Chapter 6
Selene forced a smile across her trembling lips. “Very well. I will apologize to my sister.”
Adrian’s features brightened instantly, his lips curving into that satisfied smile she had once mistaken for affection.
“Perfect. I will summon Cassandra and the others to the lodge tomorrow. You can prepare the feast. Your sister will surely forgive you.”
The meal ended with Selene barely touching her food. Nausea clawed at her throat as the image of Adrian and Cassandra, entwined in betrayal, haunted her every breath.
“That night, I could not give you a gift for your name-day. This is from me.” Selene slid a small, carefully wrapped bundle across the table. Adrian kissed her cheek, pleased by what he saw as meek submission.
“I will open it later, after I wash,” he said, striding toward the sleeping chamber. Selene followed in silence, her steps halting outside the carved door. Through the crack, she heard his low voice, his mind-link sharp with amusement.
“Did I not tell you, little star? Do not fret. Selene even gave me a gift.” His chuckle was low and cruel. “What else could it be? A trinket at best. Tomorrow, I will bring you and the others. She will cook whatever you desire. Then I will send her away. We will celebrate properly in this very bed.”
Selene’s vision blurred. The gift she had wrapped with care was tossed to the back of a chest, forgotten like refuse.
By dawn she rose, staring at Adrian’s sleeping face. A fragment of desperate hope whispered that perhaps it had all been a nightmare. But love could no longer blind her. Quietly, she packed her few belongings.
“Mother Moon will take care of you both from now on,” she whispered to the small swell beneath her ribs. “I will not let you grow in chains.”
She draped her grandmother’s shawl over her shoulders and left the lodge behind.
Her first step was to the healers’ ward, where her grandmother lay fading. The old woman clasped her hands the moment she entered, tears soaking Selene’s skin. “My precious child… how can they make you suffer so? Are you certain of your choice?”
“Yes,” Selene answered, her voice trembling but firm. She had already arranged to take her grandmother beyond Blackthorn lands.
Before leaving, she sought her former employer, Elder John, matron of the tavern near the border. The elder wolf listened with deep sympathy, then pressed a small purse of coins into Selene’s hand.
“Adrian will come looking for me,” Selene warned. “I left you a parcel. If he arrives, give it to him. After that, he will stop.”
When Adrian woke to find her gone, he assumed she had gone to her duties. He did not search. He only sent a curt message through the mind-link:
“Prepare the feast for tonight. Do not disappoint me.”
But Selene never received it.
9:37 pm PD
By dusk she stood at the edge of the territory, the sky bruised purple and silver. She glanced back once at the land that had caged her, then stepped beyond the wards.
She pulled out her talisman and whispered a final message into the wind, carried by the spirits of the Moon: “I will not come to your feast. I am done with this bond.”
A single tear slid down her cheek as she severed the link. The bond snapped like brittle glass, leaving only silence.
By the time Adrian realized, Selene was gone forever.
9:37 pm P
Chapter 7
That evening, the Blackthorn stronghold buzzed with laughter and clinking goblets. Adrian’s packmates lounged about while Cassandra sat in the center, glowing with smug delight. “Adrian,” one sneered, “we hear your elder brother, Damian Blackthorn, is returning from training. He vanished right after your mating ceremony. If we didn’t know better, we’d think he was heartbroken over Selene marrying you.”
“Who says he isn’t?” another chimed. “There were rumors both heirs of the Blackthorn line lost their hearts to that countryside stray.”
A goblet shattered in Adrian’s hand, silencing the room. “Selene is my Luna! She will only love and obey me!”
Cassandra’s smile faltered. She remembered the whispers were partly true-Damian had shown interest in Selene, something she herself had failed to achieve. She had settled for Adrian, the illegitimate son, instead.
Hours passed without Selene appearing. “Adrian, where’s your mate?” a friend asked awkwardly. Adrian’s jaw tightened. He reached for her through the bond. Nothing. Again and again he sent the call, but the link that had always answered him was severed.
For the first time, dread coiled in his chest.
“Adrian… could it be that Selene is still angry with me? Let me call to her. Maybe she’ll come if I apologize for that night.”
“No!” Adrian Blackthorn’s teeth ground together in fury. “She’s gone too far this time. How dare she ruin our gathering?!”
“Adrian, you know how Selene is. Maybe she’s still working night duty at that shabby tavern. What if she simply forgot?” Cassandra’s voice dripped with false concern.
“I’ve spoiled her too much! This time I’ll teach her a proper lesson!” Adrian turned on his heel, but Cassandra clutched his arm, tears glittering in her eyes.
“What if it’s a misunderstanding? Let us all come with you.” In truth, she wanted Adrian’s friends to witness Selene’s humiliation, to show the vast difference in their statuses.
“Do whatever you want, damn it!” Adrian snapped.
He and his packmates stormed into the tavern where Selene had once worked. His Alpha voice thundered through the room.
“Where is Selene?! Call her out this instant!”
“Selene? Why would she be here?” the young wolf at the counter asked in confusion.
Cassandra quickly stepped forward, her tears staged. “I am Selene’s sister. Please call her out. We will not judge her for… this.” A flash of disdain crossed her face. “We will not judge her for serving as a tavern maid.”
Before the girl could answer, Mrs. John, the elderly wolf matron who managed the tavern, stepped forward. “Selene left this post yesterday. And you-so high and mighty-couldn’t even give that child a decent meal?”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “Left? What do you mean?”
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“Just as I said. That girl worked hard, and it’s no surprise she was offered a place beyond these lands. Twice she refused. But yesterday, she told me she was ready to accept.”
“LIES!” Adrian slammed his fist on the table, splintering the wood. His roar shook the air. “If she were hiding from me, she would never dare anger me. And to claim she’s gone abroad? Impossible! That girl cannot breathe without me!”
“Alpha, the matron speaks the truth…” a serving wolf ventured, but Adrian cut her off with a snarl. “The truth? By leaving, is she trying to sever our bond?” He laughed harshly, though unease prickled beneath his skin.
Mrs. John simply stood firm. “She told me to give you this, should you ever come looking.”
Adrian rolled his eyes, ready to toss the parcel aside-until Fiona, one of Cassandra’s companions, sneered, “Gods, is she still throwing tantrums? Selene hasn’t changed a bit. Yesterday she cast away her mating ring, and today this? Adrian, your Luna is troublesome indeed-”
“Fiona!” Cassandra snapped, panic flashing in her eyes as though her friend had revealed too much.
“What do you mean by Selene casting away her ring?” Adrian’s voice was sharp as a blade, his gaze drilling into Fiona.
“Well… yesterday, after the feast, I found a silver-bond ring outside Cassandra’s chambers. I asked her, and she said it belonged to Selene.”
Adrian faltered, his confidence cracking. The image of Selene’s hollow, lifeless eyes yesterday flashed through his mind. The possibility that she had seen him with Cassandra made his blood run cold.
When he returned that night, she had asked nothing, demanded nothing-just disappeared silently. For the first time, a heaviness pressed into his heart.
“Adrian, let’s find Selene together,” Cassandra urged, clinging to his arm. “I’m worried about her. Surely this is just a misunderstanding.”
But Adrian rushed home, tearing open the parcel with trembling hands. A moonstone orb and a sealed scroll spilled out. He set the orb on its stand, and silvery light flared.
Selene’s face appeared, pale but resolute.
“Adrian,” her voice shook, “I once thought you loved me as much as I loved you. But now I know I was only ever a plaything, while your heart always belonged to my sister. From this moment, I won’t be there to ruin your mood anymore. I was a fool to think a cruel wolf like you could love me.”
Her voice broke, but she continued, “This time, your gift isn’t some foolish token. Open it-you and Cassandra will enjoy it. I’m sure you’ll have a great night in our bed, just as you planned. Oh, how could I forget-the satin gown you gave me on our anniversary? It’s in the wardrobe, sister. At last, you have everything you wanted. Goodbye.”
Adrian’s blood drained from his face. His hand trembled as he turned toward Cassandra, whose eyes brimmed with fear.
“What did you say to Selene? Did you tell her I was lying with you?!” His roar rattled the walls.
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9:37 pm PD
“Adrian… I could never break you two apart,” Cassandra whimpered. “I didn’t tell her a single thing!”
But Adrian’s chest tightened as the orb replayed again and again.
“Impossible,” he muttered, clutching his head. “She loves me too much. She can’t leave me… This is just a ploy to get my attention.”
Yet when he unrolled the scroll, his heart plummeted.
It was a severing pact, signed in Selene’s own hand, sealed with lunar blood, witnessed by the Moon Goddess herself.
And bound within was the silver ring he had given her on their mating night.
“She left this…” His voice was hoarse.
Frantic, he tore into the gift box he had tossed aside days ago. Inside lay a stack of parchments.
[BLOOD OATH OF SEVERANCE]
Olivia Harris is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy DaisyNovel. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.