TO TAME THE BRUTAL LYCAN BEAST-Chapter 22: SWEET SELENE

VALORIA WILDEROSE

I stir and turn all night, fighting my thoughts and fears—images of Azrael, the man I wounded, and the others awaiting their own deaths before I left.

It’s laughable—foolish, really—that I’m worried for anyone other than myself. Or maybe it’s guilt for having played some small part in their suffering.

I keep hearing the arrow whizzing through the air, the sound of flesh tearing, and Azrael’s laughter taunting me for hours, keeping me awake and wallowing in torment.

Then—suddenly—the world goes still and quiet.

Something in the atmosphere shifts. Even the sounds of the outside world stop, as if time itself has frozen.

The change is instant, rattling me to my bones. Goosebumps rise along my skin, and I’m forced to take in my surroundings from beneath the pillow clenched in my hands.

The room is different. My bed now sits under a bright, blinding lime-green light; everything beyond that glow is shrouded in pitch-black darkness too terrifying to approach.

I’m in a different world—like a dream—yet I have no memory of falling asleep.

"Hello, child beloved by the gods—Valoria."

My gaze snaps back to the bed. Startled, I see the Goddess Selene sitting at the foot, as vibrant and stunning as the first time I met her, luminous light spilling from every part of her.

Stunned, I fall to my knees, pressing my forehead to the ground.

"G-Goddess S-Selene!"

"Rise, dear. You must be terrified. I’m sure you weren’t expecting to be taken into this void so suddenly."

Slowly, I lift my head and meet her eyes. She extends her hand, and I start to understand.

Perhaps she’s conjured an illusion to speak to me. I never thought we’d meet again after I was given a second chance at life.

"W-where are w-we?" I ask, taking her hand and sitting beside her, a cautious distance away.

"A place where we can’t be disturbed. Your physical body is in a forced rest, but your soul is here with me—in the deepest part of your subconscious mind." She gestures toward the endless dark surrounding us.

Despite her explanation, confusion knots inside me. How can this place be part of my mind?

It’s so cold and empty, filled with an intense loneliness and a dread that echoes from the abyss, almost choking. I feel sick with every passing second.

Of course, I never expected my inner world to be a meadow of roses, but pure darkness? Am I that broken?

"I apologize, Valoria." Selene’s bright smile fades into a soft frown.

She reaches for my hands, clasping them in hers. I flinch, afraid my filth might stain the purity radiating from her.

"You must have searched for me—or needed a way to ask the questions you’ve been carrying these past few days, haven’t you?"

"Y-yes." More than that, I’ve needed someone—anyone—other than myself to talk to.

"I’ve tried to reach you, but Azrael’s defenses—his magic and sorcery—are as strong as ever."

"Sorcery?"

"You seem surprised."

I bite my lip, painfully curious yet terrified to know what she means.

"You already know he’s no ordinary man—more than just a typical Lycan. Some call him a monster, the devil himself; others whisper that he’s a god..." Her eyes harden with a bitterness she barely masks. "But what he truly is... is a problem to the celestial world. He wields far too much power for any mortal, dabbling in dark magic and forbidden sorcery. And we gods have no power to interfere. His castle is barricaded with wards and barriers that keep even us out."

It explains why she sends spies instead of confronting him herself.

Gods rarely interfere with their creations, but Azrael must be an exception to have survived—and terrorized werewolves—for so long.

Just how powerful is he to warrant this kind of effort?

"Until yesterday, his concentration faltered—small cracks in his defenses. Enough for a part of me to slip through and find you." Her smile returns, bright and expectant. "So... tell me, how much progress have you made? Have you made contact with him yet?"

"I h-have," I admit, guilt heavy in my chest.

Her smile widens.

"And? How did he react when he saw you?"

"He wa-was fur-rious."

"Interesting..." She nods slowly to herself. "And what did you feel?"

"A-all I f-f-felt was... f-fear," I confess. My voice trembles as I recall the first moment I met those cold blue eyes—flashing gold when his wolf stirred beneath the surface—looking at me as if I were nothing. "T-the rum-mors didn’t d-do him ju-justice. H-he was w-worse than ev-everything I’ve h-heard."

The trembling spreads through my body.

I hug myself as if I can stop the shaking, make myself more presentable—but the memories replaying in my mind make it impossible to hide the fear.

It’s only a matter of time, playing his games and barely making it out alive, before he forces me to do something truly horrifying—something that will break me.

Once that happens, it will be over.

I try to be strong, but after only a few days, I’m already at my limit, barely holding on, terrified of what the morning might bring once he grows bored and calls for me to entertain him.

"You m-made a mi-stake, G-goddess, choosing m-me. I c-can’t seduce h-him. I’m t-too fla-awed, unl-like every oth-ther wom-man h-here."

I bite my trembling lip, blinking away the gathering tears born of the painfully obvious attributes I lack—attributes I’ve been made painfully aware of since stepping into the court and seeing countless women from noble houses: more confident, more put-together, more whole.

Much more like Yara, Elodie, and Calliope. I could never hope to be even a fraction of what they are.

"I c-can’t h-hold his ga-gaze long en-enough not to sh-show my fear. And even if I co-could, a man like him ca-cares about nothing but himself. I’m s-sorry I’ve wa-wast-ted y-your time and en-energy bringing me ba-back, but I re-re-really ca-n’t do it."

I finish my confession with a sniffle, waiting for a harsh, cold reprimand. Instead, silence follows—cold silence that makes the oppressive weight of this place even more overwhelming.

I hold my breath until she finally speaks.

"Does that mean you wish to go back to your hell?" she asks.