Chapter 77 REUNION IN CHAINS
SELENE'S POV
The world sways around me as Damien and Kael burst into the clearing.
Not because I am relieved.
Not because I am afraid.
It is because the Goddess inside my mind convulses like a wounded creature the moment her senses brush against them.
Her voice slices through my skull with brutal clarity.
Hide.
Run.
Kill.
“No,” I whisper, clutching my head as pain lances behind my eyes. “Not them. Not Damien.”
The Shadow Wolf presses its weight against my shoulder. Its muscles are tense, fur bristling, teeth bared at the two Alphas sprinting toward me. It senses the divine panic rippling through my veins and reacts with instinctive aggression.
Damien freezes mid-stride, palms lifting slowly. His voice softens although fear ripples beneath it. “Selene. It is us. It is me.”
Kael stands behind him, stiff with shock. His eyes widen the moment they meet mine. Even now, even after everything, I feel the faint echo of the broken mate bond flicker like a dying ember.
My wolf snarls inwardly.
Too late.
Too late.
Damien steps closer, cautious but determined. “You are hurt.”
I shake my head, fighting the tremor in my limbs. “No. I am not…”
Before I can finish, a pulse erupts from my chest. Light flashes through my skin like lightning traveling beneath water.
Kael flinches away. Damien does not move at all.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to cage the fire rising inside me. “I cannot stay here,” I whisper. “She is still inside me. I can feel her. She is not gone.”
Kael’s voice breaks on the question. “The Goddess?”
“No. The part of her that wants to take me.”
Damien’s expression twists with fear. Not fear of what I am becoming, but fear for me. “Then we need to move you out of the Woods. Somewhere safer. Somewhere we can help you.”
“No,” Kael cuts sharply. “If we move her now, she could trigger another surge. Look at the sky. Look at the moon.”
Damien clenches his jaw. “Then we protect her here. Whatever it takes.”
Kael steps forward with his palms raised. “Selene, come with us. We can take you to a neutral ground. My council can help.”
Damien snaps, “Your council is the last place she should ever be.”
Kael bristles. “This is not about power. It is about protecting the packs.”
The ground trembles beneath us in warning.
The air tightens.
The Woods listen.
“I cannot return to either pack,” I whisper. “Not like this.”
Damien meets my eyes. “Then where do we go.”
But I never get to answer.
A horn blares in the distance.
Damien stiffens. “That is not Blackridge.”
Kael pales. “That is… no. No, that is SilverMist. That cannot be mine.”
But I feel it before the sound fades.
A new presence slides into the forest.
Cold.
Sharp.
Poisonous.
Lyra.
The Goddess’s whisper uncoils inside my skull.
They come for you, child of fire.
Damien moves instantly. “Selene, we have to leave. Now.”
Kael shakes his head in horror. “I did not call them. I swear it. I never ordered this.”
A figure steps between the trees. His armor gleams with SilverMist insignia. More soldiers follow, their movements calm in a way that is unnatural. Their eyes are too steady. Too cold.
Traitors.
Controlled by Lyra.
The emissary stops at the edge of the clearing and raises his voice. “Selene Thorne. By command of Luna Lyra Draven, you are to come with us.”
My blood turns to ice.
Damien growls and steps in front of me. “She is not going anywhere with you.”
Kael snarls. “Lyra has no authority over her.”
The emissary does not even look at him. “She has the authority Kael gave her.”
Kael’s face collapses with shame.
“Stand aside,” the emissary continues. “Or you will be treated as hostile forces.”
Damien shifts his stance, muscles tensing. “Touch her and you die.”
The emissary smirks. “Your threats mean little, Alpha Voss.”
He reaches into his belt and lifts a pair of silver cuffs.
And my stomach drops.
Not ordinary metal.
Not simple iron.
These glow faintly.
Inscribed with runes that sink into my bones with recognition.
“No,” I whisper. “Those are—”
Damien’s voice cracks into a snarl. “Banishment cuffs. Selene, do not let them touch you.”
Kael explodes forward. “Those runes are forbidden. Where did you get them?”
The emissary only smiles. “Luna Lyra prepared well for you, Moon-Blessed.”
Inside my mind, the Goddess recoils violently.
Her voice becomes blades.
Kill them.
“No,” I whisper. “No. Please.”
“Take her,” the emissary commands.
The soldiers surge forward.
Damien lunges at them, but three intercept him at once. Even in his wolf form, he cannot reach me fast enough.
Kael races toward me, but a spell erupts from the cuffs and slams him backward. He crashes against the ground, breathless and stunned.
A soldier grabs my arm.
The cuffs snap closed.
Light flares.
Not Moonfire.
Not divine light.
Something darker.
Something that bites.
Agony tears through my wrist. The runes tighten until blood rises beneath my skin. I scream as the magic spreads through my veins, binding everything the Goddess had touched.
My power collapses inward, suffocating in an instant.
Inside me, the Goddess shrieks with rage.
Insolent wolves. Tear them apart.
“No,” I scream. “Stop. Stop.”
The cuffs pulse again.
The Woods distort. My vision spins. My knees give way.
The soldiers drag me forward.
Damien erupts into full wolf form, teeth bared in a lethal snarl. He charges, ripping through vines and spell-touched air.
He is inches from me.
So close I can feel the heat of him.
But the emissary touches a rune.
Light detonates.
Damien flies into the trees so hard I hear them shatter. A horrified sound leaves my throat.
“Damien,” I cry as the cuffs burn deeper. “Damien, get up. Please.”
My vision blurs.
Kael staggers to his feet, roaring, “Stay away from her.”
He tears into two soldiers, letting his wolf rip through every bit of loyalty he once had. But more men appear, ropes shimmering with spellcraft wrapped around their arms.
“Let me go,” I choke out. “You do not understand. You do not understand what you are doing.”
The emissary leans close. His breath chills my cheek. “We understand perfectly.”
He tilts his head.
“Lyra wants you alive.”
His smile widens.
“She does not care if you are broken.”
The cuffs constrict again.
Pain erupts through my body, ripping a scream from me that echoes through the Woods.
Darkness folds over my vision.
The last thing I hear is Damien’s snarl.
Raw.
Heart-shredding.
Wild with terror.
And the last thing I feel is Kael’s guilt crashing through the old mate bond like a dying heartbeat.