chapter two:the illegal luna
908 Words
The word sank into me like a brand
Mine
My knees trembled not from weakness but from the strange fire spreading through my veins His hand still held my chin icy and unyielding but my body betrayed me leaning into the touch instead of pulling away
I don’t know you I whispered my voice breaking You can’t… you can’t claim me
His crimson eyes glowed brighter burning into mine with an intensity that stole my breath And yet he murmured your soul already recognizes me
No I shook my head even as my wolf whimpered inside me restless and confused I had a mate He rejected me Whatever this is
it’s wrong
A low, dangerous laugh spilled from his lips. “A fool’s rejection does not erase what fate has written. Wolves may deny destiny. Vampires never do.”
“I’m not yours,” I tried again, my voice firmer this time.
His thumb brushed against my skin, cold as frost. My heartbeat stuttered.
“Say that again,” he challenged softly, “while looking into my eyes.”
I opened my mouth—then froze. Because I couldn’t. The bond pulsed too strongly, tugging at something ancient inside me.
“Wh-who are you?” I whispered.
“Lucian,” he said, his voice like velvet smoke. “Lucian Nightborne. Crown Prince of the Vampire Court. And you, little wolf…” His eyes narrowed, glowing with hunger. “You are my fated mate.”
Shock slammed into me. My lungs seized. “No. That’s impossible. Wolves and vampires don’t—”
“Don’t what?” His head tilted slightly, his pale lips curling. “Don’t mix? Don’t bond? That’s what they told you, isn’t it? Lies to keep you in chains.”
Chains. My chest tightened at the word. The laughter of my pack still echoed in my skull.
Lucian leaned closer, until his cold breath brushed my cheek. “Tell me, Selena Blackthorn… did your wolves treat you as a mate? Or as a mistake?”
Tears stung my eyes again. He shouldn’t know. He couldn’t know. Yet his words cut sharper than Darius’s rejection.
Before I could answer, a distant howl split the night. My blood ran cold.
The pack.
Lucian’s head turned, his crimson eyes narrowing dangerously. His entire body seemed to ripple with power. “They come,” he said, his voice low and dark. “Shall I slaughter them for you?”
My heart lurched. “No!”
His gaze snapped back to me, sharp and unreadable.
I grabbed his cloak with trembling fingers, desperation choking me. “Please. Don’t hurt them. Whatever they’ve done—they’re still my pack.”
For a long, terrifying moment, he didn’t move. Then, slowly, his lips curved into a smile—dark, amused, unreadable.
“You beg me to spare those who humiliated you. That is either your greatest weakness…” He leaned down until his lips brushed the shell of my ear. “…or your greatest strength.”
I shivered. My wolf whimpered again, confused, torn.
The howls grew closer. My panic spiked. “You have to go. If they see you—”
“I fear no wolf,” he cut in sharply.
“Then fear me.” My voice broke but didn’t waver. “I’m asking you. Leave.”
His eyes locked onto mine, and for a second, I thought he might refuse. Then his body dissolved into shadows, slipping back into the forest.
Only his voice lingered, curling around me like smoke.
“This is not farewell, Selena. You are mine. And soon… you will understand.”
Silence fell, thick and heavy.
But my body still thrummed with his presence.
Branches snapped behind me.
Golden eyes gleamed in the dark.
“Selena!”
Darius’s voice.
Fury dripped from it.
He stormed into the clearing, towering and furious, with warriors at his back. His gaze cut into me, sharp as a blade.
“What were you thinking?” His voice boomed, a growl laced with disgust. “Running into the cursed forest? Do you want to die?”
My mouth opened, but no words came. I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t speak Lucian’s name.
“No,” I whispered instead.
Darius sneered. “Pathetic.”
He turned to his men. “Take her back. She’s wasted enough of my time.”
Rough hands gripped my arms. The warriors dragged me away.
But my eyes lingered on the shadows between the trees.
Where crimson light had glowed.
Where a vampire prince had whispered one word that changed everything.
Mine.
I could still feel him.
His icy touch on my skin.
His voice echoing in my veins.
Mine.
A shiver tore through me. What if Darius sensed it? What if the pack could smell it—the strange, forbidden bond now tying me to a vampire?
Darius stopped suddenly, turning his golden eyes on me. They blazed, sharp and suspicious. His nostrils flared as if catching a scent.
My breath caught. My heart slammed against my ribs.
Could he smell Lucian on me?
Darius’s lips curled, not into a smirk this time, but into something darker. “You reek of something,” he growled. “Something not wolf.”
Fear shot through me like lightning.
And then, from deep within the cursed forest, a crimson glow flared against the darkness—faint but unmistakable.
My blood froze.
He hadn’t left.
Lucian was still here.
Watching
- Writer
