The Alpha's Stolen Luna-Chapter 110: Nightmare

Kaya

Damien’s smile curves sharp and dangerous, the kind of smile that slices straight through skin and bone. "You think I wouldn’t notice?"

His hand crushes tighter around my throat, and the world shrinks into a burning knot of fire in my lungs. I claw at his wrist with desperate fingers, nails scraping against his skin, but he doesn’t yield. Instead, his eyes linger on my panic, drinking it in as though it were the sweetest, rarest wine.

"Please..." The word rasps out of me, scraping my throat like sandpaper.

"Please what?" he snarls, fangs glistening just behind the curl of his lips. "I’ll be honest with you, precious—I don’t care much for this rebellious streak of yours. But since you’ve decided to be brave tonight—"

He cuts himself off, and, with a violent tug, hauls me upright by my throat. The force nearly tears my neck from the rest of my body, my entire frame jerking under his hold.

I choke and sputter, saliva catching in my throat as strangled grunts escape me, my lungs fighting for breath. Then Damien spins me around like a doll and crushes me against his chest, his grip iron and merciless. His other hand slams across my forehead, holding me in place, ensuring I cannot turn away from the sight before me.

And what I see is nothing short of a nightmare.

The entire wall in front of me is lined with towering glass tombs, each one filled with a monster locked in silent torment. Dozens of IV lines pierce their bodies, glowing faintly as they drain or feed—my mind cannot even tell which. Their skin is grayish and stretched taut, their veins standing out like rivers of shadow pulsing beneath.

They look like ghouls—yet nothing like the ones I’ve ever read about, nor even the one I faced on my first hunt. These are something else entirely.

Bigger. Stronger. More monstrous.

Their muscles ripple even in stillness, their claws tap against the glass as though itching for freedom. Power radiates off them in choking waves, and for a terrifying heartbeat, I swear the glass could shatter at any second, unleashing them upon everything that breathes.

These are not just ghouls. They are weapons. And Damien is feeding them with me.

"I already have hundreds of them. And I know you’ve met them before," Damien’s whisper brushes over my ear as he moves my head to the right, forcing me to look through the seemingly never-ending row of sleeping ghouls. "Do you remember what you felt when you did?"

Suddenly, I actually do. I do remember how I felt.

I stood frozen, paralyzed with fear—yet beneath the terror, something else stirred. A strange familiarity. As if, deep down, I recognized them. As if I could see that there was something inside both of us that we were forced to share.

"It’s funny," Damien cuts through my thoughts again in an almost sing-song voice. "I released one at first, and it found its way to you right away. Unfortunately, it was way too weak to do anything, but that’s when I knew my plan was working."

"Now," he continues after a short pause that probably was meant to let his words sink in. "Imagine what these creatures can do to them? Aren’t you excited to see it too?"

"To them?" I finally manage, though I feel like I need to spit each word out. "Why do you sound... like you’re punishing... someone..?"

"Why so surprised, precious?" Damien bursts into laughter, his broad chest shaking against mine. "How quickly you forget. It’s you and me against the world, darling. I made a promise, didn’t I? I will destroy those who hurt you. Unlike you, I don’t forget my promises."

His words make me finally see it clearly––Damien is devishly, irrevocably insane. Perhaps, he has always been. All that time he was wandering around as a rogue, he was simply waiting for the catalyst, for something to set his madness free. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

And that catalyst turned out to be me.

"What about the women," I say quietly, my voice trembling as the weight of my mere existence threatens to crush my chest. "Are you... doing this to them, too?"

"No, precious," he whispers back with so much sweetness, as if he feels grateful for the weakness I am showing him. "I told you––your blood is poison to regular werewolves. I took them because I needed a diversion. I needed them to get confused. I needed them to get weak. I needed your mate to get busy with something else."

I squeeze my eyes shut, hot tears streaming down my cheeks as Magnus’s face burns behind my lids. Damien has fooled everyone. And now, I’m starting to fear that no one can ever fool him.

Suddenly, another face pushes its way into my mind, forcing my eyes open as my heart slams against my ribs.

"Shelly... What about Shelly? She was pregnant. With your child."

Damien bursts into another violent fit of laughter, his chest shaking as though he’s just heard the best joke of his life. Then, with a sudden twist, he spins me around, releasing my throat at last. His hands clamp down on my shoulders—not painfully, but firmly enough to root me in place—while a wide, almost triumphant smile stretches across his face.

"Did you really think I’d want to raise a bastard from a whore?" His words slice sharper than claws. His grip isn’t crushing, but the glare he pins me with is enough to paralyze me. "Once I’m King, baby doll—" he pauses, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear with chilling tenderness, "—I’ll make you my queen. And you’ll be the only one to give me children."

My stomach twists into knots, a violent tangle that feels like it’s ripping me apart from the inside out. Every part of me—body, mind, soul—rejects the thought. My mouth moves before faster than my brain, and I can’t stop what’s spilling out of it.

"Never. I’ll never let you do this to me. My womb will never cradle your monsters."

Slap!

The blow sends me crashing to the cold floor. Pain shoots up through my knees and wrists as they take the brunt of the fall. Before I can even gasp, Damien is towering over me, his hand fisting in my hair and yanking my head back. Strands tear free with searing pain, forcing a cry from my lips as his shadow swallows me whole.

"You ungrateful bitch!" he hisses, his eyes darkening as his wolf claws to the surface. "You’ve spent years leeching off me, and now you’d throw it all away because some bastard claims to be your mate? Fine. We’ll see. We’ll see how quickly your tune changes once I make you watch Magnus Reiner torn apart by the very monsters your blood has created."

His lips curl into a smile, but there’s no trace of humor in it. It’s vicious, sharp-edged, and monstrously cruel.

"I’ll make you watch the world burn—and never let you forget that you were the one who fed the fire."