Sera's POV
Get down! Thorne shoves me to the floor as the window explodes.
Glass rains down everywhere. Lyssa screams. Outside, Council enforcers are circling the cabin like sharks.
Kael and Darius both shift instantly, their wolves bursting through their skin. Within seconds, two massive predators stand between us and the door.
There are twenty of them, Thorne reports, peeking through the broken window. Maybe more.
We can take them, Darius growls, his wolf's voice somehow still understandable.
Not without risking Sera, Kael's wolf responds.
Dr. Winters grabs my arm and pulls me toward the back of the cabin. There's an escape tunnel. We need to
COME OUT, TRUE LUNA! A voice booms from outside. Elder Cassandra offers mercy if you surrender now!
Mercy, I spit. Right. They're going to kill me the second I step outside.
Actually, Dr. Winters says quietly, they'll probably dissect you first. To understand how your power works.
My stomach turns.
The enforcers start pounding on the door. Wood splinters. The whole cabin shakes.
Go! Kael barks at Dr. Winters. Get her out through the tunnel!
But before we can move, silver canisters crash through the remaining windows. They hit the floor and start spewing silver smoke deadly to werewolves.
The smoke burns my lungs instantly. I can't breathe. Can't see. The silver is in the air, poisoning all of us.
Lyssa collapses beside me, choking. Thorne falls to his knees. Even Kael and Darius stagger, weakened by the silver gas.
We're all going to die here.
No.
That power inside me surges up, angry and protective. Without thinking, I grab onto it and push.
STOP!
The command in my voice is so strong that everything freezes. The enforcers outside stop pounding. The silver smoke stops spreading, hanging in the air like it's been paused.
Every wolf for a hundred yards drops to their knees in submission.
Including Kael and Darius.
The power drains out of me and I collapse, but Thorne catches me before I hit the floor. The smoke starts moving again, but slower now.
How you Lyssa did gasps.
No idea, I wheeze. But it won't last. We need to go. Now.
Dr. Winters helps me to my feet and we all stumble toward the back room. Thorne rips up the floorboards, revealing a dark tunnel underneath.
Move! Kael orders, still in wolf form.
We climb down one by one. The tunnel is narrow and dark and smells like dirt, but it's better than being captured. We run hunched over, following Thorne's lead through the darkness.
Behind us, I hear the enforcers breaking into the cabin. Shouts. Destruction.
But we're already gone.
We emerge from the tunnel half a mile away, coughing and covered in dirt. The silver smoke clings to all of us, making everyone weak and sick.
That won't hold them long, Darius says, shifting back to human form. We need to keep moving.
To where? Lyssa asks. They found the safe house. They'll find us anywhere.
Not if we split up, Kael suggests, also human again.
No. The word bursts out of me. We're stronger together.
Both Alphas look at me in surprise.
The power works better when you're both near me, I explain. I felt it. When you're close, I'm stronger.
The bond connection, Dr. Winters says, understanding dawning on her face. Of course. You're drawing power from them through the mate bonds, even incomplete ones.
Which is exactly why she needs to complete them, Thorne adds bluntly. No offense, but you're all going to die if you don't.
I'm not completing anything! I snap.
The words hang in the air.
Kael's face goes carefully blank. Darius looks away, jaw clenched.
Sera Dr. Winters starts.
No! You want me to bond myself forever to him? I point at Kael. To the Alpha who signed my parents' death warrant? Who made me a slave for eight years?
Kael flinches like I've hit him. Good. He should feel bad.
And you, I turn to Darius. Your father killed Kael's brother and started a war that destroyed hundreds of lives. Your whole pack are savages who raid and kill for sport!
We're not Darius starts, but I cut him off.
I don't care! I don't want this bond, this power, any of it! I just want to be left alone!
I storm away from all of them, heading deeper into the forest. Nobody follows me.
I find a fallen tree and sit down, pulling my knees to my chest. Tears stream down my face, but I don't bother wiping them away.
This is all wrong. Everything about my life is wrong.
My parents are dead. I'm not even the person I thought I was. And I'm bonded to two Alphas who represent everything that destroyed my life.
The mate bonds pulse in my chest like second heartbeats. They're aching already, pulling at me to go back to Kael and Darius.
I ignore the pain.
Footsteps approach through the trees. I don't look up.
Can I sit? Kael's voice is quiet, careful.
Free country.
He sits on the other end of the log, keeping distance between us.
For a long moment, neither of us speaks.
Then Kael says, You're right.
I finally look at him. What?
You're right to hate me. I killed your parents. I made your life hell for eight years. I don't deserve your forgiveness. He stares at his hands. The evidence Marcus showed me seemed real. Signed confessions, secret meetings with Bloodmoon scouts, plans to sabotage our defences. I was nineteen and stupid and so angry about my brother's death that I wanted someone to blame.
His voice cracks on the last word.
I signed the execution order without questioning it. I trusted Marcus completely because he was my best friend. And your parents died because of my stupidity. He finally looks at me, and his blue eyes are filled with pain. I can't undo that. I'll carry that guilt until I die. But I swear to you, Sera I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it right. Whether you complete the bond or not.
The honesty in his voice makes my chest tight.
Before I can respond, Darius appears from the other direction.
My turn? he asks Kael.
Kael nods and stands. I'll give you privacy.
He walks away, leaving me alone with Darius.
The Bloodmoon Alpha sits where Kael was, also keeping distance.
My grandmother was a True Luna, he says without preamble. Exactly like you. She could bond with three Alphas, command entire packs, had magic that made the ground shake.
I turn to look at him. What happened to her?
The Council executed her when I was five. Called her an abomination. My father watched them do it and didn't fight back because he was afraid. Darius's hands clench into fists. That's why I killed him when I was old enough. Not just because he was a brutal Alpha, but because he was a coward who let them murder my grandmother.
I'm sorry, I whisper.
Don't be sorry. Be smart. He looks at me with those intense amber eyes. The Council fears power they can't control. They'll hunt you until you're dead, just like they did to her. The only way you survive is by being stronger than they are.
By completing the bonds.
By accepting what you are. True Luna. Our mate. Your parents died protecting this secret, Sera. Don't let their sacrifice be for nothing.
He stands and walks away, leaving me alone again.
I sit there as the sun sets, thinking about everything they said.
Eventually, I make my way back to the others. They've set up a temporary camp. Dr. Winters has treated everyone's silver exposure. Lyssa gives me a small smile but doesn't push.
You can have the tent, Kael says, gesturing to the only shelter. We'll keep watch.
I nod and crawl inside, exhausted.
But sleep won't come.
The mate bonds are screaming now, burning in my chest. They want me to complete them, to stop fighting, to give in.
Every minute I resist, the pain gets worse.
By midnight, I'm curled up in a ball, gasping through the agony. It feels like my heart is being ripped in half.
Through the tent fabric, I can hear Kael and Darius both groaning. They're in just as much pain.
The bonds are trying to force us together.
And maybe Dr. Winters was right. Maybe rejecting this will kill all three of us.
I close my eyes and reach for sleep that won't come.
That's when I feel it.
Something wrong. Something moving through the forest toward our camp.
Not Council enforcers.
Something worse.
My eyes snap open.
And I hear Marcus's voice outside the tent, cold and triumphant:
Hello, brother.