The Stolen Mate

Chapter 3 - Splintered

Selene’s POV

For one impossible moment, the world stilled.

Damian’s hand hovered between us - between me and Lilith - the air thick with the scent that wasn’t mine. His jaw flexed, his wolf restless, fighting something unseen. His eyes, gods, his eyes lingered on me, heavy and piercing, as though he knew - deep down - that something here was wrong.

I almost believed he would choose me.

Almost.

Then he closed his fingers around hers.

The sound of the pack exhaling as one roared in my ears. Cheers. Gasps. A ripple of approval that sliced through me like a blade. Lilith’s smile bloomed, wide and victorious, her chin lifting as she stepped closer to him, sliding into his space as though she’d been born to it.

The mate bond sealed.

Not mine. I wanted to scream, but no sound escaped my lips.

The ground tilted under my feet. My knees trembled, but I refused to fall. Not here. Not before them. My chest cracked open, raw and bleeding, each heartbeat like a nail hammered into bone.

He wasn’t supposed to be hers. The Goddess couldn’t be this cruel.

But the circle glowed brighter, affirming what everyone believed they saw. My wolf clawed from somewhere deep, screaming against the silence, but she couldn’t break free. Not through Lilith’s theft.

“She has been chosen!” Father’s voice boomed, proud and cold, echoing across the hall. His arm settled across Lilith’s shoulders as if she’d always been his favored child, as if I hadn’t even existed.

The pack erupted in approval. Clapping. Howls. The drums beat faster, celebratory, sealing my humiliation for all to witness.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t stay.

I ran.

My slippers skidded across the slick floor as I broke free of the circle. Gasps followed me, laughter too, sharp and cruel. I didn’t look back. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, but I shoved past wolves, shoving through the crowd, until cool night air slapped my face.

The forest swallowed me whole.

Branches whipped at my arms, my gown catching and tearing, but I didn’t stop. My body burned - inside, outside, everywhere. The mate bond pulsed through me like fire, except it wasn’t mine to claim. I felt it anyway, the cruel twist of it, binding me to him even as he held her.

Tears blurred my vision, hot and relentless.

He was supposed to be mine.

I stumbled over a root, crashing to my knees, palms scraping against damp earth. My breath came ragged, chest heaving as sobs ripped through me, jagged and ugly. My wolf was still silent, buried beneath a weight I couldn’t shake.

“Luna,” I whispered, choking on the name. “Please. Please don’t leave me.”

Nothing.

Just the echo of the drums still pounding in the distance, the celebration of my downfall.

I pressed my forehead to the ground, the forest floor cool against my fevered skin. For the first time in my life, I felt utterly alone.

No wolf. No bond. No family.

Only betrayal.

The shadows shifted around me, and I froze, breath catching. A rustle in the trees. The faint snap of a twig. My heart stuttered.

Someone was following me.

The shadows shifted around me, and I froze, heart thundering. A low voice carried through the trees.

“Selene.”

My blood ran cold. It was not Father, not Mother. The tone was softer, weary, weighted with something else - pity.

An elder.

I didn’t look back. Couldn’t. If I turned, if I saw pity in their eyes, it would shatter me completely.

Branches snapped as the elder’s footsteps pressed closer. “Child, wait. Don’t run from this. There are truths you do not yet see.”

Truths? My wolf stolen, my bond twisted, my father’s pride handed to my sister - that was truth enough.

I surged to my feet, raw adrenaline pushing me forward. “Leave me!” My voice cracked, feral and desperate.

The elder called again, but I didn’t hear the words. I only heard the pounding of my own heart, the rush of blood in my ears, the desperate scream of my body telling me to run.

So I did.

Deeper. Further. Until the familiar scents of my pack faded into the night air and the forest pressed close, heavy with damp moss and earth. My lungs burned, dress tearing on brambles, feet raw against roots and stone. But I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t.

Every step away from that hall, that circle, that betrayal, loosened the noose around my chest. Pain still seared through me, a hollow tearing where my wolf should have been, but the silence of the trees was better than the roar of approval that had crowned Lilith in my place.

I didn’t notice how far I’d gone until the air shifted.

The scents were wrong. Different. Heavier, sharper - cedar and ash, smoke and steel. Not my pack. Not my land.

I had crossed a boundary.

My heart stumbled in my chest. The rules carved into me since childhood echoed in my mind: Do not trespass. Do not provoke. Borders are bloodlines.

And yet here I was, dragging torn skirts and bleeding palms into the heart of another pack’s territory.

For a moment, panic flared - go back, turn around - but behind me I still heard faint voices, calling my name. My father’s wolves would be searching. The elder’s pity would follow. Lilith’s triumph would haunt every step.

I couldn’t go back.

The moon broke through the clouds, painting the trees in silver. I tilted my head up, desperate, a prayer tearing from my lips.

“Please,” I whispered to the Goddess, to anyone listening. “Don’t let this be the end of me.”

The wind stirred, carrying new scents - closer this time. Wolves. Strong ones. Watching.

I’d run straight into another pack’s land.