MasukSERENA POVI left the house before my parents could stop me. I needed air. Space. Something that didn't smell like secrets.My friend Mia had texted earlier, asking me to meet her at a small café near the shopping district. I'd almost ignored it. Then I remembered the six-month plan I'd made before my life became a conspiracy — my fashion brand, my financial independence, my life outside Kael's pack. I couldn't let it all disappear just because my world was unraveling at the seams.Mia stood outside the café in a bright yellow dress, holding two iced drinks. She looked me up and down."You look like you've fought three men and lost to all of them.""Only two men and one wolf, thank you very much. Get the count right."She stared at me, unimpressed by my precision. "That's not better.""It's marginally better."I took the drink from her. "Don't ask.""I wasn't going to.""You absolutely were about to.""Fine. I was. Sue me — I care about you, it's a character flaw."We went inside. For
SERENA POVThe floor stopped shaking, but nobody in the council chamber moved.I was still staring at Adrian.'I think the first heir is my father.'The words kept repeating inside my head. His father. The boy in the photograph. The asset in the company records. The hidden heir beneath the Blackwood territory. None of it made sense."Your father?" Kael asked, voice flat and dangerous. Adrian swallowed. "I said I think—""You don't get to think when we're talking about something connected to my pack."His eyes flashed gold. I stepped between them before the tension could become another fight. "Both of you, stop."Kael looked at me. Adrian looked at me. For once, neither man immediately argued.I turned toward Nadia. "I need to leave." Her eyebrows drew together. "Leave where?""My family."Kael's expression tightened. "Serena, the territory is under threat.""And my family has been dragged into this mess since before I even knew werewolves existed." I looked at the documents scattered
Chaos erupted.The council members pushed away from the table. The guards surrounded Adrian. Kael moved in front of me again."Everyone stay back!"Adrian's body convulsed. His fingers dug into the stone floor. Black lines began spreading from his neck toward his jaw. Nadia backed away. "What is happening to him?"Kael didn't answer. He was staring at Adrian with an expression I had never seen before. Recognition. Fear. And something dangerously close to hatred.Adrian's head snapped toward him. "Blackwood blood…" His voice echoed unnaturally through the room. "Still guarding the cage."Kael's claws extended. "Who are you?"Adrian's lips pulled into a smile. "The boy who watched his father bury the truth."Kael lunged. I grabbed his arm. "Don't!"He turned toward me. "Get away from him!""He's not in control!""Neither am I!"The admission silenced me. Kael was trembling. His Frenzy was rising faster than before. His eyes remained fixed on Adrian, but I could see his attention splitti
"Pregnant?"Kael's voice barely reached me. Yet the entire council chamber heard it.I stood in the middle of the room with my hand pressed against my stomach, wishing the floor would open and swallow me. Adrian stared at me. Kael stared at me. And every werewolf in the chamber waited for my answer.My mouth went dry. "Serena," Kael said again. This time, there was something different in his voice. Not anger. Not yet. Fear.I turned toward him. "Kael…"Adrian stepped forward. "You didn't tell him?"Kael's head moved sharply in his direction. "Shut your mouth."Adrian stopped. I wanted to scream at both of them. I wanted to run. I wanted to turn back time to the moment I had first answered Adrian's message and convince myself that I had never needed his money, his attention, or the false security he offered. But the past didn't care about my regrets. It had followed me into the council chamber. And now it was standing in front of my husband."I was going to tell you," I whispered. Kael
SERENA POVBefore I could ask anything else, an arrow screamed down from the roofline and buried itself in the black wolf's shoulder.It roared, a sound that rattled windows across the courtyard. Kael spun toward the direction of the shot."Archers!" A second arrow flew — this one aimed straight at me.Kael saw it before I did. He moved between us and caught it bare-handed. The silver tip punched clean through his palm.He stared at the arrow buried in his own hand like it belonged to someone else. Then his eyes went fully, terrifyingly gold."Find them!" he roared, and the warriors scattered toward the estate like he'd fired a starting gun.He snapped the arrow in half. Blood ran down his wrist in a thin dark line.I reached for him. "Your hand—" He stepped back out of my reach. "Don't.""Kael—""I said don't!" His voice cracked across the courtyard with enough force that the warriors still nearby froze mid-stride. I felt every eye in the pack swing toward me, and for one horrible se
SERENA POVThe massive wolf stepped through the flames, and every sound in the courtyard died with it.Even the warriors around me seemed to forget how to breathe.Its fur was black, darker than the smoke curling off the burning gate. A silver collar circled its throat, engraved with the same broken-circle insignia I'd seen on the assassin who'd come for me days ago.But the collar wasn't what frightened me.It was the way the wolf looked at me. Not like prey. Not like an enemy. Like it had been waiting for me specifically, for longer than I'd been alive.Kael moved in front of me before I even registered him stepping close."Stay behind me, Serena."I grabbed his arm anyway. "Don't provoke it."His head turned, just slightly, enough that I caught the gold already bleeding into his eyes. "It's standing in our territory.""And you're already this close to losing control. That's not a coincidence it's counting on, Kael, that's a trap."His gaze sharpened on me, and I knew I'd touched so







