CHAPTER TWO
1411 Words
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It wasn’t the sound that woke her.
It was the feeling—the sudden, breathless silence in her chest. Like a scream that hadn’t reached her lips. Like dying, and then… not.
Selene opened her eyes, expecting darkness.
But dawn light spilled through cream-colored curtains. Her nose filled with the scent of warm bread and lavender soap. The sheets beneath her were clean and soft—not bloodstained or burnt.
She bolted upright.
Her hand clutched the fabric at her chest as her breath caught in her throat. She turned to look at her room—her room—its walls painted soft gray, her desk cluttered with scrolls and ink, the small gold comb her mother had gifted her sitting neatly on the dresser.
Her mother.
Selene leapt out of bed.
She tore through the hallway, each familiar turn a shock to her bones. The floor creaked the same way. The second stair still groaned under her step. And then—
“Selene?” came her mother’s voice from the kitchen. “Are you awake, sweetheart?”
Selene froze.
Her hands trembled. Her lips parted. She stepped slowly into the room.
There she was.
Her mother. Alive. Whole. Laughing as she stirred porridge, hair pinned up, apron dusted with flour.
Marcus, her younger brother, sat at the table, already biting into a biscuit far too large for his mouth.
Selene stared.
This was the day before the mission.
Before Damon left.
Before he brought her back.
Before everything burned.
Before she died.
She choked on a sob and crossed the room in three fast strides, throwing her arms around her mother’s waist.
“Selene?” her mother gasped. “What in the moon’s name—?”
But Selene didn’t answer. She just held on tightly. Her body shook with the force of her grief and joy.
“You’re warm,” she whispered. “You’re alive.”
Her mother blinked, startled. Then smiled softly. “Of course I am. Darling… are you feeling alright?”
Marcus mumbled, “She’s crying again. Yuck.”
“Eat your food, baby,” Selene whispered with a wet laugh, wiping her tears quickly. “I’m just happy. That’s all.”
Marcus cringed" whose your baby" he continued to eat with a little smile on his lips
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She spent the morning quietly—observing, touching, memorizing.
The wind felt fresher. The light crisper. She sat with her father while he sharpened his blade. She braided Marcus’s hair even when he complained. She held her mother’s hand while they walked through the herb garden.
It was all a miracle. And she would not waste it.
That evening, her wolf stirred.
He’s near.
She stood beneath the tall oaks near the eastern edge of the training field, heart steady.
He was coming. The Damon she once loved.
He would try to say goodbye.
And this time… she would be the one to end it.
---
The sun was low when she heard him.
Footsteps. Confident. Familiar.
“Selene,” Damon called out.
She didn’t turn yet. She let him come closer. When she finally turned to face him, her eyes were calm—icy even—but her heart beat a quiet war.
He looked just as he had before everything went wrong—tall, proud, wrapped in sleek leather armor, his dark hair tousled by the wind, golden eyes watching her with that easy, charming warmth that used to make her melt.
He smiled.
“I was hoping I’d see you before I left.”
“I knew you’d come,” she replied quietly.
His brow lifted. “Are you okay? You look… different.”
She didn't answer.
He stepped forward, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. His warmth radiated through her tunic, and for a moment, just a moment, she remembered how it felt to lean into him. To believe in him.
“I wanted to see you before the mission,” he said. “And I… well, I wanted to do this before I go.”
Then he leaned in—and kissed her.
Soft. Familiar.
A memory of a hundred stolen kisses they once shared. He kissed her like a promise.
Selene stood still for a heartbeat.
Then she pushed him back, hard.
Damon staggered slightly, surprised.
“Selene?”
She looked up at him, jaw clenched.
“Don’t do that again.”
He frowned, confused. “What’s wrong? I just—”
“I no longer love you,” she said.
The words cut through the air like steel.
He stared at her, stunned. “What?”
“I don’t love you. I don’t want your kiss. I don’t want your goodbye. And I don’t want you.”
He blinked, as if struggling to process it. “Is this some kind of game? Selene—come on—what’s this about?”
She turned slightly, hands clasped tightly before her.
“Do you remember what happens when a mate bond is broken?” she asked calmly.
He hesitated. “I… yeah, I guess. Why—?”
“I want you to remember.”
Then she looked him in the eye.
“Because I reject you, Damon. As my mate. As my future. I reject you.”
The forest stilled.
Wind stopped. Birds hushed.
And the bond snapped.
Selene dropped to her knees, a sharp scream ripping from her throat as pain tore through her chest.
Like a string pulled taut—snapped and recoiled.
Her soul twisted. Her wolf howled inside her.
Damon staggered, gripping his chest as a searing ache pulsed through his heart.
“Selene!” he cried, falling beside her. “What the hell—what just happened?!”
Her scream faded to gasps. Tears welled in her eyes—not from sorrow—but from the raw, unfiltered tearing of their souls.
“I warned you,” she whispered. “I warned you not to kiss me.”
He grasped her shoulders. “Why? Why would you do this?”
She pulled herself upright, pushing his hands away.
“You want an answer?” she asked bitterly. “Fine. The truth? Because I know you’ll never love me enough. I know that no matter what I do, you’ll choose someone else. I know you’ll break me in the end.”
He froze.
“What are you talking about?” he asked. “I would never—”
“You will,” she interrupted. “You just don’t know it yet.”
Her breathing slowed. Her gaze locked on his.
“I’ve lived through your rejection, Damon. I’ve lived through your lies. Through her lies. I died because of you. And I’m done playing the fool.”
He looked shaken. “What—Selene, you’re not making any sense.”
She turned away.
“You don’t need to understand. Just know this: you’ve been freed. The bond is gone.”
He reached out again, desperate. “Selene—please, tell me what I did—tell me what I did wrong—!”
She looked back over her shoulder.
“Nothing. Yet.”
And then she walked away.
---
That night, Selene sat on the roof of the Beta’s home, wrapped in a shawl. The stars blinked above her like old witnesses. Her heart was heavy, but lighter than it had been in her other life.
It hurt. The rejection. The pain. The scream.
But it was also… freedom.
She clutched a small wooden carving her father had given her as a child. A tiny wolf.
She had changed fate.
Just a little.
And it had nearly broken her again.
But now… she had begun.
---
Damon sat in silence at the edge of the training field.
He was still reeling.
She had rejected him.
Told him she didn’t love him.
Told him… that he would break her someday.
None of it made sense.
She had always adored him. Looked at him like he held the sun in his hands.
Now she looked at him like he was a shadow.
What did I do? he thought.
What don’t I know?
And worse… why did it feel like he had already lost something he never even held?
---
Selene whispered to the night:
“This time… no one will take what I love.”
The stars seemed to nod in quiet approval.
She had taken her first step.
Not toward Damon.
But away from him.
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