Seraphina POV:

The flight was a blur of turbulence and fever dreams.

We landed in Toronto. The air was sharp, smelling of ice and ancient earth.

A convoy waited.

A man stepped out of the lead SUV. Older, silver in his dark hair, radiating power.

Marco Rossi. Alpha of the Blood Moon. My father.

I stepped off the plane. Legs shaking, Wolfsbane wearing off.

Marco stopped five feet away. He inhaled.

Biology doesn't lie.

"Seraphina," he whispered. Voice like gravel.

He reached out.

Then the wind shifted.

He froze. Nostrils flared. Eyes turned feral red.

He smelled the silver.

He looked at my neck. The collar had slipped, revealing the raw, oozing ring.

"WHO DID THIS?"

The roar shook the jet's windows. Pure violence.

"Moretti," he snarled. "I will kill him. I will burn his city to ash!"

"Alpha," a calm voice cut in.

A younger man in a tweed coat stepped up. Glasses. Smelled of sage and antiseptic.

William Sterling. The Beta.

"She is hurt, Marco. Revenge later."

William looked at me. Not with pity, but with clinical concern.

"You're burning up. Silver poisoning fighting the first Shift. We need the safe house."

"I'm fine," I croaked.

"You are safe now, little wolf," Marco said, rage damping into fierce protectiveness. He wrapped his heavy coat around me. Tobacco and leather. Father.

I leaned into him.

Adrenaline crashed. The world tilted.

Black spots danced.

I felt strong arms catch me before I hit the concrete.

Dante POV:

The party was a disaster.

My wolf was pacing in my chest, scratching at the ribs.

I hadn't seen Seraphina for hours.

"Where is she?" I asked a servant.

"Haven't seen her since she... fell, Alpha."

Cold knot in the gut. I pushed past Isabella.

I took the stairs two at a time.

Her room.

"Seraphina!"

Silence.

I flipped the switch.

Empty.

Not just unoccupied. Scrubbed. Shelves bare. Closet empty.

The air smelled of bleach. She had erased herself.

"No," I whispered.

On the desk, a single sheet of sketch paper.

Charcoal drawing. A black wolf-me-and a white wolf on a cliff.

Bottom corner: Long live the King.

And on top of the paper... the collar.

Stained with blood and pus. Strips of skin stuck to the filigree.

The scent hit me. Not vanilla. Suffering. Burnt flesh. Infection.

I dropped the collar like it was radioactive.

She hadn't just run. She had clawed her way out.

Window open. Rain soaking the floor.

"ALARM!" I roared. The Command shattered the window glass.

"Lock down the estate! Find her!"

My wolf let out a sound of absolute desolation.

She wasn't hiding in the woods.

The bond was silent. She was gone.

Dante POV:

The War Room was chaos.

"She crossed north at 00:15," Security Chief reported. "Patrol guard in Sector 4... found cowering. Claims she Commanded him."

"Commanded?" Isabella scoffed. "Please. The girl couldn't command a toaster."

I turned on her.

I saw her clearly for the first time. Vanity. Cruelty.

I chose her for politics. I thought Seraphina was too fragile for this world.

I was the fool.

"Get out," I said.

"Excuse me?"

"Get out of my house. Engagement over."

"You can't be serious. Over a pet?"

"She was my Mate!"

The confession tore out of me. The room went dead silent.

"I rejected the bond to protect her from you vultures," I snarled. "And instead, I let you torture her."

I pointed at the door. "Leave, Isabella. Before I forget I don't kill females."

She fled.

I turned to the map. "Where?"

"Toronto. Private jet. Rossi Global."

"Rossi," I slammed my fist on the table. Wood splintered. "Marco Rossi."

My enemy.

"He kidnapped her," I reasoned. My brain couldn't accept she went willingly. "He knew she was my weakness."

"Prepare the jets. Mobilize the elite guard."

"Alpha," my Beta, William, stepped in. "Crossing into Rossi territory with a war party is a declaration of war."

"He has my Mate," I said, voice dead. "If he touches her, I will bring the apocalypse."

I shoved the bloody collar into my pocket.

I would get her back. And this time, I would chain her to me if I had to.

Seraphina POV:

Waking up felt like floating.

Soft sheets. Lavender.

I opened my eyes. High ceilings, warm beams.

"Easy," a voice said.

William, the Blood Moon Beta. He was mixing something in a mortar.

"Where am I?" I rasped. Throat raw.

"My home. Toronto. You've been asleep two days."

He dipped a cloth in green paste. "Need to change the dressing. Aloe, comfrey, and a little magic."

I flinched, pulling my knees up. Covering my neck.

"Don't," I whispered.

I expected anger. Force. Stop being weak.

William stopped.

"I won't touch you without permission, Seraphina."

"But... you're a Beta."

"Authority isn't force," he said. "I am a Healer. I fix what is broken, I don't break it further."

He waited. Calm. Patient.

He was giving me control.

I lowered my hands. Tilted my chin.

"Okay."

He applied the paste. Cool relief.

"Silver toxicity was high," he said. "But your wolf... she is strong. She fought it off."

"Dante said I was weak."

"Dante Moretti is a fool," William said, voice sharpening. "He looked at a diamond and saw a rock because he didn't know how to cut it."

He finished.

"Rest. Your father is pacing a hole in the floor downstairs."

He turned to leave.

"William?"

He looked back.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Seraphina."

I lay back. For the first time, a high-ranking male touched me with kindness.

I wasn't a prisoner.

Maybe I could be a Queen.

Dante POV:

The silence in my head was louder than the shouting.

For ten years, she was a background hum. A golden thread.

Now, gone.

Scooped out.

"She is gone," I said.

Isabella marched back in. Makeup smeared.

"You are insane," she hissed.

"Get out, Isabella."

"No! You're mobilizing for a pet? An orphan who couldn't Shift?"

"She is not a pet," I snarled. Eyes flashing red.

"Then what is she? Why keep a useless girl for ten years? Why go feral over an empty room?"

"Because she is my Mate."

The words hung heavy.

Isabella froze.

"You..." she breathed. "You knew."

"Since she was eight," I admitted. The memory of vanilla and smoke hit me. "I waited. But she didn't Shift. She was weak. If I claimed her, the Council would have eaten her. My enemies would have targeted her."

I cracked the table with my fist.

"I pushed her away to save her! I made her invisible! I let you torment her because I thought... I thought if she was just a servant, she would be safe. I needed her to run from you."

Isabella laughed. Cold, brittle.

"You didn't save her, Dante. You destroyed her. And us."

She ripped off the ring and threw it at me.

"I won't be second choice to a ghost. I reject this engagement. You are the King of New York... and the poorest man I know."

She stormed out.

I looked at the ring. Nothing.

I looked at the map. Toronto.

My wolf was howling for his other half. Logic was dying. The hunt remained.

"Prepare the cars," I ordered. "If Rossi doesn't give her back... we burn his city."

I touched the collar in my pocket.

I would put it back on her. I would never let her go.

Seraphina POV:

Pain was a familiar roommate. But this was a dull ache, not a sharp burn.

I woke up. William was reading by the window.

"You're awake."

I scrambled back. Heart hammering.

"Peace, Seraphina," he said, standing slowly.

"Where is Dante?"

"Hundreds of miles away. You've been asleep three days."

He picked up a bowl. "Need to change the dressings. Silver leached into the blood."

I covered my neck. The memory of sizzling flesh made me nauseous.

"No."

I braced for him to grab me.

William stopped.

"I am a Beta," he said. "The Alpha is the storm. The Beta is the balance. I cannot force healing."

He waited.

Choice.

He didn't smell like a predator. He smelled like old paper. Safe.

I lowered my hands.

"It hurts," I admitted.

"I know."

He worked. Cool, steady hands.

"Your body is fighting hard," he murmured. "Regenerating fast. It is the White Wolf blood. Royal line. Stubborn."

"It didn't save me from being a slave."

"No," William agreed. "But it kept you alive long enough to get free."

He offered water.

"Drink. Your father wants to see you."

I took the glass. Fingers brushed. Warm.

Dante saw a problem. William saw a person.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Rest, little wolf. No collars here."

The water tasted like hope.