SERA'S POV
My hands wouldn't stop shaking as I stood in the bathroom, staring at my reflection.
One hour. He'd given me one hour to "prepare" for the wedding night like it was a dental appointment.
I splashed cold water on my face, trying to calm down. This was my wedding night. It was supposed to be special—candles and soft words and gentle touches. The mate bond should make it perfect.
But Kael had made it clear this was business. Contract terms to fulfill.
Still, maybe when we were alone, really alone, the bond would change things. Maybe he'd finally let his walls down and see me as his mate instead of an arrangement.
I had to believe that. Had to hope.
The clock on the wall said my hour was almost up. I changed into the simple nightgown I'd brought, my heart hammering. This was terrifying, but also my first real chance to connect with him. To show him I could be what he needed.
A knock on the door made me jump.
"Come in," I said, voice barely a whisper.
Kael entered the bedroom and my breath caught. He was still in his dress shirt and pants, looking devastating and completely cold. His golden eyes swept over me once—clinical, assessing—then looked away.
Like I was nothing.
"This shouldn't take long," he said flatly. "Have you ever—"
"No." My face burned. "I've never... you're my first."
Something flickered in his eyes, but it vanished before I could identify it. "Understood. It'll be easier if you just lie down and try to relax."
Easier? He made it sound like a medical procedure.
Maybe once we start, the bond will make it different, I told myself desperately. Maybe he'll finally feel what I feel.
I lay down on the bed, my whole body trembling. Kael approached with the enthusiasm of someone filing paperwork. He didn't kiss me. Didn't whisper that I was beautiful or that everything would be okay.
He just... began.
It hurt. Not just physically, though that was bad enough. But emotionally—the coldness in his touch, the way he avoided my eyes, the mechanical efficiency of every movement. This wasn't making love. This was him fulfilling contract terms.
I bit my lip hard, trying not to cry out. Trying to be good enough, strong enough, whatever he needed me to be.
The mate bond screamed between us, begging him to stop, to slow down, to at least pretend he cared.
He ignored it.
When it was over, he pulled away immediately. I lay there bleeding and broken while he stood up and straightened his clothes like nothing had happened.
"That should be sufficient," he said, already reaching for his phone. "We'll repeat as needed until you conceive. The contract specifies an heir within the first year."
Tears burned my eyes. "Kael—"
"What?" He still wasn't looking at me.
"Don't you feel anything?" My voice cracked. "The mate bond—"
"Is a biological reaction. I've already explained this." He checked his messages, his face illuminated by the screen. "You should clean yourself up. There are towels in the bathroom."
He walked toward the door.
"Wait." I sat up, ignoring the pain, ignoring how small I felt. "Are you really just going to leave?"
"We've fulfilled the contract requirement for tonight. There's no reason for me to stay."
"But I'm your wife. Your mate—"
"You're a contractual obligation." His voice was ice. "The sooner you accept that, the easier these three years will be."
He left, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.
I sat alone in the dark, blood on the sheets, tears streaming down my face. The fairy tale I'd been clinging to died in that moment. Really, truly died.
Kael didn't want me. Would never want me. The mate bond meant nothing to him.
I was just a transaction.
A sob escaped my throat, then another. I curled into a ball, crying so hard I couldn't breathe. Everything hurt—my body, my heart, my soul. The bond in my chest felt like it was tearing itself apart.
How was I supposed to survive three years of this?
A crash from somewhere in the penthouse made me freeze.
Then another. Glass breaking. A heavy thud.
"Kael?" I called out, my voice shaking.
No response.
More crashing. Something that sounded like furniture being overturned. And then—a sound that made my blood run cold.
Growling. Multiple wolves, their snarls vicious and deadly.
Someone was attacking.
I scrambled off the bed, pain shooting through me. I had no wolf to defend myself. No way to fight. But I couldn't just hide here like a coward.
The door burst open.
But it wasn't Kael.
A massive gray wolf stood in the doorway, its eyes glowing with murderous intent. Blood dripped from its jaws. Behind it, I could see the destroyed living room—furniture shattered, walls gouged with claw marks.
And Kael's scent—blood and pain.
"No," I whispered. "Please, no."
The wolf stalked toward me, backing me against the wall. Its lips pulled back, showing teeth designed to kill.
"You're Kael Stormridge's mate," a man's voice came from the wolf's throat—pack telepathy. "Which means you're leverage. Come quietly and maybe we won't kill you. Fight, and we'll make you watch him die first."
"Where is he?" I demanded, terror making me bold. "What did you do to Kael?"
"The Alpha is currently... occupied." The wolf's laughter was cruel. "But don't worry. You'll see him again. Right before we use you to destroy everything he's built."
Another wolf appeared behind the first—white with ice-blue eyes. Female. She looked at me with pure hatred.
"This is the mate?" she sneered. "This pathetic, wolfless thing? And he rejected ME for HER?"
"Lyanna?" I gasped, recognizing those eyes.
"Surprise." Her smile was vicious. "Did you really think I'd let you take what's mine? Kael was supposed to choose me. But you ruined everything with your pathetic mate bond."
"You're working with them?" My mind reeled. "With the Nightshade Pack?"
"I'm working for myself. And when this is over, Kael will have no choice but to reject you and turn to someone who can actually help him." She moved closer. "Now be a good little womb and come with us. We have plans for you."
The gray wolf lunged.
I screamed, throwing my hands up uselessly—
And light exploded from my palms.
Silver light, bright as the moon, blasting the wolf backward. It yelped, crashing into the wall. Lyanna stumbled back, shock on her face.
I stared at my hands in disbelief. What just happened? I didn't have a wolf. I couldn't have power—
Pain ripped through my chest, sharp and agonizing. The curse. The Blackwood curse that had kept my wolf dormant my entire life.
It was breaking.
And something inside me was waking up.