The Broken and Banished
911 Words
The jerky was tough, but Seraya bit into it like it was the last thing tethering her to life. Maybe it was. Her fingers still trembled as she chewed, the taste of ash and blood lingering on her tongue—not from the food, but from betrayal.
Kael’s face haunted her. His voice replayed like a broken melody.
“You were never worthy of me.”
She clenched her jaw. Lucien was right—she had healed slow. Not just physically, but deep in her core. Where her wolf hid. Where her rage burned.
Lucien was pacing now, shirt still absent, the firelight casting golden shadows across his chest and stomach. He wasn’t just strong—he was built for war. There was something primal about him, something she’d never seen in Kael, or any Alpha in her pack. This wasn’t dominance for the sake of control.
It was survival.
“Why did you help me?” she asked finally, setting the half-eaten jerky aside.
Lucien stopped, turning toward her with a half-laugh. “Because you’re useful.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He crossed his arms. “Do you want the real reason? Or the one that keeps your pride intact?”
Seraya narrowed her eyes. “Try me.”
Lucien stepped closer, crouching before her so they were eye-level. His voice dropped, slow and heavy. “Because you’re not like them. You were cast out, same as me. Betrayed, humiliated, tossed aside like trash. But that pain?” He touched her chest, right over her heart. “That pain can turn into power, if you let it.”
Her wolf stirred, curious.
“What do you want from me?” she whispered.
He stood again, walking to the edge of the cave where moonlight spilled like water over his skin.
“I want revenge.”
The word rang like a bell.
Seraya stood shakily, her bare feet brushing the stone. “On the Moonstone Pack?”
Lucien turned his head, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“No. On all of them.”
Later that night, Seraya lay awake, staring at the stone ceiling. The fire had died down to embers. Lucien was asleep nearby, his chest rising and falling steadily. There was a scar over his ribs that looked like a claw mark—deep and jagged.
She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of war had left that kind of wound.
Her thoughts wandered back to Kael.
Not to his betrayal—but the why. It didn’t make sense. They’d been fated. Marked by the moon goddess herself.
You don’t reject a fated bond.
Unless…
She sat up sharply, heart pounding.
Unless someone broke it.
Was it Seline? The Elders? A spell?
Seraya’s mind spun as anger surged inside her, hot and electric.
“I see your fire’s still alive,” Lucien murmured from the shadows.
She jumped. “Were you watching me?”
“Always.” He grinned. “You mutter in your sleep, you know. Something about a moonblade and Kael bleeding out.”
She flushed. “You said you’d show me something. Why wait?”
Lucien stood, cracking his neck. “Follow me.”
The night was cold, but Seraya’s wolf warmed her blood. The forest shimmered with dew, and the sky burned with stars. Lucien led her down a narrow path she never would’ve found on her own, past fallen trees and glowing mushrooms.
Eventually, they reached a clearing.
In the center stood a stone archway—half buried, ancient, covered in symbols that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
Seraya felt it immediately.
Magic.
Old, wild, forbidden magic.
Lucien looked at her. “Know what this is?”
She nodded slowly. “A blood gate.”
“Smart girl.” He stepped closer. “Only wolves marked by rejection can enter. It responds to pain.”
Her throat tightened. “You’ve been through it?”
“More than once.” He sliced his palm and pressed it to the stone. It glowed red.
Then he turned to her.
“Your turn.”
Seraya hesitated. Her wolf growled low.
But she was done hesitating.
She bit her thumb and pressed it to the cold stone. Pain pulsed through her hand, then her spine, then her soul.
The archway roared open with a blast of wind and crimson light.
Lucien grinned. “Welcome to the Reckoning Grounds.”
Inside was another world.
Ruins of what had once been a temple—cracked pillars, shattered altars, and glowing runes. Everything pulsed with raw, primal energy. It was both beautiful and terrifying.
“This place was built by wolves who were betrayed by their own kind,” Lucien said. “It’s sacred… but forgotten.”
Seraya walked slowly through the ruins, her fingers brushing the broken walls. “What happened here?”
“War. Love. Lies.” Lucien’s voice was a whisper. “This was once the sanctuary of the Blood Pact—a group of wolves cast out for falling in love with rogues, humans, even witches. The Elders burned it to the ground.”
“Why show me this?” she asked.
He stepped closer. “Because they tried to erase us. But the blood remembers. And now… so do you.”
Seraya looked around. Her heart beat with something unfamiliar.
Not hope.
Not grief.
Resolve.
“You said I was a weapon.”
Lucien nodded.
“Then teach me how to kill.”
- Writer
