The Luna He Rejected: An Alpha's Regret

Chapter 20

Seraphine's Point of View

Caden, Marcus, and Mira joined me a short while later in Elder Brennan’s chambers. The room felt cold and wrong, even with the obvious signs that someone had been there recently. Caden stood by the desk, arms crossed, jaw tight. For a split second my mind tried to drift back to that kiss, but I forced myself to focus. Stay sharp, Sera.

Marcus was examining the note with careful fingers while Mira hovered near the door, looking uneasy but alert. I felt the same unease. A man like Brennan didn’t just vanish into thin air. I kept staring at the plain piece of paper.

Marcus lifted the note toward the light, studying the handwriting.

“This is definitely Isolde’s handwriting. I’ve seen it enough over the last four years to be sure. She was right here, inside the pack house, tonight. While we were still on the road coming back from Millhaven.”

Caden let out a slow, dangerous breath. His hands flexed at his sides.

“She walked straight into our territory. With all the damn nerve in the world.”

Ever since Caden learned what Isolde had done to Evan, he despised her even more than I did.

But one thing still didn’t sit right with me: why Isolde would risk coming here herself. She could have easily sent someone else to do the job. She wasn’t alone—that much was certain. There was no way she could have taken Elder Brennan on by herself. But why would she want to be here, to witness the hardest part, knowing she could be discovered at any moment?

Marcus set the note down carefully on the desk.

“With Brennan missing, the position of council president passes to the next elder in seniority according to pack law. That’s Kofi Voss.”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see the full picture. Now everything made a lot more sense—why she’d want Brennan gone. He had never signed the petition, but my father had.

“Wow,” I said. “She planned this perfectly. By putting my father—someone who co-signed the petition against Caden—into the president’s seat, the entire hearing becomes biased from the start. It gives Greymoor the legal opening they need to take this all the way to the central pack authority. Caden’s title gets suspended for months while they ‘investigate.’ Then Isolde steps in using that succession document she signed with Brennan.”

I could see the anger rising inside Caden. He had stayed quiet this whole time, but now his wolf was dangerously close to the surface. And I was sure Isolde was counting on exactly that—for him to lose control and do something reckless that would only make things worse.

I stepped away from the desk. I wasn’t going to let Caden lose his title over a mistake from years ago, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to lose my children—including Evan—to that b***h.

“I’m going to talk to my father right now. Before the council meeting begins.”

---

I found my father in the east wing, in the small private study he had used for as long as I could remember. He was sitting behind his desk, shoulders hunched forward, looking older and more burdened than I had ever seen him. The lines on his face seemed deeper, his eyes tired in a way that went beyond simple exhaustion. When I walked through the door, his head snapped up. For a fraction of a second, fear flashed across his face before he quickly tried to hide it.

“Seraphine,” he said, his voice rough and weary.

I didn’t sit. I stayed standing just inside the room, arms tightly crossed over my chest. The distance between us felt both familiar and painful. We had never been close, but he was still my father. I still respected him, even now.

“Why did you sign the petition against Caden?” I asked, keeping my voice as steady as I could.

He stared at his hands for a long moment, fingers lacing together on the desk. The silence stretched. When he finally spoke, his words came out heavy.

“Brennan came to see me three months ago. He told me Caden had been secretly tracking you. That he planned to come and take the twins back to Ironmoor by force. I thought… I thought I was protecting you and my grandchildren. I didn’t want them dragged back into pack life against their will. Not after everything you’d been through.”

Anger flared hot in my chest, but I forced myself to breathe through it. This meant Brennan had been working with Isolde and had left willingly.

“Brennan lied to you,” I said fiercely. “He’s been working with Isolde this entire time. The same woman who took a hot iron to Evan—a four-year-old child—and burned him. Deliberately. On his arm. That’s the person you’ve been helping.”

My father’s face went completely pale. He looked physically ill, as if the words had knocked the breath out of him. His hands trembled slightly as they gripped the edge of the desk.

“She… did that to the boy?”

“Yes,” I answered, my voice cracking with the memory. “Caden has changed, Father. He turned the car around in the middle of the night for his son. He’s fighting for all of us. Ironmoor is the twins’ rightful home. I brought them back because this is where they belong. But Isolde is trying to destroy everything—the pack, our family, all of it. You need to withdraw your signature. You need to block the appointment. Do it for your pack. For your family. Before it’s too late.”

He sat in silence for what felt like forever, staring at the surface of the desk. The weight of everything seemed to press down on him. Then, slowly, he nodded.

“I will,” he said quietly. “I’ll withdraw my signature before the council convenes.” He looked at me then, eyes full of regret. “I’m sorry, Seraphine. I really believed I was doing the right thing.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I gave him a small nod before turning to leave.

“Then prove it when the council meets.”

As I walked out of the study, my chest felt a little lighter. My father might not have been the warm, close father I had always wanted, but in this moment he was choosing to do the right thing. I could only hope it would be enough.

---

When I returned to the war room, Amara Walsh—one of the pack’s best lawyers—was already there with Caden and Marcus, papers spread across the large table. Amara looked up when I entered.

“Caden’s paternity claim is solid,” she said. “It completely dismantles Greymoor’s argument about hidden heirs. But those thirty-two days of absence are still a serious weakness they can exploit.”

I approached the table, mind racing.

“Then we don’t play defense. We attack. We present the evidence about Daniel and the succession document. We show everyone that this entire petition is the result of an internal conspiracy between Isolde, Brennan, and Greymoor.”

Marcus nodded.

“There’s more. Greymoor’s representative has been quietly recruiting younger wolves inside the pack house. Trying to turn them against Caden.”

Mira spoke without hesitation.

“I witnessed it. I’ll testify before the council.”

“Good,” I said. “That’s a clear violation of pack law. We use every piece of this to challenge the legitimacy of the entire petition before they can even properly begin the hearing.”

Caden had been watching me the entire time. When I finished speaking, there was real respect in his eyes.

“You’re right. We hit them hard and smart.” He turned to Marcus. “Call a two-hour recess. We finalize all the evidence and speak to every wolf they’ve approached.”

The others moved quickly to carry out the orders. Once the room emptied, Caden and I were left alone. He stepped forward and gently cupped my face in both hands. The mate bond flared between us. We didn’t need words. We just stood there, drawing strength from each other, letting the bond remind us that we weren’t facing this alone.

Then Marcus’s voice suddenly rang out down the hallway, loud and frantic.

“Alarm! Greymoor’s representative has left his quarters. He’s already inside the council chamber with three elders and Kofi Voss! They’re starting the hearing early!”

Caden and I moved at the same time, rushing out of the war room toward the council chamber. The fight had just been forced on us sooner than expected.