Chapter 4 I Slapped My Alpha

Seraphina's POV

Marcus's roar shut everyone up instantly. He stormed through the crowd and yanked me by the arm with a grip that felt like it might snap my bones.

"Come with me," he gritted out between clenched teeth.

He dragged me off, dead silence following in our wake, and pulled me into an empty room nearby. The door slammed behind us with a bang from his boot.

He let go of me-but only to spin around and shove me up against the door. His tall frame boxed me in completely, his shadow swallowing me whole.

His amber eyes had turned bloody red, and the fury swirling inside them was somehow even more terrifying than when he shifted.

"What the hell were you thinking, Seraphina?" His voice trembled with barely controlled rage. He was trying to sound calm, but the anger bleeding through every word gave him away. "On my turf, in front of the entire tribe-you humiliate me and my guest?"

"Your guest?" I scoffed, staring him right in the eyes without a hint of fear. "Oh, Marcus, you mean that woman squirming around in the backseat of your Bentley like some desperate mutt in heat? Funny, most people just call that a mistress. Or, if we're being blunt-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, seizing my jaw in one hand, forcing my head up. The strength behind that grip was no joke-it felt like my bones might crack under the pressure.

"Maria has nothing to do with you," he growled. "Your only job is to play the perfect Luna-quiet and presentable."

"I was already doing that," I choked out, struggling to speak with his hand on my throat. "You and your mother dragged me into this circus to watch you perform. And now you want to act like I'm the one on trial? Really, Marcus? Where's your almighty Alpha judgment now?"

"What?!" He looked genuinely stunned for a second, eyes blinking in confusion. But then they softened. "If you leave now, I promise my mother won't bother you again. I'll make sure of it."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said flatly. They thought they could humiliate me, then guilt me into pretending like none of it happened? Not a chance.

"What do you want, then?" Marcus scoffed. "Storming in like some lunatic, mad I didn't take you to the ball?"

I shook off his grip and stared him down. "Marcus, please. I couldn't care less whose bed you crawl into these days. I just want to know-why won't you cut the bond with me already? You could be with your little wolf girl without sneaking around."

That question made his face darken in an instant. "I've already answered that," he snapped. "You were a gift from the Moon Goddess. You're my mate-I'm not breaking that sacred bond."

"Sacred?" I let out a short, cold laugh that burned in my chest. "Did that word even cross your mind when you were fucking another woman?"

"That's enough, Seraphina!" His face turned crimson as he growled low with rage. "I'm done playing nice. If you dare bring this up again, I swear I'll throw your aging parents out of Crescent Tribe without a second thought!"

My blood ran cold.

It felt like ice flooded every vein, the chill crawling up my spine, far more lethal than any silver blade.

He knew-he always knew. My parents were the only soft spot I had. Just ordinary werewolves in the tribe with no status, no strength. Without the tribe's shelter, they wouldn't make it through a single winter.

"You're a real piece of work, Marcus," I said, my voice shaking-not from fear, but from pure disappointment. In him. In myself. How did I ever fall for someone like this?

"I won't deny it if you're trying to push me," he said, eyes gleaming cruelly. "But if you test me, you'll get to watch your parents get torn apart by thugs."

Looking at his annoyingly handsome face, twisted with menace, my chest tightened like something invisible was squeezing my heart. I had thought he was just arrogant, maybe a player. But this... this was pure cruelty.

He wasn't just threatening me; he was straight-up using my parents' lives to force me to submit.

And judging by the way his lips twitched slightly upward, he was enjoying every second of my reaction. He lowered his tone, lacing it with a disturbingly fake gentleness.

"I love you, Seraphina. I just... screwed up like any alpha might. Stay. Stay and be my Luna, and I promise I'll be more careful moving forward. I won't even care what you do outside these walls-as long as you stay where I can see you. I want you to love me... like you used to."

He said he wanted me to love him.

While using my parents' lives to blackmail me. While tearing me apart. And still, with a straight face, he said he loved me.

This wasn't love. This was possession. He didn't want a partner-he wanted someone who'd bend to his every whim. He wanted the soul-deep connection of fated mates while still enjoying all the physical perks the outside world could offer. He wanted it all.

That rage-hot, destructive, unstoppable-erupted from deep inside me, burning every last thread of patience I had left.

Smack!

The slap rang out, loud and clear, as I poured every ounce of strength into it and slammed it right across his too-perfect face.

The whole world just... froze. Everything went dead silent in that moment.