Chapter 4
1209 Words
There are moments in life when the world stops pretending to be fair, and mine ended the moment Lucien looked at me with a smile that promised death.
Cecily’s giggle came from beside him, loud and mocking, and I knew in that instant that both of them had already planned how this night would end for me.
“Please do not do this, Lucien,” I said as my knees shook. My voice felt raw, like it was being dragged through a tight space. I was not too proud to beg if it meant saving the small life growing inside me.
He did not look at my stomach. He looked at me the way someone looks at a problem they are tired of dealing with.
If you wonder how the night turned into this hell, it began the moment I told him about the pregnancy. I had spoken the truth to stop him from forcing himself on me, thinking it would remind him of the bond we once shared. I was wrong. I had underestimated how cruel a mate could become once he convinced himself he no longer owed you loyalty, responsibility, or love.
“What do you mean you are pregnant?” Lucien asked. His hands froze on his zipper, and something dark appeared in his eyes.
“I said I am pregnant,” I replied. “What is wrong with you, Lucien? You were actually going to force yourself on me because you think I’m being dramatic, yet you had time to bake a cake for Cecily, that…”
His hand struck my face with a crack that echoed through the room.
For a moment I felt nothing. Then a heavy wave of pain followed. I lifted my hand to my cheek. It pulsed under my palm. But the pain was not what broke me. It was the truth that hit me: he no longer saw me as someone he should treat with care, not even as the mate the Moon Goddess gave him.
“Did you just hit me?” My voice shook, even as I tried to hold myself up.
“I said I am sorry,” he replied, flat and empty. “But you should not call your friend a slut. That made me angry.”
A strange laugh left me. It did not even feel like my own voice. “You hit your mate because you wanted to protect another woman,” I said. “Do you hear yourself?”
Lucien stared at me like I was the one behaving strangely. “I do not know what came over me,” he said quietly.
“I know what came over you,” I answered. “You are sleeping with my best friend. And you believe it is fine because I am your second-chance mate.”
He froze.
All the color left his face.
The truth landed harder than any blow.
“How do you know that?” he whispered. “How… what are you?”
His fear gave me one brief moment of courage.
“I am your second-chance mate, Lucien,” I said. “And I wonder if you killed your first mate too.”
His hand hit my face again. This time my head turned to the side. A loud ringing filled my ears, and a bitter taste formed in my mouth.
“How dare you say that,” he shouted. He started grabbing things without thinking — books, lamps, anything near him — and threw them across the room. He moved like a man who wanted to destroy the space around him so he would not have to face himself.
I did not move. I stood still, breathing slowly. I knew one wrong step could cost me my life.
When he finally turned back, his eyes were red in a way that did not look normal. It did not look human. It did not look like a wolf with a soul.
At that moment I truly believed I had awakened something the Moon Goddess never meant for me to face.
He walked toward me, slow and sure, like a predator taking his time.
“You knew,” he said. “So tell me what you think you can do about it.”
“You were trying to kill me,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “I was sick for months and you acted like nothing was wrong. I lost weight, I fainted, I could barely breathe, and you just watched. I am your mate, Lucien. How could you do that?”
Lucien laughed. The sound made my stomach tighten.
“My dear mate, how do you think you became sick?”
My whole body went cold. “No…” I whispered. “No, you did not—”
“You thought I was being nice when I made you juice every morning,” he said. “A little wolfsbane every day does not kill a wolf, but it weakens her slowly. It keeps her quiet. It keeps her under control.”
I stared at him, trying not to fall apart.
“And the pups…” My voice broke. “The miscarriage… Lucien, why? What did I ever do to deserve that?”
He smiled — a smile so wide and cruel that it stripped away the last bit of hope I had. “I do not want an heir from you,” he said. “So I removed the problem. And now you are pregnant again. We cannot allow that.”
The room spun. I stepped back, holding my stomach without thinking. Lucien watched me like it was entertainment.
He turned and walked out of the room.
He locked the door.
The click felt final.
I pressed my forehead to the door and tried everything — pulling, hitting, begging — but my body was too weak. My wolf moved faintly, but she felt far away, tired and hurt. Months of poison had drained both of us.
I slid to the floor and wrapped my arms around my stomach.
I spoke quietly to the Moon Goddess. “Please protect my baby. Please protect us.”
I did not know if Lucien planned to wait or if he would come back soon to end everything.
Time passed slowly. I felt myself fading in and out. I tried to stay awake, but my body was losing strength.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway — several pairs, moving fast.
I forced myself to stand. My legs shook, but I stood.
The door opened. Lucien walked in with his guards.
“What is going on?” I asked. My voice sounded thin and tired.
The guards did not answer. Their faces were empty, but their eyes told me the truth, they were not here to help me.
Lucien stepped forward. His expression held only hatred, like he was finally dealing with something he had always wanted to get rid of.
Then he said the words that ended everything the Moon Goddess ever wrote for me.
The words that shattered the last piece of hope inside me.
The words that made me wonder if the Moon Goddess had made a mistake when she tied my soul to his.
“Seize the Luna.”
- Writer
