Chapter Four: The Beta's Smile

Serena’s POV

"Who was that?"

The hallway is still loud around us. Guards rushing. Doors slamming. The whole mansion was awake and unsettled. But my eyes are fixed on the staircase at the top of the hall. On the figure who was standing there watching me. Gone now. Like he was never there.

Kael follows my gaze. His jaw tightens. "His name is Damien Wolfe." His voice is flat. "My Beta." "He was watching us," I say. "From the stairs. During all of this." Kael doesn't answer. Which is an answer. The chaos eventually settles.

Guards take their positions. Wolves return to their posts. The mansion pulls itself back together with the quiet efficiency of a pack that has done this before.

Kael disappears into a room with three senior wolves and doesn't come back out. I stand alone in the corridor, scraped palms, dirty knees, and no idea what to do with myself.

"Serena." I turn. A woman pushes through the thinning crowd toward me. Warm eyes. Curly hair. Moving like someone who belongs here but hasn't forgotten what it feels like not to.

Maya. I met her briefly when we arrived. Barely ten minutes of conversation. But right now her face is the only familiar thing in this building. "Are you hurt?" She grabs my arms, scanning me with practiced eyes.

"No." My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "Just shaken."

She pulls me toward a quieter alcove away from the remaining wolves. Her expression is serious now. The warmth is still there, but underneath it is something careful.

"What happened out there?" "I went into the forest. " Saying it out loud makes it sound worse." "I know. I shouldn't have." "No," she agrees. "You shouldn't." She pauses. "Why did you?"

I open my mouth. Close it.

How do I explain the bond to someone who might not know it exists? How do I explain that I ran into a dark forest full of enemy wolves because an invisible thread pulled me toward a man I'm supposed to stay away from?

Maya watches my face. Her eyes are too perceptive for someone I just met. "You felt him," she says quietly. "Didn't you?" The air goes out of me. "I don't know what you mean."

"Kael." She says his name simply. Like it explains everything. "You felt the pull. That's why you went." I don't confirm it. I don't deny it either.

Maya sighs. "I noticed it in the hall earlier. When he walked down those stairs." She glances around quickly, then drops her voice lower. "How long has it been pulling?"

"Since the moment I saw him." She closes her eyes briefly. Like she was hoping I'd say something different. "Does anyone else know?" I ask. "Not yet." She meets my gaze. "And it needs to stay that way. There are wolves in this pack who would use it against both of you."

"Damien," I say. Something shifts in her expression. Not surprised. Something older than that. "Where did you hear that name?"

"Kael told me to stay away from him."

Maya is quiet for a moment. "Kael is right." She squeezes my arm once. "Watch yourself around Damien. He's not what he presents himself as. Whatever he shows you, the charm, the helpfulness, the open door, it's a front. He is always calculating. Always." Before I can ask more, footsteps approach. I turn.

Damien Wolfe walks toward us like he owns the corridor. Up close, he's different from the figure I saw on the stairs. Tall. Lean. A face arranged into something easy and likable. His eyes are pale blue and sharp in a way that doesn't match his relaxed posture.

He stops in front of me and smiles. "You must be Serena." His voice is smooth. Warm. Like he's been practicing it. "I've been meaning to introduce myself. I'm Damien. Pack Beta." "I know who you are," I say. Something flickers in his eyes. There and gone.

"Then you know my door is open if you need anything." He tilts his head slightly. "Adjusting to pack life can be difficult. Especially for someone who didn't grow up inside one."

The words are kind. Helpful even.

But there's something underneath them. Something that presses against the edges of the sentence. Like, he knows more about where I grew up than he should.

"I'll manage," I say.

He smiles again. "I'm sure you will." His eyes drop just briefly, just for a fraction of a second, to the collar of my shirt. To where my birthmark sits beneath the fabric. Then back up to my face. "Welcome to Silver Crest," he says softly. He walks away without waiting for a response. Unhurried. Completely at ease. I watch him go. Maya appears at my shoulder. Her voice is barely a breath.

"He looked at your neck."

"I know," I say.

We stand there in silence for a moment.

"He already knows something," Maya murmurs. "Be careful, Serena. Whatever you do, be careful.” An hour later, Marcus finds me.

"Serena." He appears at the end of the corridor like he's been waiting for the right moment. "Come with me. My study."

It isn't a question.

I follow him down the hall. Each step feels heavier than the last. Maya's warning sits at the back of my mind. Trust no one. But Marcus is my mother's husband. He brought us here. Surely, the study door closes behind us. The lock clicks.

Marcus moves to his desk without looking at me. He picks something up. Holds it without turning around. "The wolves tonight weren't random," he says. "I know. Kael told me."

"Kael told you they were hunting you." He turns now. In his hands is a book. Old. Leather-bound. The kind that looks like it hasn't been opened in decades. "He doesn't know why."

"Do you?"

Marcus opens the book. Lays it on the desk facing me. I step closer. A drawing fills the page. A symbol. Simple but precise. A crescent moon with a single line through its center. The floor tilts beneath me. I've seen that symbol every day of my life.

"Roll down your collar," Marcus says quietly. My fingers move before I decide to let them. I pull the fabric aside. The birthmark beneath my collarbone catches the firelight. Crescent moon, Line through the center.

A perfect match.

The silence in the room becomes unbearable.

Marcus stares at the mark. Something moves across his face that I don't like. Something that looks less like concern and more like relief. Like a man who just confirmed something he'd been waiting years to prove. "How long have you known?" I ask. My voice comes out steadier than I feel. "I suspected the moment your mother told me about you." He closes the book slowly. "The mark confirmed it."

"Confirmed what?" He looks up at me. And what I see in his eyes makes my stomach turn over.

No fear. Not warmth. Calculation.

"You've been known about for a very long time, Serena. Long before tonight. Long before your mother and I married." He pauses. Let that sink in. "Those wolves didn't find you by accident. Someone sent them. Someone who has been tracking your bloodline for years."

The room feels smaller suddenly. They knew about me before I arrived. Before I even knew this pack existed. Someone has been watching, waiting, tracking, how long have I been a target without knowing it?

"What am I?" I whisper.

Marcus holds my gaze. The fire crackles behind him. The shadows press closer. His voice drops to something quiet. Final. "You're the one who will either save this pack. Or destroy it completely."