Abandoned I Became the Dragon Queen

They chose her over me, left me to die in the dark. But my mother's blood pulled me home. A dragon king gave me a crown. Now they come crawling back, and I owe them nothing. I was the alpha king's daughter, yet I chose to train under a human and became a vampire hunter. During a hunt, Elara and I were captured by Kane, the vampire king. Only Calen and Tobias came to save us. Out of respect for Valerius, you may take one girl; the other stays as my slave. In my desperate gaze, they chose Elara. Selena, I'm sorry. Elara won't survive here. You're stronger than she is. I watched them turn and walk away. I kept waiting for one of them to look back. No one did. Kane laughed, and his claws drove through my chest. As I was fading, a warmth surged through my body. The wound in my chest sealed itself shut, and everything went white. When I opened my eyes, I was lying in my old chambers in the palace. The wound on my chest was gone—not even a scar. It was my mother's doing. My mother was the moon priestess of our pack. When I was close to death, the moon mark she left in my body transported me back to the palace. My father, the Alpha King, was sitting by the bed, eyes dark with worry. Selena, stay home. Don't leave me again.

I went back to the Hunter's base and looked for them. I found them in the back garden. Kalen and Tobias were out on the lawn with Elara. Valeria sat a little apart, sharpening a blade. They all stopped when they saw me. Elara ran over barefoot. Selena, come look! Come look! She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the lawn. Valerius planted flowers everywhere. Aren't they pretty? Moonshadow flowers, hill to hill, field to field. They had forgotten. Moonshadow was the one thing I couldn't face. My whole body locked up. As Alara pulled me forward, my hands started shaking. I pulled back on instinct, and Alara went down. Celine, what is wrong with you? He was across the lawn in a heartbeat. He shoved me aside and swept Alara up off the ground. She was just trying to show you the flowers What did she do to deserve that Tobias dropped down beside Elara checking her leg not even looking at me Don't I wasn't watching where I was going You didn't mean it did you Celine I kept that lawn myself I cut it flat Elara had trained for years She didn't just fall but I was shaking too hard to say any of it.

I kept my eyes down so he wouldn't see them. fill. I've been with the hunters for ten years; I should put an end to this. He let it go. Valerius has waited 10 years for you. He has refused every match until now; he'll be glad. the day I come back. I will marry him. after he left. I picked up my silver blade from the stand by the window. Valerius had fought through a vampire's lair for three days to take that blade. He gave it to me in my third year with the hunters. I wore it every day after that, never letting it leave my side. Selina treats that day better than herself. It goes where I go, it breaks when I break. but I was done with the hunters now.

Apologize. Valerius's voice, flat and cool, from somewhere above me. He wasn't going to hear me out either. Calin didn't wait for me to answer. Are you angry we didn't pick you? The place was full of dark blood, Selena. Elara would have died. I wasn't exactly trained for it either. But you're fine. aren't you? Tobias still didn't look up. Nothing happened. Don't make it into something. Nothing happened. If my mother hadn't carved that mark into my blood, Kane would have drained me dry. There wouldn't have been enough left to find. I looked at Valerius, the man I had once believed in completely. Why didn't you come for me? Something moved across his face. Elara was poisoned by the bite; I had to treat her first. So that was it. With all three of them, I always came after Elara.

I dreamed of the night my mother died. I was 8 years old; the vampires came, and we fought back, but there were too many of them. My mother went down in front of me, her blood soaked into the moon shadow at her feet, turning it red. Valerius found me there, he had come to reinforce the battle line and stayed to clear the dead, he pulled me out and took me back to the Hunter's base. When I woke up, Moonshadow made me freeze. My vision went red, and my whole body shook. One look at those flowers, and I was back in that field every time Valerius took me on as his apprentice. He brought me to Kalen and Tobias, his two human students. She's new; look after her like she's your own sister. I knew humans feared werewolves, so I hid what I was. I learned to fight the way they fought and trained the way they trained, letting them think I was one of them. They were nice to me. They taught me every move, every technique, patient even when I was slow to learn. I was hurt only once. A vampire bat caught my shoulder and opened it up. Kalen locked himself in the training ground after that and didn't come out for months. Tobias went into vampire territory alone to. avenge me. Celine, we swear, we'll be better. Nothing will touch you again. Those years, we went everywhere together. I was never hurt again. Valerius never once blamed me for slacking off or missing training or complaining through every session. He just quietly tracked down rare medicines and kept building up my strength. I wrote to my father"I'm doing well here; they treat me like family. " I turned down Aurelius's proposal. I wanted to stay with the hunters forever—with Valerius, Kalen, and Tobias.

I swallowed the iron taste in my mouth, I grabbed my blade ready to hand it over, Elara made a small noise, Valerius, Salian. it hurts. Don't be hard on Selina She just got back. Her face had gone white and her brows pulled together She curled in on herself All three of them moved at once They got her up and carried her toward the main hall. Is the poison flaring up again? Easy, I'll cleanse her blood again. Their voices dropped away The chest wound that hadn't finished healing and the moon shadow I couldn't stop seeing brought me down hard I hit the ground Everything went dark.

Then came the day Elara arrived. we found her barely alive, I couldn't leave her. She'll heal up soon, then she'll move on Don't worry Selina, you're the only one for us. But when Alara recovered, Valerius took her on as his fourth apprentice. I went from being the youngest to being a senior; I smiled and welcomed her. "I'll protect you the way they always protected me. "Don't be scared, I'll make you honey cakes. But somehow the honey cakes I made for her turned out to have something in them that shouldn't have been there and when I knocked the blade away in a mission Elara still ended up with a wound she could show everyone One winter night Elara went to the training hall alone and drilled until dawn By the time Kalen and Tobias heard about it the story was that I had used my position to force her through brutal sessions. We looked after you all these years. I never thought you'd turn out this cruel. Selene. You've really let me down. The two who had treated me like brothers drifted away week by week. Valeria started taking her side, but the Hunter's base was still my home; they were still my family. Misunderstandings clear up. I believed that then. Kane took us, and they chose Elara. Valeria came back and never once checked on me. He planted Moonshadow across the whole back hill just to put a smile on Elara's face. He didn't wonder how I'd made it out alive.

I went after them as fast as I could. I was too slow by the time I reached the northern grotto. The lily was already out of the ground; Tobias had it in his hands, roots bare, white petals laced through with thin red threads, already going limp. Ten years of my blood, a drop at a time. Give it back! At that moment, two more figures came through the grotto entranceValerius, with Elara in his arms. Elara's face was tight with pain. She looked at the lily and shook her head. Don't take it. That belongs to Celine. Valerius gave it to her. He wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. His face was soft in a way I had never seen on him. Elara, one flower is nothing if it heals you. I was the one who found it; it was just sitting with Saluna, going to waste. I looked up fastValerius, composed, cold Valerius. I made one last tryValerius, I fed that lily ten years of my own blood! Are you really going to give it to her? He looked at me, disappointment in it, weariness, something close to irritation. When Alara's better, I'll find you a finer one. Selina, that's enough. The last thing holding me together let go; my fingers went slack, my palm where I'd broken the skin with my own nails dripped onto the stone floor. Valerius took the lily from Kalen's hands, knelt beside Alara, and pressed it to her lips. In an instant, it was gone, dissolved into her, a faint glow spread through her body. I'll take her back to rest. The rest of you, get some sleep. He swept his coat around and walked out with her Kalen stopped in the doorway He looked back at me, at my bleeding hand and my shaking legs. We spoiled you too much, that's the problem. Stop performing, competing with Elara like this; it's beneath you. Tobias left without a word—there was no reason left to stay.

I woke up, still on the back hill. By then it was deep into the night, and the flowers had all died, leaving nothing but ice and snow. I got up and walked back on stiff legs. The main hall was lit and warm. Figures moved through the windows, Valerius, Calen, Tobias, all three of them keeping a low company. I pushed open my own door, dark cold I had just laid down when footsteps came hard down the hall and the door swung open, Calen wind and snow blew in with him. Celine, the Moonheart Lily. I need it. The Moonheart Lily bloomed only in the moonlight; it could cure any poison. Valerius had brought it back on my birthday, just in time. Happy birthday, Celine! This one's from me. May nothing ever harm you. May you always be well. I had never used it. I kept it alive with a drop of my blood every morning and fed it moonlight, keeping it tucked away where only I knew. That was all behind me now. My throat ached. Kalen, that's my birthday gift from various. Elara isn't getting better, we've tried everything if the darkness takes hold it won't let go. The Moonheart Lily is the only thing left. He couldn't find it, he turned back. This isn't the time to be difficult She was still defending you today, you heard her yourself. Can you really just watch her fall? Elara didn't need the lily because the darkness was taking hold. She had been after it for a long time; she just needed an excuse, and here was Kaelin not seeing it. And if I say no... Selina! She's like a little sister to all of us. She was still standing up for you today, and you'd let her fall over one flower. How can you be this cold? Don't waste time talking; she'd keep it somewhere the moonlight reachesthe Northern Grotto.