Desired by Three Alphas, Fated to One

Chapter 9: The Breaking Point

The council hall was loud with growls and crashing voices when Selene pushed the heavy doors open.

All three Alphas turned toward her, startled, their arguments cut off mid-sentence.

Kael’s stormy gray eyes widened. “Selene—”

“Don’t,” she snapped, her voice sharper than she meant it to be.

The room went quiet, heavy with the tension of her anger. She walked straight to the center of the chamber, her chest heaving, her silver eyes glowing under the torches.

“You think you can stand here and argue about me like I’m some prize to be won?” Her voice broke, raw and trembling. “I’m not your war trophy. I’m not your weapon. And I am not going to let the three of you tear each other apart over me.”

Darius growled, stepping closer. “You don’t understand what’s at stake—”

“No, you don’t understand!” Selene’s shout echoed through the chamber. “I never asked for this prophecy! I never asked to be fated to any of you. Do you think it’s easy for me? Every time I look at one of you, I feel like I’m betraying the others. Every time I breathe, I feel like I’m pulling this realm closer to war.”

Lucian’s expression softened, his hazel eyes dark with guilt. “Selene…”

“You keep fighting over me like I’m some jewel that will make you king. Do you even care what I want?”

Kael flinched like she had struck him. His jaw worked, but no words came.

“I wanted to belong somewhere,” she said, her voice breaking. “I wanted one person — just one — to choose me because they saw me, not because the Moon Goddess threw my name into some stupid prophecy.”

Her hands trembled. She wrapped her arms around herself, holding back the tears that burned at the corners of her eyes.

For a long moment, none of them spoke.

Then Kael stepped forward. Slowly. Hesitantly.

“I did see you,” he said, his voice low. “Long before I knew about the prophecy. Long before I let my pride ruin everything.”

Selene looked up at him, startled. His face was open in a way she had never seen before — raw and almost vulnerable.

But before she could answer, a deafening crash shook the hall.

The torches flickered. Somewhere outside, wolves howled — not in unity, but in alarm.

Lucian’s head snapped toward the doors. “Rogues,” he said, his voice sharp. “They’ve breached the southern wall.”

Darius cursed under his breath and shifted into his wolf form in a flash of dark fur and claws.

Kael grabbed Selene’s arm. “Stay behind me.”

But Selene was already moving, her blood pounding in her ears. She could hear the screams outside, the sound of claws on stone, the smell of blood in the air.

Before anyone could stop her, she flung the doors open.

The night was chaos — rogue wolves swarming the courtyard, warriors clashing steel and fang against them. The moon hung low and crimson, as if watching in judgment.

One of the rogues spotted her and lunged.

Kael was faster, slamming into the rogue midair and tearing it apart with a snarl that made the ground shake.

But there were too many.

Lucian and Darius fought back to back, a rare and uneasy alliance, as more rogues poured in through the shattered gates.

Selene’s breath came in short, panicked gasps. Her wolf was screaming at her to run, but something deep inside her — something older — whispered: Stand.

She clenched her fists, felt a strange warmth spreading through her chest.

And then — it happened.

The silver glow in her eyes flared, bright and blinding, spilling like moonlight over the courtyard. Every wolf — rogue and pack — froze where they stood.

The air went deathly still.

When she spoke, her voice was not entirely her own.

“Leave,” she commanded.

And the rogues… obeyed.

One by one, they backed away, their ears flat, tails low, retreating into the darkness without a sound.

When the last of them was gone, the courtyard was silent, littered with blood and broken weapons.

Selene swayed on her feet, dizzy, until Kael caught her before she fell.

“What… was that?” Darius demanded, his amber eyes wide with shock.

Lucian’s face was unreadable, but his hand clenched tightly on his sword hilt. “The prophecy,” he said quietly. “She just proved it’s real.”

Selene’s throat went dry.

She looked at the three Alphas — all of them staring at her now not with anger, but with something far more dangerous.

Reverence.

And fear.