Reina POV

The heavy door swung inward. Two more chaos wolves, cloaked figures radiating silent power, entered. They moved with a predatory grace. The white-haired man gestured. His voice, flat, "Time to go."

My heart hammered. My parents. Their judgment awaits.

I felt a desperate urge to resist, to claw, to bite, but a glance at the unyielding faces of the chaos wolves froze me.

They would tolerate no defiance. My muscles locked.

I took a shaky step, then another.

They led me from the cold stone room. The air outside was sharp, biting, carrying the earthy scent of pine and damp earth, mixed with something else, something wild and ancient that prickled my skin, raising goosebumps on my arms.

We walked through a network of passages, carved into the very rock, dimly lit by flickering torches. The sounds of the pack grew louder with every step, a low murmur, a guttural bark, the rustle of shifting bodies. Anticipation. It vibrated in the air, a palpable hum that crawled under my skin.

Then, we emerged.

The courtyard stretched out, vast and imposing under a bruised, twilight sky. Hundreds, thousands, of eyes turned towards us. They stood in silent, expectant rows, a sea of human forms, yet radiating an undeniable, predatory aura.

They were wolves, I knew now. And they were here for a spectacle.

My parents stood bound at the center of the clearing, their heads bowed, surrounded by more wolves.

Their figures seemed small, vulnerable, against the looming stone structures and the vast, silent crowd.

My stomach plummeted. This wasn't a prison. This was a stage.

My breath hitched.

They were going to kill them. I saw it in the grim set of the faces around us, the chilling stillness, the hungry glint in so many eyes.

"No!" The sound tore from my throat, raw and desperate. I tried to surge forward, but a heavy hand on my shoulder held me back.

"Please! They didn't do anything!" My voice was swallowed by the immense space, lost in the heavy silence.

My pleas were met only with unblinking stares.

Then he appeared.

He strode onto a raised dais that dominated the center of the courtyard, his presence commanding silence from the already hushed crowd.

He was taller than the chaos wolves, broader in the shoulders, his movements fluid, powerful. Black, curly hair framed a face that was severe, aristocratic, yet undeniably striking.

His eyes, a deep, fathomless green, swept over the gathered pack. They landed on my parents, then on me.

A flicker passed through them, too quick to understand…. But was that…. Interest?

He smirked before settling into an expression of cold, unwavering authority.

My parents looked at him. Resignation etched their faces, a deep, weary acceptance that tore at my soul. My mother's lips trembled, but no sound came. My father squeezed his eyes shut.

A booming voice, not the man on the dais, but one of the chaos wolves standing near him, cut through the silence. "The Alpha, Kaiden Night, will now deliver judgment!"

Kaiden Night. The name settled in my mind. The ruler of this terrifying realm.

He began to speak, his voice resonating across the courtyard, deep and clear, imbued with an undeniable power that seemed to vibrate in the very stones beneath our feet.

"For their betrayal," Kaiden's voice boomed, "and for living among humans, hiding their true nature from their Alpha and pack, they have forsaken their right to this realm."

My blood ran cold. He meant it. This was real. This was the end. My gaze darted around the crowd. No one moved. No one spoke. They watched, impassive, judging.

The executioner stepped forward. A hulking wolf, his face impassive under a dark hood. In his hands, an axe gleamed, catching the torchlight, its edge impossibly sharp.

He took position behind my parents.

My mother let out a small, choked sob. My father looked at her, his eyes full of love and sorrow, then met mine.

He mouthed a silent goodbye that ripped a hole through my chest.

My world narrowed to that axe, that horrifying, final moment. My entire being screamed.

The executioner raised the axe high.

No this can’t be happening….

Kaiden’s voice boomed again, cutting through the thick silence like a blade. "Stop."

The axe froze in mid-air. Every head snapped to him. Mine snapped too, still holding on to hope.

Was he... stopping it?

He looked at me again. A long, assessing gaze pierced my soul, felt like it peeled back layers I didn't even know I possessed. His green eyes held something I couldn't decipher – calculation, power, perhaps a hint of something else, something softer, almost... regretful? I didn't know. I only knew his eyes were locked on mine.

Then, he spoke again, his words a chilling ultimatum that echoed across the silent courtyard, binding me tighter than any rope.

"The rogues will face their judgment. Their betrayal is undeniable." His voice was firm, unyielding. "But the girl…" He pointed at me, a single, commanding finger. Whispers rippled through the crowd, a wave of shock and confusion. "She will not."

My heart soared. A breath caught in my throat. He was sparing me. He was saving me!

Then plummeted.

"She will be Luna. She will be my wife."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

Luna? Wife? Marry him? The man who had just condemned my parents? The man who ruled this terrifying, brutal world?

It was an impossible choice, a cruel irony that twisted my gut.

There was no way I'd marry….

But my gaze found my parents, their faces etched with a silent, agonizing plea for my survival. Live, their eyes begged. Live, even if it means this.

My defiance withered, shriveled under the immense pressure.

The primal instinct for survival, for life itself, overwhelmed everything else.

What choice did I have? Death, or a nightmare?

"I... I accept," I whispered, the words thin, broken.

A collective gasp rose from the crowd, a wave of murmurs now replacing the silence. Kaiden’s expression remained unreadable, a mask of the powerful Alpha.

But a faint flicker in his deep green eyes, a subtle shift in the set of his jaw, hinted at something beneath the stern facade.

The execution proceeded. I watched, numb, as my parents faced their fate.

The crowd's reaction, the final, brutal sounds, it all blurred into a deafening roar in my mind, an echo of the shattering world I had left behind.

The axe fell.

THUD.

“No…!”

The scream tore from my throat as if it had claws, but it was already too late. I didn’t even see the blade connect, only the sound, the spray, the awful finality of silence that followed.

My knees hit the ground hard.

A scream echoed through the courtyard, I wasn’t sure if it was mine.

“Mom… Dad…” My voice broke. “No… no, please…”

Their bodies collapsed like marionettes with cut strings. The blood soaked into the earth.

Everything spun.

“No… no!” I clawed at the dirt, struggling to crawl forward, but someone caught me.

Strong arms wrapped around mine. A chaos wolf. “Stand. You are the Luna now.”

“Don’t touch me!” I twisted, thrashed, but they didn’t let go. “They didn’t deserve this! You murdered them!”

“Justice,” the white-haired one said coldly from behind me. “Not murder.”

“You call this justice?” I spat, tears streaming down my face. “They were my family!”

I was still fighting, but my limbs felt heavy, like something inside me was breaking apart and stitching itself into something new.

A dull ache spread through my spine. My nails dug into the earth, deeper than they should have.

The crowd remained silent.

Then I heard footsteps approaching.

Kaiden stepped down from the dais, each stride calm, calculated. His cloak fluttered behind him.

He walked until he stood directly in front of me.

I glared up at him, rage and despair colliding in my chest.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why spare me if you were going to kill them?”

He crouched low, not touching me, just meeting my eyes. His voice was low and steady. “Because you belong here.”

“I belong nowhere.”

“You belong to me.”

My stomach dropped. “I’m not yours. I will never be yours.”

For a second, just one, his expression cracked. Almost… something human.

Then it was gone.

“You will learn,” he said simply. “Take her to the Luna chambers.”

“Don’t you dare walk away from me!” I shouted, trying to break free. “You took everything from me!”

My wrists burned where the wolves held me. My heart pounded louder, faster, until it was the only thing I could hear..

And then I felt it.

Heat surged through me. My fingernails scraped the dirt again and didn’t stop, they sank in.

My vision wavered. Everything sharpened. The world smelled different. My body pulsed with a strange energy.

“What…” I gasped. “What’s happening to me?”

Kaiden stopped mid-step.

His head turned. His eyes met mine. This time, they didn’t flicker with power.

They narrowed in surprise.

“You’re awakening as a wolf.”

“What?” I breathed.

His lips parted slightly and for the first time, I could see hesitation.

“She’s turning,” one of the chaos wolves muttered behind me. “Too soon.”

Kaiden’s expression hardened. “Sedate her.”

“No… get off me!” I screamed, fighting as hands pinned me down. “Let go… LET GO!”

But it was no use.

The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was Kaiden standing over me, his eyes unreadable, but no longer calm.

They were uncertain.