POV: Serephina
The dungeon wall exploded in a shower of stone and ancient magic.
Through the dust and debris, a massive wolf stepped into my cell. Dark silver fur. Eyes like liquid obsidian that glowed amber at the edges. Power radiated off him in waves that made my awakening flames look like birthday candles.
He was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.
He was also the voice that had spoken in my mind.
The wolf shifted mid-stride, bones cracking and reforming until a man stood before me. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Face carved from stone and shadow. Those obsidian eyes locked onto mine, and I felt it—the real mate bond, not the fake one Isolde had chained me with.
This was what the Moon Goddess intended. This burning, absolute, undeniable recognition.
"Mayreath," he breathed, dropping to one knee. "My queen. I've searched thirty years for you."
I stumbled backward, violet flames still crackling across my skin. "I don't—who are you? What's happening to me?"
"Corvus Nightshade." His voice was midnight and thunder. "Your family's sworn protector. And you, Serephina Thornecrown, are the last living heir to the wolf throne."
Thornecrown. The name Isolde had whispered with such fear.
Above us, alarms screamed through the pack house. Footsteps pounded. Voices shouted orders. They were coming.
"We need to leave," Corvus said urgently, rising. "Now. Before—"
"SEIZE THEM!"
Kael burst through the dungeon entrance with twenty wolves at his back. My husband—no, my jailer—looked at me with those ice-blue eyes, and for the first time in seven years, I saw genuine emotion there.
Terror.
"Serephina, whatever you think you're doing, stop." Kael's alpha command rolled over me, the same command that had made me bow my head a thousand times before.
It bounced off me like rain off stone.
My violet flames burned brighter.
"That's not my name anymore," I heard myself say. My voice sounded different—stronger, older, layered with power. "Serephina Varnoth died in this dungeon. You made sure of that."
"You don't understand what you are," Kael said, but his hands were shaking. "The Thornecrown bloodline is dangerous. Your kind destroyed packs, killed innocents, ruled through fear—"
"Liar!" The word exploded from me with such force that half his wolves dropped to their knees. "My parents were good. They protected packs. They created laws to keep wolves safe. And your grandmother murdered them for it!"
Isolde appeared behind Kael, her ancient face twisted with rage. "You were supposed to stay buried, child. The binding ritual should have kept you powerless forever."
"Should have." I smiled, and it felt like baring teeth. "But you made a mistake, didn't you? You created a false bond with Kael, but you couldn't erase a true bond. The Moon Goddess still had plans for me."
I looked at Corvus, who stood ready to fight twenty wolves to protect me.
"She sent me him."
Isolde's eyes widened. "No. The Nightshade line was—"
"Loyal to the Thornecrowns?" Corvus interrupted coldly. "Yes. Always. We survived your massacre, old woman. Waited. Watched. Knew one day the true queen would awaken." He glanced at me with something like reverence. "I just didn't expect her to be so magnificent."
The mate bond between us pulsed—strong, real, right. Everything my bond with Kael had pretended to be.
Kael saw it. His face contorted. "You can't leave, Serephina. You're still bound by pack law. Still my—"
"Your what?" I stepped toward him, violet flames dancing up my arms. "Your mate? That was fake. Your Luna? I was never anything but your prisoner. Your wife? You were rutting another woman in our bed while our son called her 'Mommy.'"
Something flickered in Kael's expression. Guilt? Shame? But it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"The Council will hunt you," he warned. "Every pack in the northern territories will want you dead. Royal bloodlines are forbidden—"
"Because you're scared of us." My wolf surged inside me, massive and silver and crowned with violet fire. "Because we're stronger than you. Because when we awaken, alphas like you become nothing."
I let my power flood the dungeon—true alpha command, royal-blooded and absolute.
Every wolf except Corvus crashed to their knees. Even Kael, with all his alpha strength, couldn't resist. He hit the stone floor hard, neck bared in submission, unable to fight the instinct that recognized royalty.
"I, Serephina Thornecrown, reject the false bond placed upon me." My voice rang with ancient authority. "I reject the Varnoth pack. I reject the name they gave me to hide what I am."
The invisible chains binding me to Kael snapped.
He gasped, clutching his chest. The false mate bond dissolving felt like fire in both our veins—but where it hurt him, it freed me.
Seven years of lies burned away in seconds.
Isolde struggled to her feet, power crackling around her own hands. "You think you've won, girl? You're one newly awakened royal against the entire werewolf world. We'll hunt you down. We'll kill you just like we killed your parents. You'll—"
"I'm done listening to you."
I raised my hand. Violet flames gathered in my palm—hot enough to melt stone, ancient enough to burn through any shield.
Corvus touched my shoulder gently. "Not like this, Mayreath. Killing her makes you the monster they claim your family was."
He was right. I knew he was right.
But oh, I wanted to watch her burn.
Instead, I smiled at Isolde. "Run. Tell every pack, every council, every alpha who thinks they can control me: the Thornecrown bloodline lives. And we're coming to take back everything you stole."
I turned to Corvus. "Get us out of here."
He grinned—wild and fierce. "With pleasure, my queen."
His wolf surged forward, even larger than before. I shifted too, my new silver wolf with violet-flame markings finally free. Together, we crashed through the remaining wall and ran into the night.
Behind us, Kael screamed orders. Wolves howled. The hunt began.
But I wasn't running scared anymore.
I was running home. To power. To truth. To the throne they'd stolen from my family.
And to the mate the Moon Goddess had chosen for me—not out of obligation, but out of destiny.
We'd made it maybe two miles when Corvus suddenly skidded to a stop. His wolf's ears flattened. A growl rumbled in his chest.
I scented it a heartbeat later.
Blood. Fresh blood. Familiar blood.
A small voice cried out in the darkness ahead: "Mommy? Mommy, where are you?"
Thaddeus.
My son was out here. Alone. Bleeding. Calling for—
"It's a trap," Corvus warned.
I knew. Of course I knew.
But that was my baby crying in the dark.
I ran toward the sound anyway.