Moonlit Vice Books / Relationships at the Start

The Alpha King's Claim: Relationships at the Start

A Painting Connects Serena to Absent Parents

Meet them in the first five chapters See the ebook edition

This opening note focuses on the first paragraphs of chapter 1. The free reading sample contains five complete chapters.

Relationships in the opening

A Painting Connects Serena to Absent Parents

Fantasy art reaches a guarded part of Serena that she associates with losing her parents, both painters themselves. Her purchase also contains a small act of care toward a shopkeeper facing bankruptcy: she refuses a discount so the woman receives the full price. These connections ground the uncanny events in memory and generosity, making the painting meaningful through Serena's existing attachments before its increasingly vivid presence begins to alter her experience of sleep and waking.

How do Serena's memories of her parents shape the meaning of giving the painting a home?

Read the scene in chapter 1