Chapter 3: The Impossible Bond
780 Words
The silver thread refused to disappear.
It stretched between Selene Ashcroft and Alpha Lucian Blackthorne, glowing beneath the moon like a promise carved into the night itself.
No one spoke.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Selene stared at the thread.
No.
This wasn't real.
It couldn't be.
The Moon Goddess didn't make mistakes.
Which meant...
She had.
Her heartbeat thundered against her ribs.
If this bond was real...
Lucian was already living on borrowed time.
The silence shattered.
"The cursed girl..."
"How could the Goddess choose her?"
"The Alpha is doomed."
"I told you everyone close to her dies."
Fear spread through the crowd faster than fire through dry grass.
No one questioned the bond.
They questioned her.
Selene lowered her eyes.
She had spent years carrying the weight of those whispers.
Tonight...
They felt heavier than ever.
Lucian's warriors moved as one.
Steel hissed softly as hands settled on sword hilts.
Commander Gareth stepped forward.
"My Alpha..."
Lucian didn't look away from Selene.
"Stand down."
One command.
No raised voice.
No anger.
The warriors obeyed instantly, though their eyes never left the young woman standing alone beneath the moonlight.
Not with hatred.
With caution.
The High Priestess descended the temple steps slowly.
Each tap of her staff echoed across the valley.
She stopped before Selene.
For several long moments...
She simply looked at her.
Then she reached out.
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
Her wrinkled hand rested gently against Selene's cheek.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just kindness.
Selene forgot how to breathe.
She couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her without flinching.
Perhaps...
She never had.
Tears burned behind her eyes.
She refused to let them fall.
"If the Moon Goddess has chosen you," the High Priestess said softly, "then I will not question Her wisdom."
The whispers grew louder.
Confused.
Uneasy.
Afraid.
Across from them, Lucian watched Selene instead of the crowd.
Most women who discovered their fated mate smiled.
Some cried.
Some laughed.
Selene looked...
Terrified.
As though fate had handed her a death sentence instead of a future.
"My Alpha."
Gareth lowered his voice.
"The Council will challenge this."
"They're free to try."
"They'll say the bond endangers the North."
Lucian's gaze remained steady.
"The Moon outranks the Council."
Nothing more needed to be said.
Selene finally spoke.
"This bond cannot happen."
The valley fell silent again.
She forced herself to look at Lucian.
His expression was unreadable.
"I reject it."
A wave of disbelief rippled through the crowd.
"You can't reject a mate!"
"She's insulting the Moon Goddess!"
"Has she gone mad?"
The High Priestess raised her staff.
Silence returned.
She looked at Selene with quiet patience.
"Why?"
The single word broke something inside her.
"Because..."
Her voice cracked.
"...everyone I have ever loved has been taken from me."
She swallowed hard.
"I buried my mother."
"My friends stopped coming near me."
"My village looks at me like I'm already a ghost."
A tear escaped despite her efforts.
She didn't wipe it away.
"If he becomes part of my life..."
Her eyes found Lucian's.
"...he'll become part of my curse."
The pain in her voice settled over the valley like snowfall.
No one whispered.
No one mocked her.
For the first time...
They heard the girl behind the rumor.
Lucian took one step forward.
Not enough to frighten her.
Just enough to make sure she heard him.
"Who decided you were cursed?"
Selene blinked.
"What?"
"Who?"
She searched for an answer.
"The village."
"The elders."
"The stories."
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"Who decided?"
For the first time in years...
She couldn't answer.
A warm pulse traveled through the silver thread.
Lucian stiffened.
Pain exploded across his chest.
Sharp.
Sudden.
Gone.
His expression never changed.
But Selene saw it.
She saw the tiny hitch in his breathing.
The way his fingers curled for the briefest second.
Horror flooded her face.
It had begun.
The curse didn't care that he was an Alpha.
It didn't care that he was strong.
It had found him.
"No..."
She whispered.
Then she stepped backward.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
As though distance alone could save him.
She turned and ran.
"Selene!"
Lucian's voice followed her into the forest.
She never looked back.
The silver thread stretched after her, refusing to break.
Far beyond the temple...
Hidden among the ancient pines...
An old man watched the glowing bond with quiet satisfaction.
His smile was small.
Patient.
As though he had waited a lifetime for this single moment.
"So," he murmured into the darkness.
"The Moon finally remembered."
His laughter was barely louder than the wind.
Yet somewhere deep within the forest...
Something ancient answered.
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