Daria's POV
I woke up in my small cottage three days later, or at least I thought it was three days.
My body wouldn't stop trembling, and every breath felt like glass scraping my lungs. The bond, cracked and bleeding inside my chest, throbbed with a pain that never stopped.
“Daria, please. You need to eat something,” Mira's gentle voice pleaded.
My best friend sat beside my bed, her hand tightly holding mine. She had been here the whole time, holding me through the worst of it. Holding me while I screamed. While I sobbed. While I coughed up blood until there was nothing left.
I turned my head away from the bowl of broth she held out to me. “I can't.”
“You will die if you don't.”
“Then I die.”
“Don't say that.” Her voice cracked. “Don't you dare say that.”
But what was the point? The Moon Goddess had given me a mate, only to have him reject me in front of the entire pack.
The bond wasn't fully severed. It couldn't be, not between an Alpha and his true mate. The bloodline connection ran too deep. But it was cracked, shattered, and felt off. Like something beautiful that had been smashed and poorly glued back together.
“Why does she hate me?” I whispered.
“Who?”
“The Moon Goddess.” Tears slid down my temples into my hair. “What did I do to deserve this?”
Mira didn't answer. She just took a deep breath and looked away.
I didn't eat. Didn't sleep, not really. Just stared at the ceiling of my tiny cottage, struggling to remember what hope felt like.
On the fourth night, the full moon rose.
I felt it before I laid eyes on it, a sharp pull in my chest. My wolf stirred for the first time since the rejection, raising her head with sudden alertness.
Suddenly, my door violently swung open, sending wood splinters and shards flying across the room. I screamed, quickly scrambling back against the headboard, my heart slamming against my ribs.
Lucius was standing in the doorway. But this wasn't the cold, controlled Alpha from the training yard. He was breathing heavily, his eyes glowing with a bright, inhuman red in the darkness. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, and his hands were tightly clenched into trembling fists at his sides.
“Mine.” The word came out as a growl, barely human.
“Alpha, what... what are you doing here?”
As soon as he stepped inside, the air around him felt wrong, charged with something wild and desperate. This was what they whispered about in the pack. The madness that took him during the full moon. The curse that made him dangerous.
I had heard the rumours. Everyone had. The Alpha who lost control when the moon was full, who became more beast than man. Pack members locked their doors on those nights, stayed inside, and prayed they wouldn't cross his path.
And now he was here in my cottage. Looking at me like I was prey.
“Stay back.” I pressed myself harder against the wall. “Please, stay back.”
He didn't listen. Instead, he was on me in seconds, moving faster than should be possible. His rough hands gripped my arms, and his face pressed against my neck as he took a deep breath.
“You are mine,” he growled again.
“You rejected me.” My voice shook. “You don't want me.”
“You are mine.” He pushed me down onto the bed, and before I could fully understand what was happening, his mouth forcefully found mine.
I tried to fight. Tried to push him away. But the bond betrayed me. The moment his lips touched mine, a rush of heat flooded through me, overwhelming and terrible.
It was wrong. He had destroyed me, humiliated me, and left me bleeding in the dirt.
But my body didn't care. My wolf didn't care. They only knew that our mate was here, touching us, wanting us.
His hands tore at my nightgown and I heard fabric rip. Felt the cool air against my bare skin.
“Don't.” The word came out broken. “Please don't.”
He didn't stop. Whatever controlled him during the full moon had taken over completely. His eyes stayed that unnatural red. His movements were rough, wild, desperate.
He took my virginity that night.
It hurt. Not just physically, though there was pain. But something deeper. Something in my soul that shattered all over again as he claimed my body without my permission, driven by a curse I didn't understand.
I stopped fighting eventually. Just lay there, tears streaming down my face, while my wolf whispered “mate” like a prayer.
When it was over, he collapsed beside me. His breathing was ragged and harsh. The red slowly faded from his eyes, replaced by gold.
For one moment, I thought I saw something flicker across his face. Regret, confusion, or maybe horror at what he had done.
But then he was gone. He vanished into the night without a word, leaving me alone in my destroyed cottage with bloodstains on my sheets and emptiness in my chest.
I lay there for hours. Staring at nothing. My body throbbed with pain, but the ache in my heart was even more intense.
Yet, my wolf kept whispering. “He came to us, Daria. He wanted us.”
Maybe it meant something. Maybe, deep down, beneath the rejection and the cruelty, he wanted me after all. Maybe this was his way of showing it, twisted as it was.
The next morning, a knock came at my broken door.
I dragged myself out of bed, wrapping a blanket around my torn nightgown. A servant stood outside, his face carefully blank.
“Alpha Lucius permits you to reside in the mansion,” he said. His voice was flat and emotionless. Not an invitation. Not an apology. Just a statement of fact.
He turned and walked away before I could respond.
I stood there, frozen.
Permission? He was giving me permission to live in his home?
My wolf perked up, hopeful. “See? He wants us there. It means something.”
I packed my things in a daze. One small bag with everything I owned. Clothes, a few books, and the necklace my mother left me.
This was it. My chance. Maybe once I was in the mansion, we could talk. Maybe I could make him see that we were meant to be together.
I arrived at the mansion that evening as the sun was setting. The building stood tall and imposing, with its stone walls, iron gates, and windows that seemed to stare back at me with a cold gaze in the dying light.
A maid met me at the entrance. Young, maybe a year older than me. She grabbed my arm before I could step inside, her fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.
“Don't unpack,” she whispered. Her eyes were wide, terrified. “Please. Just don't.”
“What?”
“You are the fourth omega he's brought here this year.” Her voice dropped even lower. “The others? They all disappeared after the next full moon.”
“Disappeared?”
“No one knows where.” She quickly looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening. “Some say he kills them when the curse takes him. Others say he just throws them out when he's done. Either way, they are never seen again.”
“So… what do you suggest I do? I can't run away from an Alpha. He will… he will find me.”