CHAPTER FOUR

Chapter Four: Imprisoned

Zephyr's POV

"This is impossible. Absolutely impossible."

I paced the terrace like a caged animal, my hands shaking with the overwhelming need to break something, anything. The mate bond pulsed insistently under my skin like poison spreading through my veins, connecting me to the one person I should want dead more than anyone else in this entire world.

The murderer's daughter.

My fucking mate.

Beta Thomas appeared silently at my shoulder, his expression carefully neutral in that way he had perfected over years of service. "Alpha? The guests are asking questions. Many questions. What should I tell them?"

"Handle them." I did not stop pacing. Could not stop. If I stood still for even a second, I might actually lose what was left of my rapidly crumbling sanity. "Tell them whatever you need to. I do not care."

"And the woman? What should we do with her?"

"Seraphine." Her name tasted like ash and bitter memories. "Her name is Seraphine Blackthorne, and she is exactly who we thought she was. The traitor's daughter."

"Should I have her escorted off the property—"

"Leave us." The order came out harsher than I intended, my voice rough with barely controlled rage. "Now, Thomas. Before I lose my temper completely."

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

The terrace doors opened behind me with a soft click. I did not need to turn around to know it was her—the cursed mate bond made me hyperaware of her every movement, every breath, every fucking heartbeat.

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

I turned around slowly, and the sight of her standing there in the moonlight stole what little control I had left.

Even now, even knowing what she was, my traitorous body still responded powerfully to her presence. The wolf in me wanted to claim her, mark her, make her mine in every way that mattered.

The man in me wanted to watch her burn.

"Awkward?" I took a step toward her, gratified when she tensed visibly. "That is what you call this cosmic joke? This cruel twist of fate?"

"I would call it a mistake." She smoothed down her dress with deliberate care, the picture of composure except for the slight tremor in her hands. "But apparently the Moon Goddess has a sense of humor we are not privy to."

"This is not funny in the slightest."

"No." Her green eyes met mine without flinching. "It is not."

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

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

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

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

"I expected nothing from you." She lifted 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 hit like a physical blow to the chest. "Your father murdered my brother in cold blood!"

"Your father murdered mine!" she shot back.

"Justice is not murder!"

"Executing an innocent man is!"

We were shouting now, years of buried pain and rage erupting like a volcano. Her composure cracked completely, revealing the fierce anger burning underneath. Good. I wanted her angry. I wanted her to hurt the way I had hurt.

"How dare you." My voice dropped 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 deep down—"

"Guards!"

My roar echoed across the terrace and into the night. Within seconds, four of my best warriors emerged from the shadows, their eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Escort our guest to the blue room," I ordered without taking my eyes off her face. "Make sure she is comfortable. Very comfortable."

"You cannot do this to me." But there was no real surprise in her voice, only resigned fury. "I have not broken any laws."

"Have you not?" I circled her slowly, deliberately, letting my dominance press against her defenses like a physical weight. "Trespassing under false pretenses. Planting surveillance devices throughout my home. Conspiracy to commit espionage against the pack."

"I was invited—"

"By a fictional person representing a nonexistent pack." I stopped directly in front of her, close enough to see the gold flecks in her green eyes. "I am your Alpha, Seraphine. Whether you like it or not. I have the right to do whatever I want in my territory."

Her jaw clenched tight. "I do not recognize your authority over me."

"You will," I promised darkly.

The words carried the weight of absolute certainty. She may have spent ten years running wild with rogues, but she was in my territory now. My rules. My justice.

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

"Do not get any foolish ideas because we are mates," I told her, the words cutting deeper than any blade could. "I will use this as an opportunity to make you pay for your father's sins. Consider it a long-overdue reckoning."

Something flickered across her face—pain, maybe, or disappointment. It vanished so quickly I might have imagined it.

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

"I do not 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 sins? That would be a dream come true for me. Now get her out of my sight."

The guards moved to flank her on both sides. She did not resist, but the set of her shoulders told me she was calculating, planning, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

She would not find one. Not here. Not in my house.

"The blue room is lovely this time of year," I called after her as they escorted her inside. "I am sure you will find it quite memorable."

She paused at the threshold, looking back over her shoulder with those eyes that haunted me. "You know, Zephyr, you have grown up to be exactly the kind of man I thought you would become. A thoughtless, heartless bastard. How disappointing."

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

Twenty minutes later, I was in my study nursing a whiskey when Beta Thomas appeared.

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

"Good." I drained 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 immediately."

"And the guests?"

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

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

She should be afraid.

---

Seraphine's POV

In the blue room three floors above, I examined my luxurious prison with the detached interest of a professional thief casing a target. The windows were barred with decorative ironwork that was far stronger than it looked. The door was solid oak with heavy locks.

Beautiful, comfortable, and absolutely inescapable.

Perfect.

I reached carefully into my elaborately styled hair and extracted a small crystal, no bigger than a pearl. The communication device pulsed with soft blue light as I activated it with a whisper of power.

"I am in," I whispered quietly.

Static crackled for a moment before a familiar voice responded—rough, commanding, tinged with the kind of darkness that made smart people run.

"About time, little wolf. Status report."

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

A low, dark chuckle echoed through the crystal. "Make him fall in love with you, then destroy him completely. His pack will be ours for the taking."

"And my father's killer?"

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

"I remember everything. Every single detail."

"Good. The Rogue King expects results. Do not disappoint me."

The crystal went dark, leaving me alone in the silence. I moved to the window and stared out at the pack lands that were once my home.

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

They were wrong.

By the time I was finished, this entire pack would be ash and memory.

Starting with their precious Alpha.