Rise of the Luna Queen

Delphine

The room was dark, save for the faint, miserable glow of the lamp that barely touched the corners of Cassian's study.

Every part of my body was cold and tense as I sat in a rigid chair opposite from him, waiting for whatever new punishment he had come up with.

The smell of sour whiskey and harsh cologne filled the air, and I couldn't take my eyes off his nasty expression.

"Are you even listening, Delphine?" I was startled out of my reverie by Cassian's piercing voice. "Why I waste time with you is beyond me. Do you know how many people would kill for the opportunity I've given you?

"Yes, Alpha," I murmured, forcing myself to keep my gaze low. Looking him in the eyes only ever made things worse.

"'Yes, Alpha,'" he mocked, leaning closer until I could feel his breath against my skin. "You think just because you have some little gift, you're worth more than anyone else here?" He grabbed my wrist hard enough to make me wince. "You're nothing without me. Nothing."

Under my shirt sleeves, the bruises from his previous encounter were still healing. My arm hurt every time he tightened his hold, but I knew better than to resist. I simply nodded and tightened my jaw instead.

After what seemed like hours, he sighed in disgust and waved me away like I was a bothersome bug. "I expect you back here tomorrow to heal my men. No excuses."

I nodded, murmured, "Yes, Alpha Cassian," and stood up, my body aching as I walked out, my footsteps hollow and heavy.

Cassian was always demanding that I heal his so-called men, bruised and battered strangers who would show up with life-threatening wounds, and I wasn't allowed to ask questions. But I'd been doing it for so long now that it was almost routine. Almost.

The healings had taken their toll. My strength was ebbing away day by day, and I had been feeling weaker lately. It felt like my energy was being drained out of me, leaving only a hollow aching in its stead, and my wolf hardly stirred within of me anymore.

But today was meant to be different. I had clung to a slender, tattered thread of hope for years, waiting for this day.

It was my twentieth birthday, and I had finally gotten my healer's license after all these years. In order to force me to obey him, Cassian had dangled it over me and used it as leverage.

But now it was mine, a sliver of freedom in my grasp. As if to remind myself that it was real, I gripped the license tightly and felt its edges dig into my fingertips.

A tiny smile appeared on my face as I pictured escaping this pack, escaping Cassian's domineering hold, and beginning anew in a distant place.

Maybe Crystal Lake, a sanctuary for rogues where Cassian wouldn't dare follow me. My life had been reduced to survival, a day-by-day endurance of Cassian's abuse, but this license could be the ticket to a real life, free from him.

A tiny smile appeared on my face as I pictured escaping this pack, escaping Cassian's domineering hold, and beginning anew in a distant place.

It was the only reason I hadn't run already. I was imprisoned by the blood oath, which served as a brutal reminder that freedom was only a pipe dream.

I couldn't stop thinking about it, though, and my mind kept going down avenues of possibility and escape. Maybe I could find a way to break the oath. Maybe... maybe there was a chance.

That evening, after finishing the last healing session Cassian had forced me into, I returned to the pack house. Every bone in my body ached from exhaustion as I went up the stairs to my room.

As I did each year, all I wanted was to spend my birthday by the river, chatting with my mother and enjoying the little chocolate cake I had stashed away. It was just me, a memory, and what little tranquility I still had.

I froze when I reached the top of the stairs. From his office at the end of the hall came Cassian's dark, deep voice. When I heard him say my name, my heart stopped.

"...she's weak, Emily. Barely has the strength left to keep up with the healings. One more push and she'll be out of the way forever."

I crept closer to the door while holding my breath, my heart thumping so loudly I thought they may hear. Emily's voice replied, silky and filled with satisfaction. "It's about time. She's nothing but a burden, Cassian. I don't understand why you kept her around this long."

There was a pause, and I heard Cassian laugh, a sound that twisted my stomach. "Because she was useful. She healed my men, kept them alive, and gave me a few thrills along the way." I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "But now... now she's become a liability."

I clenched my fists, my knuckles turning white. Each word was a knife, sharp and cold, carving away at the last threads of hope I had. They were planning to kill me.

"So, how do we do it?" Emily asked, her tone so casual it made my skin crawl. "We've tried poison, and she survived that. We tried accidents, and somehow she pulled through. We need something... certain."

"Already thought of it," Cassian replied, his voice dripping with malice. "We'll arrange for an 'incident' during one of her healings. I'll send someone particularly difficult to handle, someone even her powers can't save. She will be too weak to resist by the time she is finished. We'll see to it that a second "accident" occurs. She won't survive this one."

I could feel a coldness in my bones and my spine. This attempt differed from the others. This was thorough, calculated. They were leaving no room for error.

I clenched my fists, until my knuckles turned white. Each word was a knife, sharp and icy, stripping away the last shreds of hope I'd been clinging to. They were going to murder me.

"We'll make it look like she overexerted herself, a natural consequence of using too much power," Cassian continued, sounding pleased with his plan. "No one will question it. A tragic accident, a healer who pushed herself too far."

Emily laughed, the sound sending a wave of nausea through me. "I can't wait. She's been in the way for far too long."

I clasped my hand over my mouth to try and stop any noise from escaping, but it was no use. It was like a ton of brick that had just hit me, I couldn't do this anymore. Not if I stayed. This pack had become a prison, and Cassian was its cruel, merciless warden.

I turned without thinking and made my way to my room as silently as possible. I took long, shuddering breaths as I leaned against the door once inside. I needed to leave.

The pain of breaking the blood pledge would be severe, but it wouldn't kill me, and that was a price I was ready to pay for freedom.

I moved quickly, gathering only the essentials, a small bag, a few clothes, my license and the only picture I have of my mother.

The license felt like a cruel joke now, a hollow promise of freedom, but I held onto it anyway. It was the only emblem of the life I want, the life I was still willing to fight for.

My heart was racing as I slipped through the darkness to the rear entrance. I'd memorized the guard rotations, knew the gap between shifts. I could escape unnoticed if I timed it well.

The blood oath warned me with a tingling aching in my chest as I got closer to the exit. My skin pricked with pain, but I forced it aside, bracing myself for what lay ahead.

The pain intensified and blazed through my veins as soon as I arrived at the boundary of the pack's domain. Tears clouded my vision as I stumbled forward, biting my lip to stop myself from yelling.

Every step felt like fire, and every heartbeat served as a reminder that I was finally breaking free and violating the contract.

I didn't look back. I couldn't. Because if I did, I knew I'd see Cassian's face in the shadows, his smirk as he watched me suffer. I couldn't give him that satisfaction.

The forest in front of me looked ominous and gloomy, but it was freedom... the only freedom available to me. And no matter how many wounds it caused, I kept reminding myself with every torturous step that I was choosing this suffering and a life without Cassian.

I stumbled on, the trees blurring into each other, each footstep reverberating through the silence, each breath painful and shallow.

I didn't know where I was headed or what I'd discover when I got there, I only knew one thing for sure, I can never return.

And I knew this was just a beginning, the darkness engulfed me.

The bile erupted in my throat. I fell on my legs and went down, clutching my hands about me.

I have never known myself as I do now, the pain, the anger and strength that throbbed through me feeling as though it would blow me apart. Deep down, I knew. Cassian wouldn't let me go just yet.