The sunlight poured in through the arched windows of her aunt's estate, casting warm gold across the stone floor. Selene blinked awake, the scent of fresh linen and rose oil lingering in the air. The ache in her chest the soul-deep weight of another life lost throbbed quietly.
But this time, she didn't scream. She didn't weep. She simply sat up, blank eyes fixed on the morning light.
This time, she wasn't going to run.
This time, she wanted answers.
Selene spent the next few days feigning docility. Her aunt, relieved, left her be. But inside, Selene was burning. Every night, fragments of dreams tore through her shadows of wars she had never fought, names that tasted of stardust on her tongue, and a cold, ancient power calling her Selurina.
The grand library became her sanctuary. Tucked in between towering shelves of forgotten lore, she traced the legends of a mysterious Deity Selurina, who had sealed a great demon under the kingdom with her dying breath. The accounts were fragmented and mythical, but Selene's instincts recognized something frighteningly familiar.
On the third day, a soft voice interrupted her study.
"You've been here for hours," a man said gently.
Selene looked up, and her breath caught.
Crown Prince Kael stood before her, sunlight framing his lean, regal form. His crimson cloak draped casually over his shoulder, but it was his eyes storm-gray and haunting that sent a jolt through her.
He smiled faintly, respectful, but knowing, which shocked her to the core, she was so used to hate and disgust that when someone showed her an ounce of kindness she was taken aback by it. "The story of Selurina draws many," the crown prince continued, stepping beside her. "She wasn't just a myth. She was… something more."
Selene didn't speak, but her body tensed. Her memories of him his blade sinking into her chest in her last life flashed in vivid red. But unlike the others, Kael hadn't looked at her with hatred. In his eyes, there had only been sorrow.
"I remember you," she murmured, hoping Kael hadn't heard her but he did.
Kael blinked. "From the palace?"
"No," Selene whispered. "From the end."
Their eyes locked. Something unspoken passed between them recognition beyond time. He didn't question her further, only nodded once, slowly, like a man who'd been waiting lifetimes for this moment.
Later that week, her aunt asked her to come to the masquerade at first, she refused, her aunt tried to persuade her and the two were involved in many arguments over the weak. But then suddenly a thought crossed Selene's mind and she finally said yes going to the masquerade.
This time she was going to do things differently.
She entered the grand hall in black not red, not white, but midnight silk and silver embroidery, like the goddess of endings herself. All eyes turned. Murmurs followed her as she moved through the crowd like smoke.
And then she saw him.
Lucian.
Her first mate. The first person she fell for, gave heart too and the first who betrayed her, abandoned her and killed her.
Golden, arrogant, charming and oblivious. He approached her with his usual self-assured grin.
"Selene," he purred. "You look ravishing. May I-"
"No," she said, voice like steel wrapped in silk. "I reject you." She said it cold and loud without wasting time she wasn't here to wait, she wasn't here to play, she was here to execute her plan.
Gasps rippled through the room. Lucian froze, stunned.
"You… what?"
"I reject you," she repeated, louder. "You are not my future."
The music faltered. Eyes turned. But Selene stood tall, unshaken.
Lucian's pride was wounded more than his heart. He grabbed her wrist, fury flashing in his eyes. "You can't do that. You're mine-"
"She said no."
Kael's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
The prince stepped forward, cool and composed, placing himself between Selene and Lucian. "Unhand her."
Lucian stared at the crown prince and slowly let go. "You're interfering-"
"She is not property," Kael said. "And I'll remind you that disrespecting a lady in the royal court has consequences."
Selene's eyes met Kael's again. No pity. No obligation. Just respect.
A few days later, Selene received a letter, it was the letter of her marriage, her aunt was happy but she stared at the letter with cold eyes before she burned it.
She then wrote her own letter and requested an audience with the King and Queen.
A few days later, a royal carriage waited at the palace gates. Selene stepped out in a simple cloak, her hair tied back, her eyes calm but resolute.
She had come not to beg, but to sever.
In the throne room, the King and Queen regarded her with polite curiosity. Beside them stood Alpha Aeron, observing with narrowed eyes.
"I have come to reject the marriage proposal," Selene said, her voice unwavering. "I do not wish to marry Alpha Aeron."
Whispers swirled through the court.
The King leaned forward. "That is a bold request. Why? Alpha Aeron is a very respected alpha of the north, he is strong and has a good status if you marry him, you will also have a high status."
"Because I seek neither alliance nor status," she said. "I seek freedom."
The Queen's eyes sharpened. "And what do you offer in return for this… freedom?"
Selene stepped closer, eyes blazing. "I want to be emancipated. I want my name struck from my family's registry. I want no ties, no legacy, no protection. I want to be free of them."
Everyone was shocked, Selene's family's eyes widened and they looked at her as if she had grown horns, her father and brother wanted to say something but their mouths just opened and shut.
The Queen raised a brow. "And in return?"
"I will give you the location of the rebels' southern hideout," Selene said. "A stronghold they've kept hidden for years. I have no loyalty to them either. This is the price of my freedom."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Aeron tilted his head slightly, studying her with new interest.
The King finally spoke. "You understand what this means? You will be a lone wolf. No pack. No claim. No protection."
Selene nodded with determined eyes. "I would rather walk alone than bleed for the sins of others."
From the side, Kael watched her with a flicker of something unreadable in his gaze admiration, sorrow, and perhaps… the echo of a love lost.
And so, with a single act of rebellion, Selene carved her path forward.
Not as a daughter.
Not as a mate.
Not as a pawn.
As herself, she was only Selene, who will decide her own fate.