If looks could kill, I'd already be buried.
The hall was massive, brighter than anywhere I'd been in this cursed palace. Hundreds of candles bathed everything in golden light, making the black stone walls seem almost warm. It didn't help.
Because every eye in the room was on me.
Selene had brought me here, dressed me in a gown that didn't feel like mine — soft black silk, laced at the waist, the neckline dipping lower than I would've ever dared. I'd protested, of course. She hadn't cared.
"Presentation matters," she'd said with that maddeningly calm smile.
Now I understood.
The nobles — wolves, every single one of them — weren't just staring. They were studying me.
Prey.
I felt it in the weight of their gazes, in the way their polite smiles didn't reach their eyes.
At the far end of the table sat Kael.
He didn't look at me. Not at first. But when he did, the room fell silent.
"Sit," he said, his voice carrying over the whispers like a blade.
Selene guided me to the chair beside him — at his right hand.
The moment I sat, the whispers started again.
"A human?""This is disgraceful.""She won't last through the Choosing."
There it was again.
The Choosing.
Kael didn't react to their words. Didn't even blink.
"Eat," he said simply, as servants laid platters of food in front of us.
My appetite was long gone.
I picked at the bread, trying to make myself small. Invisible.
It didn't work.
One of the men across the table — older, with silver‑streaked hair and a sharp, foxlike face — leaned forward, his smirk aimed at Kael.
"Forgive me, Prince Kael," he said smoothly. "But perhaps the Blood Moon erred this time."
The room went dead silent.
My chest tightened.
Kael didn't speak. Didn't move.
Then, faster than I could process, he was on his feet.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between them, his claws at the man's throat.
"Say that again," Kael said softly.
The man's smirk vanished. "My apologies, my Prince," he rasped.
Kael stared at him for a long moment before releasing him and returning to his seat as if nothing had happened.
My hands shook under the table.
He didn't even look at me as he said, "This is the last time I will hear her questioned."
No one argued.
But their silence wasn't acceptance. It was fear.
I swallowed hard.
"What," I whispered, my voice barely audible, "is the Choosing?"
Kael's gaze flicked to me, unreadable. "You'll find out."
My stomach turned. "Tell me."
"Later," he said. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry."
His silver eyes narrowed. "Eat."
It wasn't a suggestion.
My fingers trembled as I lifted the fork.
The nobles kept watching, like vultures waiting for something to die.
I wanted to disappear.
But then I heard it — a whisper, softer than the rest, from somewhere further down the table.
"She won't survive the Choosing. No one does."
My blood ran cold.
No one does.
The words stuck in my head, looping over and over.
I didn't know what the Choosing was.
But I knew one thing.
Whatever it was, it would kill me.
Later, when the banquet ended, I tried to slip out unnoticed.
Kael's hand caught my wrist.
"Stay."
I froze.
He didn't look angry. Or kind. Just… Kael.
"What do they mean?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "No one survives the Choosing?"
His expression didn't change. "Not no one. Just… few."
My stomach dropped. "I'm not doing it."
"You don't have a choice."
I yanked my hand free. "You can't force me—"
His gaze locked on mine, sharp and unyielding. "The Blood Moon chose you. This bond is not a request. It's a command."
I hated him in that moment. Hated the bond. Hated this place.
"Why me?" I asked, my voice cracking.
Kael didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped closer, close enough that I could feel his heat, smell the faint scent of pine and smoke clinging to him.
"Survive the Choosing," he said softly. "And maybe you'll get your answers."
Cliffhanger:What exactly is the Choosing — and can she survive it?