Seren

"Where is Agatha?!"

No preamble, no introduction—Alpha Caius simply stood before me and spoke.

He wore formal attire befitting a groom, his alpha pheromones crashing over me like a tidal wave, carrying anger and the murderous intent of betrayal, threatening to drown me completely.

His fury was so justified, so pure.

Around us, guests who had come for the wedding and coronation ceremony hadn't fully dispersed yet. They clustered in corners like hyenas catching the scent of blood, whispering among themselves.

Tonight was supposed to be a night of joy.

Luna Agatha and Alpha Caius were to seal their destined bond under the full moon. The moment that sacred mark was placed, Caius would officially complete his succession, inheriting his father's position as the new Alpha of the Blackstone Pack.

And I, as Agatha's maid of honor, stood beside where she should have been standing, in this carefully arranged sacred space, waiting for this evening that should have been written into our pack's history to officially begin.

Then, beyond anyone's expectations, the bride vanished.

Like a gust of wind, like a wisp of smoke, she left this entire carefully constructed stage, along with everyone's expectations and dignity, for all present to face in bewildered confusion.

And I, having followed and served her throughout the day, naturally became the target of everyone's scrutiny, the only lead in their search for answers.

"I don't know," I said, my voice sounding smaller than I'd expected, so insignificant in this vast hall.

Caius's eyes gleamed dangerously in the dim light, the golden insignia pressed against his broad chest like a crown, once symbolizing happiness and power, now nothing but the cruelest irony.

"You don't know," he repeated my words in a low growl, each syllable like ice shards squeezed through clenched teeth. "Agatha has been with you almost every day for a month. You've witnessed her every expression, heard her every word, and you're telling me you don't know?! Are you too stupid to even lie properly?!"

He stepped forward, and I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"I really don't know." I shook my head, desperately wanting to retreat, but found my legs heavy as lead.

"SEREN! Tell the Alpha everything!"

My father Garrick's voice lashed out from the side like a whip against my nerves, carrying that familiar tone of reproach I'd known since childhood—whatever happened, it was always my fault.

But this time, even if I wanted to take responsibility, I didn't know where to begin.

My silence made the whispers in the hall grow clearer, partly because they weren't bothering to lower their voices, as if I didn't deserve the dignity of respect.

"Of course she's lying." A woman's voice.

"What's surprising about that? Her mother was a mistress—she's probably used to this sort of thing." Another voice chimed in, dripping with malice.

"Exactly. I don't think Agatha ran away on her own." This voice was more deliberate, loud enough for everyone to hear clearly. "Who knows if she's already... met with some accident. And to think Agatha treated her like family! Classic—bite the hand that feeds you."

The earlier comments I could ignore—I was used to them, after all.

But... good to me? Had Agatha, my half-sister, really been good to me?

Agatha hated me. This was an open secret throughout the pack.

She hated my existence, hated that we shared the same blood, hated that every day I reminded everyone of our father's betrayal.

She never concealed this disgust, never needed to find reasons for it. My simply being here, breathing the same air as her, was reason enough for her hatred.

But a month ago, she had stood at my door, her eyes carrying something almost like pleading, saying: "Seren, I want you to be my maid of honor. We're sisters, aren't we?"

Then came an entire month where she was suddenly incredibly kind to me. She took me to the finest tailors to try on dresses, brought me to the moonlight gardens to see the flowers that would be used in the wedding, sometimes sitting in my quarters until late, talking about the future, about dreams.

Sometimes she would even take my hand of her own accord, speaking to me in that tone of sisterly affection I'd longed for eighteen years.

I wasn't without confusion, but I thought... I thought maybe she'd simply grown up, maybe she was just nervous about the approaching wedding and needed companionship, maybe she had finally acknowledged that we were blood-related sisters—

Until this moment, standing in this brilliantly lit yet ice-cold hall, pinned in place by everyone's suspicious gazes like nails, I finally understood.

I was nothing more than a carefully chosen scapegoat.

She had planned her escape for tonight all along. She knew someone would come asking questions, and she knew no one would believe my testimony.

So she spent a month weaving this web, using intimate embraces and shared secrets to make me the most conspicuous, most compromised person by her side.

And I had actually believed, foolishly, that it was the beginning of happiness...

"Enough! I want to hear from her!"

Caius's voice exploded again like thunder, instantly silencing all the whispers in the hall.

He walked toward me, each step carrying deadly menace. I instinctively retreated half a step, but my back hit the column behind me, the cold marble pressed against my spine with nowhere left to retreat.

"Last chance. Tell me where she is," he said.

I looked up at him, trying to keep my voice from trembling, but the words still spilled brokenly from my lips: "Caius, I really don't know, I swear I—"

His hand moved.

I barely had time to blink before his long, powerful fingers were around my throat.

Not immediately applying pressure, just hovering there dangerously, demonstrating the possibility he could choose to tighten his grip at any moment. I could feel the warmth of his palm, could hear my own heart pounding violently.

"Speak, or die!"

Terror flooded over me like a tide, my heart skipping a beat.

In that instant, I realized how close I was to death.

"Caius."

Another voice intervened, calm and low.

I recognized it—Alpha Aldric, Caius's father, the current Alpha.

He walked over, stopping beside Caius, not looking at me, speaking so quietly only Caius and I could hear.

"Many people are watching. Mind your behavior."

Of course, he wasn't here to save his subject, just didn't want his heir to become a public murderer.

Caius's hand trembled as he slowly withdrew it. He turned around slowly, his back to me, his voice returning to that bone-chilling calm:

"Take her to the the water cells. I'll interrogate her personally later."

"Yes!"

The surrounding warriors immediately sprang into action, their boots striking the marble floor with sounds particularly harsh in the silence.

Two large warriors approached me, roughly grabbing my arms, their fingers clamping down like iron vises, nearly crushing my bones.

But I couldn't go to the water dungeon! Once there, I'd never see daylight again! Absolutely not!

"No—" I struggled desperately, trying to wrench my arms from their grip, my nails breaking in the struggle.

"You have no evidence! You can't arrest me! You can't ignore the law!"

But no matter how loudly I screamed, no one was listening.

Everyone was enjoying the spectacle, watching my clownish struggles with mockery and satisfaction in their eyes.

Just then, something strange exploded in my mind.

Not an external sound, but something from the depths of my own soul, from that primal corner never before touched, clear and deafening, louder than all the voices in the hall combined—

"MINE."

I froze in place, struck as if by lightning.

That voice wasn't mine. Or rather, it was both mine and not mine—it came from something that had been sleeping deep in my bones, something I'd never known existed, suddenly opening its eyes like an ancient beast awakening.

My wolf.

I had always thought I had no wolf—for eighteen years everyone had told me so. Impure bloodline, unable to shift, worthless, ominous, abandoned by the Moon Goddess.

I had accepted this cruel reality, accepted my fate of never being able to transform.

But that voice was crashing wildly in my head, each impact like something that had slept for eighteen years being forcibly dragged from the darkness.

MINE.

What was that voice claiming?

I forced myself to look up, following that strange instinct, letting my gaze fall on Caius's retreating figure.

No.

Impossible.

The one I'd waited so long for—how could it be him?