THE LAST HEIR OF VEILMOOR THRONE

CHAPTER 3: WAR PRICE

The words hung in the air, thick with warning.

Kael’s gaze darkened, his fists clenching at his sides.

Then, with deadly calm, he spoke the words that shattered me completely.

“Seraphina is my mate.”

A deafening thunderclap roared through the sky.

A celestial seal.

Fate, binding them.

The moon had witnessed his choice.

Every piece of me crumbled.

I felt as if I had known Kael my entire life, even though I was nothing to him.

Was it just the mate bond playing with my emotions?

Or was the bond truly this powerful?

Kael’s eyes burned as he turned to me, his gaze filled with something dangerous.

Hatred.

Disgust.

A twisted relief.

Then, in a voice as sharp as a blade to my soul, he spat,

“You are nothing but bad luck.”

The words knocked the air from my lungs.

Pain rippled through me, sharp and unforgiving.

I had already been discarded.

Already been replaced.

But this?

This was a curse.

His next command came without hesitation.

“Lock her up.”

Before I could move, strong hands grabbed me.

Chains clinked.

A sharp pull, dragging me away from the light and into the darkness.

No one cared.

It seemed my life was worthless.

Even in the servant quarters, I was never truly loved.

So I wasn't surprised that nobody tried to plead for me. Because why would they waste their time on me?

I was a slave. A servant.

Not Seraphina—a woman of power and strength, a bringer of peace.

She had not been born in Midnight.

She had emerged from Veilmoor—the lost kingdom.

It was said that she was the queen of prophecy.

Every Alpha dreamed of having a mate like her.

But me?

I was nothing.

I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t powerful.

I wasn’t the one Kael wanted by his side.

I wasn’t the one fit to be Luna.

I was a mistake.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to stop the tears from falling.

My throat burned, my breath shaking.

One breath.

Then another.

The guards threw me into the dungeon.

I sat there, weeping bitterly, curling my knees to my chest.

Memories surfaced—the one of childhood laughter, a distant warmth long forgotten.

I had never been a slave before.

I had someone to play with, laugh with.

Someone who shared their toys.

He carried me to the springs, protected me when I was fragile.

But then, everything changed.

We were taken—me, him, and the woman he called Mom.

I was too young to understand.

All I knew was that we arrived here, and my life was never the same.

I never saw his mother again.

And then…

I never saw him again, either.

Since that moment, I had been alone.

And today, Kael had stained me further, rubbing salt into my wounds.

I had always tried to be invisible, but now?

He had marked me with shame.

I became a shadow in the background.

A nameless face.

“The Alpha’s mate.”

No.

“The Alpha’s rejected mate.”

The thought burned my heart.

I wanted to scream that he hadn’t rejected me outright.

Not yet.

But he didn’t need to say the words out loud.

He had already done it in the worst way possible.

And then, finally, I let the tears fall.

Silent.

Endless.

I pressed my wounded hand to my chest, as if I could hold myself together.

As if I could keep from breaking apart completely.

The bond inside me still pulsed—weak, but alive.

Clinging to something already lost.

Would it ever fade?

I didn’t know.

All I knew was that I had lost something I had never even asked for.

Something I had never wanted in the first place.

And now…

I had nothing left.

The following morning I was released.

Seraphina came to the dungeon herself.

She said nothing.

She simply opened the door and waited.

Did she pity me?

I didn’t know.

But I bowed to her and left.

Back to the servants' quarters.

The servant quarters of the Midnight Pack were a place of silence and suffering, hidden behind the palace. The crumbling stone huts reeked of mold, sweat, and despair.

Even among servants, I lived in the lowest hut—a cold, unlivable space with only a straw mattress and a tattered blanket. Meals were scraps eaten around a splintered table, and bathing was rare with only freezing well water. Speaking out of turn meant punishment.

I wished I could disappear from this pain.

But fate had other plans.

A week later—

A scream shattered the silence.

Then another.

And another.

I ran outside, my heart beating heavily.

The scent of blood filled the air.

The ground trembled as warriors rushed to defend the pack.

The gates had been breached.

A war had begun.

I pressed myself against the wall, my hands trembling as chaos erupted.

Wolves shifted, bones snapping, battle unfolding before me.

Weapons clashed, growls ripped through the night, warriors fell.

Then, he appeared.

Alpha Ronan.

The Alpha of the rogues.

His presence was a storm—dark and intimidating.

His golden eyes glowed with cruel amusement as he stepped over fallen bodies.

Warriors lunged at him.

But he barely flinched.

He was stronger.

Faster.

Merciless.

I pressed myself against the stone, breath shaky.

If I stayed still, if I made myself small enough, maybe they wouldn’t see me.

But then…

His eyes found me.

He stared at me for a while locking eyes together with mine.

Then a smirk curved his lips.

“What a damsel.”

His voice was soft, yet cold.

My blood ran cold.

Before I could move, before I could think—

He was in front of me.

Faster than any Alpha I had ever seen.

His clawed fingers tangled in my hair, yanking me forward.

I gasped, pain shooting through my scalp.

My body collided against his chest.

He inhaled.

I felt sick.

“She smells divine,” Ronan murmured, dark amusement lacing his tone.

His grip tightened.

Then, with one hand, he lifted me off the ground.

Like I weighed nothing.

I struggled, kicking, clawing, but it was useless.

His strength was inhuman.

Panic clawed at my throat.

“Let me go!” I choked out, nails digging into his arm.

Ronan laughed.

Like this was a game to him.

Then, through the chaos—

Kael appeared.

His dark eyes burned.

His wolf raged beneath his skin, ready to fight.

But…

He didn’t move.

Because Seraphina’s hand was on his arm.

Her voice was calm, too calm as she whispered in a tone only she and Kael could hear.

“If he takes her, he will leave. And then we will attack.”

Kael froze.

Ronan kept eyes locked with mine as I kept struggling but he didn't flinch instead he made a statement:

“I will have her as a war prize.”

I looked at Kael, silently pleading.

Not because I was worthy.

But because I had served his pack for years.

Kael’s gaze darkened.

His wolf flickered in his eyes.

Then…

He stepped back.

“You can have her,” he said coldly. “She’s of no use to us.”

Something inside me shattered.

Ronan laughed.

He turned, dragging me with him.

But then—

Kael’s voice cut through the air.

Cold. Sharp.

“Wait.”