Chapter 2 2

Rosalyn Ashbane:

"No! Father, please..."

My knees hit the floor with a thud, but I didn't feel the pain. I was already drowning in it.

"Please... don't do this. I didn't do anything..."

I reached for his robes, but he stepped back like I was filth.

I turned to the others in the room - the elders, the guards, my stepmother, Seraphina, Henry.

My voice cracked, desperate. "Someone... help me."

But no one moved. No one spoke.

Not even a flicker of pity.

Just silence.

"Drag her to her room," my father ordered.

The guards obeyed without hesitation.

"Wait-no! Don't touch me! Let me go!"

Two of them grabbed my arms, yanking me up. My legs kicked against the ground, my screams echoing down the hall.

"Please!" I cried, struggling, wild with fear. "Please listen to me! I didn't do anything! You're all believing a lie!"

My voice fell on deaf ears.

They dragged me like a criminal through the house I grew up in - past portraits of ancestors who would've spat on what we'd become. Past maids who wouldn't even look at me. Past Seraphina, who watched with a smile on her lips and no soul in her eyes.

When the guards reached my room, they didn't toss me inside gently.

They threw me.

I hit the ground hard, the air rushing out of my lungs. The door slammed shut behind me. A second later, I heard the lock turn.

Silence again.

I lay there on the cold floor, shaking.

I tried to push myself up - but I couldn't.

My arms gave out. My legs felt numb. My head pounded. And my chest...

My chest ached with the kind of pain I couldn't scream out.

And then I broke.

The sobs came from deep inside - loud, choking, ugly. I cried like a child, curling into myself on the floor, hugging my own body just to feel something.

"I didn't do anything..." I whispered through the tears. "Why won't anyone believe me?"

I screamed into the silence.

It didn't answer back.

Time passed - I don't know how much. The window was cracked. Snow blew in. I didn't care.

My skin felt like ice. My hair was matted. My throat dry. But my tears kept coming, soaking the dirty rug beneath me.

At some point, I stared up at the ceiling, my eyes red and swollen, my breathing uneven.

That's when I heard the door creak open again.

I didn't move. I didn't look.

Part of me hoped it was someone who cared.

It wasn't.

"Oh my dear," said the sweet, venom-laced voice of my stepmother. "What a pitiful sight you are."

She walked in slowly, her perfume poisoning the air.

"You poor thing," she continued. "On the floor like trash. Your skin's gone pale. Your lips cracked. You look... hollow."

I sat up slowly, wiping my face with the back of my hand. My voice came out hoarse. "Why are you here?"

"To give you a goodbye gift," she said, crouching beside me. Her eyes were bright with something cruel. "A truth, just for you."

She leaned in. Her smile never wavered.

"I killed your mother."

Everything inside me stilled.

"You... what?"

"Oh, I didn't use a knife or anything so dramatic," she whispered. "But I arranged it. Poison. A little spell. A loyal servant. It wasn't hard. She was in my way."

"You..." I couldn't breathe. "You murdered her?"

"I wanted to be Luna," she said, brushing invisible dust off her sleeve. "She refused to step down. So I stepped over her."

I stared at her, the pain folding into rage. "Why would you do that to me?"

She stood, adjusting her robe.

"Because you were never meant to be anything," she said. "You weren't supposed to be born. Your blood is cursed. You're an embarrassment. A reminder of a woman I hated."

I tried to stand, fury rushing to my limbs - but I was too weak.

She laughed at my struggle. "You want to hit me?" she mocked. "You want to be strong?"

She slapped me - hard - across the face. My head jerked sideways.

"Know your place."

I clutched my cheek, stunned.

"You don't even know who you're marrying, do you?" she whispered. "Alpha Valentino. The King of Beasts. Cold. Brutal. He'll use you. Breed you. And when you've served your purpose? He'll toss you away like the used, broken thing you are."

Tears returned, fresh and burning.

"Why... why are you doing this to me?" I whispered.

She leaned close, her voice dropping to a hiss.

"Because I can."

She turned to leave, but paused in the doorway.

"I would've spat on your mother's grave," she said, "but I figured leaving you alive was worse."

Then she spit on me.

And walked out.

And I shattered.

At first, I just sat there-still, frozen, breath hitching in my throat. The silence rang louder than her words, louder than her slap. My limbs felt too heavy to move, my throat too tight to scream. But my eyes... they betrayed me.

Tears spilled. Slow, steady.

And then-

I broke.

I let out a cry so loud and cracked it barely sounded human. I pressed both hands to my chest like I could hold in the pieces of my heart before they scattered across the floor.

I curled into myself and rocked back and forth, sobbing, choking.

"Why... why me?" I whispered. "Why did you die and leave me here?"

My voice trembled. My skin felt like it was burning from the inside.

"Why did you leave me with them, Mama?"

I clawed at the sleeves of my dress, digging into my arms just to feel something that wasn't grief.

"Why didn't you take me with you? Why did you go alone? Why didn't you fight for me?"

I screamed. Loud. Wild. Messy.

"You were supposed to protect me!"

I slammed my fists against the floor, again and again, until they turned red.

> "You lied. You promised you'd always be here..."

I crawled to the corner of the room, my body shaking. Every sob tore from my chest like it wanted to kill me.

I didn't want to be here anymore. Not in this cursed house. Not in this broken body. Not in this name.

I stumbled toward the cracked mirror near my dresser. It was old - a gift from my mother long ago. The glass was splintered at the edge, jagged. I dropped to my knees in front of it, breathless.

"No one loves me... not even you," I whispered, touching the glass.

I picked up a sharp shard from the floor. My hands trembled.

I looked at my reflection - red-eyed, lips swollen, face pale and stained with tears.

Unwanted. Rejected. Forsaken.

I pressed the shard to my skin.

And for a moment, I let myself believe this would stop the pain.

But the moment it touched me-

I gasped.

My body shook violently.

I couldn't even hold it steady.

The sobs wouldn't let me go.

I dropped the shard and screamed again, collapsing to the floor. I clutched my head. My breath came in fast, shallow gasps. My fingers twisted in my hair. My skin felt wrong. The room spun.

Everything went black.

---

I don't know how long I was gone.

Maybe hours.

Maybe days.

But when I opened my eyes again, someone was gently shaking me.

"My lady... please, wake up."

I blinked at the ceiling. The light hurt. My whole body throbbed.

"Lady Rosalyn, please... your father says you must get ready. Today is your wedding."

Wedding.

The word felt like poison.

I turned my head slowly. Suzu, my only friend and handmaid knelt beside me, her hand still on my shoulder. Her eyes were swollen - she'd been crying.

"Suzu," I croaked.

She helped me sit up. My arms felt like stone.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

I gave a bitter laugh. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling. I don't think I feel anything anymore."

Suzu looked like she might cry again. "Rosalyn... I'm so sorry."

I looked at her. Really looked at her. My only friend in this cursed place.

And I broke again. I threw my arms around her, and I sobbed.

She didn't pull away.

"I can't do this," I whispered. "I can't marry someone I don't know. My father hates me. My mate left me. My mother's gone. Why am I still here, Suzu? Why?"

She pulled back and held my face in her hands.

"Because you're strong," she said. "Because you're still breathing. A living dog is better than a dead lion. And I'm not going anywhere. We will survive this, together."

I nodded slowly, tears streaming again. I didn't believe her.

But I needed to.

A knock at the door pulled us both from the moment. Another maid entered, holding something in her arms.

The dress.

White. Laced with silver. Fit for a Luna.

It didn't feel like it belonged to me.

Suzu helped me to my feet. My knees wobbled, but she steadied me. We stood there, facing the gown like it was a monster in silk.

"I can't believe this is real," I whispered.

"I know," Suzu said. "But it is. And we'll face it. Step by step."

She took my hand and squeezed it.

"Let's get you ready, my lady."

I stared at the dress. My lips parted.

"I can't believe my fate is sealed. I'm being married off... to a stranger."