The Luna He Buried

The first thing she saw was blood.

Thick.

Dark.

Still warm on her hands.

Selena stumbled backward in the dream, shaking violently as crimson dripped between her fingers. The entire manor around her burned beneath a silver moon. Wolves screamed somewhere in the distance.

“Run!”

A man’s voice.

Desperate.

Bleeding.

She turned sharply, but fire swallowed his face before she could see him clearly.

Bodies covered the marble floor.

Her family.

Her pack.

Dead.

“No—”

A hand grabbed her wrist.

She looked down.

Another hand.

Covered in blood.

Her blood.

Then someone whispered against her ear—

“They’re all dead because of you.”

Selena gasped awake with a scream.

She bolted upright in bed, chest heaving violently.

For several seconds, she couldn’t breathe.

Her fingers clawed at the sheets as panic flooded her body. Sweat soaked her nightdress. The scent of smoke still lingered in her nose even though the bedroom was silent and dark.

Then the bedroom door opened.

“Selena.”

A familiar male voice.

Calm. Deep. Gentle.

Her husband.

Damien Cross walked quickly toward the bed, concern already on his face. Moonlight from the hallway framed his tall figure.

“You’re shaking again.” He sat beside her immediately. “Another nightmare?”

Selena stared at him blankly.

For one terrible second, she saw blood on his hands too.

Then the image disappeared.

“I…” Her throat felt dry. “I saw people dying.”

Damien brushed damp hair away from her forehead. “It’s alright. You’re safe.”

Safe.

The word should have comforted her.

Instead, it made her stomach twist.

Damien reached toward the nightstand and picked up a small silver bottle.

“Here.” His tone softened. “Take your medicine.”

Selena froze slightly.

The pills again.

Every night.

Always after the nightmares.

“I took them earlier,” she lied weakly.

Damien’s expression didn’t change, but something cold flickered behind his eyes for half a second.

“You forgot.”

“I don’t think I need them tonight.”

“Selena.”

His voice dropped lower.

Not angry. Controlled.

“You know what the doctor said. If you stop taking them, the panic attacks will return.”

She swallowed hard.

Three years ago, Damien had found her injured near the border after a rogue attack. That was what everyone told her.

She had lost her memory.

Lost her past.

Lost almost everything except him.

Damien had taken care of her through all of it.

He became her husband.

The father of her child.

The person she trusted most.

So why did fear crawl down her spine every time she looked at those pills lately?

Damien opened his palm patiently.

“Take them.”

Selena hesitated.

Then finally took one.

The moment the pill touched her tongue, bitterness spread through her mouth.

Too bitter.

Like metal.

Damien handed her water.

“Good girl.”

Something about those words made her uncomfortable.

Before she could think further, small footsteps suddenly rushed into the room.

“Mom!”

A little boy launched himself onto the bed.

Selena almost cried from relief.

Ethan.

Her son.

His dark curls were messy from sleep as he climbed into her lap. “Did you have another bad dream?”

Selena hugged him tightly.

Too tightly.

“Mom,” Ethan squeaked.

“Sorry.” She loosened her grip immediately.

Damien smiled faintly beside them. “I told you your mother would wake you.”

“You yelled really loud,” Ethan muttered.

Selena touched his face gently. “Did I scare you?”

He looked at her for a moment before nodding carefully.

That strange feeling returned again.

Fear.

Not from her.

From him.

As if sometimes… Ethan was afraid of her.

Damien stood from the bed. “I’ll have the maids prepare tea.”

After he left the room, silence settled between mother and son.

Ethan played with the sleeve of her nightdress quietly.

Then he suddenly asked, “Mom… do you remember anything yet?”

Selena blinked.

“What?”

“Before Dad found you.”

Her heartbeat slowed.

“Why would you ask that?”

Ethan shrugged, but wouldn’t look at her.

“I heard Dad talking to Beta Nolan.”

Selena’s body stiffened.

“What did they say?”

The boy hesitated.

Then softly—

“Dad said it’s better if you never remember.”

The room went cold.

“What?”

Ethan immediately looked nervous. “I-I wasn’t supposed to hear it.”

“Ethan.” Selena forced her voice gentler. “Why would your father say that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he say anything else?”

The boy shook his head rapidly.

Before Selena could ask more questions, Damien returned carrying tea.

The moment Ethan saw him, he instantly went silent.

Too silent.

Damien noticed immediately.

His sharp gaze moved between them.

“What were you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Ethan answered quickly.

Too quickly.

Damien smiled again, but Selena noticed the tension in his jaw.

He handed her the tea.

“Drink.”

She obeyed automatically.

The tea tasted sweet.

The medicine still tasted like blood.

Damien sat beside her again, placing one arm around her shoulders possessively.

“You’ve been stressed lately,” he said softly. “Maybe we should postpone attending the council gathering tomorrow.”

“No.” Selena looked down at the cup. “I want to go.”

“You hate pack politics.”

“I used to?”

“You always did.”

That answer unsettled her again.

There were so many things she supposedly used to hate.

Crowds.

Forests.

The full moon.

Loud noises.

Anything related to wolves.

Yet sometimes, deep inside her chest, something violently disagreed.

Like another version of herself was screaming that none of it was true.

Damien’s fingers brushed the back of her neck.

“You’re trembling.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

His voice became softer.

Dangerously soft.

“You know you can trust me, Selena.”

Can I?

The thought appeared suddenly.

Sharp.

Unwelcome.

Selena nearly flinched at herself.

Of course she trusted him.

He was her husband.

Wasn’t he?

Damien leaned closer and kissed her forehead.

“You belong here,” he murmured quietly. “With me.”

The words should have sounded loving.

Instead, they felt like chains.

—

Later that night, Selena couldn’t sleep.

Damien had finally fallen asleep beside her, one arm still wrapped around her waist.

Possessive even in sleep.

She carefully slipped from the bed.

The hallway outside was silent.

Moonlight spilled through the massive manor windows.

Selena walked barefoot downstairs, trying to calm the strange unease inside her chest.

Then she smelled it.

Blood.

Her entire body froze.

The scent disappeared almost immediately.

But it had been real.

Strong.

Fresh.

Her breathing quickened.

Without thinking, Selena followed the scent toward the lower west wing of the manor.

The forbidden area.

Damien always kept it locked.

“You never go down there,” he once told her calmly.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

At the time, she laughed it off.

Now, standing outside the iron door, fear crawled across her skin.

The blood scent was stronger here.

How?

Why could she smell it so clearly tonight?

Her senses had never been this sharp before.

Selena touched the cold metal handle.

Locked.

But the moment her fingers brushed the door—

A violent pain exploded inside her head.

Flashes.

Fire.

Screaming.

Silver chains.

Someone crying.

A man kneeling before her covered in blood.

Then another voice—

“Suppress her wolf.”

Selena stumbled backward, gasping.

Her eyes burned.

For one horrifying second, her vision sharpened unnaturally in the darkness.

Gold flashed across her pupils.

Not human.

Wolf.

A deep growl rose inside her throat before she could stop it.

Selena clamped both hands over her mouth in terror.

No.

No, that wasn’t possible.

She wasn’t—

The hallway lights suddenly turned on.

“Selena?”

Damien’s voice.

Cold fear shot through her body.

He stood at the top of the stairs staring directly at her.

At the locked basement door behind her.

At her shaking hands.

And for the first time since she met him—

His face looked genuinely dangerous.