Chapter 8: Before the Whole Village
738 Words
The village watched them in silence.
It was the same silence Selene had known since childhood.
The silence that lingered after whispers.
The silence that always came before people stepped away from her.
Tonight...
It followed every step she took beside Lucian.
The silver thread glowed softly between them.
No one dared pretend they couldn't see it.
Doors remained half open.
Children peeked from behind their parents.
Conversations faded as they passed.
Even the village dogs lay unusually still, their ears lowered as though sensing something beyond human understanding.
Selene kept her eyes forward.
She had learned long ago that meeting fearful stares only made them harder to bear.
Lucian noticed.
He said nothing.
Some battles were fought in silence.
By the time they reached the village square, nearly everyone in Ashwood had gathered.
The old oak stood at the center as it always had.
Tonight, it felt less like a place of meeting...
And more like a place of judgment.
An elderly man stepped forward.
His silver hair caught the moonlight.
"Elder Rowan," Lucian greeted.
The elder returned the nod.
"My Alpha."
His gaze shifted to the glowing thread.
Then to Selene.
"Tell me what I see is impossible."
Lucian answered without hesitation.
"It is impossible."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Then he continued.
"And yet it is true."
The whispers died as quickly as they had begun.
Rowan studied him carefully.
"The Moon Goddess has never joined an Alpha to one believed to carry a curse."
"No."
Lucian's voice remained steady.
"Which leaves us with only two possibilities."
The elder waited.
"Either the Moon Goddess has made a mistake..."
He let the words settle.
"...or we have."
The square fell silent.
No one dared speak.
No one dared suggest the Moon Goddess could be wrong.
Which left only one possibility.
Perhaps...
They had judged Selene wrongly all along.
The thought alone unsettled the village.
A woman near the back finally found her voice.
"If we're wrong..."
"What if we're right?"
Another villager spoke.
"What if the Alpha dies?"
"My children live here."
"What if this curse spreads?"
Fear spread through the crowd once again.
Not loud.
Not violent.
Just honest.
Selene understood it.
She always had.
Slowly...
She stepped forward.
Lucian glanced toward her but didn't interrupt.
"If I frighten you..."
Her voice carried surprisingly well across the square.
"I'm sorry."
She paused.
"No."
She shook her head.
"I'm done apologizing for things I didn't choose."
The words surprised even her.
A few villagers blinked.
Selene drew a slow breath.
"I don't know what I am."
"I don't know why this bond happened."
"I don't know whether the stories about me are true."
The confession settled over the crowd.
"But until we know..."
She looked around the square.
"...I won't ask any of you to risk your families for me."
A heavy silence followed.
There was no self-pity in her voice.
Only responsibility.
Lucian stepped forward.
He didn't stand in front of her.
He stood beside her.
Exactly where he intended to remain.
"I agree."
Selene looked at him in surprise.
The villagers did too.
"We will discover the truth."
His gaze swept across the crowd.
"Not because fear demands it."
"Because truth deserves it."
He looked back at Selene.
"And until then..."
"No one will condemn someone without proof."
The words weren't loud.
They didn't need to be.
They carried the quiet authority of a man completely certain of himself.
For the first time that evening...
Several villagers lowered their eyes.
Not from guilt.
From uncertainty.
The certainty they had carried for years had begun to c***k.
The first temple bell rang.
Its deep tone rolled across the valley.
Every head turned toward the Moon Temple.
A second bell followed.
Then a third.
Elder Rowan frowned.
"The High Priestess..."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"She hasn't called three bells since I was a boy."
A fourth bell echoed through the night.
Then a fifth.
The sound lingered unnaturally long.
No one moved.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
High above the temple...
The full moon disappeared behind a curtain of dark clouds.
Then...
A single beam of silver light pierced the clouds and fell directly onto the temple's highest tower.
Every villager stared.
No one spoke.
Because every wolf in Ashwood knew what the ancient stories said.
When the Moon marked the temple...
It was never a blessing.
It was a warning.
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