THREE
1038 Words
Selene
---
The mark burned hotter at dawn.
I hissed through my teeth as I pulled on the leathers Draven gave me—black as his own, stitched with silver at the cuffs. Luna's colors. The fabric clung to me like a second skin, too fine for a rogue. Too fine for me.
A knock at the chamber door.
"Enter."
A young omega girl slipped in, eyes downcast. She carried a tray of food—real food—roasted meat, fresh bread, honeyed fruit. My stomach growled.
"F-For you, Luna." She trembled so hard the cup almost spilled.
I took the tray. "What's your name?"
Her breath hitched. "M-Mira, Luna."
"Mira." I tore the bread in half and held a piece out to her. "Eat with me."
She looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "I—I couldn't—"
"First command as your Luna." I pushed the bread into her hands. "Eat."
Tears welled in her eyes as she took a tiny bite.
The door slammed open.
Draven stood there, nostrils flaring at the scene. Mira dropped to her knees so fast her forehead hit the floor.
I kept chewing. "Morning, husband."
He paid no acknowledgement to my humor. His face was expressionless, and I don't like that I couldn't read him.
His eye twitched. "Training yard. Now."
---
The pack warriors stopped sparring when we arrived.
Draven tossed me a wooden practice sword. I caught it by the hilt—barely.
"First lesson," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "A Luna who can't fight is a dead Luna."
Livia and her Gamma friends smirked from the sidelines.
I adjusted my grip. "I know how to fight."
"Not like this."
He moved.
One second he was five feet away, the next his practice sword cracked against my ribs. I hit the dirt, gasping.
The warriors laughed.
Draven didn't. "Get up."
I spat blood and rose.
He attacked again. I blocked—once, twice—before his knee slammed into my gut. I folded like wet parchment.
"Pathetic." Livia's voice carried. "A rogue playing at being Luna."
Draven's boot pressed between my shoulder blades, pinning me to the ground. "Your enemy won't fight fair. Neither will I."
I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in his face.
As he recoiled, I swept his legs out from under him. The pack gasped as their Alpha hit the dirt.
I pressed my wooden sword to his throat. "Neither will I."
For the first time, Draven smiled. A real, vicious smile.
Then he flipped us, his weight crushing me into the sand. His teeth grazed my ear. "Good."
My mark pulsed in response.
Someone cleared their throat.
We looked up. Torin stood there, looking like he'd swallowed a lemon. "Alpha, the scouts have returned. There's... a situation."
"Let's go." Draven pulled me up.
---
The stench of rogue hit me before we reached the western woods.
Blood painted the trees. Three Bloodmoon scouts lay dead, their throats torn out.
Draven crouched beside the nearest body. "Malakar's work."
I went cold. That name—I'd heard it in my dreams. The fire. The screams.
Torin nudged a corpse with his boot. "They're getting bolder. This close to the full moon..."
Draven stood abruptly. "Double the border patrols. Cancel all solo hunts." His gaze flicked to me. "Selene comes with me to inspect the perimeter."
Livia stepped forward. "Alpha, surely it's too dangerous—"
"Question me again, Gamma," Draven said softly, "and I'll demote you to omega."
Her mouth snapped shut.
As we walked the tree line, Draven spoke low. "Malakar killed my father."
I touched my mark. "He killed my entire pack."
Draven stopped walking. "You remember?"
"Not... clearly. Just flashes. Blood. Snow." I met his gaze. "He's coming for us, isn't he?"
The wind shifted. A branch cracked.
Draven shoved me behind him just as an arrow whistled past where my head had been.
"AMBUSH!"
Rogues dropped from the trees.
And leading them—a massive gray wolf with blood-red eyes.
Malakar.
He shifted mid-leap, landing in human form. "Hello, little Luna. Miss me?"
He remembered me.
My mark burned like fire.
Draven's claws slid out. "Run."
But I was already moving—toward the fight, not away.
Because for the first time in ten years, I remembered.
That voice.
Those eyes.
The way he'd smiled as he slaughtered my family.
Malakar saw my recognition and laughed. "Oh, this will be fun."
I didn't think.
I lunged.
My fingers curled like claws, reaching for Malakar's throat. The mark on my wrist burned white-hot, sending fire through my veins.
He caught my wrist with a laugh. "Still just a scared little pup."
Draven hit him like a thunderbolt.
They went down in a tangle of teeth and claws. The clearing erupted into chaos—rogues pouring from the trees, our warriors shifting mid-leap to meet them.
A rogue charged me. I ducked, grabbing the fallen arrow from the dirt. As he passed, I jammed it into his thigh.
His scream was cut short when a massive black wolf—Draven's beta?—tore out his throat.
"Luna! Move!"
I rolled as another rogue swung a rusted axe where my head had been. My hands found a rock. I smashed it against his knee.
Something inside me sang at the crunch of bone.
Malakar's voice cut through the fight: "Retreat!"
Like ghosts, the rogues melted back into the trees.
Draven shifted back to human form, chest heaving. "After them!"
"No." I grabbed his arm. "It's a trap."
The mark on my wrist pulsed—once, twice. A wave of dizziness hit me.
Then the visions came.
*Fire. Blood. A dozen rogues waiting in the ravine ahead. An ambush within an ambush.*
I gasped back to reality. Draven's hands were on my shoulders.
"Selene?"
"They're waiting for us," I panted. "Further in. More of them."
Torin wiped blood from his mouth. "Since when does our Luna see the future?"
Draven's grip tightened. "Since the Moon Goddess willed it." He turned to the warriors. "Fall back to the compound. Now."
As we retreated, I caught Malakar watching me from the tree line.
He blew me a kiss.
- Writer
