SCARLETT

The night dragged on with a cruel heaviness, like chains pulling me deeper into despair. I lay on the thin straw bed, my body curled in on itself, the taste of salt and bitterness heavy on my tongue from hours of weeping. My swollen eyes ached, my throat felt raw, and my chest burned with every breath I took.

The slave quarters smelled of damp wood and dust, the familiar scent of a life I thought I had left behind. The walls were thin, cracked in places, and carried every sound from outside-muffled laughter of guards, distant cheers still echoing faintly from the square where Maria and John had been celebrated. Every reminder was a knife carving me open.

I pressed my face into the rough blanket to stifle the sobs, but they tore out of me anyway. My heart was screaming. I kept hearing his words-"You are nothing but a slave." The echo of that sentence refused to fade.

Nothing. That was what I was to him. What I had always been to this pack.

My fingers dug into my chest, clawing at the place where the mate bond throbbed faintly, like a wound that refused to close. It should have been broken after his rejection, but it lingered, torn and fraying, refusing to let me rest. The Goddess had tied my soul to his, and no amount of cruelty seemed enough to sever it.

"Why me?" I whispered into the darkness. "Why did You give me to him?"

The silence stretched, cold and merciless. I closed my eyes, wishing for sleep to take me, to pull me into a dreamless void where I didn't have to feel.

But sleep came differently that night.

It was sudden, sharp, like being pulled underwater. My breath hitched as my body stilled, and I found myself standing in a place I didn't recognize. A forest stretched endlessly around me, bathed in silver light. The air hummed with power, the kind that made the hairs on my arms rise.

The moon hung enormous in the sky, larger than I had ever seen, glowing with a radiance that lit every leaf, every stone, every shadow. Its light touched me, warm and cool at the same time, seeping into my bones like a gentle embrace.

My heart thudded. Was this a dream? Or something more?

"Scarlett."

The voice was soft but carried through the air with the weight of eternity. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, wrapping around me like silk. I spun in place, my breath catching as the silver light before me shifted and took shape.

A woman stood there, robed in white that shimmered like water under the moon. Her eyes glowed with liquid silver, her hair spilling down her back like molten light. I knew instantly who she was. Every wolf knew.

"The Moon Goddess..." I whispered, falling to my knees. My tears flowed freely, my body trembling in awe and fear.

She reached a hand toward me, her expression both kind and sorrowful. "My child," she said, her voice carrying warmth that soothed the raw edges of my heart. "Do not bow before me. Stand, for you are not meant to kneel forever."

Her words struck me, sharp and strange. My legs wobbled as I rose slowly, my eyes fixed on hers. "Why... why did you do this to me?" The question burst from me before I could stop it. "Why bond me to a man who despises me? Why condemn me to this pain?"

The Goddess's gaze softened, but there was sorrow in her silver eyes. "You see only the pain of today, Scarlett, not the purpose of tomorrow." She stepped closer, her presence overwhelming, filling me with both fear and comfort. "The mate I gave you has rejected his destiny. But your journey does not end in his betrayal. It begins."

My lips trembled. "Begins? How? He has humiliated me, cast me aside, chosen another. What is left for me but suffering?"

"You are stronger than you believe," she said gently. "And though the bond between you and John bleeds, it has not died. It will fade with time, but your spirit will not. You are chosen not because of him, but because of who you are. You are destined for more than the chains they put upon you."

Her hand reached out, brushing lightly against my cheek. The touch was cool, soothing the heat of my swollen skin. "The darkness will not end tonight. You will endure more trials, more betrayals. But through them, you will grow. And when the time comes, you will rise-not as a rejected Luna, but as a Queen."

Her words shivered through me, impossible and yet undeniable.

"Queen?" I repeated, my voice breaking on the word. "I can barely stand. I am hated by everyone, even my mate. How could I ever become anything more?"

A faint smile touched her lips. "Because pain forges steel, Scarlett. And you... you are my chosen flame."

Before I could respond, the ground beneath me shuddered. The forest wavered, the moonlight dimming. The Goddess's form began to fade, dissolving back into silver light.

"Wait!" I cried out, reaching toward her. "Don't leave me! Please, tell me more!"

Her voice lingered even as her form vanished. "Trust yourself. Trust the path I have laid before you. And when you are at your weakest, remember-I have not abandoned you."

The forest dissolved into blackness.

My eyes flew open, my body jerking upright on the straw bed. My heart pounded violently, sweat clung to my skin, and my breaths came ragged and fast.

The quarters were still dark, silent save for the distant chirp of crickets. But the echo of her voice still filled me, warm and terrifying.

The Moon Goddess had spoken to me. To me, Scarlett, the enslaved Luna, the rejected mate.

I pressed my shaking hands to my chest, my mind reeling. Could it be true? Did I truly have more in store for me? Or was I simply being tormented by this cruel dream?

But deep inside, something had shifted. The void that had previously engulfed me was no longer absolute. In the ashes of my heart, a spark flickered.

I lay back slowly, staring at the ceiling, her words replaying again and again. Not the end. The beginning. Chosen flame. Queen.

For the first time since John's betrayal, I felt a sliver of something unfamiliar.

Not hope. Not yet.

But strength.

SCARLETT

Morning came cruelly, with the harsh clang of the iron bell outside the slave quarters. My body jolted awake, though my eyes had hardly closed through the night. The Goddess's voice still lingered in my chest like an ember, soft but unshakable, yet the sound of the bell was a reminder of the world I lived in-one that offered me no mercy.

"Scarlett Hilary!"

The guard's voice cut through the murmur of sleepy slaves rising from their straw beds. I lifted my head slowly, my stomach twisting. His tone was sharp, too sharp. The others shifted, their eyes darting to me, pity and fear mingling in their expressions.

"Come with me. Now."

I swallowed hard, pushing myself up. My legs felt weak, but I forced them to carry me. The whispers followed me as I stepped outside, the morning air biting against my skin.

The path led toward the Council Hall, a place I had once dreamed of entering as Luna. Now, my feet dragged toward it as though walking to my own execution.

Two guards flanked me, their hands never far from the hilts of their weapons. I wanted to ask why, but the knot in my throat refused to let words slip free.

When we entered, the air grew heavier. The hall smelled faintly of incense, smoke curling from braziers lit at either side of the dais. Elder Marcus sat in the center, his beard streaked with gray, his cold eyes fixed on me. Beside him, the other elders watched with thinly veiled disgust, as though my presence tainted the very air.

And then I saw them.

John.

He sat tall, dressed in the dark, regal coat of an Alpha, his jaw tight, his eyes avoiding mine as though the sight of me would stain him. Beside him, Maria sat with one hand draped protectively over her stomach, her lips curved in a faint, satisfied smile.

My blood ran cold.

"What... what is this?" I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

Elder Marcus leaned forward. "Scarlett Hilary, you stand accused of a grave offense. Last night, after being rejected by Alpha John, you attempted to harm his future Luna and her unborn child."

The words struck me like a whip. My knees nearly buckled. "What?"

Gasps echoed faintly through the hall. My hands trembled at my sides as I looked wildly around. "That's a lie! I never touched her-I never even left the slave quarters!"

Maria lowered her gaze with a show of fragility, tears brimming in her eyes. "She cornered me," she said softly, her voice breaking just enough to sound believable. "She... she said she'd rather see me dead than carrying John's child."

The elders muttered among themselves, their eyes turning sharper, harder.

"That's not true!" I shouted, my voice cracking. Desperation clawed at my throat. "She's lying-please, you have to believe me!"

Finally, John's gaze lifted to mine, cold and unreadable. My heart twisted violently. If anyone would defend me, it had to be him. Despite everything, a part of me still clung to the hope that he would stand, tell them the truth, remind them that I was no threat.

But he didn't.

He looked at me as though I were nothing more than dirt beneath his boots. "I warned you, Scarlett," he said, his voice cutting. "You cannot accept rejection with grace. Now you stoop to this?"

My chest shattered. "No! John, you know me-you know I would never-"

"Enough," Elder Marcus snapped, his voice booming. "The Council has heard enough from you." He exchanged looks with the other elders before turning back. "Attempting to harm the future Luna is treason. By our laws, the punishment for treason is death."

The ground seemed to tilt beneath me. Death. They were going to kill me for something I hadn't done.

"No," I whispered, stumbling forward. "Please... please, I didn't-"

Maria let out a soft sob, leaning into John's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her, his eyes never leaving mine. There was no pity there. No regret. Only finality.

The elders spoke in hushed tones, then Elder Marcus rose to his feet. "By the authority of the Silver Moon Council, Scarlett Hilary, you are sentenced-"

The doors burst open.

A younger elder, sweat beading on his forehead, rushed in. "Wait!" His voice shook as he bowed. "Elder Marcus, forgive the interruption, but... the Goddess's flame flickered last night."

The hall fell silent.

Every head turned, whispers breaking out in waves. The flame-sacred and eternal-was said to flicker only when the Goddess herself had touched one of her children.

Marcus's brow furrowed. "What nonsense is this?"

"It is not nonsense, Elder," the younger man insisted. "The priestess herself confirmed it. Someone within this pack was visited by the Goddess."

My heart stuttered. My hands clutched at my chest. The memory of silver eyes and her voice whispering chosen flame filled me again.

The elders murmured louder now, uncertainty crackling through the air. Elder Marcus scowled, his gaze sweeping the room before landing on me with disdain.

"Do not be swayed by superstition," he snapped. "This slave stands accused-"

But for the first time, doubt stirred among the others. I saw it in their eyes, the way they shifted in their seats. The sacred flame could not be ignored. If the Goddess had truly spoken... then perhaps I was not as worthless as they believed.

I straightened slowly, my body trembling, but a spark of defiance kindling in my chest.

"I did not harm Maria," I said, my voice steady this time. "And you all know it. The Goddess came to me last night. She has not abandoned me-she has chosen me."

The hall erupted in noise, voices overlapping in shock and anger. Maria's face drained of color, and for the first time, John's mask slipped, his eyes narrowing with something dangerously close to fear.

Elder Marcus slammed his staff against the floor to quiet the hall, his expression dark and thunderous.

"Enough!" he roared. "The Council will deliberate. Guards return her to the quarters until judgment is final."

Two guards seized my arms, dragging me backward. But as I stumbled, I kept my eyes locked on John's, letting him see the truth burning in mine.

He could strip me of my title. He could throw me into chains. He could let them brand me as a traitor.

But he could never erase the Goddess's whisper.

I was chosen.

And one day, they would all regret underestimating me.