The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas

Selene's POV

The sound of fire crackled louder than my heartbeat.

I could hear it. It was sharp and alive, spitting sparks into the air as the silver brand was lifted from the flames. It glowed an angry, pulsing red, shaped like a collar of thorns. Hooked edges. An open center. A symbol of slavery. Of ownership. Of being nothing.

It shimmered like molten blood.

And it was meant for me.

I screamed. My scream was loud and desperate. The kind of sound that didn't even feel like it came from me.

"NO—PLEASE—PLEASE DON'T—!"

My body flailed. My legs kicked at the stone floor. My arms fought the chains, rattling with every movement. My lungs burned from screaming but I didn't stop—I couldn't stop. I'd take death. I'd take anything but that mark.

Then hands grabbed me.

In a strong, firm hold.

Lucian Duskdraven was the first to move. He crouched beside me, calm as still water, and seized my left arm. His grip was like steel. No matter how much I thrashed or twisted, he didn't move.

"Don't move," he said gently. "It'll hurt more if you do."

His voice was soft. But it wasn't kindness. It was mockery. There was amusement in his eyes—like he was watching a play, not holding down a terrified girl.

I trembled. Shook so hard my teeth rattled. But Lucian didn't blink.

Then Luca stepped forward.

His eyes were ice. Unfeeling. Focused like a blade honed to perfection. He knelt beside me and grabbed my jaw again, forcing my chin up so I had to look at him—so I couldn't look away from what was coming.

Our eyes locked.

"You killed our people," he whispered.

I wanted to scream that I didn't. That I didn't even remember that day. But my voice had collapsed somewhere in the pit of my terror. My mouth moved, but nothing came out.

Behind them, Kael stood motionless. His arms were folded tight across his chest. His body radiated fury, like his silence was the only thing stopping him from tearing me apart. I didn't know what scared me more—his rage or the fact that he kept it buried so well.

And then came Aeron.

He didn't speak to me. Didn't even look directly at me. He just gave the slightest nod.

"Do it."

The guard moved forward with the brand in hand.

The metal hissed in the open air, steam curling around it. I struggled harder. I screamed until my throat tore. Lucian's fingers crushed into my wrist. My bones felt like they would snap.

"No—PLEASE—I'M STILL ALPHA BLOOD—PLEASE DON'T—!"

Luca's grip on my face tightened.

"You're not."

And then the metal touched my skin.

I didn't scream at first.

I howled.

It was a sound torn from the deepest part of me. Not human. Not wolf. Just pain. Pure, soul-ripping pain that tore through me like lightning. The brand sank into the soft flesh of my forearm. I could feel it blister, sizzle, melt.

The stench of burning skin filled the air. It made the wolves in the crowd flinch, turn away. But no one stepped forward. No one stopped it.

Lucian didn't flinch. He held me down while I thrashed, his fingers digging into my wrist like he was anchoring me to hell.

And Luca—he never even looked away.

He watched me suffer. Watched every twitch, every tear, every muffled sob I couldn't hold in.

I begged the world to stop.

Please, Moon Goddess, please—let me pass out, let me die...anything but this.

The pain blurred my vision. My body convulsed. I couldn't breathe.

And then, finally, the brand was lifted.

My arm dropped limp onto the stone. Skin blackened around the edges of the burn. The mark was there...shining, raw and ugly. It would never fade and would never heal.

I wasn't Selene Moonveil anymore.

I was a slave.

I collapsed onto the ground, too weak to sob. My chest heaved. My heartbeat pounded like a war drum in my ears. My vision was fading in and out, my arm still twitching from the shock.

I looked up—just once.

At the brothers who had ordered this.

Aeron stood perfectly still, unreadable, like none of it mattered.

Luca eyes were filled with disdain. He looked at me like I was nothing more than dirt on his boots.

Kael turned his back and spit on the stone beside him.

And Lucian… he simply let go of my wrist, stood, and smiled like it had all been fun.

They had more warmth for the wolves they hunted.

I had once been the daughter of Alpha Eirik Moonveil. A name that made entire packs kneel.

And now… I was a branded animal.

Lower than the lowest omega. At least they had names, Freedom and Dignity.

I had none.

I turned my head and looked toward the noble girls who had marched beside me in chains. The ones who had once called me sister, friend, Alpha-born. But they wouldn't meet my eyes.

Even they feared me now. Like I carried a curse.

Like this brand could infect them too.

My lips trembled. My hair clung to my wet face, slick with sweat, blood, and tears. Every strand felt heavy, matted to my skin like a shroud. My body shook violently on the cold stone floor, too weak to lift myself, too broken to even scream anymore.

My breathing came in shallow gasps, each one more painful than the last. My arms trembled uselessly beneath me, and for a moment, I thought I might die right there in front of them all.

Then I remembered falling.

The stone had met my face with a dull crack, the kind of sound that made the wolves watching flinch—even if just slightly. My arms had crumpled beneath me, too limp to break the fall. The fresh burn on my skin throbbed with every heartbeat, still raw with the silver's cruel kiss. My vision dimmed to a hazy blur of shadows and colorless outlines.

And then—nothing.

Darkness swallowed me whole. No pain. No sound. Just silence, as if the world had finally shut me out.