Chapter Four: A Queen Among Wolves
1361 Words
The palace did not sleep that night.
Guards stormed through every corridor searching for the assassin while terrified servants whispered rumors behind closed doors. Noble families gathered inside private chambers, demanding answers from the royal council as fear spread through the capital like wildfire.
An assassination attempt before the royal wedding.
Inside the palace itself.
The scandal alone was enough to shake the kingdom.
But what truly unsettled everyone was Selene.
The future queen had sensed the poison before anyone else.
And somehow reacted fast enough to save the king’s life.
Now the royal court looked at her differently.
Not with admiration.
With caution.
Selene stood alone on the balcony outside her chambers, staring silently at the storm gathering above the mountains. Cold wind twisted through her silver hair while distant thunder rolled across the night sky.
Everything was changing faster than she expected.
In her previous life, the poisoning attempt happened three years later.
Not now.
Which meant fate itself was shifting.
Dangerously.
Behind her, the chamber doors opened quietly.
Selene did not turn around.
“I told the guards I wished to be alone.”
Heavy footsteps crossed the room.
“That would matter if I were a guard.”
Lucien.
Of course.
Selene closed her eyes briefly before facing him.
The Alpha King stood near the doorway still dressed in black formal clothing, though his ceremonial jacket now hung loosely over one shoulder. Tension sharpened every line of his face.
He looked angry.
But beneath the anger rested something else.
Suspicion.
Lucien had spent the last several hours interrogating palace servants and council members personally. The assassin escaped without leaving a trace, and the poisoned servant died before revealing who ordered the attack.
No answers.
Only questions.
And all of those questions led back to Selene.
“You dismissed your attendants,” Lucien observed.
“I dislike noise.”
“You never used to.”
Selene’s expression remained calm. “People change.”
Lucien stared at her for several long seconds.
Again, that strange distance unsettled him.
The woman before him looked identical to the Selene he knew.
Yet somehow…she felt like someone else entirely.
Older.
Colder.
More dangerous.
He slowly approached the balcony.
“You saved my life tonight.”
Selene almost laughed at the irony.
In her first life, she spent years trying to save him.
From poison.
From betrayal.
From war.
And in the end, he still let her die.
“You’re welcome,” she replied quietly.
Lucien leaned one hand against the balcony railing beside her. “That servant was terrified of you.”
“He should have been.”
The bluntness of her answer surprised him.
Lightning flashed across the mountains, illuminating her pale face beneath the storm-dark sky.
Beautiful.
Untouchable.
Lucien frowned slightly.
Why did she suddenly feel so far away?
“You still haven’t explained how you knew about the poison.”
Selene looked toward the horizon.
Careful.
One wrong answer could destroy everything.
“I noticed his hands shaking,” she said smoothly. “And he avoided eye contact when serving you.”
Lucien studied her carefully.
“A palace servant attempting to poison the king would naturally be nervous.”
“Exactly.”
“That doesn’t explain how you knew the wine itself was poisoned.”
Selene finally turned toward him fully.
Their closeness felt suffocating.
Gods, she remembered this face too well.
The silver eyes she once dreamed about.
The mouth that rarely smiled but softened whenever Orion laughed.
The man she once would have died for.
Hatred twisted sharply inside her chest.
“Do you suspect me?” she asked softly.
Lucien’s jaw tightened instantly.
“No.”
A lie.
Not entirely, at least.
Lucien trusted his instincts above all else.
And right now, every instinct screamed that something was wrong.
Not betrayal.
Something stranger.
Almost as if Selene knew things she shouldn’t.
The thought sounded absurd even inside his own mind.
Still…
“You’ve changed overnight,” he admitted quietly.
Selene smiled faintly.
“If I said death changes people, would you understand?”
Lucien’s gaze sharpened instantly.
Death.
Again with these strange comments.
Before he could question her further, another voice interrupted from the chamber entrance.
“My king?”
Lady Evelyne entered carefully, her golden gown shimmering beneath candlelight. Concern filled her delicate expression as she approached them.
“I heard the assassin still hasn’t been found.”
Selene watched her silently.
Beautiful liar.
Evelyne paused under Selene’s stare.
Again, that same unease crawled beneath her skin.
Something about Selene felt deeply wrong tonight.
“My lady,” Evelyne greeted politely.
Selene nodded once.
Nothing more.
Lucien turned toward Evelyne. “You shouldn’t be wandering the palace alone.”
“I was worried about you.”
Soft.
Gentle.
Perfectly timed concern.
Selene almost admired the performance.
Almost.
Evelyne stepped closer to Lucien naturally, her hand brushing lightly against his arm.
The sight ignited something ugly inside Selene’s chest.
Not jealousy.
Never again.
Disgust.
Because she remembered how this began.
Small touches.
Private conversations.
Late-night meetings disguised as political discussions.
In her previous life, Selene ignored the signs because she trusted them both completely.
Foolish woman.
Evelyne glanced toward Selene carefully. “Tonight must have frightened you terribly.”
Selene’s expression remained unreadable.
“Not particularly.”
The answer startled Evelyne.
“What?”
“I’ve experienced worse things than assassination attempts.”
The calmness in her voice sent chills through the balcony.
Lucien narrowed his eyes slightly.
Again.
Another strange statement.
Evelyne forced a small laugh. “You speak as though you’ve survived a war.”
Selene looked directly at her.
“I have.”
Silence.
For one brief moment, Evelyne felt genuine fear.
The future queen’s eyes looked ancient suddenly.
Like someone carrying ghosts behind her smile.
Lucien noticed the tension immediately.
“What happened between the two of you?” he asked sharply.
“Nothing,” Selene replied smoothly.
Evelyne nodded quickly. “Of course not.”
But Lucien did not look convinced.
Years of ruling taught him how to read people.
And right now, both women looked like wolves circling each other beneath polite masks.
A distant bell suddenly echoed through the palace.
One of the security alarms.
A guard rushed into the chambers moments later.
“My king!”
Lucien turned instantly.
“We found another body in the eastern corridor.”
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
“Who?” Lucien demanded.
The guard hesitated.
Then lowered his head.
“One of Lady Selene’s attendants.”
Mira.
Selene moved before anyone could stop her.
She stormed past the guard and down the corridor with terrifying speed, silver skirts flowing behind her like moonlit smoke.
No.
Not Mira.
Not again.
Lucien cursed beneath his breath and followed immediately while Evelyne hurried after them.
The eastern corridor was already surrounded by guards when Selene arrived.
Servants trembled nearby while blood stained the marble floor beneath flickering torchlight.
And at the center of it all—
Mira’s body.
Selene stopped breathing.
The young maid lay motionless against the wall, blood covering the front of her dress. Her eyes remained open slightly, frozen in terror.
Dead.
Again.
For one horrifying moment, the past and present collided inside Selene’s mind so violently she nearly collapsed.
No.
This wasn’t supposed to happen yet.
She saved her.
She changed things.
So why—
A hand suddenly touched her shoulder.
Lucien.
Selene jerked away instantly.
The movement shocked him.
As though she couldn’t bear his touch.
Her breathing became uneven.
Rage.
Grief.
Panic.
All of it twisted together inside her chest until her wolf began clawing beneath her skin violently.
The hallway lights flickered.
A dangerous pressure filled the corridor.
Several guards stepped backward instinctively.
Selene stared at Mira’s body with trembling silver eyes.
Then slowly—
Something inside her broke.
And when she finally spoke, her voice no longer sounded entirely human.
“Find who did this.”
The torches exploded.
Flames burst violently across the corridor walls as raw power surged through the air.
Guards stumbled backward in terror.
Even Lucien froze.
Because Selene’s silver eyes had begun glowing beneath the darkness.
Like moonlight soaked in blood.
- Writer
