Forsaken Luna

Chapter 6 - The Iron Gates

Kaelen

The girl walked behind me like a shadow, silent but radiating defiance. Every few steps, I heard the faint clink of her broken shackles, a reminder that she was still halfway between captive and free. I hadn’t removed them all. I couldn’t. Not yet.

Not because I wanted to keep her bound. But because I knew what awaited us when we reached my father’s gates. My warriors would see an omega. My father would see a bargaining chip. Orion would see a mistake to erase. And Nyx… she would see betrayal no matter what I did.

Everyone in the werewolf world heard about the alpha-born female that couldn’t shift. I pushed forward anyway. Better she hated me alive than die out there among rogues. That was the part that Orion didn’t get. Every single wolf's life mattered right now. Even if they couldn’t shift.

The land shifted as dawn spread across the horizon, painting the stone ridges in copper light. The scent of home hit me hard. Wolf, iron, the river that cut like a scar through our territory. My chest tightened. For once, I wasn’t returning victorious from war. I was bringing chaos to our gates.

When the mansion rose into view, Nyx stopped dead at the river’s edge. Her pale skin glowed in the morning light, her raven hair tangled from days of flight, her emerald eyes burning with something between fear and fury. She looked small, but I’d seen her spit blood at a guard and vow to rise sharper. Small did not mean weak.

“Keep moving,” I said, my voice low.

“Another cage.” She lifted her chin, stubborn. The words scraped something raw inside me. Still, I kept my face unreadable, because if I faltered now, she’d never trust me when the time came. The gates creaked open as I approached, warriors spilling out in disciplined formation.

They smelled the girl before they saw her. The air thickened with tension. I met the gaze of my Beta, Loran, and gave a curt nod.

“Did my father make it back?” I frowned and he nodded. “Take her to the cells,” I ordered.

“What?” Her gasp sliced into me like a blade. The warriors moved in, hands clamping on her arms. She struggled, wild as a cornered wolf, her voice sharp with betrayal. “You dragged me from one prison only to throw me in another? Was that your plan all along?”

I held her gaze. Her fury was fire, but I was forged in storms far darker than hers. I didn’t flinch.

“My father will decide,” I said, and the words tasted like ash. Then I turned away before she could see the truth written in my eyes. Inside the walls, whispers followed us like smoke.

“Omega. Rejected mate. Why bring her here?” My people had long memories. They knew the stories. They’d paint her as a threat before she’d even drawn breath. Better a locked cell than a knife in her back.

The warriors dragged her down into the dungeons. I didn’t follow. If I did, I’d tear those bars open with my own hands, and I couldn’t afford that weakness. Not in front of my father. Not yet. I found him in the war room, maps sprawled across the table, his hands braced on the wood.

My father, Alaric, was broad, grizzled, eyes sharp as broken glass. He didn’t look up as I entered.

“You brought her,” he sighed.

“I saved her,” I corrected. He lifted his head, gray eyes narrowing.

“From Orion’s bargain, perhaps. But not from what she is.” He raised one brow. He wasn’t happy about my decision to save Nyx. He only went along with it and along for the ride because curiosity got the better of him.

“And what is that?” My jaw tightened.

“A liability.” His voice carried the weight of command that had crushed me since boyhood. “An omega tied to a Luna bond. Do you know what Orion will demand if he learns she lives?”

“He sold her like cattle,” I snapped. “He rejected her. He forfeited any claim.” We sort of agreed that we would get rid of her on his behalf.

“You think the bond cares about forfeits? You think Orion’s pride will allow her freedom? No. He will hunt her. And when he does, he will come for us.” My father’s lips curled into a grim smile. I leaned over the table, close enough for him to see the storm in my eyes.

“Then let him come.” My words were as cold as steel. Alaric’s stare cut deep, but I didn’t look away. I was his son, not his shadow.

“She’s not yours,” he said finally, low and deliberate. “Don’t let your fascination blind you.” I didn’t answer. Because he was wrong. It wasn’t fascination. It was something sharper, heavier. Like a weight in my chest, I hadn’t felt it in years.

She had fire in her veins where most omegas had ashes. And I couldn’t ignore it. But neither could I protect her by open defiance. Not yet. When I returned to the dungeon later, the torchlight flickered against the bars of her cell.

She was on the cot, knees drawn up, hair veiling her face. But I knew she wasn’t asleep. Her shoulders were too tense, her breathing too uneven. She didn’t look up when I stopped at the bars.

“You’ll hate me for this,” I said quietly.

“I already do.” Her laugh was bitter, jagged. I let the words cut. I deserved them. I haven’t actually explained anything to her. I wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it to myself if I was honest.

“You think this is punishment,” I went on. “But it’s protection. My warriors don’t trust you. My father doesn’t want you here. If I left you in their hands, you’d already be dead.”

“Then why bring me here at all? You should’ve let me die with the rogues.” Finally, her gaze lifted. Emerald green, blazing.

“Because you don’t deserve to die in chains. You deserve a chance. Even if you can’t see it yet,” I gripped the bars, leaning closer as my emotions break free from their chains for once. She stared at me, lips parting as though she wanted to spit more venom. But no words came. Only silence, heavy and fragile.

“I won’t coddle you, Nyx,” I said, voice steady. “I won’t make promises I can’t keep. You’ll have to fight. For breath, for freedom, for every scrap of respect. But if you’re willing, I’ll see you through it. I’ll push you when you’re weak. I’ll catch you when you fall. That’s the only offer I have.”

For a heartbeat, something flickered in her eyes. Not trust. Not yet. But not pure hatred, either.

“Sleep,” I said, straightening. “Tomorrow, the world will start clawing again. You’ll need strength to claw back.” Her voice followed me as I turned to leave. Soft. Broken. But burning all the same.

“I’ll never belong to Orion. Not to you. Not to anyone.” Fire burned in her words. I paused at the stairwell, glancing back only once.

“Good,” I said. “Then belong to yourself first.” And I left her in the dark, the echo of her defiance ringing in my ears like a vow. Giving me hope that she would be the woman I thought she was.

Nyx

After Kaelen left, my mind drifted. Kaelen didn’t hesitate, didn’t so much as glance back to see if I followed. After he left me in the hands of his warriors, I kicked, twisted, screamed, but the warriors hauled me across the courtyard like I weighed nothing.

Wolves turned to stare. Women with baskets, men sitting around fire pits, children peering wide-eyed from the edges. Their whispers hissed like snakes:

“An omega…”

“Is she the one from the ritual?”

“Why is she here?” Shame burned hotter than the bruises. The warriors dragged me down stone steps into the belly of the mansion. The air grew damp, cold, stinking of mildew and rust. Cells lined the walls, bars thick enough to cage a beast twice my size.

They shoved me into one. The door slammed with a finality that rattled my bones. I lunged at the bars, wrapping my hands around the cold iron.

“Kaelen!” My voice cracked, echoing down the stone hall. “You promised.” But he wasn’t there. Only the warriors’ retreating footsteps answered, fading until the silence pressed heavy again. I paced the cell until my legs shook. The floor was stone, damp and unforgiving.

A single cot slumped in the corner, straw poking out in tufts. No blanket. No fire. Another cage. I pressed my forehead against the bars, the chill biting into my skin. Images flashed behind my eyes. Orion’s rejection, the crowd’s laughter, my grandfather’s decree, the chains, the bargaining.

And Kaelen’s voice, soft by the fire. “Then belong to yourself first.” A bitter laugh scraped my throat. Belong to myself? In here? With iron bars between me and the sky? I slammed my fist into the bars, pain shooting up my arm. The sound echoed back at me, mocking.

But beneath the fury, something stirred. A rumble low and guttural, the same growl I’d heard last night. Louder this time. “Not forever.” My knees buckled. I gripped the bars tighter, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. My wolf. She wasn’t silent anymore.

I curled on the cot eventually, my body trembling from cold and exhaustion. But my mind refused to rest. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kaelen’s face in the firelight, his voice steady. “Because I don’t sell people.”

Yet here I was. Sold again. Locked away. Forgotten. And still, something in me whispered that this wasn’t the end. That the bars would not hold forever. Tiredness seeped into my bones and I finally fell asleep.