Chapter 12
Chapter 12
They kept me locked up in a room.
The guards outside barely looked at me. I didn’t care. I sat by the window, my eyes on the courtyard, watching the pack members pass below. They walked faster when they noticed me watching-like I carried a disease they didn’t want to catch.
Fine. Let them fear me.
Let them wonder why the “mad Luna” had returned with a scar on her arm.
Kael betrayed me. He sold me off to them-for what? Money?
He left me like I was nothing. Yet I thought I finally found someone.
I let out a dry laugh.
After Damien, I should have known. No one cares. They only want to use me for their selfish desires.
A knock came on the door.
didn’t stand when it opened. Didn’t flinch when he walked in.
Nathan.
He was taller. Sharper in the face. But he still carried that arrogant, disdainful look he always
ad for me.
He looked at me like I was a broken toy someone had fished out of a fire.
‘Didn’t think you’d actually come back,” he said, his voice cold. “I was hoping the fire did its job.”
raised a brow. “Not everything burns that easily.”
He stepped closer, arms crossed. “Don’t get comfortable. I didn’t come here to catch up. I came here because the maids are incompetent.”
blinked once. “And?”
I want you to teach them,” he said plainly. “The songs you used to sing. The water you fetch rom the east spring. The stew you cook on the new moon. The cleaning oils. All of it.”
stared at him.
He didn’t blink.
I’m not asking you to stay,” he added, his tone clipped. “Just… teach them. You’re good at those hings, at least. And they’re too stupid to figure it out.”
stood slowly.
Took a step toward him.
He didn’t back away, but he did tense.
‘You want me to teach someone else how to do everything I did for you,” I said quietly. ‘Everything I gave you for five years.”
He shrugged. “It’s not about you. It’s about what you did. That’s the only thing that worked.”
4:14 pm & D
“And you
think that’s something you can copy?”
He rolled his eyes. “Why not? You’re not special. You’re just a nobody with a title. Teach them what you know. Then you can disappear again.”
My jaw clenched.
I walked closer until there were only inches between us. He looked up at me with that same entitled sneer he used to wear when he demanded bedtime stories.
“You’re so irritated by my presence,” I said softly, “but you want to recreate every piece of it.”
Nathan’s expression flickered.
I didn’t wait for him to speak.
“You think you’ll feel whole if someone else sings the songs I wrote for you. If they feed you the meals I made. If they fold your blankets like I did. But here’s the truth, Nathan: it won’t work.”
I leaned down, just enough that he had to tilt his head back.
“Because what I gave you wasn’t just food or blankets or songs. I gave you love. And no one else will do it like I did-because no one else will ever love you like I did.”
His mouth parted-just slightly. But no words came out.
“And here’s something else,” I continued, my voice sharper now. “If you think for one second tha I’ll bow to you again, or teach your maids how to clean your privileged little ears-then you’re more foolish than I thought.”
He scowled. “You’re nothing now. Just a prisoner.”
I smiled, slow and dangerous. “And yet you’re still here. Still needing what I gave. Still aching for something you didn’t deserve.”
Nathan’s hands curled into fists. “Don’t act like you’re better than me.”
“I don’t have to act,” I said. “I already am.”
His breath hitched, just once. Then he turned sharply toward the door.
“Forget it,” he snapped. “Rot in here, for all I care.”
As he stepped out, I called after him.
“Nathan.”
He stopped but didn’t turn.
“Grow up,” I said simply. “The world won’t wait for you to become a man.”
He slammed the door so hard the silver bars shook.
The moment he was gone, I sat back down by the window.
I didn’t feel proud. I didn’t feel victorious.
I felt sad. Not for myself. But for him.
Because in all these years, with all his power and privilege, Nathan had never truly grown.
He was still the scared little boy crying in the dark-only now, he wore anger like armor and called it strength.
4:15 pm
D&D
But I wasn’t the one responsible for him anymore. That part of me had burned in the fire.
A servant arrived moments later with a silver platter and a letter sealed with the Alpha’s crest.
I unfolded it, expecting more orders or mockery.
Instead, it read:
“You are to appear before the Alpha Council at dawn. They wish to decide your fate. You may speak in your defense.”
And below it, written in handwriting I knew far too well:
“Say what they want to hear. Then disappear.” -Damien
I folded the letter slowly, my expression fierce.
I swear, they won’t see what’s coming.
4:15 pm & DJ
