KADE'S POV
The mate bond explodes back to life.
I gasp, dropping the papers I'm holding. My hand flies to my chest where piano, not pain feeling floods through me. The bond. The bond that died three months ago when Sera
No. That's impossible.
Kade? Vivian looks up from the couch. What's wrong?
I can't speak. Can't breathe. The bond is alive. Pulling me. Screaming at me that my mate is
She's alive, I whisper.
What? Who's
But I'm already running.
My wolf roars inside my mind for the first time since Sera died. He's been silent, grieving, broken. Now he's awake and furious and desperate.
MATE! FIND MATE!
I burst out of the Alpha house and shift mid-run. My wolf takes over, following the bond like a rope pulling us toward the forest.
Toward Sera's grave.
Pack members scatter out of my way. Someone shouts my name, but I don't stop.
The bond gets stronger. Hotter. More desperate.
Then I see them.
A dozen patrol wolves kneeling in the forest clearing. Not sitting. Not bowing. Kneeling. Like they physically can't stand up.
And in the center, standing over the disturbed earth of her grave
Sera.
But not Sera.
I skid to a stop and shift back to human, my brain trying to process what I'm seeing.
She's taller. Stronger. Her silver-white hair seems to glow in the blood moon's light. Her eyes Moon Goddess, her eyes they burn pure silver. And above her head, floating like its part of her, is a crown made of moonlight and shadows.
Power rolls off her in waves so strong I can taste it on my tongue.
Sera? My voice comes out broken.
She turns those glowing eyes on me, and I feel like I'm being seen through. Judged. Found wanting.
That's Queen Sera to you, Alpha Thornridge, she says, and her voice is different. Harder. Colder. Filled with command that makes my wolf want to submit. And you're trespassing on my land.
My land. Not our land. Not the pack's land. Her land.
The bond screams at me to go to her. To fall at her feet and beg forgiveness. To do anything to make that coldness leave her eyes.
You died, I choke out. I buried you. I felt the bond break
You felt what you wanted to feel, she interrupts. Freedom from the mate you didn't want.
Each word is a knife. That's not Sera, please
I died for you. Her voice could freeze fire. I threw myself in front of a silver blade to save your worthless life. And do you know what my last thought was?
I can't speak. Can't move.
That maybe, if I saved you, I'd finally be enough. She laughs, and it's the cruellest sound I've ever heard. But I was wrong. I died for you once, Kade. I won't make that mistake again.
You ARE enough! The words rip out of me. You were always
Enough for what? she snarls, and her power flares. The kneeling wolves whimper. Enough to reject? Enough to replace? Enough to watch marry someone else two months after my funeral?
Guilt crushes my chest. I was wrong. About everything. Sera, I
Interesting.
A new voice. Deep and commanding. I spin around as wolves emerge from the shadows. Huge warriors in formation. And leading them
Ryker Nightshade. Alpha King of the Northern Territories.
He's massive, radiating power that rivals my own. But he's looking at Sera like she's a prize he's just found.
So the lost Lunar Heir finally returns, Ryker says, moving past me like I'm not even there. His eyes are locked on Sera. I've been searching for you.
Sera's expression doesn't change, but I see her assess him. Calculate.
Have you? she asks.
The Moon Court has been corrupt for centuries. I've been waiting for the true heir to return and take back the throne. Ryker stops a few feet from her. I have a proposition for you, little queen.
I'm listening.
No. NO. I step forward. Sera, wait we need to talk
She cuts me off without even looking at me. We have nothing to discuss. You made your choice three months ago when you married your perfect Luna. I've made mine.
What choice? I demand, desperation making me reckless. You just came back! You can't
Can't what? Now she does look at me, and the contempt in her eyes makes me want to die. Can't leave? Can't choose someone who actually sees my worth? Can't move on from the mate who literally told me I was too weak to stand beside him?
Every word is truth. Every word destroys me.
I was wrong! I shout. I was a coward and a fool and I'm sorry
Your apology means nothing to me. She turns back to Ryker. You said you have a proposition?
Ryker smiles. My army. My resources. My political power. All at your disposal to reclaim the Moon Court throne.
In exchange for?
Rule beside me. Political alliance. Partnership.
No. Goddess, no. I feel the bond pulling me toward her, but she doesn't feel it. She severed it somehow. I'm feeling everything while she feels nothing.
Sera, please I try one more time.
She finally looks at me fully. You chose Vivian. Live with that choice.
Then she walks toward Ryker. Every step away from me feels like dying all over again.
Let's go, she tells Ryker. I want to hear more about this proposition.
Sera! I lunge forward, but Ryker's wolves block me. I could fight them. My wolf is screaming to fight them.
But Sera holds up one hand. Don't.
It's not a request. It's a command. And my wolf my Alpha wolf obeys. Drops his aggression. Submits.
Because she's not just my mate anymore.
She's a queen. A true royal. And her power outranks mine.
I watch, helpless, as she leaves with Ryker and his warriors. The bond screams in agony with each step she takes away from me.
Kade!
Vivian runs up, other pack members behind her. She's staring at Sera's retreating form, at the crown still glowing above her head.
What is she? Vivian demands, and I hear fear in her voice.
My mate, I whisper, my chest hollow. My queen. And I destroyed her.
Around us, pack members are murmuring:
The crown
She's the Lunar Heir
The true queen has returned
Vivian grabs my arm. This doesn't change anything. You're MY mate now. You married ME
The marriage means nothing, I say, still staring at where Sera disappeared into the trees. She's alive. The mate bond is alive. You were only ever a replacement.
Vivian's face goes white, then red with fury. But I don't care.
Nova appears, tears streaming down her face. She came back, she sobs. Sera came back.
And I lost her all over again, I whisper.
My phone buzzes. A text from an unknown number:
The queen has returned. The Moon Court will be reclaimed. Those who sided with the corrupt Council should start running. - R.N.
Ryker Nightshade. He's claiming Sera. Protecting her. Offering her everything I should have given her.
Then another text. This one makes my blood run cold:
Tell your wife she has 24 hours to leave Rain Valley territory. This land belongs to the Lunar Crown now. - Queen Sera Blackwood
She's taking my pack.
And I deserve it.