CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 29: NO WAY OUT

Selene’s POV

My heart stopped when I heard my name.

The sound of my name on his lips... it was like a match striking the coldest part of my chest.

I froze behind the pillar, barely able to breathe. A part of me wanted to run. But the other part... the foolish, aching part... needed to hear more.

Did he remember me...that I was trapped here?

Or is it just a casual question? I needed to confirm it.

I took a slow, deep breath, trying to calm the storm inside me. Carefully, I shifted my feet, planning to move just a little closer—close enough to hear their conversation. I needed to know what they were saying. I needed to know if he asked about me because he still remember me.

But just as I stepped forward, a hand shot out from the shadows and grabbed my wrist. Before I could scream, I was dragged away so fast my feet barely touched the ground.

The corridor spun around me in a blur of stone and torchlight.

I was yanked behind another pillar and shoved against the cold wall, the air knocked out of my lungs. Panic surged through me. I opened my mouth to scream...but a strong hand clamped over it, silencing me instantly.

Terror closed around my throat like a rope.

I looked up, expecting to see a guard.

But it wasn’t. It was Lucian.

His grey eyes stared into mine with calmness and that familiar gentle smile played on his lips.

But this time... it looked too fake.

A new kind of dread twisted in the pit of my stomach.

Memories from last night slammed into me like crashing waves. My body remembered before my mind even had to. My skin crawled. My breath trembled. Every inch of me wanted to push him away, to tear his hands off me.

But I couldn’t move.

His grip was like iron—tight, cold, and unshakable.

He leaned in slowly, his voice brushing my ear like a poisoned whisper.

"Really eager to meet your lover, aren’t you?" he said, voice smooth but laced with mockery. "Can’t have a little patience to see him... little slave?"

My whole body went stiff.

I wanted to scream, to bite the hand covering my mouth. My jaw ached with how hard I clenched it.

But Lucian wasn’t finished.

He leaned closer, breath warm against my cheek.

"You think too highly of yourself," he whispered, eyes glinting with cruel amusement. "That the Lycan Prince would care for you... a slave?"

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Lucian smiled, tilting his head like he was enjoying my silence.

"Do you really think a slave is worthy of being his queen? That he’d put his reputation on the line... for you? Go against the Council? Risk war, just to save someone else’s property?"

The words hit harder than any slap.

My stomach dropped. My chest felt tight. Because... he wasn’t wrong.

He wasn’t lying.

Even if Prince Vaelen remembered me—even if he still cared—it didn’t mean he could save me. Royals weren’t allowed to interfere with pack property. And I... I was property now.

A slave...without any name or title.

Just a possession of the pack that owned me.

Lucian leaned in, his breath brushing my skin as he smiled wider. "You know the law. Slaves belong to their pack. He can’t take you without breaking it. And your precious prince isn’t going to break the law for a girl he hasn’t seen in years."

I shut my eyes tightly.

I didn’t want to be queen. I didn’t want a throne or title. All I wanted was freedom.

Just to breathe on my own. To walk out of this place and never look back.

But Lucian’s words planted something cruel inside me—doubt.

Was I really that naive to think Prince Vaelen would help me?

That our friendship from a short period of time, the warmth I clung to in the dark—was enough to make him fight for me?

Maybe not.

Maybe... to him, I was just someone he once knew.

Someone from a better time.

I swallowed hard, my mouth still covered, my arms pinned.

I felt so small. So powerless. And yet, the worst part wasn’t Lucian’s grip.

It was the feeling rising in my chest—that maybe he was right. That I was completely alone in this.

I stood frozen against the wall, my hands still trembling where Lucian had held me. My skin crawled, every inch of me feeling touched in the worst way—even though he hadn’t done anything obvious this time. It didn’t matter. His words had been sharp enough to leave marks.

He turned his back to me, taking a few slow steps before pausing. I thought he would leave—but of course, he wasn’t finished.

"You’re not allowed in this part of the estate again," he said coldly without looking at me. "You have no business near the royal guest wing. No errands, no cleaning, no excuses."

My breath hitched.

This was where Vaelen would stay. Where I might have caught a glimpse of him... might have spoken to him if fate allowed. But Lucian—he was sealing it off like a cage door.

"You will work in the Alpha Wing now," he continued. His voice was clipped, stripped of any fake warmth. "That’s your only assigned territory from this moment on. You clean there. You sleep there. You do not leave without permission."

I clenched my fists, the edge of my nails digging into my palms.

He turned back to face me then. His grey eyes weren’t soft like before. There was no smile now. Just command.

"If I see you outside the wing again..." His voice dropped lower, but the danger in it grew louder. "I’ll make sure you’re punished properly."

I swallowed hard, my throat dry and raw.

Punished.

The word carried too many meanings.

Too many memories.

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs, but I gave a small nod. I didn’t trust my voice.

Lucian looked at me for a moment longer. Then he smiled again—cold and satisfied. Like he had clipped the wings of something that dared to fly.

And then he walked away.

His footsteps echoed through the corridor until they faded into silence.

I stood alone, the stone wall still cold against my back. My chest rose and fell in shaky breaths, the weight of his warning pressing down on me like chains.

No way out.

I had dared to dream, even for a second—and Lucian had crushed it beneath his heel with just a few words.