The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 3 : Under The Blood Moon I Rise

Chapter Three: Under the Blood Moon, I Rise

“Death was only the beginning of my vengeance.”

The world went silent the moment his blade pierced through my chest.

No screams. No howls. No mercy.

Just the deafening pulse of my dying heartbeat, echoing through the hollow space that used to be my body.

The courtyard around me blurred—faces melting into shadows, the Blood Moon burning crimson above, watching like a silent witness to my ruin. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, thick and warm, as I dropped to my knees.

My fingers dug weakly into the dirt where my pack once bowed to me. They had called me Luna. Now they looked upon me as nothing more than a traitor.

Damien’s silhouette towered over me—his blade slick with my blood. The same hand that had once cupped my cheek now trembled as he withdrew it from my chest.

I wanted to hate him.

I wanted to scream, curse, claw, destroy—anything. But all that came out was a broken whisper.

— “You… killed me, Damien.”

His jaw tightened. I saw the flicker of something—pain? Regret? But it was gone before it could breathe.

He turned away.

The crowd chanted for justice. For blood. For an ending. And they got it.

I collapsed fully, the dirt cold against my cheek. My vision tunneled, the Blood Moon bleeding into nothingness. My final breath escaped as a shuddering whisper to the night.

— “Moon Goddess… if you’re listening… let him suffer as I did…”

And then— Silence.

There was no pain. No body. No heartbeat.

Only darkness—soft, endless, and cold.

I floated in it, weightless, my mind unraveling like thread from a spool. Time didn’t move here. There was no before or after. Just… was.

Until I heard it—

A hum. Deep. Ancient. Female.

The darkness rippled like water disturbed by a drop of light. From it, a figure emerged—tall, ethereal, cloaked in silver mist that shimmered with fragments of stars. Her eyes were the Moon itself, vast and merciless.

— “Selena Blackthorn,” she said, her voice both everywhere and within me. “The fallen Luna of Silverfang.”

I couldn’t speak. My throat was air, my body a memory.

— “You cry for vengeance,” she continued. “You call upon me in your last breath, not for mercy… but retribution.”

Her words sliced through the stillness like blades. I wanted to kneel, to weep, but I couldn’t move.

— “He betrayed me,” I managed to whisper. “The one the fates chose for me… he murdered me.”

— “And what would you have me do?” she asked. “Undo the hand of fate? Tear apart time for the sake of your broken heart?”

— “Yes,” I breathed. “Let me fix what was taken from me. Let me make him pay.”

The Goddess circled me slowly, her robes trailing moonlight.

— “Vengeance is a curse, child. It burns until nothing remains—not even your soul.”

— “Then let me burn.”

Her gaze turned sharp, luminous. The stars in her eyes flared like fire.

— “You would accept damnation?”

— “If it means I can rewrite my end.”

The silence that followed stretched until the darkness itself seemed to tremble.

Then—softly—she smiled.

— “Very well.”

The space around us shattered like glass. Silver fragments of light exploded outward, slicing through the void. I screamed—not from pain, but from the overwhelming force that surged into me. It wasn’t warmth or life; it was something raw and terrible.

— “I grant you return,” the Moon Goddess said, her voice booming through the collapsing dark. “But know this, Selena Blackthorn—what is reborn in blood must answer to blood. You shall live again, bound by the curse of remembrance. You will recall every betrayal, every lie, every touch that led to your ruin. And you will carry that memory like a brand upon your soul.”

My body began to reform—bones, flesh, heartbeat. The darkness gave way to blinding light.

— “You have one purpose,” she whispered, leaning close, her silver eyes filling my vision. “To avenge what was stolen. But beware—vengeance carries a price. The bond you seek to break… may yet bind you tighter.”

And with that—she thrust her hand forward.

Light consumed me.

I gasped.

Air tore into my lungs like fire. My heart thundered. The world around me spun. I was on a bed—a real one—drenched in sweat. My fingers clawed at the sheets, expecting to find blood, a wound, a scar.

Nothing.

I blinked rapidly, disoriented. The moonlight that spilled through the window was soft, silver—not red. The scent of night jasmine drifted through the open window. I knew this room.

My room.

Back in the Silverfang manor.

But… it was different. Newer. The furniture was polished, unscarred. The window curtains I had discarded years ago were still there. My breath hitched.

— “No…” I whispered. “This isn’t real.”

I stumbled to the mirror and froze.

The face staring back at me was mine—but younger. Fresher. My eyes held no shadows yet. My skin had no scars. My hair hadn’t yet turned the silver hue it gained after years of Luna duty.

The Goddess’s words echoed through my mind.

— I grant you return… bound by the curse of remembrance.

My pulse pounded. I reached for the pendant at my neck—the one Damien had given me after our mating ceremony. It wasn’t there. Instead, a simple moonstone hung in its place—the one I’d worn before I became his Luna.

Time itself had turned back.

I wasn’t dead.

I was before.

A sudden knock on the door jolted me.

— “Selena?” a voice called. “Are you awake?”

It was Luna Mae—Damien’s mother. Alive. She’d died years before my execution. My breath caught in my throat.

— “You’ll be late for the Alpha’s ceremony,” she continued, her voice cheerful.

The Alpha’s ceremony… my mind scrambled to piece it together. That event had been the night everything started. The night I first met Damien Blackthorn.

My blood ran cold.

The Moon Goddess hadn’t just revived me—

She’d sent me back to before it all began.

I turned toward the mirror again. The reflection trembled. Beneath the smooth skin and youthful face, my eyes gleamed—not with innocence, but with fury.

I smiled. Slowly. Coldly.

— “You wanted me dead, Damien?” I whispered. “Let’s see how you handle me alive.”

Outside, the moon shifted behind clouds, casting the world into shadow. I could almost feel her watching—the Moon Goddess—her presence like a whisper at the edge of my thoughts.

— “Remember your vow,” her voice murmured faintly. “Vengeance has its price.”

I lifted my chin.

— “Then I’ll pay it.”

The wind picked up, carrying the faint echo of a wolf’s howl from the distance—a sound that once brought me comfort but now only fueled the storm rising in my chest.

This time, I wasn’t going to be the obedient Luna. This time, I would be the curse that hunts the Alpha.

The moonlight flickered against the glass as I turned away from the mirror, my heart steady, my path clear.

Somewhere in the Silverfang Pack, Damien Blackthorn still lived. Unaware that the mate he had murdered had returned with the moon’s wrath burning in her veins.

And I intended to make him remember every last drop of my blood he’d spilled.

Every Last One.