Bound by the moon

CLAIMED BY SHADOWs

The courtyard had gone silent the moment Kael’s voice broke the night. Selena felt it in her bones, the way even the air bent to his authority. His eyes burned gold as he stepped from the shadows, gaze fixed on the one man bold enough to test him.

“What power are you offering her, Dorian?” Kael’s tone was calm, but every syllable carried threat.

Selena’s heart thudded painfully. She had never seen the two men so close before, never noticed the subtle similarities in the lines of their faces. It made sense now, the rumors she had overheard, whispers about Kael’s half-brother—an heir who had always stood in the shadow of the Alpha.

Dorian’s lips curled into a half-smile, the kind meant to provoke. “Only the truth she deserves to hear. A Luna without power is nothing but a caged bird. I offered her a choice you never will.”

Kael’s steps echoed against the stone. He didn’t rush. He didn’t need to. His presence alone filled the courtyard, commanding silence. When he finally stood before Dorian, their height nearly matched, but it was Kael’s raw dominance that pressed like weight on the air.

“My Luna does not take truths from you,” Kael said softly, his voice edged with steel.

Selena’s stomach twisted at the words. My Luna. Every time he said it, it was both a shield and a chain.

Dorian didn’t back down. His eyes flicked briefly toward Selena before locking on Kael’s again. “If you expect her to command respect, you should treat her as more than a sacrifice. You call her Luna, yet you humiliate her in front of your warriors. Tell me, brother, how long before she breaks?”

The courtyard seemed to freeze.

Selena’s breath caught. Brother. The word lingered between them like a curse.

Kael moved faster than thought. His hand fisted in Dorian’s collar, dragging him forward until their noses almost touched. Gold fire burned in his eyes, his growl low and dangerous.

“She will not break,” Kael snarled. “And if anyone dares to test her place, they will bleed for it. Even you.”

Selena’s pulse thundered. She had never seen such fury in him before, and it chilled her to the core.

Dorian only smirked, though his voice lowered. “Then prove it. Claim her properly, Alpha. Or the pack will devour her.”

Kael shoved him back with enough force to send him staggering. Gasps echoed from the shadows as a few unseen warriors witnessed the clash. Dorian straightened slowly, brushing off his cloak. His smile was sharp, almost satisfied. “I’ll be waiting for the day your pride costs you everything.”

He turned and left, his steps unhurried, as though he had not just stood on the edge of death.

The silence he left behind felt heavier than his presence. Kael remained still for a moment, his chest rising and falling with controlled breaths. Finally, his gaze snapped to Selena.

“You should not be speaking with him,” Kael said. His voice was quiet, but laced with warning.

Selena forced her shoulders straight. “I did not seek him out.”

“Yet you listened.” His tone was ice.

“What choice did I have?” The words slipped out before she could stop them. Her voice trembled, but not from fear—anger burned too hot for that. “You leave me surrounded by wolves who hate me, a pack that mocks me at every turn, and you call yourself Alpha. If I am your Luna, why do you stand aside?”

Kael’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of something unreadable passing through them. “Because weakness is purged in fire,” he said. “If you survive, you will be stronger. If you do not…” He left the sentence unfinished, heavy with meaning.

Selena’s hands clenched at her sides. “You want me to prove myself while you strip me bare in front of them. You want me to fight while you do nothing.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. He stepped forward, closing the distance until she had to tilt her head to meet his gaze. “I want you to understand that nothing in this place is given. Respect is not inherited. It is taken. If you cannot take it, you will never hold it.”

His nearness made the air thrum. Selena’s chest rose and fell, her pulse racing. She refused to look away. “And what am I to you? A lesson for your pack, or just another piece in your war?”

Kael leaned closer, his breath brushing her ear, his words low and searing. “You are mine. That is all you need to know.”

The finality in his tone left no room for argument. Selena’s throat tightened, but she met his gaze with defiance burning in her own.

He released a slow breath, stepping back, though his presence lingered like smoke. “Return to your chamber. Rest. Tomorrow your trials continue, and I will not be merciful.”

Selena’s heart thudded. Not merciful. He said it as though he never had been.

When he turned to leave, she spoke before she could stop herself. “You may call me Luna. You may claim me before them. But I will never be yours.”

Kael froze mid step. Slowly, he turned back, his eyes glowing like molten gold. The corner of his mouth curved, not in amusement but in dark warning.

“We will see.”

He left her standing in the courtyard, the echo of his boots fading into the night.

Selena drew a shaky breath, her body trembling. She hated him. She hated the claim in his voice, the chain he wrapped around her with every word. Yet beneath the fury burned something far more dangerous. A spark she could not put out.

And it terrified her.

Selena paced the length of the chamber, her breath shallow and sharp. The fire in the hearth had burned low, shadows crawling along the walls, but she could not rest. Every time she closed her eyes she heard his voice. Mine. The word was a chain wrapped around her chest, dragging her into something she had never wanted.

She pressed her hand to her temples. She could not afford to break. Not now. She had not stayed for herself she had stayed for her pack. If she walked away, if she refused Kael, then all of them would pay the price. Her people had already suffered enough. She had to endure for them, even if the weight of it burned her alive.

A knock jarred her from her thoughts. The door opened without waiting for her answer. Kael stepped inside, the cold aura of his presence filling the chamber. He looked too calm, as though he had never been challenged, never been defied.

“You should be asleep,” he said. His eyes swept over her pacing form. “You’ll need strength tomorrow.”

Selena folded her arms. “Strength is something I’ll find for myself, not something you dictate.”

Kael’s lips curved in the faintest shadow of a smile.

“You still don’t understand. You weren’t chosen, Selena. You were given to me. A weak pack sends me its daughter, hoping to buy survival.” His voice was like steel. “And that is what you are a gift, nothing more.”

Her chest tightened, the words slicing deeper than she wanted to admit. Heat stung her eyes, but she refused to let the tears fall.

“If you think I’m a gift, then you don’t know me at all. I stayed because my pack depends on me, not because I bend to you.”

Kael took a step closer, his shadow falling across her.

“You are only as strong as the blood you carry. And your blood is as weak as the pack that gave you up.”

The insult burned hotter than fire. Selena’s fists clenched at her sides, nails biting into her palms.

“Weakness is not permanent,” she spat. “I’ll prove it. I’ll prove it to you and to every wolf who looks at me and sees nothing but a burden.”

Something flickered in his gaze, a dark glimmer she could not read. He closed the distance between them until the space was a thin thread, his presence pressing down on her like a storm. The air grew heavy, charged, each breath trembling between them.

“Careful,” he murmured, his voice low, dangerous. “Defiance can either make you or break you. And I don’t know yet which you’ll become.”

Her pulse thundered in her ears. For a moment, she hated how close he was, hated that some part of her body responded to the pull of the bond. His nearness was suffocating, yet her heart betrayed her with every wild beat.

The moment shattered when a loud knock struck the door. Kael didn’t move at first, his eyes still locked on hers. Then he turned sharply.

A warrior stood in the doorway, his voice urgent. “Alpha, enemies at the border. Scouts spotted movement too many to be strays.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. He gave one last glance at Selena before striding past the warrior. At the threshold he paused, his voice low and cold enough to freeze the air.

“Do not forget. You are mine. You were given to me. If you break, your pack breaks with you.”

And then he was gone, leaving Selena standing in the silence, her hands trembling with rage she could no longer contain.

She sank onto the edge of the bed, her chest heaving. Tomorrow, the trials would begin, but the true battle had already started between her fury and the bond that threatened to unravel her.