The laugher didn't stop.
It echoed through the walls, deep and old, like it had been waiting for this moment.
Raven pushed Sera behind him, his mark burned hot on her neck. It beat as if it had its own heart.
Eveline stepped back, her hands shaking. "He's awake. You've woken him."
"Who?"
Rave growled. "You know who," she whispered.
"The one who sleeps under the keep. The one whose blood runs in her veins."
Seraphina's skin turned cold. "My father."
The air cracked. The mark flared again as red lines crawled up her neck.
Raven gasped as pain flared through him.He stumbled and grabbed the table. "What's… what's happening?"
Eveline's voice shook. "The mark ties you together. Her soul to yours. Her pain to yours. Her blood to your curse."
Raven's head dropped. He felt it. Fire moving under his skin, climbing his spine. Every beat of her heart throbbed inside his chest too."Undo it," he growled. "Now."
Eveline shook her head. "You can't break a soul bound, Alpha. Not by choice."
Seraphina reached him but he caught her wrist before she could reach him. His eyes burned gold.
"Don't."
"Raven, please, I didn't…"
"You didn't think," he said harshly. "You should've run when you had the chance."
She flinched. "And leave you?"
"Before you kill me."Her heart cracked. The words cut deeper than any blade. Eveline said nothing.
She turned to her shelves, grabbing jars and powders. Her lips moved fast, whispering a spell.
But Seraphina saw it in her eyes. Eveline wasn't trying to save them.
She was planning something else.That's night, fever came. Raven's body burned hot.
His skin shimmered with heat and shadow. Faint red light ran through his veins.
Each time the mark pulsed, his body went stiff with pain.
Sera sat by his side. She pressed a cold cloth to his chest, whispering words she no longer believed.
He drifted between sleep and nightmare. Every rough breath he took hurt her too. It felt like they shared the same heartbeat, and the same pain.
When she tried to move away, he felt pain like a part of him was being torn from him. "Stay," he rasped. "I am," she whispered.
His eyes opened, gold fading to black. "If I loose control, you run."
"I won't,"A weak smile touched his lips.
"You're stubborn."
"You like that," she said.
"Too much."
The air grew thick and hot. His hand found her wrist, pulling her close until her palm rested on his chest.
His heart raced, wild and uneven.
"Seraphina," he said her name like prayer. "That mark… it's driving me mad."
"I feel it too."
His thumb brushed her jaw. "You shouldn't.""But I do."He leaned in, their forehead touching.
The mark throbbed again… warm and heavy with longing.Her breath trembled. "Raven…"
He groaned softly. "Don't say my name like that."
Eveline's voice cut through the heat. "Stop this madness before it eats you both alive."
Seraphina turned. "You said you can't break it.""I said it can't be broken by will," Eveline said coldly. "But blood can break anything. Even fate."
Raven's eyes went dark. "You're not killing her.""I'll do what must be done,"
Eveline said. "If not, he'll take both your souls when the blood moon rises."
Raven's claw slipped out, sharp and ready. "Try it… and I'll tear down the star before you touch her."
Seraphina couldn't breathe. The room smelled of fear and herbs.
Eveline turned away, her robes whispering like smoke. "You think you know what love is, Alpha. But what you feel now isn't love… it's hunger and the mark feeds on that."
"Then let it feed," Rave said through his teeth.
"I'll control it."
"Like you controlled your curse?"He froze.
Eveline's voice softened.
There was pity in her eyes. "You were born cursed, Raven. The moon marked you before you even breathed. That's why you became Alpha. Power built from ruin. But now…" she looked at Seraphina. "Now your ruin has a heartbeat."
Seraphina's throat tightened. "Please. Stop talking as if I'm poison."
Eveline didn't turn around. "You are, child. You just don't see it yet."
That night, Seraphina stayed beside Raven anyway. His fever came and went.
He whispered her name between groan and curses. Sometimes she felt his memories.
Battles, pain, loss. Sometimes she saw herself through his eyes; fragile, bright, and dangerous.And she couldn't walk away.
Not when even the moon turned red again.
At dawn, she found him kneeling in the courtyard half-shifted, claws deep in the ground.
"Raven!" She cried running toward him.He lifted his head. His eyes glowed gold, wild, touched by the mark's light. "Stay back."
"You're hurting!"
"I want to," he growled. "If I don't, I'll hurt you instead."Her chest tightened.
Fear wanted to rise, but anger did first."Then let me hurt with you!" She shouted.
He went still and looked up at her trembling as if something was breaking inside of him.He reached for her hand. "You shouldn't say things like that.""Why not?"
"Because I'll believe you."The bond flared again, stronger this time. Sera's sight went blurry with flashes of his pain, his curse, his loneliness… all running through her like fire.
Raven groaned as his back shook. She held him closely and the light faded.
Eveline watched from the shadows, the symbols she had drawn on the floor glowed faintly. "This will end before the blood moon rises," she whispered.
"Even if it costs her blood."But Seraphina heard her. "What are you doing?"Eveline froze. "You shouldn't be awake."
"I'm not weak anymore," Seraphina said softly. "I can feel your lies.Raven moved, still half asleep, but she held him tighter. "You said you wanted to help. You only wanted me dead."
Eveline's eyes filled with tears. "You don't understand, child. If you live, the world burns."
"Then let it burn."Her voice shook the room.
The candles blew out and shadows rose along the walls.
Raven's eyes snapped open. "Enough!"He stood up, putting himself between them. "You'll touch her only if I'm dead."
Eveline's face went cold. "Then so be it."She lifted her hand and the symbols on the floor flared white. Light burst through the room.
Raven roared, the sound ripped through the air as if it was thunder.
The spell struck his chest first, burning through his skin, bone, and soul. Seraphina screamed, she felt it too.
As if their pain was one. "Stop!" She cried, reaching out as her hands glowed red and gold. As the mark of her neck glowed bright, the spell shattered.
Eveline stumbled back, eyes wide. "You… you broke the rune..."
Sera stood, her eyes glowing red. You tried to kill me. But the bond made us stronger."
Raven's arm came around her waist, holding her up. His chest rose and fell fast as blood ran down his side.He glared at Eveline, his voice low. "You'll never touch her again."
Eveline backed away whispering. "You've doomed us all."Raven looked down at Sera and brushed her cheek with his shaking hand. "If this is doom, then I'll face it with you."
The mark on her neck pulsed softly, then steady then a shared heartbeat. But deep underneath Duskfall keep, in the dark halls where the old king slept, something moved.
A whisper rose, cold as ice. Blood answers to blood.
The moon will take what it's owed.
Seraphina shivered, Raven's grip tightened around her. Outside, thunder rolled again.
The Blood Moon was coming.