Melina’s POV

How cursed can one person be?

Did I cross the moon goddess in another life?

Was this some divine punishment she handpicked just for me?

“You’re really sending me there?” My voice cracked, refusing to finish the sentence.

“Yes, dear,” the man sneered, his smile mocking.

“Be honest, isn’t this a much more exciting fate than whatever pitiful future you imagined for yourself?”

“I won’t do it!” Fury exploded from within me like a wildfire, and I fought against my restraints, kicking and writhing.

“I won’t be a sacrifice! I won’t go through with this!”

The man knelt to my level, his presence suffocating. He grabbed my jaw, squeezing until my teeth ground against each other.

“You’ve got quite the mouth for someone dangling at death’s edge.”

“Please… let me go,” I whispered through the tears that streamed down my cheeks. My chest tightened until I feared my ribs would crack under the pressure.

“I can’t… I can’t face him. Please, I’m begging you.”

“It’s too late for prayers,” he replied coldly, releasing my face with such force that I staggered backward, the shape of his fingers imprinted on my skin. He turned toward another man and jerked his chin.

“Take her. Now.”

“No! No, please!” I wailed.

“Don’t do this to me! Just end me! Kill me now if you must!”

Without a word, the second man approached. He grabbed me as if I weighed nothing and slung me over his shoulder. I screamed as his shoulder dug cruelly into my ribs.

My feet flailed helplessly, and when I tried to wriggle free, he tossed me higher into the air and caught me again with an agonizing slam.

The pain was so intense, I thought I’d vomit.

My limbs turned limp.

My tears burned hot trails down my cheeks as all resistance bled out of me.

But deep down, I knew this was just the beginning. A prelude to something worse.

They were sending me to the so-called Alpha of Alphas.

The legend whispered in hush-tones during full moons in the Crescent Hollow Pack. Mothers used his name to silence disobedient pups: “Behave, or the Shadow Alpha will come for you. He’ll feast on your heart while it still beats.”

And now? That myth would stand before me, in flesh and blood. He wasn’t a cautionary tale anymore. He was real. And I was to be offered to him as part of the ancient moon ceremony.

They say he lives under a dark curse and devours the hearts of young maidens sent from the packs to prolong his unnatural life. That he never touches the bodies—only his men dispose of them afterward, often in pieces.

Worse still, no one knows what he truly looks like. Those who lay eyes on him don’t live long enough to describe it.

My body trembled violently as I sobbed into the guard’s armor. My vision blurred, my thoughts spinning in a whirlwind of horror.

Why? Why me?

Why did I try to take my own life? If I hadn’t, maybe I wouldn’t be here, dangling between a brutal past and an even crueler fate.

How foolish I was to think my life before was the worst it could get.

Did the moon goddess truly loathe me so much?

One mistake. One broken moment. That’s all it took to lead me here—an offering no one would miss.

The men said nothing to me throughout the journey. They didn’t have to. Their silence was louder than any taunt.

After what felt like hours but was barely a quarter of one, we arrived at an old bathhouse tucked near the forest’s edge.

The sky was melting into dusk, the sun slipping behind the trees as though it didn’t want to witness what was coming.

The man threw me off his shoulder like I was garbage and dragged me inside.

Conversations halted, and all eyes turned toward me—curious, pitying, some even amused.

I felt more naked than I’d ever felt, even with my clothes still clinging to my soaked skin.

He pulled me toward a side chamber, opened the door, and flung me in. I stumbled forward, but strong arms caught me just before I hit the ground.

“She’s filthy. Clean her up,” the man barked. “The Scribe awaits.”

The woman who held me upright looked like she had seen a thousand girls like me.

Her jet-black eyes were piercing, and her voice gruff. A long-stemmed pipe hung between her lips.

She circled me, tutting disapprovingly. “Thin as a twig. Doesn’t look like she’s got much left in her.”

“We don’t need much. Just her heart,” the man replied indifferently.

The woman blew out a puff of smoke and muttered something I couldn’t catch before dumping me into a scalding tub. The water soaked through my garments. I tried to climb out but slipped back in with a splash.

“Out. You’ve seen enough,” she waved the man away, and the door slammed shut behind him.

She dumped soap over my head and scrubbed me down with brutal efficiency, paying no attention to my protests.

When she was done, she drenched me in buckets of freezing water that stole the breath from my lungs.

Once I was dry, she shoved me into a white ceremonial gown and marched me into another room.

There, several women surrounded me, their expressions cold and practiced.

They began working on my face, powdering, lining, painting me like I was a canvas for sacrifice.

Tears slipped down my face unchecked.

Suddenly, a stinging slap whipped my head sideways.

“Stop crying!” one of them snapped.

“You’re ruining my work. Again.”

I stared at her in stunned silence. My cheek burned with pain, my heart even more so.

One grabbed my chin and resumed painting my lips like nothing had happened.

“Pull yourself together. You’re not the first girl sent to him. Won’t be the last.”

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.

Just another girl in a long line of doomed offerings.

When they were done, they dragged me back outside, where the alpha of this cursed outpost waited.

My stomach clenched, expecting to be hurled again, but this time, they led me forward by my bound wrists.

“Is this the girl?” the alpha asked, his tone dripping with amusement.

“Yes, Alpha,” the guard replied, releasing me.

“Look at me, sweetheart.”

I hesitated, but he grabbed my chin and tilted my head up.

His eyes roamed my face, hunger darkening his gaze.

“What a pretty thing,” he muttered.

“I’d love to taste you myself.”

I swallowed the bile in my throat.

“But alas,” he added with a clap, “you’re meant for someone far worse.”

Two unfamiliar guards gripped my arms.

“Please,” I begged. “I’ll do anything! Just don’t send me to him!”

The alpha’s eyes sparkled with wicked curiosity. “Anything?”

“Yes!” I nodded frantically. “I’ll serve you. I’ll do whatever you want. Just… don’t send me to him.”

He leaned in close, grinning. “You’d whore yourself out to save your own skin?”

“I will,” I whispered. “Just let me live.”

He laughed. “Pity. I have no use for a barren, rejected pup. You’ve been tossed aside already. Your only value now lies in that beating heart.”

The words gutted me.

“Take her. Make sure she’s in Havencrest before the moon reaches its peak.”

“Yes, Alpha!”

I was dragged to a waiting carriage, my wrists raw from the rope.