HIS RUIN, HIS QUEEN

THE ILLUSION OF POWER

Chapter Ten:

The days after Lilith’s death were filled with worship.

Selene felt it in the way the pack lowered their heads when she passed. In the way warriors whispered her name like a prayer, their gazes filled with equal parts fear and devotion.

She was no longer an Omega.

No longer just Darius’s mate.

She was their Queen.

And she had never felt more alive.

Darius gave her everything.

He dressed her in the finest silks, wrapped her in gold and power. He let her walk beside him, sit beside him, rule beside him.

He made her believe she was his equal.

And Selene fell deeper.

Deeper into the feeling of his hands possessively gripping her waist when he guided her through the halls. Deeper into his voice whispering praises into her ear after every decision she made.

Deeper into the lie.

Because it was a lie.

And Selene would soon learn that Darius never gave without taking something in return.

---

That Night…

Selene stood on the palace balcony, staring out over her kingdom.

She barely reacted when Darius’s arms wrapped around her from behind, his warmth swallowing her whole.

“You’re thinking,” he murmured against her skin.

Selene exhaled, tilting her head back against his shoulder. “I was just… remembering.”

Darius hummed, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on her waist. “And?”

Selene smiled. “I was powerless once.”

She turned in his arms, tilting her chin up to meet his gaze. “But not anymore.”

Darius’s golden eyes flickered with something unreadable.

Then, he kissed her.

Selene melted into him, her fingers tangling in his hair, drunk on the taste of him.

She didn’t notice the shift until it was too late.

One moment, Darius was kissing her like he worshiped her.

The next—he shoved her against the cold stone wall.

Selene gasped, her breath stolen by the impact.

Darius’s hands caged her in.

His golden eyes darkened, the soft warmth from moments before replaced by something cruel.

“You think you have power now?” His voice was silk-wrapped steel.

Selene’s pulse skipped.

He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. “You have power because I let you have it.”

Selene’s stomach twisted.

“I made you,” Darius whispered, his grip tightening around her wrists. “And I can unmake you just as easily.”

Selene’s breath came fast and uneven.

Because she knew—he wasn’t bluffing.

Darius smirked, watching the realization sink in.

Then, just as quickly as he had caged her, he let go.

The warmth returned. The soft, adoring Alpha King resurfaced as if nothing had happened.

He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles with sickening gentleness.

“My Queen,” he murmured, as if he hadn’t just reminded her that she would always belong to him.

Selene swallowed hard.

And for the first time since her rise to power—she felt truly trapped.

---