Chapter 3 CHAPTER THREE

Hellen’s POV

The morning air was sharp against my skin, the kind that bites as though reminding me I am still alive, still bound to this cursed breath and fragile body. From the window of my chamber, I could see the training grounds below, wolves sparring with brutal precision. Their movements were sharp, their growls echoing through the valley like thunder rolling over the mountains. I pressed my palm to the glass, watching, wishing no, aching to be one of them. Strong. Unyielding. Respected.

But I was none of those things.

Instead, I was Hellen Hayes, Luna by name, weakness by truth. My place in this pack felt like a cruel joke carved by fate, one whispered about behind cupped hands and mocking smiles. Every day, I felt the weight of their stares, some pitying, others laced with disdain, and the heaviest of all the cold, distant gaze of my mate.

Matt Blackthorn. The Alpha. My Alpha.

The bond between us hummed faintly, a string pulled too tight, threatening to snap. It should have been warmth, should have been strength, but instead it burned like chains, branding me as his yet keeping me on the outskirts of his world. He was power incarnate, and I… I was a shadow tethered to his fire.

A knock came at the door, sharp and impatient. Before I could answer, the door swung open.

Laura.

Her presence filled the room like poison creeping through the cracks. She didn’t bow, didn’t acknowledge me with the respect a Luna deserved. No, her smile was too sweet, her voice honey-laced with venom.

“Good morning, Luna,” she said, drawing out the title as if mocking it. Her golden hair shimmered in the light, her emerald eyes gleaming with triumph. She held a tray of herbs in her hands, though I doubted they were meant for me. “The healer thought I should bring these for your… condition.”

Condition.

The word stung.

I forced my chin up, though my body trembled under her gaze. “You could have left them with a servant.”

“Oh, but then I’d miss the chance to see you.” She set the tray down, leaning closer than necessary. Her voice dropped to a whisper sharp enough to cut. “Do you ever wonder why fate chose you? Because we all do. You, the fragile little Luna who can barely stand through a pack gathering. Pathetic.”

My throat tightened, but I refused to let her see me falter. “Get out,” I whispered, though my voice cracked.

Her smile widened. “Careful, Luna. Alpha Matt deserves a mate who can stand at his side, not one who clings to the shadows. And if you can’t give him what he needs, someone else will.” Her hand brushed her chest, deliberately slow, suggestive. “Perhaps someone stronger. Someone who understands him.”

The door creaked open again, and my heart stuttered.

Matt.

He stood in the doorway, his frame filling it with raw authority. His dark eyes flicked from me to Laura, lingering long enough to catch the tension simmering between us.

“Laura.” His tone was flat, unreadable, but laced with warning. “Leave us.”

She bowed her head, far more submissive to him than she ever was to me. “Of course, Alpha.” With one last smirk in my direction, she slipped out, leaving the scent of roses and venom behind.

Silence settled thickly. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze. My fingers curled into my skirts, knuckles white.

“Why do you let her speak to you like that?” His voice was low, controlled, but I could hear the frustration beneath.

“I don’t—” I swallowed hard. “She doesn’t listen to me. No one does.”

His boots thudded against the floor as he moved closer. I could feel the heat radiating from him, his presence overwhelming. “You’re Luna, Hellen. They should obey you.”

I laughed bitterly, the sound breaking before it could truly form. “Luna in name, Matt. Nothing more. You and I both know the pack sees me as a burden.”

Finally, I forced myself to look at him. His jaw was tight, his expression unreadable, but his eyes… his eyes betrayed something. A flicker of conflict, of guilt, maybe even regret.

“They doubt you because you doubt yourself,” he said, softer this time.

The words stung because they were true.

But before I could respond, a howl split the air outside, sharp, urgent, panicked. Both of us turned toward the window, instincts flaring.

“Stay here,” Matt ordered, his Alpha voice wrapping around me like steel.

He moved swiftly, but not before I caught a flash of something in his eyes. Not just duty fear.

I pressed my hand to my chest as the howl echoed again, closer this time. My heart pounded. Something was wrong.

I shouldn’t follow. I knew I shouldn’t. But something deep within me, something primal and restless, urged me forward. My body moved before my mind could stop it, carrying me through the door and down the corridor.

The scent hit me first blood. Sharp, metallic, fresh. It coated the air, seeping into my lungs.

I stumbled into the courtyard just as the pack gathered, their murmurs rising like a storm. And at the center of it all was Matt, standing over a body sprawled across the dirt.

A young wolf. Barely older than a pup. His throat torn open, eyes wide with terror.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Someone whispered, “The curse…” Another hissed, “It begins again.”

I froze, the words slicing into me. Curse?

Matt’s gaze flicked to me, sharp and commanding. “Hellen, back inside!”

But I couldn’t move. My legs rooted to the ground as the murmurs grew louder, accusations flying like arrows. I caught fragments: “weak Luna,” “bad omen,” “her fault.”

And then Laura’s voice rose above the others, smooth and cutting. “Perhaps the goddess chose wrong. Perhaps our Luna is not just weak… but cursed.”

All eyes turned to me.

The ground tilted beneath me, breath catching in my throat. My vision blurred as whispers coiled tighter, suffocating me.

But worse than the stares, worse than the venom in their words, was the look on Matt’s face, conflicted, uncertain, as if a part of him wondered the same.

My heart shattered in that instant.

And then, as the world blurred, the young wolf’s blood pooled toward my feet, seeping into the cracks of stone, and the whispers grew into a single chant in my mind:

Cursed. Cursed. Cursed.