The fortress smelled of smoke and blood. Though the battle had ended, its memory clung to every stone. Warriors walked the halls with bandaged arms and weary eyes. Some whispered of the Bloodmoon Alpha, others of the light that had burst from Selene's hands on the battlefield.
She had tried to ignore the stares. But the whispers followed her wherever she went.
"Did you see her? That glow…"
"She could destroy us as easily as she destroyed them."
"Maybe she's not ours at all."
Selene clenched her fists as she passed. They lowered their voices when she looked, but she heard enough. To them, she was no longer just a marked mate—she was a question mark, a danger, a stranger wielding power no one could explain.
And part of her feared they were right.
---
That night, as the moon rose, she slipped into the training grounds. She needed space, away from the eyes, away from the weight of their doubts. The air was cool, the ground still scarred from where her power had struck. She stared at her palms, remembering the burst of silver light that had answered her anger.
A sound made her freeze. Not footsteps—breathing. Someone was there.
"Out late again?" The voice was sharp, mocking. A Shadowfang warrior stepped into the open, his arms crossed. His name was Roran, a tall wolf with scars across his face. He was one of Darius's trusted fighters. "Or are you meeting your Bloodmoon Alpha in secret?"
Her heart lurched. "What did you say?"
He sneered. "We all saw how he looked at you on the battlefield. Maybe this war isn't between our packs at all. Maybe it's just between the two Alphas fighting over you."
"That's not—"
"Isn't it?" he cut her off. "First he rejects you, then suddenly you glow like some moon-blessed witch, and we're supposed to believe you're loyal to Shadowfang? Forgive me if I don't trust a Bloodmoon stray."
His words stung because they echoed the very fears she couldn't silence.
Before she could answer, another warrior ran into the yard. Breathless, wide-eyed. "There's been a breach!"
---
Chaos followed.
By the time Selene reached the main hall, warriors had already dragged in the intruder—a wolf in tattered clothes, blood on his hands, a dagger still clutched in his fist. His hood was ripped away, revealing a face Selene knew all too well.
Her blood ran cold.
"Aric…" she whispered.
He had been one of Kael's lieutenants once. And before that, a friend. The boy who had trained beside her in Bloodmoon, who had teased her when she stumbled, who had defended her when others laughed.
Now his eyes burned with betrayal.
"Selene," he spat her name as if it were poison. "So it's true. You're hiding here, marked by the enemy."
Darius stood at the center of the hall, silver eyes glinting like blades. "You crossed my walls to slit throats in the dark. That makes you a spy. Your life is forfeit."
"Wait!" Selene stepped forward before she could stop herself. Every eye turned on her, but she couldn't look away from Aric. "Why are you here? Tell me."
Aric's jaw tightened. "Kael sent me."
Her heart squeezed at the name.
"He wants you back. He says you're his, that the bond still ties you. And if Shadowfang thinks they can keep you—" His gaze swept the hall with venom. "Then we'll burn this place to the ground."
---
The words rippled through the crowd like fire. Murmurs rose. Some growled, some cursed, and some turned their eyes to Selene with suspicion sharper than any blade.
"You see?" Roran's voice rose above the rest. He jabbed a finger toward her. "She draws danger to us. Bloodmoon wolves scale our walls for her. How many more will come? How many spies does she lead to our doors?"
Selene's throat closed.
Darius's voice cut like thunder. "Enough." The hall fell silent. His gaze swept the room, cold and merciless. "Shadowfang does not cower. And we do not turn on our own."
"But is she our own?" Roran demanded. "Or is she Bloodmoon's pawn?"
For a heartbeat, Selene couldn't breathe. The hall buzzed with tension, warriors waiting to see what their Alpha would say.
Then Darius moved. In a flash he had Roran by the throat, slamming him against the wall. The warrior choked, his feet leaving the ground.
"She is mine," Darius growled, his voice a razor's edge. "Marked by my hand, under my protection. Any who question her loyalty question me. And I do not forgive betrayal."
Gasps rippled through the hall. Roran's face reddened before Darius dropped him, letting him crumple to the floor.
"Selene stays," Darius declared. "And any who lay hands on her will answer to me."
---
That night, Selene sat alone in her chamber, her thoughts tangled.
Aric's words haunted her. Kael wanted her back. He would not stop. And now Shadowfang doubted her because of it.
A knock broke her thoughts. She turned as the door opened, and Darius stepped inside. His presence filled the room like a storm.
"You should sleep," he said.
"I can't." Her voice was low. She hesitated, then asked, "Why did you defend me? Even when they doubt me, when they're afraid of me… why?"
His gaze held hers, steady, unflinching. "Because I know fear. I know how it eats at warriors, makes them turn on the very people they should trust. But I also know you. You are not their enemy. You are their weapon. Their hope. They just can't see it yet."
Her chest tightened. She wanted to believe him. But Aric's eyes, filled with betrayal, still lingered in her mind.
"Kael won't stop," she whispered. "He'll keep sending spies, assassins… he won't rest until he has me."
"Then let him come," Darius said, his voice steel. "He will find Shadowfang waiting."
For the first time since the battle, she felt the faintest spark of safety. Not because the war was over, but because someone was willing to stand between her and the storm.
---
But the storm was already brewing.
Days later, another whisper spread through the fortress. A healer had vanished. Supplies were missing. Tracks led out toward the valley.
And carved into the wall of the storage room, written in blood, were words that made Selene's stomach twist:
"Blood calls to blood. You will never belong."