The Billionaire Serpent King's Bride

Chapter 9

SELENE'S POV

Night eventually came.

The Drakon Estate seemed to shift with the setting sun, the very architecture breathing in time with the darkness. The lively hum of the day faded, replaced by a silence that settled over the sprawling grounds like a heavy, suffocating blanket.

Lights glowed warmly from distant mansions scattered across the estate, their reflections dancing across the fountains below, but the beauty felt distant. Detached.

Somewhere in the gardens, the evening breeze stirred the leaves, carrying the sweet, cloying scent of blooming flowers that only made my stomach tighten.

I stood on the balcony outside my room, staring into the void. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Too peaceful.

The events of the day replayed in my mind, a relentless loop I couldn’t escape. Leaving everything behind. The drive to this place. Lucien.

Lunch. The forbidden doors. And… The embarrassing incident that refused to leave my thoughts, burning my skin from the inside out. My cheeks flared with heat.

"No," I muttered, pressing my palms against my face as if I could physically push the memory out. "I'm not thinking about that again."

As if in response, the wind brushed against my face, cool and sharp, carrying away the heat but leaving the shame intact. I closed my eyes and drew in a slow, trembling breath.

Tomorrow… Maybe tomorrow everything would feel less overwhelming. Maybe tomorrow this place wouldn't feel like a prison disguised as a palace. Maybe tomorrow… I would finally stop feeling like my life had ended yesterday.

Opening my eyes, I looked across the estate one last time before turning away. The darkness seemed to watch me back.

Inside, the room welcomed me with a quiet, artificial warmth. It felt sterile. I unpacked the last few things from my suitcase with mechanical movements, placing a framed photograph of my parents on the bedside table. Their smiles were a knife in my chest.

For a moment, my hand hovered over the suitcase, considering the photograph of Kieran buried beneath my clothes. My fingers brushed against the fabric where the frame lay hidden.

Then… I quietly closed the suitcase. Not tonight. I couldn't survive that pain right now.

Changing into a soft cream-colored nightdress, I slipped beneath the blankets. The bed was unbelievably comfortable, the mattress conforming to my body, the pillows smelling of fresh linen and nothing else. The room was warm.

Safe. Everything should have made it easy to sleep.

Instead, I stared at the ceiling, my heart rate refusing to slow. Sleep had never been easy. Not for me.

Ever since I was a little girl, the darkness had come with a price. I'd dreamed of serpents. Every. Single. Night.

At first, I'd been terrified. I'd wake up screaming until my throat raw, tears soaking my pillow, convinced that monsters were real and they were coming for me. My father had taken me to doctors, to therapists, to priests. My grandmother had insisted it was only an overactive imagination, a childish phase.

Nothing ever changed. The dreams followed me into childhood. Into my teenage years. Into adulthood.

The serpents never harmed me. They never chased me. They simply… Watched.

Golden eyes following me from the shadows. Waiting. Always waiting.

When Kieran came into my life, the nightmares never stopped, but the waking up became easier. Every time I screamed, he'd pull me into his arms before I was even fully awake, his warmth anchoring me to reality.

"It's alright," he'd whisper into my hair, his voice a lifeline. "I'm here."

Those two words had always been enough. They were a shield. A promise. I never had to face the darkness alone.

Tonight… The other side of the bed was empty. Cold.

No one would hear me if I screamed. No one would tell me everything was alright.

The realization hurt more than I expected, a physical ache in my chest that had nothing to do with the dream and everything to do with the crushing loneliness of this estate.

I turned onto my side, hugging one of the pillows tightly against my chest, pretending it was a person. "I'll be okay," I whispered.

The words disappeared into the empty room, swallowed by the silence.

Eventually… Exhaustion won. The darkness pulled me under, not gently, but with the inevitability of a tide.

…

Moonlight stretched endlessly across white stone. I stood barefoot in the middle of a place that didn't seem to belong to this world. There were no walls. No trees. No sky. Only endless silver light fading into an abyss of darkness.

Then… I heard it.

The soft scrape of scales against stone. My heart didn't race. It slowed.

Not from fear. From familiarity.

From the darkness, an enormous serpent emerged. Its emerald scales shimmered beneath the moonlight, each one reflecting silver light like polished jewels, terrifying and magnificent. Its golden eyes settled on me.

Ancient. Gentle. Knowing.

It glided toward me with effortless grace, its enormous body stretching farther than I could see, a river of power and mystery. Yet somehow… I wasn't afraid.

The serpent stopped before me. For a long moment, neither of us moved. The air between us vibrated with an energy I couldn't name.

Then its great head lowered until those golden eyes were level with mine. When it spoke, its voice didn't come from the air. It echoed through the silence of my own mind, deep and warm, filled with a strange, terrifying affection that made my chest tighten.

"Welcome home… my Queen."

My breath caught. My lungs refused to work. My Queen?

The words wrapped around my heart like they belonged there, like they were a key turning in a lock I didn't know existed.

Before I could speak, before I could process the impossability of this, the serpent moved. Slowly… It circled me.

Its massive body glided around me once. Then twice. Not trapping me. Not threatening me. Protecting me.

As though I was the most precious thing in its world. As though I was the only thing in the world that mattered.

A deep, contented rumble vibrated through the ground, through my feet, up my legs, settling in my bones. The enormous serpent lowered its head beside me, its golden eyes slowly closing.

Then… It simply… Fell asleep.

Peacefully.

As though being near me was the only place it had ever wanted to be. The only place it could be.

Confusion twisted inside me, sharp and disorienting. What was happening? Why wasn't I afraid?

Why… Why did this feel so familiar? Why did it feel like home?

The serpent's breathing remained slow and steady, a rhythmic sound that should have been terrifying but felt like a lullaby. Its warmth surrounded me, a shield against the void.

Then suddenly…

Its golden eyes snapped open. They didn't look at me. They looked directly past me.

My heart lurched, the fear returning in a violent rush. Very slowly… I turned around.

Darkness. Nothing but darkness.

Yet I felt it. Something was there. Watching. Waiting. The air grew cold, the peaceful feeling vanishing like smoke.

Terror crashed into me, pure and absolute. A scream tore from my throat.

My eyes flew open. I bolted upright in bed, the scream still echoing through the room, raw and jagged. My chest heaved violently, my lungs burning. My heart hammered against my ribs like a bird trapped in a cage.

"It was just a dream…" I whispered shakily, my voice breaking. "It was just another dream."

I wiped the tears from my cheeks, my hands trembling so badly I could barely touch my face. I forced myself to breathe, to count, to anchor myself.

The room was dark. Quiet. Safe.

Moonlight spilled softly through the curtains, casting long, harmless shadows. Everything was exactly as it should be.

My breathing slowly steadied. The panic receded, leaving me hollow and shaken.

Then… For one terrifying heartbeat… I thought I saw something beside my bed.

A massive shape. Curled. Motionless.

My entire body froze. The blood in my veins turned to ice. The scream building in my throat escaped before I could stop it.

"AAAHHHH!"

I blinked, squeezing my eyes shut and snapping them open. The room came back into focus.

Nothing. There was nothing there. Only shadows.

Only moonlight. Only the nightmare refusing to let go.

Still trembling, I pulled the blanket tightly around myself, curling into a ball, trying to make myself small, invisible. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself it had all been a dream, no matter how I tried to rationalize the fear…

One question refused to leave me, burning brighter than any fear.

Why do I keep having this dreams? This is going to drive me crazy, I swear to God.