Chapter 6

I was pushed into Lilith’s room. She was propped up in bed, her face glowing with health. She looked nothing like the dying woman from the ritual.

"Seraphina, thank you for saving me." She smiled gently, but her eyes glinted with triumph.

"You're welcome," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Can I see my daughter now?"

"Daughter?" Lilith tilted her head, feigning confusion. "Which daughter are you talking about?"

A cold dread filled me. "Lydia."

"Oh, that poor thing," Lilith sighed, her eyes wide with fake pity. "You don't know? She's dead."

My world stopped spinning.

"What?"

"How could a pup survive a fall like that?" she mused, picking at a loose thread on her blanket. "They didn't even find all the pieces."

"No..." I shook my head. "Ethan said she was rescued..."

"He lied to you, to make you cooperate," Lilith’s smile was vicious. "Her remains were given back to the Moon Goddess, as per the old rituals."

"No..." I trembled. "It can't be..."

"It's poetic, isn't it?" she gloated, her voice dripping venom. "One son sacrificed for mine, the other smashed on the rocks below. My, my... Ethan must truly hate you."

Something inside me snapped. Pure, unadulterated rage.

My vision turned gold. A murderous snarl ripped from my throat, and my nails sharpened into claws.

The mother wolf inside me was howling for blood.

I lunged, my hands closing around her neck.

"You bitch! Give me back my pup!"

"Help... help me..." Lilith choked, clawing at my hands.

Just as I was about to snap her neck, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind, pinning me.

"Sera, you've lost control."

Ethan's voice was in my ear, not angry, just a cold statement of fact.

He easily broke my hold, trapping me in his arms. I couldn't move.

"Let go of me! I'm going to kill her!"

"You're acting like a wild animal," he said, his brow furrowed in disappointment. "Humiliating yourself for a dead bastard?"

"That was my daughter!"

"That was your stain. And now it's gone."

He held my struggling arms with one hand and took a syringe from a nearby tray with the other.

"Be a good girl. Go to sleep." The needle slid into my neck. Silver. A cold fire shot through my veins, silencing my wolf, stealing my strength. "When you wake up," he murmured, "you'll find the world is so much quieter without your little burden."

"No..." I tried to fight, but I was too weak.

My vision blurred.

"Ethan..." I looked at him one last time. "You will regret this..."

The drug took hold, and I went limp in his arms.

Before the darkness took me, I heard him speak to a shaken Lilith. His voice was ice. "Get out. I don't want her to see your face when she wakes."

Then, darkness.

When I woke up again, it was the next morning.

Ethan was sitting by the bed, elegantly wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, as if he'd just disposed of something dirty.

"You're awake."

"Lydia..." I asked weakly. "Where is she..."

"I gave you a chance, Sera." He put the handkerchief down and looked at me calmly. "I let you save Lilith to prove that I was the only one in your world. But you were still thinking about that whelp."

He stood and walked to the window, his back to me.

"So, I took care of her for you," he said casually. "The funeral was last night. It was quiet. Dignified."

I felt a hand crush my heart.

"Why..." I sobbed. "You promised me..."

"I only promised you could see her if you behaved." He turned and walked back to me.

There wasn't a trace of guilt in his eyes, only pity. "You gave up that chance yourself. Now, Sera, there's nothing that can keep us apart. Aren't you happy?"

His logic was terrifyingly twisted. "If you hadn't slept with Julian, I never would have doubted her."

"So this is all my fault?" I laughed, a broken, miserable sound.

"Of course," he said without hesitation.

Just then, the door burst open.

Lilith stormed in, her face a mask of righteous fury. Before I could even process it, her hand cracked across my face.