Episode Four: A Mark in the Shadow
1438 Words
Selene had always believed the forest surrounding Silverfang to be a place of protection—a sacred circle of nature where their ancestors roamed, where rituals were performed under the moonlight, and where pups learned to shift for the first time.
Now, it felt like a cage.
The trees pressed close as she walked the winding path toward Elder Morrigan’s secluded cottage. Leaves whispered secrets in the wind, and the faint scent of pine clung to her skin. Her mind spun like a storm.
She couldn’t sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Killian—chained, bleeding, proud.
And Darius—his eyes dark with something she hadn’t seen before.
Control. Obsession.
Not love.
Morrigan’s cottage came into view, nestled among ancient yews, its roof covered in moss and its door marked with runes. Smoke curled from the chimney, faintly sweet.
Selene raised her hand and knocked.
The door opened before she touched it.
Morrigan stood in the entryway, her silver hair loose around her shoulders, her eyes cloudy with magic.
“You felt it, didn’t you?” the seer said softly.
Selene stepped inside without answering.
The cottage was warm, lined with books and dried herbs. A single candle flickered on a table carved with moon phases.
“Felt what?” Selene asked.
Morrigan gestured for her to sit. “The shift. The unraveling.”
Selene sank into the chair. “Everything I believed is breaking.”
The elder poured tea into two mismatched cups. “Good. Belief must break before truth can rise.”
Selene wrapped her hands around the warmth. “Killian says he was framed. That Darius—”
“I know,” Morrigan interrupted gently.
Selene blinked. “You do?”
“I suspected for years. But suspicion is not proof. And the council silences even whispers of dissent.”
“Then why now?” Selene whispered. “Why bring Killian back?”
“Because the prophecy has begun.”
Selene’s heart stuttered. “The one from the Temple of Moons?”
Morrigan nodded. “A forbidden union. A bloodline thought extinct. And a Luna who will either save or shatter the packs.”
“I’m not a savior,” Selene murmured.
“You are more than you were told.” Morrigan reached beneath her cloak and pulled out a scroll wrapped in velvet. “This was hidden when you were born. Your mother left it with me before she died.”
Selene hesitated, then took the scroll and unwrapped it.
Inside was a parchment etched in moonlight ink.
Her family tree.
But it didn’t end with the Nightshades.
A second bloodline crossed it—ancient, feared.
Shadowfang.
She stared. “But they were wiped out during the Blood Feud…”
“Not all,” Morrigan said. “Your mother was the last surviving heir of Shadowfang, hidden by the Nightshades through marriage. They feared what would happen if the packs found out. The bloodline was forbidden because it was once bonded to the Moon Goddess herself.”
Selene’s throat tightened. “What does that make me?”
“A daughter of two destinies. A Luna of light and shadow.”
Selene looked down at the parchment again. “Why didn’t my father tell me?”
“Because power is feared. And your power… it could unite or destroy everything.”
She stood abruptly. “I have to speak with Killian.”
“He knows some of it,” Morrigan said. “His blood carries its own legacy. That’s why the bond pulled you both. You are the Moon’s correction.”
Selene’s head spun. “And Darius?”
“Darius is the last of the Ironfang line. Obsessed with order. He was promised you from the moment you were born. He was raised to believe you would be his.”
“But I’m not.”
“No,” Morrigan whispered. “You never were.
The next day, Selene returned to the dungeon.
The guards were gone.
She moved quickly, heart pounding, and found Killian awake, his golden eyes sharp as ever.
“I thought you wouldn’t come back,” he said, voice husky.
“I found something,” she replied, stepping into the cell. “Something about both of us.”
He raised a brow.
She unrolled the parchment.
Killian scanned it. His jaw clenched. “Shadowfang.”
“You know it?”
“Only whispers. My mother was one of the last rogues with Shadowfang blood. She died protecting me. The council hunted our kind like wolves infected with plague.”
Selene’s chest tightened. “And now we’re the last.”
He met her gaze. “You understand why they fear us.”
“Because we’re stronger.”
“Because we’re truth.”
She moved closer, lowering her voice. “We were fated, not by accident, but because we’re the prophecy.”
Killian’s lips parted, stunned. “You believe me now.”
She nodded. “I do.”
He inhaled sharply, as if the weight of her trust settled into his bones.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” she whispered. “I don’t know how yet, but I will.”
“Selene—”
“I don’t want to wait seven days to reject you. Because I won’t.”
A pause.
The air shifted.
Then he smiled—slow and real.
Selene’s heart thudded.
She turned to leave before she did something reckless—like press her lips to his.
But as she reached the cell door, a voice echoed down the corridor.
“I had a feeling you’d come back.”
Darius.
He stepped out of the shadows, arms folded, fury masked in calm.
Selene froze. “How long were you watching?”
“Long enough.” His gaze shifted to Killian. “And just like that, our Luna falls for the traitor.”
“He’s not a traitor,” she said evenly.
Darius’s jaw ticked. “Do you know what it looks like when you sneak off to whisper with a rogue?”
“I don’t care.”
“Then maybe you’ll care when the council hears about your betrayal.”
Killian growled low, chains clinking.
“Let her go, Darius,” he warned.
Darius didn’t flinch. “You’re not in a position to threaten anyone.”
Selene stepped between them. “This is bigger than you and me. There’s a prophecy, and we—”
“You really believe that nonsense?” Darius snapped. “The council feeds it to pups to keep them in line.”
“It’s real,” Selene said, voice rising. “And you know it. That’s why you’ve kept me in the dark. Why you hid Killian’s past. Because you’re afraid.”
Darius’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid of what you’ll become with him.”
Selene stared at him. “Then maybe you should be.”
She turned and walked away.
This time, Darius didn’t follow.
Back in her chambers, Selene paced restlessly.
Her decision was made.
She would help Killian escape.
But she couldn’t do it alone.
So she summoned the only person she trusted besides Morrigan.
Her cousin, Nyra.
A lean, sharp-eyed warrior with a heart made of steel and a grin that could cut glass. Nyra had always been her protector growing up, even when the elders disapproved of her boldness.
“Let me get this straight,” Nyra said, perched on the edge of Selene’s bed. “You’re mated to the rogue locked in the dungeon.”
Selene nodded.
“And you believe he was framed.”
Another nod.
Nyra blew out a breath. “Gods, Selene. You couldn’t just have a boring mating ceremony like the rest of us?”
Selene laughed, a sound both tired and grateful. “I need your help.”
Nyra leaned in. “Say the word.”
Selene reached for her cousin’s hand. “We get him out. Then we find proof of what Darius did. And then…”
“Then we burn the lies down,” Nyra finished.
That night, Selene returned to Killian’s cell one last time before the plan.
He looked up as she approached.
“You came.”
“I always will,” she said.
She handed him a small cloth bundle—vial of hemlock for the guards, a shard of enchanted bone to cut the silver cuffs.
Killian stared at it, then at her.
“You’d risk everything for me?”
“No,” Selene whispered. “For us.”
Their eyes met.
And for the first time, neither of them looked away.
- Writer
