly, pain settling back into her bones like it belonged there. Bruises bloomed under her ribs, her shoulder ached where she’d slammed into the metal table, and her mouth still tasted faintly of blood and shame.

She moved carefully, limbs stiff, every muscle screaming in protest — but she didn’t cry out. She never did.

The cuffs around her wrists burned quietly. The silver had long since scarred her skin, but she barely felt the sting anymore. Alpha Garrick insisted they were necessary — “To keep the beast in check,” he had once said with a smirk.

Her wolf lay silent within her. Still. Distant. As if buried beneath layers of pain and silver, so deep she’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have her stir. Selene had never shifted. Not once. Not even a flicker. Eighteen and still unawakened — a shameful mystery in a world where a wolf’s presence defined strength.

The Luna made sure she never forgot it.

Selene sat up slowly, letting the chill slap her awake. Time to start the day.

She dressed in silence — black slacks, a plain button-down shirt, and a worn cardigan with sleeves long enough to cover the cuffs. She braided her dark hair back neatly, though every twist of her arms made her ribs ache. The Luna demanded order and appearance — a servant had to look presentable.

By 5:30 a.m., she was in the kitchens, scrubbing floors and preparing breakfast trays for the higher-ranked wolves in the house. The cook ignored her as usual. The beta’s daughter snickered when she passed, knocking a stack of dishes out of Selene’s hands on purpose.

“Clumsy w***e,” she hissed.

Selene said nothing. She cleaned the mess and moved on.

At 6:15, she brought coffee to the Luna’s chambers. Always black. Always exactly 80 degrees. A single mistake — too hot, too late, too slow — and she’d feel the Luna’s claws rake across her skin in a backhanded slap.

“Still walking?” the Luna sneered this morning, taking her cup without looking up. “I would’ve thought Garrick ended you last night.”

Selene bowed her head. “Sorry, Luna.”

“Tch. Don’t speak unless spoken to.” A slap came hard across her cheek. “Disgusting little stray. You should be grateful we even let you stay here.”

As if I had a choice, Selene thought bitterly. But she kept her mouth shut. She always did.

By 7:00, she was scrubbing toilets on the second floor, then polishing the banisters by the Alpha’s office. Every time she passed that door, her heart raced. She prayed he wouldn’t be inside.

By 8:00, she was dismissed to prepare for school. She changed into her uniform — navy skirt, blouse, sweater — and checked her reflection in the cracked mirror above the laundry sink. She looked clean. Quiet. Invisible. Just how she needed to be.

The cuffs burned. But she was used to the pain. The scars they left were permanent, etched in silvery rings around her wrists like cursed bracelets.

School was the only place she could escape — not quite safe, but less hunted. She sat in the back of every class, aced every test, kept her eyes low. Teachers praised her intelligence. Students ignored her or whispered behind her back. “Pack whore.” “Silver girl.” “Alpha’s toy.”

She said nothing. She never fought back. There was no point.

But every day she sat in that classroom was another step closer to freedom. Graduation was only a few months away. She didn’t have a plan yet — no place to run, no resources, no allies. But she had her mind. Her will. Her silence.

And sometimes, in those brief, stolen moments between math tests and essay deadlines, she imagined what it would feel like to run. To shift. To be strong. To leave this place behind forever.