The Crescent Moon packhouse never truly slept. Even in the small hours, there were footsteps in the hall, muted voices spilling from doorways, the soft scuff of someone moving about the kitchens. Adanna had grown used to the hum, but tonight it pressed on her nerves like static.
She sat at the long dining table, fingers curled around a chipped mug of tea gone lukewarm. Her eyes traced the knots in the wood, but her ears strained toward the low voices at the other end of the hall.
Two omegas whispered near the staircase, their words sharp little cuts carried on the draft.
"Did you see her with him again?" one murmured.
"She's everywhere these days. Leander can't take a step without her shadowing him." "She's cursed, that one. The Alpha should never have let her in."
Adanna's jaw clenched. She didn't need to ask who they were talking about.
She shifted in her chair, the scrape loud enough that the whispers cut off. The omegas glanced her way, then hurried off, skirts brushing against the floorboards.
The silence left behind was heavier than the words themselves.
"Don't mind them."
Adanna turned. Leander leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest. His pale hair caught the light, and his grey eyes softened when they met hers.
"They've been like that since the day I arrived," she muttered.
"They'll get tired eventually." He pushed off the frame and came closer, sliding into the chair opposite hers. "Or I'll make them tired of it."
A faint smile tugged at her lips despite the knot in her stomach. "You can't threaten every whisper, Leander."
"Watch me," he said, voice flat but his mouth twitching.
The moment stretched, warm in its quiet, until Adanna shook her head. "Selene doesn't help. Every time she looks at me…" She trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's like she wants me gone."
Leander's gaze darkened. "She does."
Adanna blinked at the bluntness. "And you're not going to tell me I'm imagining it?"
"Why would I? She's made it clear." He leaned back, chair creaking under his weight. "But she doesn't get to decide everything. Not anymore."
Not anymore. The words lingered. She wanted to ask what he meant, but his tone shut the door on further questions.
Instead, she whispered, "She scares me."
Leander didn't flinch. "Good. That means you're paying attention." He leaned forward now, elbows on the table. "But don't let her see it. Selene feeds on fear like wolves on blood."
Adanna's mug trembled in her hands. She lowered it to the table before it spilled. "I don't know if I can hide it. She always seems… one step ahead."
Leander's eyes softened again, but his voice stayed steady. "Then let her think she's ahead. It's the only way to get close to her game without losing yourself in it."
Before Adanna could reply, the door at the far end opened with a soft creak.
Selene.
She entered like she owned the air itself. Her black hair spilled down her shoulders, dark eyes sweeping the room in a single glance before fixing on them.
On Adanna.
"Still awake?" Selene's tone was sweet, too sweet. She glided forward, stopping just shy of the table. "Or do you find our packhouse too noisy for rest?"
Adanna's throat dried. She forced her voice to work. "Couldn't sleep."
Selene tilted her head, lips curving. "Strange. Most find safety here soothing. Don't you?"
Leander's chair scraped back as he stood. His posture was casual, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed him. "Leave her be, Selene."
Selene's gaze flicked to him, then back to Adanna. "Always so protective. How… predictable." She reached out, brushed a fingertip along the rim of Adanna's abandoned mug, then stepped back with a low hum.
"Well. Don't let me keep you from your… sleepless night."
She turned, her skirts whispering against the floor as she moved toward the stairs. At the last step, she paused. Looked back.
And smiled.
The door closed behind her.
Adanna's pulse thundered. Her hands ached from clenching the mug too tight.
"She knows," she whispered.
"Of course she knows," Leander said, his voice like gravel. He sat again, rubbing a hand across his jaw. "But knowing isn't the same as winning."
For the first time since she'd arrived, Adanna wasn't sure she believed him.
Adanna couldn't sit still after Selene left. Her chest felt too tight, like her ribs were a cage holding in panic. She stood, pacing the length of the dining hall.
Leander watched, silent for a long time, before he finally muttered, "You're letting her under your skin."
"How am I supposed not to?" Adanna snapped, spinning to face him. "She doesn't even have to say much. Just a look. Just—" She broke off, dragging her fingers through her hair. "It's like she sees everything I'm trying to hide."
Leander's jaw flexed. "She doesn't see as much as she pretends. Selene lives off fear. If you don't feed her, she starves."
Adanna laughed bitterly. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one she's targeting."
He met her gaze evenly. "You think she's not targeting me? She's been at it for years."
That silenced her. The weight in his tone was too real, too lived-in.
"What does she want?" Adanna asked quietly.
Leander didn't answer right away. His eyes dropped to the table, the grooves in the wood. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, almost reluctant. "Power. Always power. She thinks if she can control me, she controls the pack."
"And me?"
"You're a disruption. You being here means she's not in control anymore."
Adanna's stomach twisted. "So I'm just… a piece on the board."
"No." He leaned forward, pinning her with those grey eyes. "You're not a piece. You're the move she didn't see coming."
Before Adanna could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway. The voices of the omegas drifted again, careless and cutting.
"…saw them together. Late. Alone. What do you think that means?"
"What it always means. She'll bring ruin. Just wait."
"Selene won't stand for it."
Adanna stiffened, the words like needles in her back.
Leander's head snapped toward the doorway. "You've got sharp tongues for ones who hide in shadows."
The whispers cut off. The shuffle of hurried feet followed. Silence.
Adanna sank into the chair again, pressing her palms to her eyes. "I can't stay here if they all hate me."
"They don't all hate you," Leander said, softer now. "But the ones who do will be louder until they're proven wrong."
"And if they're right?" The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Leander didn't flinch. "Then let's make them wrong."
The conviction in his voice startled her. It wasn't loud, wasn't forceful, but steady. Like stone.
Adanna wanted to believe it.
But later that night, lying awake in the small bed tucked away in the guest wing, she heard it again—voices drifting through the thin walls. Not whispers this time. Conversations.
"…Selene says the girl's dangerous."
"…a curse, she called her. Bad luck follows her."
"…Leander's blind. He'll regret it."
Adanna curled tighter under her blanket, her throat burning. She shut her eyes, but the voices followed her into the dark.
---
Morning brought no relief.
She stepped into the courtyard, the air sharp with autumn chill. Wolves in human form moved about their duties—training, hauling wood, carrying baskets of herbs. Every eye seemed to follow her.
Not openly. Never openly. But she felt it—the pause of movement, the quick look away, the murmurs.
Selene stood near the training ring, speaking to a cluster of young warriors. She didn't even have to look Adanna's way; the smirk tugging her lips was enough.
Adanna's feet faltered. Her instinct was to retreat, hide, disappear into the packhouse walls.
But Leander appeared at her side, steady as always. "Ignore them," he said under his breath.
"Easy for you to say," she muttered, not taking her eyes off Selene.
Leander glanced down at her, a rare flicker of amusement sparking. "Didn't you say that to me last night?"
Adanna exhaled sharply, almost a laugh, but it caught in her throat. "Leander, this isn't a joke."
"I'm not joking. I'm reminding you—you're not alone in this."
Her chest tightened. She hated that those words almost undid her, that she wanted to lean on them more than she should.
Selene's laughter rang across the courtyard then, sharp and cutting. Adanna stiffened, certain it was at her expense.
Leander stepped closer, his arm brushing hers, grounding her. "She wants you to break. Don't."
Adanna swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the ground. "And if I already feel like I'm breaking?"
"Then let me hold the pieces until you're ready to put them back together."
The words lodged deep in her chest. She couldn't answer. Didn't know how.
Instead, she lifted her gaze, meeting Selene's dark stare across the courtyard.
For the first time, Adanna didn't look away.
Selene's smile faltered, just a fraction.
It wasn't a victory, not really. But it was something.
Something Selene hadn't expected.