Claimed In The Shadows

Dravina’s POV

Life in a gilded cage that's my truth. For some of us, freedom is an illusion, shackled by invisible chains too complex, too tight to slip. No matter how fiercely we struggle, escape remains just out of reach.

At eighteen, I was chosen as the Luna of Firestone. What should have been a moment of pride quickly descended into a waking nightmare. Back then, Cassian my husband, my Alpha seemed flawless.

Charming, doting, and seemingly devoted during our courtship, he was the envy of many. I lost friends over the attention he gave me, but I didn’t care. We weren’t fated mates, but I believed love could bloom from choice.

For a while, it did. The first year felt like something out of a dream. Then that dream curdled. Cassian’s mask slipped, revealing a possessive, volatile man. Any effort I made to leave only tightened the noose around me.

He weaponized his authority, threatening my parents’ lives if I dared to run. And it wasn’t an empty threat Cassian ruled the entire western territory with absolute control. If he said he’d destroy someone, he had the power to do it.

To ensure my obedience, he severed all ties with my family, forbidding even the smallest contact. I was cut off, exactly as he intended no allies, no support. Just him.

He stripped me of all my duties as Luna, assigning them to the Beta’s wife instead. With no responsibilities, no voice, and no purpose beyond the confines of our home, I faded into silence.

After my first escape attempt, he confined me to our quarters in the Pack House eight months of solitude, locked away like a secret he didn’t want the world to see.

It was only through the Beta’s intervention that I was granted a sliver of freedom. But it wasn’t liberation it was just a longer leash.

Cassian’s paranoia never eased. He accused me of betrayal over the most innocent gestures smiling at another man, exchanging polite words at gatherings. Everything ended in punishment. His anger was always waiting, simmering beneath the surface, ready to burn.

The pity of the pack meant nothing. No one dared defy him. Cassian was the most dominant Alpha on the continent. Even the strongest bowed before him.

Six years into this nightmare of a marriage, I hosted yet another gala. It was supposed to be a celebration, but for me, it was another tightrope walk, where every word, every glance had to be perfectly measured.

Cassian’s gaze tracked my every move a silent warning, a constant shadow.

The event drained me, but it presented a rare window of possibility. Since my parents had been exiled, I’d lived in torment, not knowing if they were safe. I knew they were now under Alpha Arixen’s protection, but any attempt to reach them had failed.

Cassian dangled their safety over my head like a guillotine, tightening his grip whenever I showed resistance. If he felt slighted, even for a moment, he’d sever