Chapter 67: Shackles of the Moon

Chapter 67: Shackles of the Moon

Fianna’s POV

The night pressed down on me like a living thing.

Silence stretched across the stone chamber, broken only by the faint drip of water somewhere in the distance. The air was heavy with damp earth and cold iron, but beneath it all, another scent lingered—my own fear. I hated that. I hated giving Derek even that victory, even if he wasn’t here to see it.

The moonlight crept through the narrow window, slicing the room into pale silver and deep shadow. It pooled over my wrists, over the chain fastened cruelly to my ankle, making the iron glint as though the moon itself had shackled me.

I had fought for so long to bury Fianna. To rise as Elena, reborn from betrayal, stronger, untouchable. But here, in Derek’s grip, Fianna clawed at the walls of my chest, whispering that maybe I had never truly escaped.

Maybe I was still the girl everyone called weak.

I closed my eyes, forcing the thought away. My wolf stirred, restless, refusing to cower even as exhaustion dragged at her bones. She pressed against me, her silver fire simmering low, her voice a snarl in the back of my mind.

We are not broken. Not yet.

The words steadied me.

I sat up straighter, running a hand along the length of the iron chain until my skin split against its edges. A sting, a bead of blood, but it anchored me. Pain always had.

That was when it came—the faintest pulse.

It struck through my chest like a spark, small, fleeting, but unmistakable. My breath caught. My wolf froze, ears pricking, tail raised. Then it came again, stronger, steady this time.

A heartbeat. Not mine.

Kael.

I pressed a trembling hand against my sternum, gasping as heat rushed through me, burning away the damp chill that had seeped into my bones for weeks.

He was alive. More than alive. He was close.

I closed my eyes, whispering into the bond, desperate, reckless: Kael… can you hear me? Please, just once… hear me.

There was no answer. No voice, no words. But the bond throbbed against me, a steady drumbeat, and suddenly I knew—I was not forgotten.

I surged to my feet, pacing the small confines of the chamber. My chains rattled softly, mocking me, but I ignored them. My wolf pressed closer, tail lashing, her silver glow flickering faintly beneath my skin.

He’s coming, she said. He’s fighting for us.

Tears stung my eyes, hot and unwanted. “Then I’ll fight too,” I whispered aloud.

The door creaked open.

I stiffened, my wolf snapping her jaws in warning.

Derek entered, framed by the flicker of torchlight. His presence filled the room, heavy and suffocating, his dominance rolling off him in waves. He didn’t need to try—it was in the set of his shoulders, in the calculated stillness of his movements. He belonged to the shadows, and they followed him like loyal hounds.

“You’re awake,” he said softly, though his voice was anything but gentle. “Good. I was hoping you would be.”

I kept my chin high, though my pulse hammered in my throat. “You watch me even in my sleep?”

His smile curved, slow and cold. “Of course. I can’t afford to let my most valuable prize slip away.”

My stomach churned. “I’m not yours.”

“You will be,” he murmured, stepping closer. His eyes—ice blue, sharp as blades—studied me like I was a puzzle he had already begun to solve. “Your power hums in your skin, Fianna. The Moon chose you, but she delivered you to me. Do you know what that means?”

I didn’t answer.

He reached down, running one finger along the chain at my ankle. His touch lingered too long, deliberate, meant to remind me of his control. My wolf snarled so violently inside me that my whole body trembled with the effort of keeping her caged.

“It means,” he said slowly, almost lovingly, “that your strength will raise me higher than Kael ever dreamed. With you at my side, Shadow will eclipse Moonstone. I will not just be Alpha—I will be King.”

His arrogance was a poison, cloying, thick. I forced my lips into a sneer. “You’ll never be more than a coward hiding behind chains.”

For the first time, his composure cracked. His jaw tightened, his eyes flashing with something dangerous. He leaned down, so close I could feel the cold bite of his breath against my cheek.

“Be careful, Fianna. Chains can break skin. But they can also break spirit.”

He left those words hanging in the air as he straightened and turned, his cloak sweeping behind him. The door slammed shut, the lock grinding into place.

I stood frozen, my breaths ragged, my wolf clawing at the edges of my chest.

But when his presence finally faded, when the echo of his footsteps vanished, I crumpled onto the bed, gripping the chain so tightly it cut deeper into my palms.

Because even through his venom, even through his threats, I had felt it—the bond had pulsed again.

Kael was out there.

He was alive. He was fighting. And though Derek thought he had chained me, thought he had won, he didn’t understand.

The chains were iron. But my fire was silver.

I lifted my head, silver light flickering faintly in my eyes, and whispered into the silence:

I’ll hold, Kael, until the end.

And the moon above, watching through its narrow window, seemed to whisper back: Soon.