I still did not understand why Dimitri helped me, but I thanked the Moon Goddess for it. Because of him, I was not sexually exploited that night. I was not touched again. I was not dragged into the darkness like the others.
He led me into a quiet room and ordered one of the servants to bring me new clothes. They gave me a white dress that covered my body properly for the first time since I arrived. My hands trembled as I changed, my heart still racing from fear.
Dimitri never spoke a single word to me.
He only stood there and watched.
His eyes studied me in a way I could not explain. Not with hunger. Not with cruelty. Just… watching. It made my chest feel tight with nervousness.
When I was dressed, he turned and walked out, and I followed him silently.
As we stepped back into the hall together, every eye turned to us. Whispers filled the air. I felt them staring at me, judging me, hating me. I kept my head down and walked beside him in silence.
Before we parted, I finally whispered, "Thank you."
He did not respond.
But he slowed for a brief moment before walking away.
I joined the rest of the slaves in line as we were moved back toward the dungeons. The moment they saw me, the whispers started.
"She thinks she is special."
"Who does she think she is?"
"We will teach that little slut a lesson."
They said it loudly on purpose, throwing sharp, hateful glances at me as we walked. My heart sank, but I kept my head down and said nothing.
As we moved deeper into the woods, a sudden howl split the air.
It was loud. Painful. Raw.
Then another.
A deep, broken groan followed, filled with so much suffering that my whole body froze. The sound pierced me. My hands began to shake.
I looked around in panic.
No one else reacted.
The sound grew louder, heavier, full of agony. I could not bear it. The pain in that howl felt alive, like it was tearing at my own bones.
I screamed.
"Don't you hear that?" I cried out. "Someone is in a lot of pain. Someone is hurting!"
The guards stared at me like I was insane.
I turned quickly to Celeste. "You hear it, right?"
She slowly shook her head.
"I hear nothing, Yenoris," she whispered.
The howls continued inside my skull as we were forced to keep walking. I bit down on my lip, my heart breaking with every sound until we finally reached the cells. Once they unchained us, I collapsed into Celeste's arms, clinging to her as the cries echoed even louder through the dungeon walls.
It was unbearable.
And yet, somehow, I was the only one who could hear it.
In the middle of the night, I lay awake while Celeste slept beside me. My hands were pressed tightly over my ears, but the sound still pierced straight through me. I could not escape it. I could not sleep. The pain in the noise made my chest ache.
Tears slipped silently down my face.
Why was this happening to me?
Celeste stirred and slowly sat up when she realized I was still awake. She moved closer and sat beside me on the cold, hard bed.
"I do not know what it is that you are hearing," she said softly, "but I've wanted to tell you something. Your name reminds me of an ancient story my grandmother used to tell me."
I looked at her, desperate for anything that would distract me from the sound tearing through my head.
"Please," I whispered. "Tell me."
She took a deep breath and began.
"A very long time ago, during ancient wars, an ancestral tribe, the Yenorians, were attacked, killed, and enslaved. When all hope was gone, they still held on to their faith in Yenore, the Goddess of the Moon.
"A woman from the tribe was captured. She was tortured for fifty days and fifty nights. But she refused to break. She screamed and cried in agony, yet she never let go of her faith.
"And Yenore heard her.
"Silver light wrapped around her body. It struck her heart like lightning. In that moment, she gained a power no one had ever seen before. She became the mother of magic. The very first witch.
"She broke her chains. She saved her people. And through her, magic began to live inside the tribe."
I felt my chest tighten as Celeste continued.
"As their powers grew, they became a force their enemies feared. Their name became whispers across kingdoms. A hidden strength no one could destroy.
"Then a man came. A man who was hungry for power. He traveled across lands just to see her. They fell in love. And out of pure love, she gave him her power.
"But power is never gentle."
Her voice trembled.
"It consumed him. It twisted him. It turned his heart dark. In the end, he betrayed her. He stole her light.
"And in her grief… she created a curse.
"A curse so powerful it would follow him and his bloodline forever.
"They would have great power. They would be strong. But their minds would suffer. Every full moon, that power would turn against them. Their bones would break. Their bodies would burn with pain. Hunger and madness would follow.
"They would become the first shifters.
"The first animal he ever saw was a wolf. That's how wolves were born.
"She called it the Curse of the Moon.It is believed that the first wolf, the one she loved, would carry the curse and suffer every night in agony for all eternity," she added softly.
Her story left my mind heavy with thoughts I was not ready to face.
I remembered something my grandmother once told me, long before I was ever mated to Caleb. She had told me that I was not truly from her pack. That she found me as a baby, floating near the river in the woods, crying alone with no one around. She said the name Yennoris came to her like a whisper from the wind, and so she gave it to me.
Maybe that was why I was wolfless.
Why I was powerless.
Why I never truly fit anywhere.
Maybe I had never belonged to that pack at all.
The thought made my chest ache. It also made me wonder what else my name was tied to. And why Celeste believed it was connected to that ancient curse.
Celeste pulled me into a soft hug, holding me close. For the first time since arriving in this place, I did not feel completely alone. We laid down together on the cold bed, and slowly, exhaustion pulled me into sleep.
The next day, we were sent into the woods to work.
The other slaves made mockery of me the entire time. They threw mud at me, shoved me around, whispered insults under their breath. I lowered my head and ignored them, forcing myself to keep going.
Then everything suddenly stopped.
The guards straightened at once. Their laughter died in their throats.
A woman in a dark cloak walked into the clearing, completely surrounded by guards. Fear rippled through everyone like a wave. Slaves dropped to their knees. No one dared to breathe.
"What is happening?" I whispered to the girl beside me, my voice shaking. "Who is she?"
Her face drained of color.
"It's Rebekah," she whispered. "Slyagnor's Luna. The witch."
My eyes widened in shock. "Why is she here?"
Her lips trembled as she answered.
"Sacrifice. She comes at the end of every month. She takes the pure ones. The virgin slaves. They are offered to Slyagnor."
My heart stopped.
"And how do you know that?" I asked slowly.
"Because none of them ever come back," she said in a terrified whisper. "They disappear. No one hears from them again."
Then dread hit me like lightning.
Celeste.
I spun around, my eyes searching the crowd in panic. That was when a guard shoved her forward violently. She stumbled and nearly fell as she was dragged into a small group of girls.
Her eyes met mine.
They were empty.
Like her soul had already left her body.
My knees weakened.
Was this the last time I would ever see her?