Seraphina POV
The air in my bedroom was heavy with the scent of burning sage and bitter medicine. I sat on the edge of my bed, my wrist resting on a small velvet pillow.
A solid silver screen stood between me and the Pack Doctor, an old tradition meant to protect the modesty of unmarried females.
The doctor's wrinkled fingers pressed against my pulse point. I focused on my breathing, letting the newly awakened White Wolf energy surge erratically through my veins. It mimicked the exact symptoms of a rejected mate bond.
My skin was burning hot, and my scent was wildly out of control.
"Her pheromones are in complete chaos," the doctor muttered to my father, who stood near the door. "Her heart rate is dangerously unstable."
The doctor pulled his hand back through the opening in the screen. "It is the physical backlash of the rejection. Her body is warring with her soul."
My father sighed heavily. "Can she proceed with the Marking?"
"Absolutely not," the doctor said firmly. "If an Alpha bites her in this state, the clash of energies will cause a complete soul tear. She will die."
The doctor packed his leather bag. "She needs absolute quiet. Six months in a soundproof environment to let her inner wolf settle."
As soon as the doctor left the room, the door crashed open.
Celestine stormed in. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy from crying.
"You are faking it!" she screamed, pointing a shaking finger at me. "You are ruining everything! Alpha Xander was our ticket to the top!"
The silver screen's metal hinges let out a sharp cry as I calmly pushed it aside.
My gaze swept over her tear-stained face, and I felt nothing but a cold, hollow stillness where sisterly affection had once lived. The vision had cauterized that wound before it could ever bleed.
"Our ticket?" I scoffed. "You mean yours."
Pushing myself up from the bed, I advanced on her, my steps measured and silent on the thick carpet.
The Moon Goddess had shown me every scar I would earn protecting this woman. Every sleepless night. Every humiliation. And in the end, my corpse in a dungeon while she wore my mate's scent on her skin.
"Who stayed up for three nights straight brewing suppressants when your heat came early?" I asked, my voice deadly calm. "Who took the blame when you broke the Luna's crystal bowl?"
I backed her against the wall.
"Who covered for you when you sneaked out to see those useless rogue boys?"
Celestine shrank back, her false bravery crumbling.
"I am done bleeding for you, sister," I whispered. "The weak little Omega who lived to serve you is dead."
The door opened again. My father walked in, holding a piece of heavy parchment sealed with black wax.
"A message from the Alpha," he said, his voice flat. He looked at Celestine.
"Since Seraphina is ill, Alpha Xander has proposed a new arrangement to secure the alliance immediately."
Celestine's eyes lit up with a greedy, desperate hope. "He wants me?" she asked breathlessly.
"No," my father said. "He has ordered you to mate with Maddox."
Celestine gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
I almost smiled. In my vision, she had climbed into Xander's bed while I suffered. Now the Goddess had spun a different thread. Maddox was a low-ranking Warrior known for his violent temper and his gambling debts—everything Celestine had spent her life pretending to be too delicate to endure.
"And," my father continued, looking at me. "Alpha Xander says he is willing to wait six months for Seraphina to recover. Our family accepts these terms."
Celestine's shock quickly curdled into a twisted smile. She turned to me, her sweet scent returning.
"Don't worry, Sera," she cooed. "I will go to the main house first. I will wait for you there. We will still be together."
She was already planning to use Maddox as a stepping stone while keeping her claws in Xander's territory. I could see the gears turning behind her innocent eyes, exactly as the vision had warned.
I looked at my parents, seeing the satisfied greed in their eyes. They thought they had won.
I walked over to my wooden wardrobe and pulled out a sturdy travel bag.
"I am not going to Xander's territory in six months," I said, throwing clothes into the bag. "I would rather run into the wild and become a Rogue."
My mother gasped. "Seraphina! Mind your tongue!"
I zipped the bag shut and turned to face them.
"The doctor said I need isolation," I stated clearly. "I am going to the Moon Sanctuary deep in the Black Forest."
The room fell dead silent.
The Moon Sanctuary was a sacred place, an ancient neutral ground where Pack politics held no sway, protected by treaties older than any living Alpha's bloodline. "I will pray for Grandmother's health for six months," I added.
I used the one excuse they could not deny. To refuse a pilgrimage for an elder's health was a sin against the Goddess herself.
My father's jaw clenched, but he knew he was trapped.
I smiled coldly.
The vision had shown me a future where I trusted them. This time, I would trust only the Goddess—and myself.
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