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🌕 CHAPTER TWO — THE NIGHT THE MOON SPOKE (Part One)
The sound of shattering glass ripped through the night like a scream from the heavens. The window exploded inward, shards scattering across the wooden floor in a glittering storm. Selena spun toward the noise, her pulse hammering as instinct overtook reason. She didn't think—she moved—positioning herself between the cloaked figure in the doorway and the wounded man struggling on her bed. The air thickened with the metallic scent of blood and the sharp tang of storm, humming with something ancient and alive. Power gathered in the room like static before lightning, prickling against her skin. This wasn't just danger; it was something older, something fated. The moonlight shifted, turning everything silver as if destiny itself had stepped through her shattered door.
Kade tried to rise, gripping the bedpost with shaking hands, his breath shallow and painful. His body trembled with the effort, yet the fire in his eyes never dimmed. The wounds across his ribs burned bright with defiance, but his instincts—the ancient pulse of an Alpha—refused surrender. "Stay away from her," he rasped, voice raw but edged with lethal promise. Malek, tall and composed in the doorway, didn't flinch. He was carved of shadow and command, his poise unsettling in its calm. His dark eyes gleamed with predatory stillness as the storm framed him in light. When he smiled, slow and deliberate, the air itself seemed to bend toward him.
"I'm not here for you, Banished Alpha," Malek said softly, his voice both silk and steel. "I'm here for her." His gaze slid past Kade, fixing on Selena like he'd been waiting centuries to find her. Their eyes met, and the rest of the world vanished. Her heartbeat stumbled, caught between fear and something deeper—an ache she couldn't name. "Why?" she whispered. "I don't even know you." Malek tilted his head, his expression almost tender. "But your soul does." The words brushed her skin like a whisper from another lifetime, awakening something inside her she didn't want to feel.
Kade staggered forward, fury burning brighter than his pain. "Don't listen to him," he said, each word trembling with effort. "He doesn't want you, Selena—he wants your power." Malek's lips curved faintly, his tone calm and cutting. "And you don't?" The question hung like a blade, sharp and unanswerable. Kade froze, his jaw tightening as the room filled with a silence too heavy to breathe through. Selena's heart thudded between them, her voice cracking under the pressure. "What is going on?" she demanded. "Who am I to both of you?" Her plea hung in the air, fragile and desperate, demanding truths neither man seemed ready to speak.
Malek's expression softened, the arrogance slipping to reveal something hauntingly sincere. "You are the one the moon chose," he said, his tone almost reverent. "The Luna Reborn." The words felt both sacred and terrifying, vibrating through her bones. Kade's face hardened, fury flashing behind his storm-gray eyes. "Don't twist the prophecy," he growled. "The moon doesn't choose—her heart does." Malek stepped forward, his voice lowering to an intimate murmur. "And her heart is already waking. The mark burns. The dreams haunt her. She feels the pull. You felt it too, didn't you, Selena?" The truth of it rippled through her like heat under her skin. "The burning," she whispered. "The dreams. I thought I was losing my mind." Malek smiled faintly. "You were remembering."
Kade moved before he realized it, placing himself between them, his presence a wall of trembling strength. "Stay back," he warned, his voice shaking from more than pain. Malek didn't move, but his gaze lingered on Selena, sharp with longing and history she couldn't recall. She stumbled back until her spine met Kade's chest, his warmth grounding her in a world spinning too fast. His hand found her waist, firm and protective, his body trembling from exertion but unwilling to yield. For a heartbeat, they breathed in unison—the rhythm of her fear matching the rhythm of his devotion. Kade's head dipped, his breath brushing her ear. "Don't let him near you," he whispered, his voice breaking on her name. The sound of it undid her completely.
Malek's eyes darkened at the sight, jealousy flickering like flame behind his composure. "He's afraid," he murmured, voice laced with dangerous calm. "Afraid you'll remember who you belong to." "I don't belong to anyone," Selena shot back, though her voice trembled under the weight of her own uncertainty. Malek's smile returned, slow and cutting. "Not yet." Lightning split the sky outside, washing the room in violent light. The storm roared against the cabin walls, and then Selena cried out, clutching her shoulder as a blaze of silver ignited beneath her skin. The mark beneath her sleeve pulsed like it was alive, burning hotter until she could barely breathe. Both Alphas froze, their eyes locked on her as if watching something divine awaken.
Kade caught her hand, his voice low and urgent. "Selena, look at me. Breathe. It's your power waking up." His words steadied her even as her body trembled under the light seeping through her skin. "You were never meant to live as human forever." Malek's voice followed, softer but reverent, like a prayer. "The Luna blood rises. The moon calls your soul to return. It's time to choose." Her pulse faltered, the air in her lungs thinning with dread. "Choose what?" she asked, voice barely a whisper. "Your Alpha," Malek said, his tone unyielding. Kade growled, the sound a promise and a warning. "Not tonight. She's not ready." Malek's response was quiet but absolute. "She doesn't get to wait. The moon has spoken."
The air began to hum—low, steady, and deep—as if the earth itself had joined the argument. Moonlight poured through the shattered window, flooding the room in silver flame. The ground trembled beneath their feet. Selena's chest rose and fell in quick, shallow bursts, her heart pounding too fast for breath to catch. Kade pulled her closer, his body shielding hers from the storm's wrath. "If you push her now, it could kill her," he warned, his tone desperate. Malek's eyes flicked toward him, unblinking. "I'm not pushing her," he whispered. "The moon is." The storm howled in response, tearing branches from trees as thunder rolled overhead. Selena gasped, clutching Kade's shirt. "I can't—breathe."
Kade's hands steadied her arms, his voice breaking as he forced her to meet his gaze. "Selena, stay with me. You're not alone." Malek's tone dropped to a growl. "She's waking. Don't interfere." "Shut up," Kade snapped, his eyes burning with defiance. Selena's body convulsed as light surged through her veins, her mark blazing so bright the room became pure white. "I don't want this," she whispered, her voice shaking. "You were born for this," Malek said softly, reverence bleeding into hunger. "You're strong enough to survive it," Kade countered, his voice rough, pleading. "I won't let it destroy you."
Her head fell back, her voice breaking into sobs as the light consumed her. "I don't want to choose between you," she whispered. For the first time, both men fell silent. The storm outside paused, thunder swallowed into eerie stillness. Lightning flashed once, revealing Malek's expression—aching hunger—and Kade's—raw heartbreak. The world seemed to hold its breath. Then, without warning, the light from her mark erupted outward, a violent surge of silver tearing through the air like the cry of the moon itself. The cabin shuddered. Selena's scream echoed through the storm—and then everything went dark.
Kade stumbled forward, catching her as her body went limp, her pulse fluttering weakly beneath his hand. "Selena," he whispered, panic cracking through his voice. Malek stepped closer, his expression unreadable, half awe, half possession. The moon outside shifted, its glow bleeding into crimson, casting the forest in blood-red light. Kade lifted his head, eyes wide with horror. "What have you done?" he growled. Malek's answer was soft and final. "The moon has claimed her." Outside, thunder rolled once more, but this time it didn't sound like a storm—it sounded like a heartbeat. The pulse of something awakening.
And as the crimson moon burned brighter, Selena's mark flared again—
her body arching in Kade's arms as a whisper not her own left her lips:
"He's coming."
Then her eyes opened—glowing silver—and the night exhaled.