Death and silver
1521 Words
Caius stared at the dimming surface of the enchanted mirror, his jaw clenched tight. Lucan’s words echoed in his ears:
“She went back to the village.”
His amber eyes darkened, and Kael, his wolf, snarled in his mind.
He should’ve stopped her, Kael growled. She’s not safe there anymore.
I know, Caius replied, yanking his cloak from the back of a chair. I’m going.
He left no orders.
None were needed.
His castle staff knew that look—the tight press of his lips, the volatile pulse of magic snapping in the air around him. No one questioned the king when his presence stormed like this.
He took his sleek black car, enchanted for silence and speed, and left the capital in a streak of shadow and steel. The winding road toward Blue Coral territory cut along the ocean’s edge. Trees blurred past, wind howling through the cracks as Kael raged inside him.
Lucan’s report had been brief—but more than enough. Caius’s instincts, honed by war and diplomacy, screamed that something was wrong.
And the thought of Seryna—his Seryna—walking into that den of smiling predators sent a white-hot fury down his spine.
He pressed harder on the accelerator, feeling the car lurch forward beneath his grip.
Salt and pine filled the air. The sea shimmered beneath the rising sun, a breathtaking view Caius barely registered. It didn’t calm him.
It only made him drive faster.
Kael, still simmering, quieted into focused readiness.
We’re close.
“We’ll make it in time,” Caius said aloud.
But the wind whispered doubt.
Seryna
I didn’t cry.
Not at first.
The room fell quiet, save for the soft beep of machines and the mechanical hum of life-support that had lost its fight. My mother’s hand, still curled around mine, felt too light. Too cold. Like holding mist.
I stared at her face—still and sunken, but peaceful in a way I had never seen. The bitterness, the anger... gone. What remained was something quieter. Something broken. Something finally at rest.
Maria entered moments later, having waited outside to give us privacy. She took one look at me and rushed forward, wrapping me in her arms.
“It’s done,” I murmured. “She’s gone.”
Maria didn’t speak. She just held me tighter.
“I didn’t expect to feel this way,” I said, voice shaking. “She hurt me. For so long. But... part of me always hoped she’d say she loved me. That she was sorry.”
“And she did,” Maria whispered, brushing hair from my face. “She did, baby girl.”
A heavy silence settled between us, full of fractured memories and unspoken grief. I wiped my cheeks and looked one last time at the woman who had given me life—and nearly broken it. And yet, at the very end, she’d tried to mend what she could.
“She said I’m different. That the answers I’m looking for are in the shack,” I said quietly. “She also warned me not to stay. That they only want me now because of my power.”
Maria’s eyes narrowed. “Then we leave. Tonight.”
I nodded. “She said the Luna isn’t what she seems.”
“I’ve always suspected her,” Maria muttered. “She’s not as good at pretending as she thinks she is. Let’s go.”
We didn’t linger.
I walked out of the hospital tall, spine straight. The dusk air bit at my skin, stung my eyes. Not from grief—from clarity.
I was done being prey.
But someone else had very different plans.
They don’t see me anymore.
That’s their mistake.
They look past me like I’m already gone—like I didn’t used to own this village with a single glare. Like I wasn’t the Alpha’s heir. Like I didn’t already have her.
Seryna.
That name used to taste like ash in my mouth.
Now it’s all I crave.
She haunts every second. She was supposed to break. To beg. To crawl back.
Instead, she rose.
Taller. Stronger. Glowing like some divine nightmare sent to torment me.
Now she walks these streets like she owns them—chin up, eyes steady, voice like steel.
But I remember how she used to flinch when I grabbed her by the hair. The sound she made. That trembling. That obedience.
That was real power.
And I want it back.
No... I want her back.
Stripped. Begging. Eyes pleading. I’ll make her beg again.
Maybe—if I mark her, bind her body to mine—my wolf will return. The strength I lost. The control. The power.
She’s the key.
My key.
I don’t care what the Alpha says. Or the Luna’s schemes. They’re playing games. I’m planning war.
They think they can use her?
I’ll own her.
I’ll make her scream—and then make her thank me.
She doesn’t deserve to rise.
She deserves to kneel.
And tonight, I’ll make sure she does.
As Maria and I stepped outside, the cool dusk pressed gently against my skin. My posture remained composed, but my thoughts twisted like vines. I had survived the goodbye—but something still felt unfinished.
That’s when she appeared.
The Luna.
She descended the hospital steps like a queen from a poisoned fairy tale. Draped in a blood-red gown, her smile too wide, her eyes sharp and cold beneath the illusion of warmth.
“My deepest condolences,” she said sweetly. “I can only imagine how hard this is. I knew your mother well. She was... troubled. But she loved you.”
My expression remained still. Maria’s shoulders stiffened beside me.
“I was hoping,” the Luna continued, “you might stay the night at the pack house. We’re holding a small dinner. In her honor. A way to say goodbye properly.”
Maria smiled—tight, polite. But her voice was firm. “Thank you, Luna. We’ve made arrangements to return home tonight.”
A flicker crossed the Luna’s face. Just a c***k—quick, restrained. Her lips twitched. Then stilled.
“I understand,” she said smoothly. “But it’s a shame—”
Then it happened.
A blur of motion behind me.
Ezekial.
He emerged from the shadows, hollow-eyed, madness written into every line of his face. A silver dagger glinted in his hand—designed to pierce supernaturals. It wouldn’t hurt him with his dormant wolf, but me? It could kill.
But before he struck, I spun. My palm rose instinctively. A pulse of golden light burst from my skin, striking the dagger mid-air. It spun and clattered to the ground.
Before he could recover, my aura surged.
Silver and radiant, it slammed into Ezekial, knocking him to his knees. His scream was not of pain—but disbelief.
He looked at me—at the woman I had become. Powerful. Beautiful. Untouchable.
He had lost everything. And he knew it.
“If you value your life, little worm,” Rose growled through my mouth, her voice layered over mine, “you will leave me be.”
Ezekial shook. Sobbed. His hands trembled. Words tumbled from his lips—disjointed, frantic. His mind had snapped.
At the edge of the clearing, Eliza, the pack’s doctor, stepped forward. She had come to pay her respects, but now she activated her mind link.
Take him to the psych ward. Immediately.
Guards rushed forward, seizing him gently but firmly.
The Luna, standing nearby, didn’t move. Her fingers twitched once, betraying the impulse to give a command.
She had been so close.
So close.
If the dagger had struck true, I’d have been shaken—vulnerable. The invitation to “stay the night” would’ve felt like kindness.
They would have drugged me. Maria too.
Just a drop of wolfsbane in our tea.
Just enough to dull our magic.
By morning, I would’ve been bound—sealed into the pack through ancient rites hidden in ritual and ceremony.
They would’ve owned me.
A legacy weapon disguised as a girl.
But now—
Now everything was unraveling.
The Luna clenched her teeth behind her smile. She hadn’t ordered the attack. But she could still salvage this.
All she had to do was give the command.
Stop them from leaving.
It didn’t matter how strong I was. No one could take down an entire pack.
Not alone.
That was her theory.
She opened her mouth.
But before she could speak—
A cry rang out down the hillside.
“My Luna! My Luna!”
A warrior sprinted into the clearing, desperation pouring off him in waves.
The Luna whirled, fury etched into every sharp line of her face.
“How dare you interrupt—”
He dropped to one knee. “My Luna... it’s him. He is here.”
The blood drained from her face.
“No,” she breathed. “Not him.”
Because she knew exactly who he meant.
A storm in royal flesh was descending upon the pack.
And her plans?
Turned to ash.
- Writer
