Serena's Pov They all left in a hurry, rushing like any more second would make everything collapse.Before I could puzzle it out, a familiar voice made my blood run cold."Well, well. Look who's back."I turned to find my stepsisters, Elena and Sloane, emerging from the shadows of the corridor. They'd been suspiciously quiet all day, and now I understood why—they'd been waiting and plotting theirs as if it would be any different."Where have you two vipers been hiding?" I asked, instinctively taking a defensive stance.Elena smirked, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Watching you ruin everything, as usual. You really are a witch, aren't you? Poor Damien isn't even thinking straight anymore because of you.""Fuck off," I growled. "I don't have time for your games.""Oh, we can't do that," Sloane purred, stepping closer. Her sleek black hair framed a face that could have been beautiful if not for the cruelty in her eyes. "Not when you've made such a terrible mistake.""
Damien's Pov We had barely reached the warehouse when the wind carried the smell of smoke long before we saw the flames.Something felt off even before I left and I hated it. That eerie, cold twist in my gut. It wasn’t even about the fire. It wasn’t the silence on the line when I tried to call Serena for the fourth damn time. It was like my soul was pulling me in the opposite direction. I clenched my jaw, scanning the road as we drove. My wolf was restless, pacing under my skin, whispering her name like it was the only word left in the universe.I suddenly pulled the brakes hard.“Zayn,” I muttered, gripping the wheel tightly. “You need to go back.”Zayn’s brows pulled together. “We’re almost there, Damien. Don’t start.”“I’m serious. Go back.”“Why? So you can walk into hell alone? No.” He crossed his arms with his jaw firm.“Zayn—”“No,” he snapped. “This attack is mine too. You keep pushing me back like I’m some damn coward. I’m your Beta, not your bodyguard.”I slammed the door o
Damien's Pov I yelled at Vincent and he smirked, pinned Serena to his body.Her hands were tied and her lips were trembling with her eyes wide and a goddamn gun was pressed to her head.I took a nasty step to meet him but that same moment, someone slammed a pipe into the back of my knee and I went down.A scream ripped out of her throat and I felt enraged not from the stab but where when stabbed me because it would be difficult to heal. I tried to get up, but another strike came and my ribs cracked. “Tsk, tsk, Alpha Damien. Look at you. On your knees for a woman.” Vincent smirked with smile whispering into Serena's ears.“I’ll kill you,” I growled, spitting blood on the floor.He chuckled. “You said that already.”“Touch her again, and I’ll skin you alive,” I snarled in pain, looking for anything to distract him while it fucking slowly heals.“Such a devotion,” he smirked, then waved to one of his men.The guy stepped forward with a knife.I lunged, even on my knees and half-broken
Serena's Pov The silence in the car was thicker than smoke. Damien sat beside me, blood dried around his temple, his suit ruined, but somehow… he still looked like sin dressed in Armani.I could feel his power pulsing through me.It wasn’t just adrenaline or rage. It was real, Raw and alive. My body hummed with it, like a second heartbeat that wasn’t mine. And every time I looked at him, I could feel his pain, his fear and his obsession with protecting me, even when I didn’t ask for it.“You’re quiet,” he muttered, glancing over at me as the SUV sped down the road, leaving the burning warehouse behind us.“I just kicked a grown man off a rooftop,” I whispered, staring out the window. “I don’t think there’s a manual for this.”Damien chuckled under his breath, but it wasn’t playful, it was dark. “He deserved worse.”I turned to him slowly. “So this is what it feels like… being one of you.”“You’re not just one of us,” he said, eyes locking with mine. “You’re mine.”There was something
Serena’s POVThe nightmares didn’t start slowly because they came like a damn storm like it was meant to be there all this while and I was just blind about it.First, it was the way Damien’s jaw clenched in his sleep and how his fingers curled tightly into the sheets. Then it was the whisper of a name he never spoke aloud.His mother’s.I wasn’t supposed to hear it but I did, every night. A faint whisper of mother leaving his lips and how scared he was like he was falling apart and she was the only one to Keep him sane.I never expected Damien to have nightmares, especially not him.Not the Alpha who tore men apart like they were paper but he did and they were worse than anything I had imagined.Every night for the past three days, he tossed and turned beside me, his breaths were ragged and his jaw clenched so tightly that I thought he’d shatter his teeth. At first, I thought it was just stress of the few days we had encountered, the attack, fire, Vincent, Lilith and me.But then… I s
Serena’s POVI was so confused and scared, this man hates my guys and Part of me wondered if he was going to accuse me of another scandal, maybe threaten to throw me in the dungeon again for being too mouthy or too stubborn or too… me.I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time a powerful man tried to silence me.Especially not in this damn Pack.I was already hanging on by a thread in this household, being a stripper-turned-mate was scandal enough. That alone had already made half the Pack elders sharpen their knives behind my back.But this moment alone with Magnus, in a hallway echoing with old secrets—it felt like something else entirely.Something colder.“I want food,” Magnus said suddenly, voice low but firm, like it was an order carved in stone.I blinked. “Excuse me?”He didn’t even flinch. “I said I want food, Serena, Prepared by you.”I was almost sure I misheard.“Would you like me to get the maids to maybe prepare it?”“No.” It was one word, that was sharp and final which made
Damien's Pov The nightmares were back.Not because I was weak, no. I’ve survived silver bullets, assassination attempts, rogue ambushes, and more betrayals than I can count. But this? This was different. It was like my past was dragging me by the throat and throwing me back into the fire I thought I’d buried a long time ago.The last time I had that dream, I was fourteen and half-dead, my ribs cracked like twigs and my wolf and was too young to shift making me too scared to fight. My mother stood at the door and only looked back once. Just once and then left me there… left me for dead. The only thing that saved me was the hatred that filled my chest afterward. The only thing that’s kept me alive till now.But since Serena came into my life like a chaotic, mouthy and impossible character—I’d been too distracted to dream. Maybe she kept the ghosts at bay without even realizing it.But they were back and I had no time for ghosts now.I mounted my bike and drove down to the Silver Elites
Damien's Pov It was official because everyone suddenly wanted me dead and they weren’t even hiding it anymore, those greedy, wrinkled old wolves sitting in their damn Elder Council chambers whispering about betrayal and tradition like their bones hadn’t already expired centuries ago. I saw the shift in their eyes, the way their loyalty wavered like candles in a storm.I didn’t trust a single fucking soul anymore.Except two.Zayn, my Beta and Serena.Yeah, my Omega firecracker. The girl who walked into my life with stilettos and secrets and somehow ended up carrying half of my damn power like she was born to wield it. The mate I didn’t ask for… but now the only thing keeping me from tearing this entire coast apart.I was on the edge of war, and I needed blood.I’d just stepped out of the boxing ring when the scent of burning rubber and cheap cologne wafted through the hallway. I turned with my eyebrows raised.Speak of the devils.“Sup, Alpha Mafia,” Tyler grinned, sauntering in with
Damien's Pov It was official because everyone suddenly wanted me dead and they weren’t even hiding it anymore, those greedy, wrinkled old wolves sitting in their damn Elder Council chambers whispering about betrayal and tradition like their bones hadn’t already expired centuries ago. I saw the shift in their eyes, the way their loyalty wavered like candles in a storm.I didn’t trust a single fucking soul anymore.Except two.Zayn, my Beta and Serena.Yeah, my Omega firecracker. The girl who walked into my life with stilettos and secrets and somehow ended up carrying half of my damn power like she was born to wield it. The mate I didn’t ask for… but now the only thing keeping me from tearing this entire coast apart.I was on the edge of war, and I needed blood.I’d just stepped out of the boxing ring when the scent of burning rubber and cheap cologne wafted through the hallway. I turned with my eyebrows raised.Speak of the devils.“Sup, Alpha Mafia,” Tyler grinned, sauntering in with
Damien's Pov The nightmares were back.Not because I was weak, no. I’ve survived silver bullets, assassination attempts, rogue ambushes, and more betrayals than I can count. But this? This was different. It was like my past was dragging me by the throat and throwing me back into the fire I thought I’d buried a long time ago.The last time I had that dream, I was fourteen and half-dead, my ribs cracked like twigs and my wolf and was too young to shift making me too scared to fight. My mother stood at the door and only looked back once. Just once and then left me there… left me for dead. The only thing that saved me was the hatred that filled my chest afterward. The only thing that’s kept me alive till now.But since Serena came into my life like a chaotic, mouthy and impossible character—I’d been too distracted to dream. Maybe she kept the ghosts at bay without even realizing it.But they were back and I had no time for ghosts now.I mounted my bike and drove down to the Silver Elites
Serena’s POVI was so confused and scared, this man hates my guys and Part of me wondered if he was going to accuse me of another scandal, maybe threaten to throw me in the dungeon again for being too mouthy or too stubborn or too… me.I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time a powerful man tried to silence me.Especially not in this damn Pack.I was already hanging on by a thread in this household, being a stripper-turned-mate was scandal enough. That alone had already made half the Pack elders sharpen their knives behind my back.But this moment alone with Magnus, in a hallway echoing with old secrets—it felt like something else entirely.Something colder.“I want food,” Magnus said suddenly, voice low but firm, like it was an order carved in stone.I blinked. “Excuse me?”He didn’t even flinch. “I said I want food, Serena, Prepared by you.”I was almost sure I misheard.“Would you like me to get the maids to maybe prepare it?”“No.” It was one word, that was sharp and final which made
Serena’s POVThe nightmares didn’t start slowly because they came like a damn storm like it was meant to be there all this while and I was just blind about it.First, it was the way Damien’s jaw clenched in his sleep and how his fingers curled tightly into the sheets. Then it was the whisper of a name he never spoke aloud.His mother’s.I wasn’t supposed to hear it but I did, every night. A faint whisper of mother leaving his lips and how scared he was like he was falling apart and she was the only one to Keep him sane.I never expected Damien to have nightmares, especially not him.Not the Alpha who tore men apart like they were paper but he did and they were worse than anything I had imagined.Every night for the past three days, he tossed and turned beside me, his breaths were ragged and his jaw clenched so tightly that I thought he’d shatter his teeth. At first, I thought it was just stress of the few days we had encountered, the attack, fire, Vincent, Lilith and me.But then… I s
Serena's Pov The silence in the car was thicker than smoke. Damien sat beside me, blood dried around his temple, his suit ruined, but somehow… he still looked like sin dressed in Armani.I could feel his power pulsing through me.It wasn’t just adrenaline or rage. It was real, Raw and alive. My body hummed with it, like a second heartbeat that wasn’t mine. And every time I looked at him, I could feel his pain, his fear and his obsession with protecting me, even when I didn’t ask for it.“You’re quiet,” he muttered, glancing over at me as the SUV sped down the road, leaving the burning warehouse behind us.“I just kicked a grown man off a rooftop,” I whispered, staring out the window. “I don’t think there’s a manual for this.”Damien chuckled under his breath, but it wasn’t playful, it was dark. “He deserved worse.”I turned to him slowly. “So this is what it feels like… being one of you.”“You’re not just one of us,” he said, eyes locking with mine. “You’re mine.”There was something
Damien's Pov I yelled at Vincent and he smirked, pinned Serena to his body.Her hands were tied and her lips were trembling with her eyes wide and a goddamn gun was pressed to her head.I took a nasty step to meet him but that same moment, someone slammed a pipe into the back of my knee and I went down.A scream ripped out of her throat and I felt enraged not from the stab but where when stabbed me because it would be difficult to heal. I tried to get up, but another strike came and my ribs cracked. “Tsk, tsk, Alpha Damien. Look at you. On your knees for a woman.” Vincent smirked with smile whispering into Serena's ears.“I’ll kill you,” I growled, spitting blood on the floor.He chuckled. “You said that already.”“Touch her again, and I’ll skin you alive,” I snarled in pain, looking for anything to distract him while it fucking slowly heals.“Such a devotion,” he smirked, then waved to one of his men.The guy stepped forward with a knife.I lunged, even on my knees and half-broken
Damien's Pov We had barely reached the warehouse when the wind carried the smell of smoke long before we saw the flames.Something felt off even before I left and I hated it. That eerie, cold twist in my gut. It wasn’t even about the fire. It wasn’t the silence on the line when I tried to call Serena for the fourth damn time. It was like my soul was pulling me in the opposite direction. I clenched my jaw, scanning the road as we drove. My wolf was restless, pacing under my skin, whispering her name like it was the only word left in the universe.I suddenly pulled the brakes hard.“Zayn,” I muttered, gripping the wheel tightly. “You need to go back.”Zayn’s brows pulled together. “We’re almost there, Damien. Don’t start.”“I’m serious. Go back.”“Why? So you can walk into hell alone? No.” He crossed his arms with his jaw firm.“Zayn—”“No,” he snapped. “This attack is mine too. You keep pushing me back like I’m some damn coward. I’m your Beta, not your bodyguard.”I slammed the door o
Serena's Pov They all left in a hurry, rushing like any more second would make everything collapse.Before I could puzzle it out, a familiar voice made my blood run cold."Well, well. Look who's back."I turned to find my stepsisters, Elena and Sloane, emerging from the shadows of the corridor. They'd been suspiciously quiet all day, and now I understood why—they'd been waiting and plotting theirs as if it would be any different."Where have you two vipers been hiding?" I asked, instinctively taking a defensive stance.Elena smirked, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Watching you ruin everything, as usual. You really are a witch, aren't you? Poor Damien isn't even thinking straight anymore because of you.""Fuck off," I growled. "I don't have time for your games.""Oh, we can't do that," Sloane purred, stepping closer. Her sleek black hair framed a face that could have been beautiful if not for the cruelty in her eyes. "Not when you've made such a terrible mistake.""
Serena's Pov “I'll be back Damien, please just a moment with–”“I don't bloody care, don't fucking leave that door with Vincent!” He roared at me like a mad animal and my heart twisted, could he not think of it that way. I needed to talk to Vincent too, I need to confirm and set things right not to cause any misunderstanding and seeing that he was blind to all of that, I held Vincent's hand and walked outside l.The moment we stepped outside the mansion, Vincent grabbed my arm and shoved me against the rough stone wall. His eyes glowed amber as his wolf pushed to the surface, teeth elongating as he snarled in my face."What the fuck are you doing staying with Damien when we clearly had an agreement?" he growled, his breath hot on my face.I pushed back against his chest, refusing to be intimidated by his silky tantrums and fake concerns.. "It wasn't an agreement, Vincent. I was forced to say those things because of the situation and you freaking know that."His laugh was cold and hol