Chapter 209: A Real Dream

It’s weird…and frightening.

Because Selene thought she had everything a few months ago.

She believed she would become the Luna of Eclipse Crown Pack, and she would stand beside the man she loved.

Today, she had been banished from the pack and felt like an outcast in hers.

Cassian had kept her on house arrest for weeks, and had suddenly let her go. As bizarre as that was, she hadn’t asked questions and decided to take the opportunity.

Because she had connections all over the pack, and in many other packs. She already knew that no one in their right minds would agree to her plans to bring down Eclipse Crown, especially with everyone preparing for war.

But there were other ways to get to Eclipse Crown.

Other ways to get to Malachi.

That was until she got out of house arrest and realised something… terrifying.

Everyone she worked with — spy, assassin, sons and daughters of Alphas, thugs, council members — every single one of those networks had been cut off.

Or rather, dead.

Someone had specifically targeted those people, leaving her completely defenceless. Whenever she tried to find them, all she ended up getting were traces of blood or a part of their body which had been left for her to find.

That wasn’t even the worst part.

The worst part was that she always felt like she was being watched by something. Her wolf could always sense something sinister hovering close to her, but no matter how much she looked around… nothing seemed to ever be there.

Then came the nightmares.

And the nightmares always had her bursting out of bed and trembling in her sweat-covered body.

It was about the night Katherine died.

After she had driven the stake into Katherine’s chest, and then suddenly… Katherine opened her cold eyes and stared death into Selene’s soul. It terrified her to the bone each time.

The dream repeated itself many times every night. Whenever Selene closed her eyes, it was the first thing she saw. And even when she started to expect it, it didn’t seem to lessen the fear.

Last night had been terrible.

Right before Selene had gone to sleep, she had felt that sinister presence again, and she had asked a maid to stand by her bed and keep watch closely while she slept.

It’d taken her hours before she fell asleep, due to intense fright. Sleep had refused to come, and when it finally did, it became the worst decision she’d ever made in her life.

The dream started out again with her kneeling in front of Katherine’s body. Katherine had just been blown away by the Moonfire explosion, and she couldn’t get up on her own.

Selene recalled the feeling of knowing she wanted this woman dead and out of the way. She quickly reached over and grabbed the sharp wood by the side, and stared back into the weak, helpless eyes of the Rotblood.

She didn’t kill her because Katherine deserved to die for what she had done. She killed her because she wanted Malachi for herself. She’d already had the thought of killing the woman long before the incident happened.

And so, Selene drove the stake straight into her chest, and right through her beating heart.

She saw the pain spread across Katherine’s face, and they locked eyes for a moment. Selene’s expression was stoic and relentless as she drove the stake deeper into her heart, and blood poured out of the sides of Katherine’s mouth.

Then, she watched as her eyes gradually lost their colour and her body went limp.

That was it.

That was where it ended in reality.

Suddenly, the Rotblood opened her eyes and stared at Selene.

Selene shrieked out a scream in horror and reared back immediately, ready to bolt like she always did in her dream.

And that was the part she usually woke up.

That was where it always ended in the dream.

But she wasn’t waking up.

At all.

Instead, Katherine sat up as quickly as she had opened her eyes, and her hands shot out at the same time and wrapped around Selene’s throat, pulling her back closer.

The level of fear that gripped Selene this time shot to unknown heights, and a scream clawed its way up her throat aggressively, trying to find a way out.

The choke didn’t let it, and she could only gasp.

Katherine moved again, and this time she shoved Selene back till her back hit the ground hard, and then she seconded her other hand, adding more pressure as she kept strangling the life out of Selene.

Selene tried to move and push her away.

She tried to move her arms.

Her legs.

Anything.

But it was as if she was frozen under the woman. All she could feel was her lungs begging for air and her throat collapsing, and all she could see…were those haunting, terrifying eyes.

Outside, Selene’s body kept twitching involuntarily on her bed.

The maid was gone…and the room’s temperature had dropped till one could see mist in the air.

Then, Selene’s consciousness began to slip.

She could still feel Katherine’s hands around her throat, could still see those cold eyes staring directly into hers, but something about the darkness around her began to change.

The ground beneath her seemed to disappear, and Katherine’s face slowly blurred until Selene could no longer tell where the nightmare ended and reality began.

Then she felt herself breathing. A sharp, desperate breath tore through her throat, and then her eyes fluttered open.

For a few seconds, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.

Her chamber.

Her bed.

The ceiling above her.

She was awake.

She was finally awake!!

But then, the pressure around her throat intensified, and her eyes widened in horror again.

Her hands immediately flew to her neck, fingers clawing desperately at the invisible force squeezing the life out of her. She tried to scream, but only a broken, strangled sound escaped her mouth.

In her terrified, pain-stricken state, she saw something hovering directly above her.

It was a woman’s face…pale and motionless.

Staring down at her.

Selene’s entire body froze.

Those eyes.

She knew those eyes.

They were the same cold, lifeless eyes she had watched lose their colour when she drove the stake through Katherine’s heart.

And the face…

It was Katherine.

Selene tried to move away, but her body refused to obey her. Tears immediately gathered in the corners of her eyes as the pressure around her throat grew stronger, and the woman’s face slowly moved closer until Selene could see every beautiful and terrifying detail of it.

Her lips parted as if she was about to say something, but before she could hear what Katherine was saying, Selene jolted awake!

She shot upright with a scream, dragging both hands to her throat as she desperately coughed through the pain and sucked in air.

The maid rushed toward her as though she had been standing there the whole time, “Lady Selene!!”

Selene barely heard her, still screaming and trembling violently.

Her fingers slowly moved around her neck, searching for something she couldn’t explain.

Then they stopped, because there was pain.

Actual pain.

Selene’s breathing became uneven as she looked down at her trembling hands. Then slowly, she turned toward the small mirror beside her bed.

And when she saw her reflection, the blood drained from her face.

Dark red marks circled her neck.

Finger marks.

Someone had definitely strangled her.

Oh…

She was either hallucinating…

Or she was screwed.

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!