KADEN'S POV
I woke up to the impossible—I was alive.
My chest didn't hurt anymore. The bond sickness that had been killing me was gone. I could breathe without feeling like someone was stabbing my lungs.
I sat up fast, looking around. We were in ancient stone ruins covered in vines and moss. Silver symbols glowed on the walls—Omega markings from centuries ago.
Riley sat nearby, watching me with cautious eyes. "You're finally awake."
"How long was I out?"
"Three days."
Three days? "Where's Sera?"
"Exploring." Riley pointed toward a doorway. "She saved your life, you know. Accepted the mate bond to keep you from dying. Then teleported us here using some crazy ancient Omega magic she didn't even know she had."
The mate bond. I could feel it now—golden and strong, connecting me to Sera like a rope made of pure light. It pulsed gently in my chest, warm and right.
She'd accepted me. After everything, she'd chosen to save my life.
"Where is here exactly?" I asked, standing up. My body felt weak but healing.
"The Forgotten Sanctuary. Where ancient Omegas lived before they disappeared mysteriously two hundred years ago." Riley's voice dropped. "Sera says someone spoke to her when we arrived. Called her 'daughter.' But we haven't seen anyone since."
A chill ran down my spine. "That's impossible. This place has been empty for—"
"We know what's supposed to be impossible." Sera's voice came from the doorway. "We've been doing a lot of impossible things lately."
She walked in, and my breath caught. She looked different—stronger somehow. Her gray eyes glowed with silver light, and power radiated from her in gentle waves.
The mate bond sang between us, pulling me toward her.
But she kept her distance, staying near the doorway like she might run.
"You're awake," she said flatly.
"Thanks to you." I took a careful step forward. "Sera, you saved my life. You accepted the bond even though—"
"Even though I hate you?" Her voice was bitter. "Even though you made my childhood hell? Even though the only reason you care now is because fate forced you to?"
Each word hit like a punch.
"I couldn't let you die," she continued, her voice shaking. "My wolf wouldn't let me. But don't think that means anything changed. The bond is accepted because it had to be. Not because I forgive you."
"I know." My throat felt tight. "I don't expect forgiveness, Sera. Not after everything I did."
"Good." She crossed her arms. "Because you're not getting it."
Silence stretched between us, heavy and painful. The mate bond tried to pull us together, but Sera's walls were too high.
Riley cleared her throat awkwardly. "So... what's the plan? We can't stay here forever. Both packs will be looking for us."
"Let them look." Sera's eyes flashed silver. "I'm not going back. Not to Silvercrest, not to Bloodmoon, not anywhere that treats Omegas like property."
"They'll hunt you," I said quietly. "My father won't stop until he finds you. Neither will Darius. You're too valuable—"
"I'm not valuable! I'm a PERSON!" Her power exploded outward, making the ruins shake. "I'm so sick of everyone deciding what I'm worth! What I should do! Who I should be!"
The pain in her voice broke something inside me.
"You're right," I said, and she looked surprised I agreed. "You're a person. Not property, not a weapon, not a prize to be won. Just Sera. And you deserve to choose your own path."
"Really?" She laughed bitterly. "Then why are you here, Kaden? Because of the bond? Because your Alpha instincts say you need to protect me? Or because you actually care about what I want?"
The question hung in the air between us.
I could lie. Make up something pretty that she might want to hear.
But she deserved the truth.
"All of it," I admitted. "The bond makes me want to protect you. My Alpha instincts scream at me to keep you safe. But underneath that..." I took a shaky breath. "I care about you, Sera. The real you. Not the Omega power or the silver wolf or the mate bond. Just the girl who saved injured birds and sang at winter ceremonies and survived eighteen years of hell with her spirit intact."
Tears shimmered in her eyes. "You didn't care about that girl. You destroyed her."
"I know. And I'll regret it every day for the rest of my life." I fell to my knees, unable to stand under the weight of my guilt. "I was taught that caring was weakness. That showing emotion meant death. My father beat compassion out of me when I was eight years old. My mother died protecting me, and he blamed me for making her soft."
Sera's breath hitched.
"I learned to attack vulnerability before it could be used against me. And you were everything I'd been punished for being—kind, gentle, caring. So I destroyed you for it." My voice broke. "I destroyed the one person who could've taught me how to be human again."
"Kaden..." Riley said softly, but I kept going.
"I can't undo the past. I can't take back the cruelty or the pain or the years I stole from you. But I can promise you this—" I looked up at Sera with tears streaming down my face. "I will spend every day proving I've changed. Not because the bond says I should. Not because you're valuable. But because you deserve someone who sees you. Really sees you. And I finally do."
Sera stared at me, her face unreadable.
Then she turned and walked away without a word.
The bond ached as distance grew between us, but I didn't follow. She needed space. She'd earned the right to hate me.
Riley stood up. "I should go check on her."
"Riley, wait." I stopped her. "Thank you. For protecting her when I couldn't."
"I didn't do it for you." Riley's eyes were hard. "I did it because Sera's my best friend and she deserves better than how everyone's treated her. Including you."
"I know."
She left, following Sera deeper into the ruins.
I sat alone in the ancient sanctuary, feeling the mate bond pulse gently. Sera was close enough to feel but too far away to reach.
The story of my life.
My wolf stirred. *We should follow her. Protect her.*
*She doesn't want our protection.*
*Then what do we do?*
*We wait. And hope she gives us a chance to prove we've changed.*
But waiting was torture when every instinct screamed to go to her.
Hours passed. The sun set, making the silver symbols on the walls glow brighter.
Then I heard it—Sera's scream, filled with terror.
I ran toward the sound, my wolf taking over. The bond pulled me straight to her.
I found her in a circular chamber, Riley unconscious on the floor beside her. Sera stood frozen in the center, staring at something I couldn't see.
"Sera!" I grabbed her shoulders. "What happened?"
She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes. "The voice. The one that called me daughter. It showed me something."
"Showed you what?"
"The truth about what happened to the ancient Omegas." Her voice shook. "They didn't disappear, Kaden. They were murdered. Hunted down and killed because Alphas feared their power."
My blood ran cold. "That's impossible. The history books say—"
"The history books lied." Sera grabbed my arm, her nails digging in. "And Kaden... your family led the hunt. The Blackwood Alphas killed them all."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "No. My ancestors wouldn't—"
"Look." She pointed to the wall.
Images appeared in the glowing symbols—ancient Omegas being chased by wolves with midnight-black fur and amber eyes. Blackwood wolves.
My family had committed genocide.
"That's why your father wants to control me," Sera whispered. "Not to use my power. To make sure I never learn the truth about what his family did."
Before I could respond, the entire sanctuary shook violently.
"Someone's breaking through the wards," Riley gasped, sitting up groggily. "Someone powerful."
The wall exploded inward in a shower of stone and dust.
Alpha Dominic stepped through, fifty warriors behind him. His amber eyes—so like mine—blazed with fury.
"Found you," he growled.
But he wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at Sera with pure hatred.
"You shouldn't have come here, Omega," he said coldly. "This sanctuary should've stayed forgotten. And so should you."
He raised his hand, and I saw it—a blade made of pure silver, carved with ancient symbols. An Omega-killing weapon.
The same kind used to murder the ancient ones two hundred years ago.
"No!" I threw myself between them as he lunged.
The blade pierced my chest, missing my heart by inches.
Sera's scream was the last thing I heard before darkness took me.
But not before I saw my father's face.
And realized with horrible clarity—he'd aimed for my heart deliberately.
He'd just tried to kill his own son.