POV: Serephina
"Mommy? Please... it hurts..."
Thaddeus's voice was so small, so scared, so real.
Corvus's massive wolf blocked my path, growling a warning. His thoughts pressed into my mind through our new bond: "It's bait. Lyssandra has his scent. They're using your son to trap you."
"I know." My silver wolf trembled, violet flames flickering brighter with each of Thaddeus's sobs. "I don't care."
"Serephina—"
"He's FIVE!" I snarled at my mate. "He's bleeding and alone and calling for his mother—even if he doesn't remember I am his mother. I won't leave him."
Corvus's obsidian eyes studied me for a heartbeat. Then he shifted to human form, kneeling to meet my wolf's gaze. "Then we go together. But smart, not stupid. Agreed?"
I shifted too, standing naked in the moonlight, power crackling over my skin. "Agreed."
We crept forward through the trees. The scent of blood got stronger—but wrong. Too much blood for a small cut. Too fresh, like it had just been spilled.
My wolf screamed warnings, but my heart screamed louder.
We found him in a clearing.
Thaddeus sat curled against a tree trunk, his wolf pajamas torn and bloody. His little face was streaked with tears. When he saw me, his ice-blue eyes—Kael's eyes—went wide.
"The sad lady," he whimpered. "From the bedroom..."
The words stabbed through me, but I pushed the pain down. I took one step toward him. "Baby, it's okay. I'm here to help—"
Silver nets exploded from the trees.
They dropped over both me and Corvus, wolfsbane-coated and burning. I screamed as the poison seared my skin. Beside me, Corvus roared in fury, his wolf trying to break free.
"Got them!" Garrett's voice shouted from the shadows. "Alpha, we got them both!"
Kael stepped into the clearing with twenty wolves at his back. Lyssandra followed, holding a remote control and smirking. She pressed a button.
The "blood" on Thaddeus vanished—a glamour spell. The tears stopped. My son stood up, perfectly fine, and ran to Lyssandra.
"Did I do good, Mommy?" he asked her eagerly. "Did I trick her?"
The world stopped spinning.
"You did perfect, sweetheart." Lyssandra kissed his forehead, her amber eyes locked on mine. "The dangerous wolf is caught now. She can't hurt us anymore."
They'd used him. Used my baby as bait. Taught him to lure me into a trap.
And he'd done it happily, because he thought I was the monster.
"Serephina." Kael approached the net slowly, like I was a wild animal. "This didn't have to happen. If you'd just stayed in the dungeon quietly—"
"You mean if I'd let you KILL me quietly?" I spat. The violet flames surged hotter, starting to melt through the wolfsbane net. "After you stole seven years of my life? After you used a fake bond to chain me? After you let that woman steal my son?"
Thaddeus pressed closer to Lyssandra, frightened. "She's scary, Mommy."
Something inside me shattered all over again.
But this time, it didn't break me.
It enraged me.
"You want to see scary?" My voice dropped to a growl. "I am Serephina Thornecrown. Daughter of King Aldric and Queen Sevana. Heir to the wolf throne. And you just made the worst mistake of your pathetic lives."
The violet flames exploded outward.
The net disintegrated. The wolves nearest to me flew backward, yelping. Corvus broke free beside me, his dark silver wolf snarling with equal fury.
Kael shifted immediately, his black wolf larger than normal but nothing compared to my new form. His alpha command tried to force me down: "SUBMIT!"
I laughed.
"You're not my alpha, Kael." I let my royal command roll out—ancient and absolute. "You never were. KNEEL."
Every wolf in the clearing crashed to the ground. Legs buckling. Necks baring. Unable to resist the instinct that recognized true royalty.
Even Kael, with all his alpha strength, hit the dirt hard.
Only Lyssandra remained standing, protected by some kind of magic amulet around her neck. She grabbed Thaddeus and backed away, eyes wild.
"Stay away from us, you monster!"
"Monster?" I stalked toward her, flames dancing up my arms. "You stole my son. Poisoned him against me. Used him as BAIT. And I'm the monster?"
"You're Thornecrown!" Lyssandra shrieked. "Your kind destroyed packs! Killed thousands! The Council made your bloodline illegal for a reason!"
"No." Corvus's voice was cold as death, standing at my side. "The Council made her bloodline illegal because she's more powerful than all of them combined. Because royal blood can't be controlled by petty alphas playing politics."
I was close enough to Lyssandra now to see the fear in her eyes. Close enough to take back my son.
"Thaddeus," I said gently, trying to keep the flames low. "Baby, I'm your real mommy. The one who gave birth to you. The one who almost died bringing you into the world. Remember? Try to remember my voice..."
I started singing—the lullaby I'd sung to him every night before Lyssandra took over.
"Silver wolf beneath the moon, violet flames that bloom too soon, close your eyes and rest your head, Mommy's here beside your bed..."
Thaddeus's eyes went unfocused. Something flickered across his face—confusion, recognition, memory.
"I... I know that song," he whispered. "Someone used to... before Mommy..."
"That was me," I breathed. "That was always me, baby."
"ENOUGH!" Isolde's ancient voice cracked like a whip.
The old woman appeared at the clearing's edge, power radiating off her in sickening waves. Behind her stood fifty more wolves. An entire army.
"You've revealed yourself now, Thornecrown heir," Isolde hissed. "Every pack will know what you are. Every alpha will hunt you. You cannot win this war."
"Watch me." I pulled Corvus close, our bond flaring. "We're leaving. Try to stop us, and I'll burn this entire territory to ash."
Isolde smiled that terrible smile. "You won't. Not with your precious son still here."
My heart stopped.
"That's right." Lyssandra clutched Thaddeus tighter, the boy looking terrified and confused. "You leave, we keep him. You stay, we kill you. Choose, Luna."
The word was pure mockery.
Corvus's growl rumbled through our bond: "We can't fight fifty wolves and protect the cub. Not yet. You're too newly awakened."
He was right. I knew he was right.
But that was my baby.
"I'll stay," I heard myself say. "I'll surrender. Just don't hurt him. Please. He's innocent in all this."
"Serephina, no—" Corvus grabbed my arm.
"I won't let them hurt my son." I met his obsidian eyes, willing him to understand. "Even if he doesn't remember me. Even if he thinks I'm the monster. I won't."
Kael shifted to human form, still on his knees from my command. "Surrender yourself to the Council. Face trial. If you're found innocent—"
"She'll be found guilty and executed," Isolde interrupted flatly. "But at least the boy will be safe. That's what matters to you, doesn't it, child? Always the boy."
It was. Moon Goddess help me, it was.
I stepped forward, ready to offer my wrists for chains—
A new voice, ancient and powerful and female, echoed through the clearing:
"The cub is not there, little queen."
Everyone froze.
A massive ethereal wolf materialized beside me—violet flames for fur, eyes like purple starlight, radiating power that made even Isolde stumble backward.
"What—" I breathed.
"I am Morvana. I served your mother, your grandmother, your bloodline for a thousand years. And I'm here to tell you: that child they hold is not your son."
The world tilted.
"What do you mean?" My voice cracked.
Morvana's ancient eyes locked onto Thaddeus—and her lip curled back in disgust.
"That is a changeling. A magical copy. Your real son was taken three days ago."