Seraphina's POV
Run.
Every instinct screams at me to run. This is the Lycan King. The monster from every nightmare. The beast who slaughtered my parents in cold blood fifteen years ago.
Run. Run. RUN.
But my wolf won't listen.
Instead, she purrs.
The sound vibrates through my entire body, loud enough that I know he can hear it. Loud enough that there's no hiding what she feels.
What we both feel.
No. No, no, no—
"Mate." The word rumbles from deep in his chest, and it's not a question. It's a claim. "Finally."
"I'm not your mate." My voice shakes. I back up a step, then another. My bare feet catch on roots and stones, but I don't care. I need distance. Need space. Need to not feel this impossible pull in my chest. "You killed my parents. You're a murderer."
"I'm a king." He moves forward, matching each of my backward steps with predatory grace. "And I execute those who break my laws. Your parents were thieves, Seraphina. They stole from me."
"They were good wolves!"
"They were desperate wolves who made a fatal choice." His silver eyes pin me in place. "And they died knowing I would find you eventually. That I would protect you when they no longer could."
"Protect me?" Hysteria bubbles up my throat. "You want to protect me?"
"I want to claim you." He tilts his head, studying me like I'm a puzzle he's solving. "But first, I want you to stop running. You're bleeding."
I look down. He's right. My feet are torn up from running through the forest barefoot. Blood smears the ground beneath me.
I should care. Should feel the pain.
But I'm too numb. Too broken. Too overwhelmed by the golden-silver thread suddenly connecting my heart to the monster in front of me.
The mate bond.
Again.
How is this possible? I was just rejected by Kael hours ago. The bond should be gone. Dead. I shouldn't be able to form another one so quickly.
Unless...
"You're my second-chance mate," Theron says, reading my thoughts on my face. "The Moon Goddess gave me Arianna two hundred years ago. She was murdered. I thought I'd spend eternity alone." His voice drops to something almost gentle. "Then tonight, I felt you awaken. Felt your wolf call to mine across the territories."
"I didn't call to anyone."
"Your wolf did." He smiles, and it transforms his face from terrifying to devastating. "She's very vocal about wanting to come home with me. Something about 'finally, a real mate' and 'this one won't reject us.'"
Heat floods my cheeks. My wolf is saying that. Practically shouting it. Rolling around inside me like she's already claimed him.
Traitor.
"I don't care what my wolf wants." I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly aware I'm naked and alone with a male who could snap me in half. "You murdered my parents. Nothing else matters."
"Everything else matters." In one fluid movement, he shrugs off his coat and holds it out. "Put this on before you freeze."
"I don't want—"
"I can smell your blood, little wolf. I can hear your teeth chattering. And I can feel through our bond that you're in pain." His jaw tightens. "Your former mate rejected you tonight. Publicly. Cruelly. The pain of a severed bond can kill weaker wolves."
How does he know about Kael?
"I know everything that happens in my territories," he answers my unspoken question. "Including when a future Alpha is stupid enough to reject his fated mate in front of three hundred witnesses." His eyes flash with something dangerous. "He'll pay for that. They all will."
"I don't need you to fight my battles."
"No. You need me to teach you how to fight them yourself." He steps closer, close enough that I can feel the heat radiating off his body. "You're powerful, Seraphina. More powerful than you know. But power without control is just chaos waiting to happen."
He's so close now I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. This close, I can see they're not just silver—they have flecks of gold, like starlight.
"Why?" The word comes out broken. "Why would the Moon Goddess bind me to you? Why would she make my mate the man who killed my family?"
Something flickers across his face. Regret? Pain? It's gone too fast to tell.
"Perhaps," he says quietly, "because we're both intimately familiar with betrayal. With loss. With becoming something we never wanted to be." His thumb brushes my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn't know I'd shed. "Or perhaps because I'm the only one strong enough to protect you from what's coming."
"What's coming?"
"The wolves who suppressed your awakening. The ones who orchestrated your rejection. The conspiracy that's been working for decades to ensure you never found me." His hand cups my face, and against my will, I lean into the touch. "They know about you now, little wolf. They saw your power tonight. And they'll do anything to kill you before you can become what you were always meant to be."
"And what's that?"
His smile is sharp. Possessive. Absolutely certain.
"My Queen."
The words should terrify me. Should make me run screaming into the woods.
But my wolf preens. Purrs. Whispers yes, yes, YES.
"I can't," I breathe. "I can't be your anything. Not after—"
"After tonight, you have three choices." His voice goes hard, commanding. This is the Lycan King now, not the almost-gentle male who wiped my tears. "One: stay here and die of exposure, rogue attack, or the assassins already tracking you. Two: crawl back to Silver Creek and beg the pack that exiled you for scraps. Three: come with me. Let me show you the truth about your parents, your bloodline, and why you were worth suppressing for twenty-three years."
"That's not a choice. That's a threat."
"That's reality." He pulls his coat tighter around my shoulders. "I'm taking you to the Obsidian Citadel. You can fight me the entire way if it makes you feel better. You can hate me. Rage at me. Try to kill me." His eyes soften fractionally. "But you're coming with me, Seraphina. Because like it or not, you're mine. And I protect what's mine."
Before I can respond, he shifts.
His Lycan form is massive—twice the size of any Alpha wolf, with black fur and silver eyes that glow in the darkness. Ancient runes shimmer across his pelt, pulsing with magic I can feel in my bones.
He's terrifying.
He's magnificent.
He's mine.
No. Stop thinking that.
He lowers himself, clearly expecting me to climb onto his back.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," I say, even though my wolf is already pushing forward, eager to touch him.
The Lycan huffs—it sounds almost like laughter—and before I can move, he gently grabs the back of my coat with his teeth and lifts me onto his back.
"Put me down!"
He ignores me and starts running.
The world blurs. Trees whip past faster than should be possible. His power is intoxicating, overwhelming. I can feel it thrumming through the bond, calling to something deep inside me.
I should be terrified.
I should be fighting.
But I'm so tired. So broken. So done with everything.
And despite everything—despite the murder, the lies, the impossible situation—I feel safe.
For the first time since Kael's rejection, the pain in my chest eases. The bond with Theron wraps around the broken pieces of me like a bandage, soothing the raw edges.
I hate that it helps.
Hate that he helps.
We run for what feels like hours. Finally, massive gates appear through the trees—black iron carved with symbols that hurt to look at.
The Obsidian Citadel.
The gates swing open on their own.
Theron carries me through, past guards who bow their heads in submission, into a fortress of black stone that looks like it was carved from the mountain itself.
He shifts back to human in the courtyard. I slide off his back, clutching his coat around me.
"Welcome home," he says.
"This isn't my home."
"Not yet." He turns to a waiting female wolf—older, with kind eyes. "Take her to the Queen's chambers. Get her fed, bathed, and into proper clothes." Then to me: "Rest tonight. Tomorrow, we talk."
"I don't want to talk. I want answers."
"And you'll get them." His fingers tilt my chin up, forcing me to meet those impossible eyes. "But first, you need to understand something, Seraphina Ashwood."
"What?"
His smile is pure possession.
"You're not a prisoner here. You're not a guest. You're my mate, my future Queen, and the only female in two hundred years to make me feel anything besides cold rage." His thumb traces my bottom lip. "So yes, we'll talk tomorrow. We'll discuss your parents, your bloodline, and why Silver Creek worked so hard to keep us apart." He leans closer, his breath warm against my ear. "And then I'm going to teach you exactly how powerful you really are. How powerful we are together."
He pulls back, leaving me dizzy.
"Sweet dreams, little wolf."
The older female leads me away. I look back once and find Theron watching me with those silver eyes.
Even from across the courtyard, I feel the bond pulse between us.
Mine, my wolf whispers.
I force the thought away and follow the female into the castle.
But as I'm led through hallways of black stone and ancient magic, one question burns through my mind:
What truth about my parents could possibly make any of this okay?