The Alpha's Forbidden Witch

𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘

"I used to blame the Moon Goddess for breathing life into a cursed soul like mine. But the truth was, I was the one who kept placing my love and trust into the wrong hands, even as I watched them slip through my fingers. I mistook my suffering for strength, my endurance for hope, and called it love while it slowly bled me dry.”

Some people are born into love.

Others spend their whole damn lives wondering what it feels like.

Me?

I never even got the chance to find out.

My name is Serena Ashwood. Before people learned my name, they learned to fear it.

I was just a baby when my parents died. That's the story everyone still tells with dramatic faces and lowered voices.

They said a blood-red moon burst through the clouds, bathing everything in crimson light. Thunder lost its mind, and before sunrise, both my parents were dead.

Sounds tragic, right?

Yeah... except nobody called it a tragedy.

They called it a curse.

My curse.

According to the lovely people in my kingdom, they said I murdered my own parents.

Because, obviously, newborn babies are famous for their excellent killing skills.

I grew up in an orphanage that looked like it had given up on life centuries ago. The other kids got birthday cakes, hugs, and families who actually wanted them.

I got whispers.

Dirty looks.

And every time something bad happened, someone would mumble, "It's the witch girl."

At 21, I stopped expecting miracles. No family. No friends. No happily ever after. If I dropped dead tomorrow, I'd probably be buried before anyone noticed I was gone.

Then I was handed over to Alpha King Kael.

Not as a guest.

Not as a Luna.

Not even as a servant with basic human rights.

Nope.

A slave.

A maid.

A convenient punching bag for anyone having a bad day.

And like the idiot I was, I actually thought this might be the fresh start I'd been waiting for.

"I'd rather be hated for the monster they believe I am than be loved for a lie I could never become.”

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Chapter 1 – The Witch's Execution

SERENA

"Serena Ashwood," a deep voice boomed. "You stand accused of murdering the Alpha King's Luna. How do you plead?"

They dragged me out like I was nothing. My knees scraped against the cold stone as two big werewolves yanked my arms behind my back.

I lifted my head and looked straight at him. Alpha King Kael stood on the raised platform, his face like stone. Tall, broad shoulders, eyes burning with pure hate. He did not even blink.

"I did not kill her," I screamed, my voice cracking but loud enough for the front rows to hear. "I swear on my parents grave.

Laughter rippled through the crowd. Someone shouted, "Witch liar!"

༺═────────═༻

"The truth?"

When I walked into the room, the King's Luna was already lying on the floor.

She was barely breathing, blood pouring from her body. It looked like she was trying to say something, but the words never came.

"Oh my Luna..."

I rushed to her without thinking.

"No, no... Please don't die."

She was the only one who showed me love. Knowing full well that I would never find someone to cherish me twice, not even in the same soul, burned my heart.

I pressed my hands against her wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

"I'll help you. Just hang on."

Then the doors flew open.

The guards rushed in, and the moment they saw me kneeling beside the Luna with my hands covered in blood, they froze.

"THE LUNA!"

"She killed the Luna!"

"Murderer!"

"No!" I cried, shaking my head. "I didn't do this! She was already like this when I found her!"

"Liar!"

"We knew she was cursed!"

"I was trying to save her!" I begged, tears filling my eyes. "Please... you have to believe me."

Only if I could be heard without screaming. But no one listened.

༺═────────═༻

Kael raised one hand and everything went quiet.

"The evidence does not lie. You were found with her blood on your hands. Take her to the stake."

They pulled me harder. I stumbled but kept my chin up.

"Wait," I tried again as they tied me to the thick wooden post. Rough ropes cut into my arms and legs.

"Kael, listen to me. I would never hurt an innocent woman. Please. They are playing you."

He stepped closer, close enough that I could see the dark circles under his eyes. His Luna's death had broken something in him.

"Save your breath, witch. You die today. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now."

The executioner stepped forward with a burning torch. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it would burst. This was really happening. They were going to burn me alive.

The first flames touched the wood at my feet. Heat rushed up my legs. I screamed as fire licked my skin. Pain like nothing I had ever felt before. Smoke filled my lungs. I coughed and thrashed against the ropes.

"Why won't you believe me?" I cried out, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. "I am innocent!"

Kael just watched. No mercy in his face.

The fire grew hotter. My dress caught. The pain swallowed me whole. I thought this was the end. I would die hated, alone, for something I did not do.

Then the sky changed.

A blood-red moon burst through the clouds, bathing everything in crimson light. Gasps rose from the crowd. The flames around me suddenly felt different, like they were feeding something inside my chest instead of burning me.

I screamed again, but this time it was not just pain. Something cracked open in my back. Sharp, tearing agony. Then pressure. Then... release.

Huge ancient wings exploded from my back. Dark, leathery, powerful. They stretched wide, knocking the flames away from me in one powerful beat.

The ropes snapped like thread. I hovered a few feet above the burning stake, wings keeping me up.

The entire square went dead silent.

I stared at my hands. They were glowing. My back felt heavy with the new weight of the wings.

What is happening to me?" I whispered. My voice sounded strange even to my own ears.

One by one, the werewolves dropped to their knees. Heads bowed. Whispers of fear and shock spread like wildfire.

"Dragon..." someone breathed. "The Forbidden One..."

Thousands on their knees. Bowing to me.

But not Kael.

He stood there, eyes wide, fists clenched at his sides. The only one still standing. His gaze locked on mine, full of shock, rage, and something else I could not name.

My heart pounded as I hovered there, wings beating slowly, the blood-red moon shining above us.