CLAWS OF FATE

CHAPTER 004

"This is impossible."

I pace the terrace like a caged animal, my hands shaking with the need to break something. The mate bond pulses under my skin like poison, connecting me to the one person I should want dead more than anyone else in this world.

The murderer's daughter.

My f*****g mate.

Beta Thomas appears at my shoulder, his expression carefully neutral. "Alpha? The guests are asking questions."

"Handle them." I don't stop pacing. Can't stop. If I stand still for even a second, I might actually lose what's left of my sanity.

"And the woman?"

"Seraphine." Her name tastes like ash. "Her name is Seraphine Blackthorne, and she's exactly who we thought she was."

"Should I—"

"Leave us." The order comes out harsher than intended. "Now."

Thomas retreats without another word, smart enough to recognize when his Alpha is seconds away from shifting and tearing apart everything in sight.

The terrace doors open behind me. I don't need to turn around to know it's her—the bond makes me hyperaware of her every movement, every breath, every f*****g heartbeat.

"Well," her voice cuts through the night air like silk over steel, "that was awkward."

I turn around, and the sight of her steals what little control I have left.

Even now, even knowing what she is, my body still responds to her presence. The wolf in me wants to claim her, mark her, make her mine in every way that matters.

The man in me wants to watch her burn.

"Awkward?" I take a step toward her, gratified when she tenses. "That's what you call this cosmic joke?"

"I'd call it a mistake." She smooths down her dress, the picture of composure except for the slight tremor in her hands. "But apparently the Moon Goddess has a sense of humor we're not privy to."

"This isn't funny."

"No." Her green eyes meet mine without flinching. "It's not."

The admission hangs between us, raw and honest in a way that makes my chest tight. For a moment—just a moment—I see past the polished facade to the girl underneath.

The one who used to steal cookies from the kitchen and leave half for me. The one who cried when she found injured birds and nursed them back to health.

Then I remember her father's hands covered in my brother's blood, and the rage returns tenfold.

"What did you expect would happen when you came back here?" The words explode from me like a bomb. "That I'd welcome you with open arms? That we'd pretend the past never happened?"

"I expected nothing from you." She lifts her chin, defiant even facing down my fury. "Your family took everything from me. I have no interest in being tangled up with you either."

"My family?" The accusation hits like a physical blow. "Your father murdered my brother!"

"Your father murdered mine!"

"Justice isn't murder!"

"Executing an innocent man is!"

We're shouting now, years of buried pain and rage erupting like a volcano. Her composure cracks, revealing the fierce anger burning underneath. Good. I want her angry. I want her to hurt the way I've hurt.

"How dare you." My voice drops to a deadly whisper. "How dare you stand in my territory and call my father a murderer."

"How dare you call mine one when you know—"

"Guards!"

My roar echoes across the terrace. Within seconds, four of my best warriors emerge from the shadows, their eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Escort our guest to the blue room," I order without taking my eyes off her face. "Make sure she's comfortable."

"You can't do this." But there's no real surprise in her voice, only resigned fury. "I haven't broken any laws."

"Haven't you?" I circle her slowly, letting my dominance press against her defenses. "Trespassing under false pretenses. Planting surveillance devices and conspiracy to commit espionage."

"I was invited—"

"By a fictional person representing a nonexistent pack." I stop directly in front of her, close enough to see the gold flecks in her green eyes. "I am your Alpha, Seraphine. I have the right to do whatever I want in my territory."

Her jaw clenches. "I don't recognize your authority."

"You will."

The promise carries the weight of absolute certainty. She may have spent ten years running wild with rogues, but she's in my palm now. My rules. My justice.

"Sir?" One of the guards steps forward hesitantly. "Should we—"

"Don't get any shy ideas because we're mates," I tell her, the words cutting deeper than any blade. "I'll use this as an opportunity to torture you for your father's sins. Consider it a long-overdue reckoning."

Something flickers across her face—pain, maybe, or disappointment. It's gone so quickly I might have imagined it.

"How romantic," she says dryly. "Every girl dreams of threats from her destined partner."

“I don’t give a damn what you dream of, Sera but I can tell you about mine. Watching you suffer, watching you pay for your family’s sin? That would be a dream come true for me. Get her out of my sight.”

The guards move to flank her, and She doesn't resist, but the set of her shoulders tells me she's calculating, planning, waiting for an opportunity.

She won't find one. Not here. Not in my house.

"The blue room is lovely this time of year," I call after her as they escort her inside. "I'm sure you'll find it... memorable."

She pauses at the threshold, looking back over her shoulder. "You know, Zephyr, you've grown up to be exactly the kind of man I thought you'd become. A thoughtless, and brainless bastard. How disappointing.”

The words hit harder than any physical blow. I watch until she disappears into the house, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

Twenty minutes later, I'm in my study nursing a whiskey when Beta Thomas appears.

"She's secured, Alpha. We searched her and we found no weapons or any additional devices. The room is comfortable but escape-proof."

"Good." I drain the glass in one burning swallow. "Post guards at the door and windows. If she so much as breathes wrong, I want to know about it."

"And the guests?"

"Tell them Lady Evangeline took ill and had to retire early. They'll be gossiping about it for weeks, but that's better than the alternative."

Thomas nods and retreats, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the persistent ache of the mate bond. Even separated by walls and distance, I can feel her—angry, frustrated, but not afraid.

She should be afraid.

*****

/In the blue room three floors above, Seraphine examines her luxurious prison with the detached interest of a professional. The windows are barred with decorative ironwork that's stronger than it looks.

Beautiful, comfortable, and absolutely inescapable.

Perfect.

She reaches into her hair and extracts a small crystal, no bigger than a pearl. The communication device pulses with soft blue light as she activates it.

"I'm in," she whispers.

Static crackles for a moment before a familiar voice responds—rough, commanding, tinged with the kind of darkness that makes smart people run.

"About time, little wolf. Status report."

"The mate bond is confirmed. He's furious but trapped by biology. Give me two weeks and I'll have him eating out of my hand."

A low chuckle echoes through the crystal. "Make him fall in love with you, then destroy him. His pack will be ours."

"And my father's killer?"

"Will burn along with the rest of them." The voice turns hard as granite. "Remember what they took from us, daughter. Remember why we're here."

"I remember everything."

"Good. The Rogue King expects results."

The crystal goes dark, leaving her alone in the silence. She moves to the window and stares out at the pack lands that were once her home.

Somewhere out there, Marcus's real killer is sleeping peacefully, thinking their secrets are safe.

They're wrong.

By the time she's finished, this entire pack will be ash and memory.

Starting with their precious Alpha.