The walls of the Southern castle were quiet as a graveyard. It was so quiet that I could hear and see the image of Julian ripping out the heart of the maidservant, playing in my head over and over again.

The way he killed her mercilessly with a straight face and still looked at me and claimed ownership over me like it was nothing.

The rumors I've heard about him now seemed like just rumors because he was much cruel than people imagined.

I followed the maidservant who was still shaken visibly by what just happened, through the corridors. Everything in this castle screamed regal and class, the gold lining, the velvet curtains and the marble flooring, it sparkled beautifully. The maid didn't look back at me once, she just walked ahead stiffly and I could see her hands trembling as she clenched the hem of her dress tightly.

The maid finally stopped in front of a heavy door with a wooden surface carved in a moon shape, she opened it wordlessly and stepped aside.

I entered slowly and stood in place awkwardly.

"This will be your room," the maid said softly with her eyes trained on the floor. "There are clothes in the wardrobe. A bath has been drawn and food will be brought to you shortly. Please, I'm begging you, don't leave the room without permission." She said the last part in a very desperate, pleading tone.

I glanced at her in surprise, "Why?"

She gave me a look before replying, "Because he will kill me and you both. Without hesitation." With that, she turned and rushed out, shutting the door behind her.

I didn't know how long I sat on the bed and just stared into space until I heard a knock on the door. I startled and before I could give permission for the person to come in, the door opened up and Julian walked in, with a maid trailing behind him.

The maid was carrying a tray of food, and it smelled incredible. She placed it down and I glanced over it, there was roasted meat and fresh bread. I hadn't eaten in days but I still couldn't bring myself to touch it.

After the maid balanced the tray on a table, she headed out or more like, dashed out. Leaving only Julian and I in the room, suddenly the room became too hot for me and beads of sweat gathered on my forehead.

"What? You don't want to eat?" He asked in a blank tone after staring at me with an unreadable expression.

"I'm not hungry." I simply said, not meeting his eyes.

"Or you think there's poison in it." He said and I could hear the smirk in his tone. It sounded like he was mocking me.

"You just killed a woman without batting an eyelid, what is poisoning me to death to you?" I said with more venom than I intended.

Julian moved closer to me before responding, "I killed my servant for disobeying me, that's none of your business." He said like he was correcting a five year old.

"You killed her because she tried to hit me." I said boldly. Even though I don't know where the fuck the bravery was coming from, this man could end me now and there will be no consequences.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "Wrong. I killed her because she touched what's mine and nobody touches what's mine and lives to tell the tale."

"I'm not yours." I clenched my jaw and said.

He placed his finger on my chin and raised my face up, he was now closer to me than ever, the sandalwood scent of his strong cologne now hitting my nostrils harder than ever.

"Oh damn right, you are. You belong to me Alina." He said as he let out a dark chuckle.

"You don't even want a Luna like me, why are you doing this??!" I let out in frustration.

"Luna? Who said you're here to be my Luna?" He said, with a mocking expression on his face.

My brows bunched together in confusion and I looked at him, "What? Then what am I here for?"

If I wasn't sold off like a goat to be King Julian's Luna, then what exactly was I here for?

"You are here for just one purpose, Alina. To break the damn curse placed on me by the moon goddess. And until you break it, you're not smelling freedom." Julian said with a more serious and cold expression.

What?!

"What?? Wh... what are you talking about? Why would you bring me here to break your curse?! That's ridiculous! What powers do I have to break your curse??" I said, still completely confused. He must have been misinformed.

"Oh you'll know that soon." He didn't sound misinformed though.

"And what if I'm unable to break your curse?"

"Then you join the long list of people like that maidservant." He said in a causal tone. Then he added, "Get ready, it's almost time for the blood pact ceremony that joins us together."

My eyes widened in shock and before I could react properly to what he just said, Julian left the room.

Fuck....

The brown haired woman was right, my parents should have just slit my throat.

The blood pact ceremony was happening in one of the ceremonial halls in the Southern castle, dozens of candles were placed at the altar and the heavy smell of incense filled the air. I sat in front of the altar like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered and Julian sat beside me, his words still echoing in my mind.

He was going to kill me if I'm unable to break the curse the moon goddess placed on him. An act that I'm obviously not able to carry because the last time I checked, I did not have any special powers.

I didn't even see the point of this ceremony when I would only end up dying in the hands of Julian. Or maybe this was all part of the punishment, to humiliate me before finally killing me.

The hall was packed with every Alpha from the four major territories. Even my father, Alpha Douglas stood directly in front of me.

"Begin the rite," the High Priestess announced as she stepped forward.

The ritual required both of our hands to be cut, then joined together, mingling our blood which symbolised the merging of our souls. Julian reached for the dagger and made a cut on his hand and I did the same. Then the High Priestess took both of our hands and clasped them together, but the moment my hand touched Julian's, something shifted.

An excruciating pain surged through my palm, not the kind that came from the cut but a pain deeper and much more painful. I screamed out loud in pain as it raced through my entire body.

"Ahhhhhh!!!!" I screamed as the pain became unbearable by each passing second.

"What's going on, High Priestess??" I heard Julian's emotionless voice.

"I...I don't know.... Alina!" Was the high priestess response.

I screamed even louder as my vision blurred and I started seeing flashing images and thousands of voices echoed in my head at the same time. In the countless flashing images, I saw my father Alpha Douglas in his wolf form, and then he stuck his claws in my mother's chest and dug her heart out.

"Make it stop! Please make it stop!" I yelled in pain but the flashing images like visions continued and the voices wouldn't stop.

I don’t know how long I was in pain for but when it subsided, all the candles in the hall had gone out and the hall was now in pure chaos with everyone running helter skelter in full panic mode.

It was when I looked around me that I realized the reason for the panic, all the Alphas gathered in the hall were now lying lifelessly on the floor. Including Julian Pierce.