AT THE SAME TIME
MICHAEL
My chest still burned from her words, the growl that had betrayed me. My fists shook at my sides as Selene's voice lingered like smoke.
"Two more, Michael." She said smoothly, silver eyes glinting. "Do not keep me waiting."
I turned back to the rows of portraits, my throat dry. The weight of her choice the wrong choice pressed heavy on me, but there was no escaping it. My gaze swept across the others, faces painted in oil and shadow, until finally I forced myself to lift a hand.
"That one." I muttered, pointing toward the golden-eyed alpha, his stance powerful and commanding.
Selene nodded once, as if humoring me.
"Good. One with fire in his blood."She said.
I dragged in a breath, forcing my trembling hand to move again.
"And… him." I said at last, pointing to the wild eyed alpha whose presence felt like barely contained chaos.
Selene's lips curved faintly.
"Two chosen. Strong choices. Perhaps you do have an eye for power after all."She said delighted.
I was about to turn away when it happened. A sharp creak split the silence. Then, from the far wall, one of the portraits slipped from its hook, falling forward with a heavy thud that echoed through the chamber. Dust rose in the lantern light. I froze. My breath caught as my eyes locked on the fallen canvas.
The face staring up at me was unlike the others. Not carved with arrogance. Not brimming with fire or steel. His eyes painted though they were felt alive. Deep, storm-silver, as if they looked straight through me, into every scar, every wound I carried. For the first time since entering this cursed room, I felt not fear, not rage… but something else. Something that left me staring, dumbfounded, unable to move. Selene noticed instantly. Her grin spread wide, sharp and knowing.
"Ohhh." She purred, stepping toward the fallen portrait, crouching gracefully to lift it with both hands. She turned, holding it up so the lantern's glow caught the painted silver gaze. "This one… fascinates you."
"I-" My voice broke. "I didn't… I wasn't-"
She laughed softly, wickedly delighted.
"You don't have to say it, Michael. I saw the way you looked at him. As if the world itself stopped." She leaned closer, her silver eyes glittering as she whispered. "And that, little wolf, is all the answer I need."
Selene raised the portrait high, her grin triumphant.
"So be it. He is chosen as well. Your fourth alpha."She said.
My chest twisted, shock and awe tangling inside me. "But you said three-"I started.
"I changed my mind." She cut in, voice smooth and merciless."Four it shall be. The Moon Goddess does not always follow rules… and neither do I."
Her grin widened, radiant with cruel satisfaction, as the portraits around us seemed to close in tighter, the painted eyes watching, judging, as though fate itself had shifted in that single moment. I couldn't take the suffocating weight of her grin any longer. My jaw clenched so hard it ached, every nerve in me screaming as she held that fourth portrait like a prize.
"You can't keep playing with me like this." I snapped, my voice raw.
"Oh, Michael." She teased, her tone maddeningly calm. "I'm not playing. I'm crafting destiny."
Her silver eyes gleamed, unyielding. I couldn't stand it. Heat and fury burned through me, but beneath it all, the image of those storm-silver eyes in the fallen portrait still haunted me. Confusion tangled with rage until I could barely breathe. I turned away before she could see the war inside me. The heavy doors creaked open beneath my hands, and I pushed through them, my boots pounding against the stone floor as I made my way back to the chambers she'd locked me in. My body felt like it was burning alive with fury and something far worse anticipation.
I slammed the door shut behind me, my chest heaving. My fists curled into the sheets of the bed, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake her silver smile from my mind… or the painted eyes of the one I'd stared at too long.
AT THE SAME TIME
SELENE
The echo of Michael's footsteps faded, leaving only the portraits and my own smile behind. I lingered by the fallen frame, brushing dust from its corner as though it were a sacred relic. Silver eyes, captured in oil and shadow, stared back at me with that same storm call that had shaken Michael to his very bones.
"Zavier." I whispered, savoring the name on my tongue. "You already have him."
But it wasn't just Zavier who thrilled me. No, Michael had snarled at one, chosen two, and been undone by the fourth without even knowing why. Four threads now bound to him, four storms soon to converge. I felt like a puppeteer holding a trembling marionette, and oh, how he trembled beautifully. I drifted back to my writing desk, dipped my quill, and began.
'To Adrian, your strength is required. The chosen awaits, though he does not yet know he belongs to you. Come swiftly.'
A second, smooth and coaxing.
'To Xavier your cunning, your ambition, your hunger… they are needed. I summon you to stand beside the one fated to change everything.'
Then, my quill carved harder into the parchment, the ink thick with intent.
'To Terrence, Alpha of Iron Fang. The boy growled your name like a curse, but curses are only proof of power. You broke his family, now you will bind his future. Come, and do not delay.'
And the last, the one I sealed with a slow, lingering smile.
'To Zavier the Silver Storm. His eyes betrayed him the moment he saw yours. He is already caught in your pull, though he cannot name it yet. You are chosen. Claim what fate has promised you.'
I sealed them one by one, pressing the Moon sigil deep into the wax, the sound of it crisp and final. My hands trembled not from nerves, but from delight. Four alphas. Four storms. And in the middle of it, my unwilling Stoneheart, too stubborn to realize he was already drowning. Leaning back in my chair, I let out a low laugh, silver eyes glinting in the candlelight.
"Oh, Michael." I murmured, "By the time they arrive, you won't know whether to fight me… or beg me."