Alpha King's obsession

Chapter 17

Selene POV

The palace buzzed with excitement. Servants rushed through the halls, carrying bolts of fine fabric, trays of gold-plated dishes, vases of fresh flowers. Everywhere I turned, there were whispers of the grand engagement ceremony—how beautiful the future Luna would look, how powerful the Alpha King standing beside her would be.

Laughter floated through the air like smoke. Preparations seemed endless. Decorations for the halls. Flowers for the tables. Food tasting and wine deliveries. Every single detail had to be perfect.

For them.

Not for me.

I moved silently through it all, unseen, unnoticed, carrying out the menial tasks assigned to me. My chest ached with something I couldn’t name anymore. It wasn’t jealousy. It wasn’t even heartbreak. It felt like… emptiness. Like something inside me had been scraped out and left hollow.

And yet, through all the noise and chaos, one thing remained painfully clear.

He hadn’t spoken to me. Not once.

Since that night.

Since he touched me and I foolishly let myself believe I meant something more than just a body beneath him.

Now he sat silent in meetings, his gaze distant, his jaw locked tight. I had passed him in the hall yesterday, a moment so brief it felt like a cruel joke. His eyes flicked over me, cold and unreadable. No words. No acknowledgment.

And why would there be?

He was preparing to marry another.

Liana floated through the palace like a queen already crowned. Barking orders, criticizing servants, selecting jewelry as if the entire world revolved around her happiness. In a way, it did. She would soon be Luna. The position I had once secretly dreamed of, now slipping further from reach with every passing hour.

I should have felt anger. Hatred. Something fierce and burning. But I didn’t. I felt… tired. So tired.

As I cleaned the corridor outside the great hall, I paused beneath the towering windows, watching the preparations unfold below. Nobles would come. Warriors. Allies from distant lands. All to witness Kairo bind himself to a woman he didn’t love.

And me? I would serve wine. I would carry plates. I would bow and scrape and bleed inside, and no one would notice.

Unless I left.

The thought had been growing like a shadow in my mind.

Escape.

Tonight, with everyone distracted by joy and drink and celebration… I could slip away. I knew the routes now. The weaknesses in the guard rotations. The loose stones in the garden wall that led beyond the forest line.

Freedom was possible.

But…

What about my people?

The women captured with me. The daughters of my fallen pack. The girls forced into servitude beneath the same roof. I had seen them—weakened, frightened, fading beneath cruel hands. If I ran… would I be abandoning them? Would I be leaving them to suffer worse without me?

Olna’s words haunted me still. If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been someone else. Don’t carry all this blame alone.

But how could I not?

I clenched my fists at my sides, pressing my forehead to the cold glass. Outside, the sun was setting in hues of crimson and gold, painting the sky in fire. Another day ending. Another day wasted in silence and pain.

I thought of my father. My mother. The home I would never see again. The promises I had made to protect what remained of my people. I couldn’t keep those promises locked in a cage. But I couldn’t keep them if I died running, either.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

No. I couldn’t leave. Not yet. Not while they still suffered here.

Even if it broke me, I would endure. I would find another way. A smarter way.

And so, I turned from the window, shoulders heavy with defeat, and continued my work as the palace prepared to celebrate a love that wasn’t real.

---

The great hall gleamed with banners of silver and crimson, the colors of Kairo’s lineage. Tables were set with crystal goblets and towering arrangements of blood-red roses. Musicians rehearsed in the corner, strings trembling beneath skilled fingers.

I moved among them like a ghost, unseen by the guests who would soon fill these walls with empty praise and false smiles.

And there, at the center of it all, sat Kairo.

His posture was stiff, his gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the ornate walls. His advisors spoke; he barely answered. Even Liana's hand brushing his shoulder earned no reaction. He looked like a man trapped in his own skin.

For a foolish moment, I wondered if he thought of me. If he regretted this path.

But then his gaze swept the room and passed right over me without pause.

Of course not.

I was nothing now. Less than nothing.

I busied myself with polishing silverware until my hands shook too hard to continue. I found refuge in the kitchens, leaning against the cold stone walls, breathing through the knot in my chest.

“You okay?” Olna’s soft voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I forced a smile I didn’t feel. “Just tired.”

“You’re lying,” she said, sitting beside me on an overturned crate. “You’ve been different since… him.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” She touched my hand, warm and grounding. “You’re allowed to hurt, Selene. You’re allowed to feel.”

I shook my head. “Feeling won’t change anything.”

“It might remind you you’re still alive.”

Alive. What a cruel word when living felt so hollow.

“I thought about running,” I admitted, my voice barely a whisper. “Tonight, during the engagement. But… I can’t. Not yet.”

Olna nodded. “Because of us?”

I nodded once.

“You’re stronger than you think.”

I didn’t feel strong. I felt like breaking.

But I held onto her words like a thread in the darkness.

Strong enough to stay. Strong enough to endure.

For now.