Chapter 003

SERAPHINA

The work was simple enough. I cleaned Donatus's office every morning, dusting the bookshelves and sweeping the floors.

I tidied his personal quarters, making the bed and organizing the scattered papers on his desk.

I brought his meals three times a day and managed the schedule he kept for pack business.

When he needed messages delivered to pack members, I carried them without question.

It was menial work but I did it very well and kept my complaints to myself. Complaining would only draw attention, and attention was the last thing I wanted.

The pack members made sure I knew I was not welcome.

I was carrying a tray of dishes back to the kitchen one afternoon when I passed two women standing in the corridor.

They did not bother lowering their voices.

"I still do not understand why he brought her here," the older one said. "She refuses to tell anyone where she is from."

"Obviously she is hiding something. Probably a criminal."

"Or worse. What if she is a spy from another pack?"

I kept walking, my face carefully blank.

In the kitchen, three wolves were preparing vegetables.

.Their conversation stopped the moment I entered. I set the tray down and turned to leave.

"Do you think she is sleeping with him?" one of them whispered.

"Of course she is. Why else would he give her such a privileged position?"

"Poor Alpha. He has always been too kind for his own good. She is clearly using him."

I left before I could hear more.

It was like that everywhere. Whispers following me through the pack house. Eyes tracking my movements. Speculation about who I was and what I wanted.

His secret lover.

Some woman with valuable information he is trying to extract.

A spy sent to infiltrate the pack.

I ignored all of it. Kept my head down and my mouth shut, spoke only when spoken to and never made eye contact unless absolutely necessary.

I moved through the pack house like a ghost, present but not really there.

Weeks passed. The whispers continued but no one confronted me directly. More importantly, no one from Blackthorn came looking for me.

The distance between here and there felt good. Maybe Cassian's plan had worked. Maybe they really did think I was dead.

My memories were coming back in pieces. I could recall more details about my marriage now. The way Leone would corner me in empty corridors. The bruises he left on my wrists from holding too tight. The nights I lay awake listening to him with Clarissa in the next room.

I remembered Cassian too. His gentle hands when he examined me. The way he looked at me like I mattered. The storage shed where we first kissed.

And I remembered the prophecy. Lucien's cold eyes as he explained how he had orchestrated everything. How he destroyed my father's business to force the marriage. How he blackmailed Freya to keep her silent.

But some memories were still foggy. Details that did not quite fit together. I was not sure anymore what was real and what my mind had invented to fill in the gaps.

I was cleaning Donatus's office one evening when I noticed the map hanging on the wall. I had seen it before but never really looked at it closely.

I moved closer, studying the territories marked out in different colours.

My eyes traced north until I found it. Blackthorn Pack. So far away it might as well have been a different world.

The distance should have made me feel safe. Instead, it made me feel trapped. Cassandra was up there somewhere.

My baby girl was growing up without me and I could not even see her. The journey would take weeks, maybe months. I had no money, no supplies, no way to travel safely.

I was staring so hard at the map that I did not hear the door open.

"Thinking about where you came from?"

I spun around. Donatus stood in the doorway, watching me with those calm eyes.

"I..." My throat closed up. "I was just finishing the cleaning."

"It is alright." He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "You can look at the map if you want. I am not going to punish you for being curious."

I turned back to the map, keeping my face carefully neutral. "I was just wondering how far I travelled. That is all."

"And did you figure it out?"

"Far enough."

He moved to stand beside me, his eyes following mine to Blackthorn territory. "Is that where you are from?"

I hesitated too long. The silence stretched out between us.

"You do not have to tell me," Donatus said quietly. "But I can guess. You ran from family? Or..." He paused. "From a mate?"

My chest tightened. How had he known?

"A mate," I whispered.

Understanding flooded his face. "That explains the fear. The secrecy. You were running from someone who was supposed to protect you."

I could not look at him. Could not bear to see pity in his eyes.

"Was he abusive?"

I nodded once. A sharp, jerky movement.

Donatus was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle. "You are safe here, Seraphina. I know you do not believe that yet. But no one will force you to go back to someone who hurt you. Not while you are under my protection."

The kindness in his words cracked something inside me. Something I had been holding together with sheer willpower for weeks.

Tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.

"I am sorry." I wiped at my face frantically. "I should not... I will just..."

I tried to leave but Donatus caught my arm gently. "It is alright to cry."

"I am fine. I just need—"

"You do not have to pretend to be strong all the time. You have been through something terrible. It is alright to break down sometimes."

That was all it took. The dam broke completely.

I cried for Cassandra, growing up without her mother. I cried for the mate bond that still pulled at me even though I rejected it, a constant ache in my chest that never went away.

I cried for the life I would never have and the person I used to be before Leone destroyed her piece by piece.

I cried until my throat was raw and my eyes burned. Until there was nothing left inside me except exhaustion.

Donatus did not try to comfort me with empty words. Did not tell me everything would be fine or that I was being dramatic.

He just sat beside me on the floor and let me cry until I had nothing left.

When I finally stopped, my head was pounding and my whole body ached. I felt hollow.

"Thank you," I managed.

"For what?"

"For not..." I could not finish the sentence.

What am I thanking him for exactly?

For not mocking me?

For not using my weakness against me?

For not being like Leone?

"Come on." He stood and offered me his hand. "You should rest. Tomorrow will be better."

I let him help me to my feet. Let him walk me to the door. When I reached my room, I collapsed on the bed fully clothed and closed my eyes.

***

I was in the kitchen the next morning when the shouting started.

At first, I thought it was just pack members arguing. That happened sometimes.

But the voices grew louder, more urgent. I heard running footsteps in the corridor.

Something was wrong.

I moved to the window that overlooked the pack gates. A crowd had gathered. Wolves were pushing and shoving to get a better look at something.

A messenger stood in the centre of the crowd, holding up pieces of paper. He was posting them on buildings. On fence posts. Anywhere people would see them.

My stomach dropped.

I could not read the words from this distance, but I could see wolves pointing and whispering. Could see their eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for someone.

The messenger finished posting one notice and moved to the next building. The crowd surged forward to read it.

Then someone in the crowd looked up. Looked toward the pack house, directly at the window where I stood frozen.

I stumbled back from the window, my heart pounding. No. It could not be. They could not have found me. I had been so careful.

But I knew what those notices said from the whispers even without reading them.

There was a bounty on a woman matching my description.

Anyone who found me and delivered me alive to Blackthorn Pack would be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Chapter 004

SERAPHINA

My hands would not stop shaking.

I backed away from the window, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps.

The messenger was still down there, posting notices on every surface he could find. Wolves crowded around each one, reading, pointing and looking at each other with wide eyes.

How long before they figure it out?

How long before someone remembers the strange woman Donatus brought home?

How long before they put it together?

I ran.

My room was only steps away but it felt like miles.

I slammed the door behind me and grabbed the small bag I kept under the bed.

My hands fumbled as I shoved my few belongings inside. The spare dress. The comb Donatus had given me. Nothing else. I owned nothing else.

Leave now. Run before they come for you. Get out while you still can.

But where would I go? I had no money, no food or idea which direction to run.

Winter was coming and I would freeze to death in the woods within days.

Steal supplies from the kitchen, take what you need and disappear and figure it out as you go.

Anything is better than being dragged back to Blackthorn.

I was pulling the bag closed when someone knocked on my door.

My heart stopped.

They know. Someone recognized you and told Donatus. He is coming to collect the reward. You trusted him and he is going to sell you out just like everyone else.

I stood frozen, staring at the door. The knock came again.

"Seraphina. Open the door."

Donatus's voice.

My legs carried me to the door without permission from my brain. I opened it a crack and looked up at him.

He was alone. There were no guards or elders, it's just him, standing in the hallway with a piece of paper clutched in his fist.

He pushed past me into the room and closed the door behind him. Then he held up the paper.

It was one of the bounty notices.

"Is this you?"

I could not breathe. My eyes scanned the words on the page even though I already knew what they said.

Missing woman. Silver blonde hair, piercing amber eyes, slim, tall figure with a regal air about her. Reward for her safe return: enough gold to make a family wealthy for generations.

The description was too detailed. There was no point lying.

I nodded.

Donatus stared at me for a long moment. Then he crumpled the paper in his fist.

"Why does Blackthorn want you badly enough to offer this kind of reward?"

"I..." My voice came out as a whisper. "I do not know for certain. But I think it has to do with my daughter. They probably want to use me as leverage or punishment. Or both."

"Your daughter." His jaw tightened. "You never mentioned having a daughter."

"I did not think I would ever see her again. It hurt too much to talk about her."

"Tell me everything right now. If I am going to protect you, I need to know what I am protecting you from."

The words spilled out in a desperate rush. I told him about Lucien orchestrating the marriage. About Leone and Reginald and the systematic abuse. About being pregnant and terrified. About giving birth to Cassandra, who the prophecy claimed would change everything. About falling in love with Cassian because he was the only person who treated me like I mattered. About the mate bond snapping into place with the twins during the Moon Ceremony. About rejecting them publicly because I would rather die than be bound to monsters. About jumping from the cliff because execution seemed better than living as their property.

When I finished, I was shaking so hard my teeth chattered. Donatus had not moved or even interrupted. He just stood there listening to the ugly truth of what my life had been.

He was quiet for so long I thought he might not respond at all.

Then he asked, "What do you need?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. Not: What did you do to deserve this or why should I believe you. Just, what do you need.

"I need..." My throat closed up. "I need to not go back there ever. I would rather die."

"You are not going back." His voice was final. "But I need to call a meeting with the elders. If I am going to protect you against Blackthorn Pack, they need to know what they are dealing with."

Panic flooded through me. "No. Please. If you tell them who I am, they will turn me in. The reward is too much. They will not risk war with Blackthorn over someone like me."

"They will if I command it."

"Please, Donatus. I am begging you. Do not tell them."

He looked at me with something that might have been pity. "I have to. They cannot protect you if they do not know who they are protecting you from. And right now, half the pack has read that bounty notice. Someone will make the connection eventually. Better to control the narrative now than wait for it to blow up in our faces."

He was right. I knew he was right. But that did not stop the terror clawing at my chest.

The council room was smaller than I expected. Dark wood panels on the walls. A long table in the centre. Chairs arranged around it where the elders sat watching me with identical expressions of suspicion.

I stood at one end of the table. Donatus stood beside me. I wanted to reach for his hand but kept my arms locked at my sides.

"Thank you for gathering on short notice," Donatus began. "I know you have all seen the bounty notice posted this morning."

The grey-haired elder who had questioned me before leaned forward. "We haven and we would like to know why Blackthorn Pack is offering such an obscene amount of gold for a single woman."

"Because that woman is standing in this room."

Silence. Every eye in the room locked onto me.

"The stranger you brought here," a woman with sharp features said slowly. "She is the one they are looking for."

"Her name is Seraphina. She was married to the Lycan King and got mated to both of the king and his twin brother. She escaped an abusive situation and came here seeking sanctuary."

"Married to Leone Blackthorn?" The grey-haired elder stood up. "Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what kind of conflict this could bring to our pack?"

"I am aware."

"Then turn her in!" Another elder slammed his hand on the table. "The bounty is enormous. We owe nothing to this stranger. Why should we risk war with the most powerful pack in the north over a woman who has been here less than two months?"

"Because she came to us for sanctuary." A younger elder spoke up from the end of the table. "Pack law requires us to protect those who seek refuge. If we turn her away now, what does that say about our honor?"

"Honor does not feed our children when Blackthorn comes to burn our territory!"

"They will not come if they think she is dead!"

"They clearly do not think she is dead or there would not be a bounty!"

The argument exploded around me. Voices rising and overlapping until I could not tell who was saying what anymore.

They spoke about me like I was not even there. Like I was a problem to be solved instead of a person.

"She lied to us!" someone shouted. "How can we trust anything she says? Maybe she deserves whatever punishment Blackthorn wants to give her!"

"Maybe she is a criminal! Maybe there is more to this story!"

"Maybe she did something to warrant this response!"

I stood frozen, listening to them debate my life. My worth. Whether I deserved to live or die.

The sharp-featured woman turned to me. "Did you commit a crime? Is there something you are not telling us?"

"I rejected a mate bond," I said quietly. "That is my crime."

"And you think that justifies—"

"I rejected it because they abused me!" My voice came out louder than I intended. "Because they raped me and beat me and treated me like I was nothing. Because I would rather die than spend one more day as their property. That is my crime. I chose death over them."

The room went quiet.

"She has a daughter," Donatus added. "Back in Blackthorn. They are probably using the bounty to force her to return so they can use her child as leverage."

"A child." The grey-haired elder sank back into his chair. "Moon goddess. This is worse than we thought."

"So what do we do?" another elder asked. "We cannot just hand her over but we cannot risk war either."

"We do what is right." The younger elder who had spoken before stood up. "We protect her. That is what our laws say. That is what honor demands."

"Honour will not save us when Blackthorn's warriors arrive at our gates!"

"ENOUGH."

Donatus's voice cut through the chaos like a blade. Every wolf in the room went silent immediately. The Alpha command in that single word was unmistakable.

He straightened to his full height and looked at each elder in turn.

"I have made my decision. Seraphina is now officially a member of BlackCrest Pack under my personal protection. Anyone who betrays her location to Blackthorn will be immediately banished from this pack. This is not up for debate. This is not a discussion. This is an order from your Alpha. Do you understand?"