Selene stood still, her gaze fixed ahead as her mother fastened the final piece of her attire. The silence between them was thick. She wanted to look at her, to catch even the smallest sign of hesitation, but her mother's hands moved with precision, her face numb.
Selene swallowed, the weight in her chest growing heavier. "Are you not going to say anything?" she finally asked, her voice steady despite the storm within her.
Her mother didn't pause, didn't even glance at her. And then, softly, she said "Sometimes duty comes before desire selene."
Selene's fingers curled at her sides. That was all? Not reassurance. Not regret. Just duty.
She exhaled sharply, forcing down the bitterness rising in her throat. When she turned, she nearly flinched.
Cassian stood at the doorway.
How long had he been there?
His gaze was steady, like he had been watching her for some time, but said nothing. But there was something different about him. He seems calmer, more cold. Not a feeling he should have as of today. She was betrothed to him before the truce, so why should he be calm on the day of her wedding.
For a moment, none of them spoke. Just shared glances.
Then, Selene broke the silence. "Are you in on this too?" Her voice was low, sharp. "Are you all just going to stand by and watch me be traded off for peace? Even after what happened to Sebastian?.
Cassian said nothing. He only stared deeper into her eyes.
That silence cut deeper than any words could.
She stepped past him, but as she reached the door, his hand closed around her wrist. It wasn't forceful, but there was something desperate in the way his fingers pressed against her skin. A silent plea.
For what?
She met his eyes then pulled away instantly. If no one else would fight for her, she would not beg.
Without another word, she walked away.
********
As Selene walked towards the Binding Altar, she could feel the tension in the room. Vampires and Lycans sat across from each other, divided even in their seating.
She could hear them whispering.
"Poor thing. If Sebastian were here, he would have never allowed this," a vampire noblewoman murmured, her voice laced with pity. "But without him, she's just another pawn in her father's games."
"I thought she'd rather die than stand beside a Lycan," another scoffed. "And yet here she is, dressed for the slaughter in the name of peace."
A vampire council member, more pragmatic than sentimental, whispered to his companion, "Let's hope this marriage happens quickly. The longer we delay, the closer we come to another war we cannot afford."
Among the Lycans, the whispers carried a different weight.
"She may wear the title, but she will never be our Luna," one of them growled under his breath. "No vampire will ever rule over us."
Selene kept her expression cold. No reaction to their words. If she was going to do this, she would not show weakness.
The Lycan king was already at the altar. Standing beside her father who stared at her with no emotion but just the act of duty on his face.
Lady Isolde's voice cut through the Murmurs in the room.
"Blood to blood, night to night. Bound not by desire, but by decree. Under the moon's watch and the shadow's gaze, you stand joined—wolf and vampire, predator and predator, to rule as one."
She slightly slit their wrist letting their blood pour into the chalice in front of them.
Lucian's blood had a different smell to it. It smelled darker like it was old and ancient.
Selene took a sip from the mixed blood. Her hands tighten and face laced with disgust.
Lucian took his sip too and the instance the blood touched his lips, small growls left the lips of the Lycan's seated in the hall.
Lady Isolde's voice rose once more, a final decree sealing their fates.
"Silk and steel intertwined. By blood spilled—lycan and vampire, bound not by heart, but by dominion. Let none challenge, let none defy."
And with that, the binding was sealed.
*******
Selene sat next to the Lycan king, her face laced with disgust, her eyes scattered scanning through the room. She could see their distances—vampires and Lycans.
The vampires drank happily seeing as though the binding ceremony was over and so was the war.
The Lycan's on the other hand were seated as if the presence of their king was the only restraint they had.
Selene could see her father from the farthest Corners of the room whispering to some council members though she couldn't quite place what they were saying.
She had not seen Cassian in the hall, not before the binding ceremony nor after.
"I guess he couldn't bear to see me traded off after all." She murmured to herself.
Before another thought could form. She felt a surge of wind pass her. So fast even her vampire eyes couldn't catch them.
The air instantly turned thick with the scent of fresh blood. A second later, the sound of shattering glass rang out, followed by a dull, wet thud.
She turned instantly towards the sound. Someone had tripped over and fallen on the table where the glasses were placed.
A collective gasp filled the air as everyone turned in shock. Blood pooled, dark and glistening, spreading from the hollowed chest where a heart should have been.
A brutal execution. Precise. Merciless.
Selene's breath caught, her heart stuttered at the sight, her thoughts scattering for a split second, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. Before thought could take hold, Lucian was already moving.
He rushed forward towards the lifeless body, dropping to his knees beside it. His hands trembled as they pressed against the hole in her chest—as if he could force life back into cold flesh.
His breath was sharp, ragged, the air around him shifting with something volatile.
Then—his voice roared "Mother!"
Selene's mind reeled. Mother? Queen Liora? Asin the Lycan king's mother?
Selene could barely get a hold of her thought before she saw his eyes.
They flared red, his fury spiraling into something feral, something uncontrollable. His head snapped up, his gaze sweeping the room like a storm. A crack echoed through the hall—the unmistakable sound of shifting bone. His body tensed, muscles coiling, control fracturing.
A strangled growl tore from his throat, raw and almost… resisting. Like something was forcing its way out of him, demanding release. And almost instantly he transformed. His wolf, extremely large with sharp claws, its furs thick and dark like the night itself and the tips flayed red.
The Lycans stirred, their instincts awakened by their king's wrath.
Then cracks of shape-shifting followed. Growls filled the air, a ripple of movement as Lycan's surged forward, their forms warping, snapping, shifting into their wolf form.
The vampires stood though confused as to what was going on. But their Fangs bared. Claws emerged and swords pulled out.
The words of the Lycan king renounced in selene's mind "I do not wish for more bloodshed. But do not mistake
my acceptance for surrender. Step out of line, and I will end your life before you take your next breath."