Seraphine's POV
Shadows flickered across the walls of my chamber as I sat beside the frost-kissed window, gripping the softly glowing crescent pendant my mother had gifted me before I departed from the palace. The gentle, rhythmic pulse of light against my skin was the only tether keeping me anchored, a silent reassurance of the Moon Goddess’s presence and the sacred lineage flowing through my veins.
How naive I had been to believe that love alone would be enough. I had fought desperately to remain in the Steelfang Pack, pleading with my family to let me stay with Leonel. "I love him," I had begged, each word trembling with desperation. "Please, let me stay. I’ll be safe. I swear it!"
Evander, my second eldest brother, had been my fiercest opponent. His gaze burned with an intensity I had rarely witnessed. “They will never protect you the way we can, Seraphine! You are the ice princess, for the Moon’s sake. Do you truly think they even comprehend what you are? What’s at risk?”
But I had ignored him. I had chosen to trust Leonel, the man who had once saved my life—three years ago, when a rebel faction had abducted me. I could still recall the way he fought for me, how he pulled me back from the brink of death. That day, I had believed he was my fate. My savior.
Now, I scarcely recognized him. The man I had once cherished was gone, replaced by someone cold and unfamiliar. The truth could no longer be denied: Leonel was never my protector. He was my ruin.
The morning light offered no comfort, only a fever that clung to me like a cruel specter, a relentless reminder of my frailty. Each step toward the pack hospital felt like scaling a mountain. My body had betrayed me once more, refusing to let me escape the torment of my loss.
The healer, a gentle woman with streaks of silver in her hair, examined me with careful hands and sorrowful eyes. “Your body is still reeling from the loss,” she murmured softly. “You must rest, child. You are still healing.”
I nodded, though her words barely registered. Rest. As if sleep could mend the gaping void within me. The loss of my child—the one tie I had to a future—was a wound no healer could ever hope to close.
Upon returning to the pack house, an unbearable emptiness greeted me. Leonel, as expected, was nowhere to be found. I didn’t even bother to ask where he had gone. Elin, my sole confidante, met me at the door, her face etched with concern.
"He’s with her again," she murmured, her voice scarcely above a whisper.
I stiffened, my hands curling into fists at my sides. I didn’t need to ask who she was.
"Did he say when he’d return?" I forced my voice to remain steady.
Elin hesitated, her gaze dropping. "They’re planning their wedding. The pack… they’ve been ordered to keep it from you."
For a moment, the world seemed to shift beneath me. Then, unexpectedly, I laughed—a sharp, hollow sound that echoed through the vacant hall. "Of course. Why wouldn’t he? He wanted me blind, obedient."
The bitterness within me solidified into something colder, sharper. "But I’m finished, Elin," I said quietly. "I’m leaving."
That night, sleep eluded me. The silence of the pack house felt suffocating, pressing against me like an unseen weight. Seeking solace, I wandered downstairs for a glass of water, hoping the cool liquid would calm the storm raging inside me.
An eerie stillness hung in the air, the kind that sent a shiver crawling down my spine. As I neared the kitchen, hushed voices reached my ears.
"I still can’t believe someone killed him," Aurora’s honeyed, poisonous voice slithered through the darkness. "The prince’s death… Do you think—"
"Enough," Leonel cut in sharply, his tone tense and urgent. "We shouldn’t discuss his death here."
I froze, my blood turning to ice. They were speaking of Maximilian. My brother.
Aurora huffed, impatience lacing her words. "You’re too cautious, Leonel. And what of the princess?"
Leonel’s voice dropped, the words muffled yet strained. "… difficult… locate…"
My pulse quickened, unease tightening around my chest. Why were they discussing my family? Why were they speaking of me?
The floorboards creaked beneath my foot, and silence swallowed the room.
"Who’s there?" Leonel’s voice cut through the darkness, sharp and commanding.
