Seraphina's POV

Marcus's roar shut everyone up instantly. He stormed through the crowd and yanked me by the arm with a grip that felt like it might snap my bones.

"Come with me," he gritted out between clenched teeth.

He dragged me off, dead silence following in our wake, and pulled me into an empty room nearby. The door slammed behind us with a bang from his boot.

He let go of me-but only to spin around and shove me up against the door. His tall frame boxed me in completely, his shadow swallowing me whole.

His amber eyes had turned bloody red, and the fury swirling inside them was somehow even more terrifying than when he shifted.

"What the hell were you thinking, Seraphina?" His voice trembled with barely controlled rage. He was trying to sound calm, but the anger bleeding through every word gave him away. "On my turf, in front of the entire tribe-you humiliate me and my guest?"

"Your guest?" I scoffed, staring him right in the eyes without a hint of fear. "Oh, Marcus, you mean that woman squirming around in the backseat of your Bentley like some desperate mutt in heat? Funny, most people just call that a mistress. Or, if we're being blunt-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, seizing my jaw in one hand, forcing my head up. The strength behind that grip was no joke-it felt like my bones might crack under the pressure.

"Maria has nothing to do with you," he growled. "Your only job is to play the perfect Luna-quiet and presentable."

"I was already doing that," I choked out, struggling to speak with his hand on my throat. "You and your mother dragged me into this circus to watch you perform. And now you want to act like I'm the one on trial? Really, Marcus? Where's your almighty Alpha judgment now?"

"What?!" He looked genuinely stunned for a second, eyes blinking in confusion. But then they softened. "If you leave now, I promise my mother won't bother you again. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said flatly. They thought they could humiliate me, then guilt me into pretending like none of it happened? Not a chance.

"What do you want, then?" Marcus scoffed. "Storming in like some lunatic, mad I didn't take you to the ball?"

I shook off his grip and stared him down. "Marcus, please. I couldn't care less whose bed you crawl into these days. I just want to know-why won't you cut the bond with me already? You could be with your little wolf girl without sneaking around."

That question made his face darken in an instant. "I've already answered that," he snapped. "You were a gift from the Moon Goddess. You're my mate-I'm not breaking that sacred bond."

"Sacred?" I let out a short, cold laugh that burned in my chest. "Did that word even cross your mind when you were fucking another woman?"

"That's enough, Seraphina!" His face turned crimson as he growled low with rage. "I'm done playing nice. If you dare bring this up again, I swear I'll throw your aging parents out of Crescent Pack without a second thought!"

My blood ran cold.

It felt like ice flooded every vein, the chill crawling up my spine, far more lethal than any silver blade.

He knew-he always knew. My parents were the only soft spot I had. Just ordinary werewolves in the tribe with no status, no strength. Without the tribe's shelter, they wouldn't make it through a single winter.

"You're a real piece of work, Marcus," I said, my voice shaking-not from fear, but from pure disappointment. In him. In myself. How did I ever fall for someone like this?

"I won't deny it if you're trying to push me," he said, eyes gleaming cruelly. "But if you test me, you'll get to watch your parents get torn apart by thugs."

Looking at his annoyingly handsome face, twisted with menace, my chest tightened like something invisible was squeezing my heart. I had thought he was just arrogant, maybe a player. But this... this was pure cruelty.

He wasn't just threatening me; he was straight-up using my parents' lives to force me to submit.

And judging by the way his lips twitched slightly upward, he was enjoying every second of my reaction. He lowered his tone, lacing it with a disturbingly fake gentleness.

"I love you, Seraphina. I just... screwed up like any alpha might. Stay. Stay and be my Luna, and I promise I'll be more careful moving forward. I won't even care what you do outside these walls-as long as you stay where I can see you. I want you to love me... like you used to."

He said he wanted me to love him.

While using my parents' lives to blackmail me. While tearing me apart. And still, with a straight face, he said he loved me.

This wasn't love. This was possession. He didn't want a partner-he wanted someone who'd bend to his every whim. He wanted the soul-deep connection of fated mates while still enjoying all the physical perks the outside world could offer. He wanted it all.

That rage-hot, destructive, unstoppable-erupted from deep inside me, burning every last thread of patience I had left.

Smack!

The slap rang out, loud and clear, as I poured every ounce of strength into it and slammed it right across his too-perfect face.

The whole world just... froze. Everything went dead silent in that moment.

Seraphina's pov

"Sera, this is the last time I allow you to challenge my authority." Marcus covered his cheek and walked away coldly.

After he left, the entire study seemed to freeze solid.

I leaned against the cold door, my body sliding down slowly until I collapsed onto the floor.

The hand that had slapped him was trembling uncontrollably now, my palm burning as if it still held the lingering warmth of his skin and the hardness of his bones.

The mark on the back of my neck was no longer a brand scorching my soul, but a dull ache - like a rusted nail deeply embedded in my spine, grinding against my nerves with every heartbeat.

Our mate bond, the tether once blessed by the Moon Goddess, was now worn to shreds.

It still connected us, still transmitted pain, but it could no longer carry love.

My whole body hurt as if my ribs were broken - is this how a human feels pain? I clenched my teeth. No matter what, even if it kills me, I am going to break my bond with Marcus.

For now, I just need to quietly wait for the remaining twenty-five days.

As long as I survive the thirty-day cooling period required by the Council, I can take Margaret's one billion dollars and leave this suffocating place with my aging parents.

Money can solve many problems.

It can buy my parents a peaceful old age in a new tribe, and it can buy me freedom and dignity.

I closed my eyes, sketching the blueprint of my future - the vast sky without Marcus - and my breathing loosened just a little.

I stood up, pushed open the study door, and headed straight toward the manor's back garden.

Margaret's greatest pride was this moonlit rose garden she tended with her own hands.

What if I pulled them all out? I imagined the moment Margaret saw it - her perpetually fake smile cracking apart, her teeth grinding - and a rush of petty revengeful pleasure surged through me.

I bent down and yanked up the first rose without hesitation, cooing dramatically at the flower, "Sorry, sweetheart, but I genuinely think a foul old hag like Margaret doesn't deserve you."

Then the second rose, the third... I even mimicked her clipped, pretentious tone as I uprooted them: "You lowly human, how could you ever deserve my son Marcus - ugh, eat shit. I'm pulling out every one of your roses today!"

In no time, the ground looked like a miniature rose earthquake. Petals and snapped stems mixed with dirt in complete chaos. Hands on my hips, I whistled at the disaster scene I'd created, feeling as light-hearted as if I were dancing in the center of a ballroom.

I didn't want to return to that banquet where I was unwelcome. I came out through the front gate - but damn it, my car had broken down, and I could only use my legs to walk down the mountain.

Behind me, the lights were still bright. My husband and his mistress were embracing in front of everyone, while I had been driven out of the banquet like a beggar.

I immediately sent Margaret a text message: [Wire me the one billion dollars right now! Otherwise I can't guarantee I won't tell Marcus the truth tonight!]

I hurried toward the front entrance, but the moment I stepped outside, nearly instantly, fat raindrops crashed down without warning, soaking me from head to toe. Perfect. Now I was a full-fledged mutt.

The Moon Goddess clearly wasn't my goddess. She wasn't on my side.

But I had barely taken a few steps when something felt wrong. A foul stench crawled into my nose.

Deep in my consciousness, unease paced restlessly. "It's fine, Seraphina. You're not far from the manor. No rogue wolves will show up here," I muttered to myself.

Because I had Marcus's mark, my senses were far sharper than before. I could smell the metallic sweetness of rain washing over soil and leaves. I could hear raindrops breaking on tree leaves hundreds of meters away. And then - the stench became sharper.

A rogue.

Terror climbed up from the soles of my feet, freezing my blood in an instant. I sped up, almost breaking into a full run.

Behind me, that malicious intent moved as well. Several dark shapes emerged slowly from the trees along the roadside. Their footsteps were nearly inaudible in the rain, but I could feel their mocking, predatory gazes sticking to my back.

"Look what we found - a little beauty, alone and soaking wet," a coarse voice called out in the rain, dripping with undisguised lust.

"This dress looks great on you. Too bad it's soaked. Must feel awful, huh? How about we help you take it off?"

My heart pounded wildly, threatening to burst out of my throat.

I bolted, the rain blurring my vision. My slippery skirt tangled around my legs, and I fell hard, scraping my palms and knees until they were raw and bloody.

They closed in slowly, unhurried, their greedy eyes roaming freely over the outline of my drenched body.

Despair washed over me like icy seawater.

I even thought - maybe dying here is better than going back to Marcus.

"Get away from me! You know who I am! I am Marcus's Luna!" I shouted at them.

"As rogues, we also watch the news. Your alpha already showed up at the banquet with the daughter of the Sun Fangs tribe's alpha."

"Stop talking to the pretty one. My dick is already hard," another rogue growled, lunging toward me -

At that moment, two blinding beams of light sliced through the rain, followed by an ear-splitting screech of brakes. A black sedan drifted sharply, stopping sideways between me and the rogues.

It was a Maybach, its lines sleek and powerful, like a black beast coiled and ready to strike in the storm.

The license plate was just a few simple numbers, but its arrogance was terrifying.

The rogues recognized the silver wolf-head emblem on the hood and scattered instantly.

I lay on the cold ground, trembling, gulping for air.

The back door opened, and a wave of scent - cedar, dry warmth - washed over me, instantly pushing back the night's chill.

A strong hand reached out toward me.

I lifted my head and met a pair of eyes as deep and cold as the far-northern winter night.

Alpha Sebastian, the alpha of the Shadow Wolf Pack - the strongest alpha. I remembered Marcus mentioning him several times, the only alpha he never dared provoke.

Why was he here?

He looked down at me, expressionless, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a dull inconvenience.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. Embarrassment, shame, helplessness... all of it coursed through me in a crushing wave.

"Do you need me to carry you into the car?" he finally asked, voice low and steady.

What?!

I shook my head. "Thank you. I'm not injured, just frightened."

I got into the car, and a coat was draped over me. I looked at Sebastian in confusion.

"I don't make a habit of having naked women in my car," he said.

I lowered my head and looked at myself. My dress was soaked, clinging to me completely. The outline of my breasts and the triangular patch between my thighs were painfully visible. My face flamed. "Thank you... I didn't realize..."

Alpha Sebastian only nodded before instructing the driver to head toward Marcus's alpha estate.

The entire ride, he didn't say a word.

When the car stopped at the entrance of Marcus's estate, I was just about to thank him again when Sebastian caught my hand and pressed a gold-embossed card into my palm.

"Seraphina," he said, his eyes locking onto mine, "if you're unhappy in the Crescent Pack, the Shadow Pack's corporate empire will always welcome you. You can always find me."

I held that card in my hand, pushed the car door open, and stepped out.

The heat from his palm still lingering on my skin made me desperate to leave immediately-otherwise I didn't know what irrational thing I might do.

Back in the empty mansion, I felt at peace for the first time.

I sank myself into the bathtub, washing away the mud and humiliation clinging to me.

Marcus didn't come back. This night, this house, finally belonged entirely to me for the first time.

I lay on that king-size bed that had made me feel lonely night after night.

No breath beside me, no heartbeat from that man, no domineering scent mixed with another woman's perfume lingering in the air.

For once, I felt a kind of peace and freedom I had never experienced before.

When I finished washing up and lay in bed, my gaze was once again drawn to that gold-embossed card.

And to the lingering heat on my wrist where he had held me.

I swallowed. I had no idea why Alpha Sebastian would help me.

Victoria, my best friend, had mentioned his reputation when we chatted.

"He's powerful, Seraphina. Stronger than Marcus, but also more dangerous. No she-wolf can get near him."

That was what Victoria had said.

Rumor had it that the Alpha of the Shadow Pack never touched anything that didn't belong to him.

But he had caught me in the most disgraceful state, even offered help willingly.

Could I be his mate?

But I couldn't feel any scent, any excitement.

Maybe the bond between Marcus and me hadn't fully broken.

And I was only human-could I be lucky enough to have a second mate, and one that was a powerful Alpha wolf?

Suddenly, a strange, uncontrollable pull-like a faint current-rushed up from the bottom of my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath.

No.

I am not like Marcus.

Before I sever that rotten mate bond completely, I will not allow myself to get entangled with anyone else.

What I want is complete freedom-not just moving from one cage to another.

I immediately threw the card into the trash.

Then I drifted into sleep.

Sebastian's pov

I was furious. I was already thirty and still hadn't found my mate.

That was why I came to Alpha Marcus's banquet. I never intended to come-I had already given up on the idea of finding a mate.

Being thirty without a mate was extremely rare.

But my mother was just like human mothers-she saw her children's marriage and offspring as her life's mission.

Of course, wolf packs and any powerful family need an heir.

Even though I've proven with my actions that my strength alone could keep our pack stable for a hundred years, my mother still wouldn't stop arranging blind dates for me.

I was sick of smelling nothing but heavy perfume and disappointment.

The scent made me nauseous, and neither I nor my wolf felt even the slightest excitement.

Tonight, I happened to be free, but the moment I stepped into the banquet hall, one of the she-wolves I'd been matched with stared at me.

I headed toward the garden behind the hall, and she clung to me like sticky taffy.

Her perfume was so thick it felt like a toxic fog ready to explode, hanging in the humid air endlessly.

I was already sick of scents like that-so sick that it was almost a physical reaction-but I still had to endure her pretending to sound hurt beside me.

"Sebastian, can't you just-"

I couldn't stand listening anymore. I was just about to cut her off when-

My wolf jolted awake deep in my chest.

I immediately knew what it was.

MATE!