Reborn: Luna Takes It All Back

Escape

The night was heavy, the clouds thick and low, but Selena felt a pulse of excitement as she crept from the sleeping quarters. Every step had been rehearsed a dozen times in her mind, every guard’s pattern memorised, every shadow calculated.

Tonight, she would move and perhaps, finally, taste freedom.

She paused at the edge of her roommates’ cots, glancing at their peaceful forms. I’ll come back for them, she promised silently. I swear it.

The moonlight struggled through the cloud cover, painting ghostly streaks across the field. Selena darted between tents and low buildings, sticking to shadows, her ears straining for the slightest sound. The healer’s chambers glowed with a faint, warm light. She detoured quietly.

Bianca looked up as she stepped inside, eyes wide. “You’re doing it?” she whispered.

“Yes,” Selena said cautiously.

“Selena… if you’re caught, Skalwarg will—” Bianca’s warning faltered, replaced by a fierce hug. “Please, protect yourself.”

Selena hugged back tightly, feeling the fleeting comfort of human warmth. One groan from a patient made them jump. “I have to go,” Selena whispered, stepping back.

“May the goddess shine her blessings upon you,” Bianca murmured.

Selena melted into the night again, silent as a shadow. The gates loomed ahead, the guards clustered around a fire, laughing and drinking. She didn’t hesitate. Overgrown vines hid a small hole she had dug weeks ago. She pushed them aside and crawled into the opening.

Her hands trembled as she pulled out the paper with the spell. Carefully, she recited the words, feeling the chains around her wrists and ankles shiver and fall away. The weight was gone. The silver bindings clattered softly against the stones, and tears of relief burned her eyes.

Gods, it’s been too long.

She shed her clothes and shifted into her wolf form, fur bristling in the cold night air—freedom—true, wild, intoxicating freedom—coursed through her veins. The earth beneath her paws was soft and fragrant with herbs and damp soil. Stars glittered above, and the moon poured silvery light across the field.

Selena ran, letting the joy flood her senses, the wind singing through her fur. Every muscle, every instinct, screamed that she was alive, unshackled, unstoppable.

But even as her heart soared, a flicker of caution crept in. Something moved, a shadow at the edge of her sight. She froze, ears twitching. Nothing. Just the wind? Perhaps.

Her wolf, usually silent, growled low in her mind. Be careful… You are not alone.

Shaking it off, Selena pressed forward. Her destination was the river, where she could mask her scent. Her wolf guided her, their senses intertwined, every movement calculated, every pause measured.

The forest welcomed her, branches brushing her sides, masking her scent with the damp earth and fragrant leaves.

And then—pain.

An arrow shot through the darkness, embedding in her upper arm with a sickening thud.

Selena yelped, rolling onto the cold ground, blood staining her fur. Her wolf snarled and whined in panic.

“It’s silver!” It screamed. “Get it out! Get it out!”

Her wolf roared in panic, but Selena could only collapse forward, blood dripping onto the forest floor. The stench of metal and burning flesh filled the air.

She tried to bite it out, silver burning her teeth, barbs snagging deeper. Her breath came fast, ragged. The forest blurred around her. I can’t… she groaned, letting the arrow go.

The wolf snarled, frantic, sniffing the air. They’re coming… move!

Summoning every ounce of strength, she staggered forward, guided by instinct and adrenaline. To the river… to the river… Her vision swam. Her legs threatened to give out. Branches tore at her fur, roots tripped her, and the sickly scent of wolfsbane drifted through the trees.

No… not now… Her wolf whimpered, confused, struggling against the poison.

Selena gasped, trembling, collapsing once more. The euphoria of freedom vanished. The forest no longer seemed welcoming—it was a trap. She lay panting, tears running over dirt-smeared fur, heart hammering with fear and betrayal.

She cursed the Moon Goddess and her fate. She cursed herself for trusting blindly. She cursed the world for being like this, for ruining her life. She had tasted freedom only for it to be snatched away so effortlessly and so fast.

Aira's words from that day came back to her.

"Finally giving up?"

A deep, familiar voice cut through the panic. Goosebumps crawled over her skin. She lifted her head weakly. Skalwarg stepped from the shadows, silver sword gleaming in the moonlight, eyes cruel and triumphant.

"You didn’t think I’d let you escape, did you?" he sneered.

Her hope shattered. She called to her wolf, but there was no response. The wolfsbane had already begun its work.

The chains may have been gone, but the predator had been waiting all along.

Selena’s limbs felt like lead. The arrow in her shoulder throbbed with unbearable heat, each pulse radiating through her wolf's body. Her vision swam in blurred streaks of silver and shadow. The wolfsbane coiled through her veins like fire, weakening her muscles, dulling her senses. She struggled to rise, but gravity and poison laughed at her feeble attempts.

Skalwarg’s laughter rang through the trees, low and merciless. “Ye think ye could outrun me, Luna? Hah. Fools never learn.”

Ferals emerged from the darkness, eyes glowing red and gold, snarling with saliva and bloodied fangs. They circled her, the stench of death thick in the air.

Selena’s heart raced—every instinct screamed to fight, but her body refused to obey. Her wolf snarled weakly, the sound half-choked by exhaustion.

“You’ll pay for yer little rebellion,” Skalwarg taunted, stepping closer, silver sword reflecting the pale moonlight. “Run, hide, fight… it will only make yer death sweeter.”

Selena forced herself to crawl, dragging her bleeding paw through the damp forest floor. Each movement brought agony; the arrow’s barbs tore further with every desperate tug. She bit down, trying again, but the metal burned her jaw and ignited fresh waves of panic.

The ferals advanced, lips curled back, claws scraping against the soil. Her ears flattened, tail tucked, mind scrambling for a plan. But the poison and exhaustion clouded her thoughts.

Skalwarg’s voice cut through her panic, calm and predatory. “I’ll make it quick… if ye beg for it.”

Selena froze, fury and despair colliding inside her. I am not yours. But the words felt hollow in her throat. She tried to howl, tried to summon her wolf’s strength—but only a weak, hoarse whimper emerged.

One feral lunged. Selena twisted, barely dodging, but another’s fangs caught her side. Pain exploded across her ribs. She yelped, scrambling backwards, clawing at the dirt. Her vision darkened at the edges, and a cold sweat ran across her fur.

Skalwarg moved with a predator’s grace, effortless and terrifying. “Ye fought well… for a slave,” he murmured, lifting his silver sword. “But now… It’s over.”

He snapped his fingers. The ferals froze for a heartbeat, then lunged again, coordinating with lethal precision. Selena’s wolf lunged back instinctively, biting and scratching, but every movement burned, every leap was an uphill battle against her weakening body.

The moon broke from behind the clouds, illuminating her terrified form. Skalwarg’s grin widened. “There’s no goddess to guide ye now, Luna. Only me.”

The arrow’s poison began to overwhelm her senses. Hallucinations flitted through the shadows—familiar faces, cries of her packmates, flashes of chains, the haunting memory of the goddess’s blessing slipping away. Her claws scraped the earth uselessly; her muscles refused to obey.

A feral knocked her sideways, and she collapsed into the mud. Pain tore through her shoulder as the silver arrow shifted. She cried out, a guttural, primal sound of fear and anger. Skalwarg approached, slow, deliberate, each step echoing like a death knell.

“You thought freedom was yours?” he whispered, pressing the tip of his sword lightly against her jaw, just enough to draw a line of silver heat across her fur. Selena flinched but could not rise. “Ye will learn… running from me is folly.”

He snapped his fingers again. The wolves lunged, sinking their fangs into her flesh. Her screams filled the night as teeth and claws tore her to pieces, blood soaking the forest floor, every desperate movement punished by silvered fangs.