Seraphina's Discovery

Seraphina

***** Silverfang Palace *****

The walls of Silverfang always felt cold to me.

But tonight… they felt like they were closing in.

I paced across the Luna’s chamber…. my chamber, trying not to scream. The candles flickered with every shaky breath I took, shadows dancing along the polished stone.

Chase had been unpredictable all day.

Snapping at warriors. Avoiding eye contact. Growling under his breath at nothing. And worst of all…..

Completely ignoring me.

Not even a glance.

Not even a word.

The tension in the palace was so thick I could barely breathe. Warriors whispered. Omegas kept their heads down. Even the elders stayed out of Chase’s way.

Something was wrong with him.

Something deep.

Something dangerous.

I pressed my palm over my heart and whispered to myself, “You’re the Luna now. You have power. You have status. You won.”

But my voice shook.

Because somewhere deep inside… I knew I didn’t win.

I stole.

The rejection.

The ceremony.

The lies I crafted to tear Elena away from him.

The quiet orders I gave behind closed doors.

All of it was necessary.

If Chase stayed mated to Elena, I would’ve been invisible. Weak. A nobody.

And I promised myself I would never be powerless again.

Never.

The chamber door burst open.

Chase stormed in, fury rolling off him like a storm.

I froze.

Not again.

Not tonight.

He tossed his cloak to the floor and growled, “Everyone out.”

The guards vanished instantly.

The door slammed shut, echoing like a warning.

We were alone.

I swallowed and stepped forward. “Chase? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t look at me.

Not even a flicker of attention.

He gripped the window frame so tightly his knuckles were white.

“My wolf…” he muttered, voice low and rough. “He’s restless.”

Restless?

My pulse jumped.

“From stress?” I asked carefully.

He didn’t reply.

He just stared out into the night like he was searching for something that wasn’t there.

I whispered, “Chase… is this about her?”

His jaw clenched.

He didn’t deny it.

Pain shot through my chest. No matter how much I dressed like a Luna, acted like a Luna, ruled like a Luna….

he never looked at me the way he looked at Elena.

Like she was the air he breathed.

I tried to steady my voice. “She’s gone. She didn’t survive. You know that.”

His head snapped toward me, eyes burning.

“I know what I felt.”

My blood ran cold.

“What do you mean?” I forced out.

“My wolf sensed her,” he said, voice low and certain. “Not fully. Not clearly. But enough to know she isn’t dead.”

My stomach dropped.

No.

That couldn’t be possible.

“She escaped the night she left,” he continued. “I felt her life flicker for a moment, then vanish.”

I shook my head. “Chase… it’s impossible. She lost too much blood. The rogues never brought her back. No one saw her again.”

He stepped toward me, towering over me, eyes sharp with something I hadn’t seen in days…..

Hope.

“She's alive, Seraphina. I don’t care what anyone says.”

My throat tightened.

His hope was my nightmare.

I lifted my chin. “And what if she is alive?”

His silence cut deeper than any words.

He wasn’t angry at me.

He wasn’t thinking about me.

He was thinking about her.

Always her.

I tried to smile. “You’re under pressure. That’s all. Being Alpha is…..”

“Stop talking.”

His words slammed into me.

I flinched.

He didn’t care.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair and growled, “I can’t sleep. My wolf won’t calm down. Every night I dream of her walking away from me. Every night I wake up empty.”

Every night I lose him a little more.

I stepped closer, touching his arm gently. “Chase… I’m here. Your Luna—l….”

“Go to bed, Seraphina.”

His voice was cold.

Dismissive.

Final.

I whispered, “Chase…..”

“I said go.”

Humiliation burned through me like fire.

I forced myself to walk out without breaking.

He wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me shatter.

Not again.

Not because of her.

Seraphina

***** One Hour Later *****

I didn’t go to bed.

I couldn’t.

I sat at my vanity, staring at the reflection I had crafted: perfectly braided golden hair, expensive silk gown, flawless makeup.

Beautiful.

Powerful.

The Luna everyone bowed to.

So why did I feel like I was losing everything?

A soft knock tapped against the secret side door.

My hand stilled.

Only one person used that entrance.

Cyrus.

My spy.

I opened it quickly and pulled him inside. “Tell me you have information.”

He nodded, tense. “I do.”

My heart slammed in my chest.

He placed a folded sheet into my hand. “It’s from the tracker you hired. He searched the entire forest trails again after the escape.”

My breath hitched.

“And?”

Cyrus hesitated. “He found signs of a woman traveling shortly after Elena fled. It matches her height and scent trace.”

My vision blurred for a second.

No.

No, no….

He continued, “There were signs she wasn’t alone.”

My grip tightened on the paper.

“What do you mean?”

“A second scent. Male. Strong. Not from our pack.”

My stomach twisted painfully.

She didn’t just escape.

She had help.

Cyrus paused before adding, “There were also… smaller scents near the bedding area. Fresh ones.”

I frowned. “Smaller?”

He swallowed.

“Baby-sized.”

My heart stopped.

Cold swept through me like a blade.

“No,” I whispered. “That’s impossible.”

“Elena must have survived childbirth,” Cyrus said softly. “And she wasn’t carrying one child.”

The room spun.

“What are you saying?” My voice cracked.

He looked me dead in the eye.

“She had twins, Luna.”

My entire body went numb.

Twins?

Elena had twins?

His heirs.

His blood.

The future of Silverfang.

The children he would have loved more than anything…..

The children that belonged to me if fate had been fair.

Every breath felt like knives.

Chase’s nightmares.

His restlessness.

His wolf howling every night.

It all made sense now.

He felt them.

He sensed them.

He sensed his children alive somewhere.

Cyrus stepped back uneasily. “Luna… what do you want us to do?”

I lifted my head slowly.

Gone was fear.

Gone was insecurity.

Gone was anything soft.

What remained was steel.

Cold.

Sharp.

Unforgiving.

“I want proof she’s alive,” I said. “Find Elena. Track her. Get me every scrap of information that exists.”

Cyrus nodded. “And the children?”

I stared at my reflection.

Beautiful.

Powerful.

Deadly.

If Elena survived childbirth…

If she escaped Chase…

If she had twins…

Then everything I built was crumbling.

Everything I stole was slipping through my fingers.

Chase would never love me.

Not when his real family was out there.

Not when the bond he tried to sever was still alive.

Not when she carried pieces of his soul in her arms.

My jaw tightened.

My voice dropped to ice.

“The twins,” I said coldly, “are a threat to everything I have.”

Cyrus inhaled sharply. “Seraphina……”

I cut him off.

“Find them.”

He swallowed. “And when we do?”

I smiled.

A slow.

Cruel.

Calculated smile.

“When you find Elena’s children…”

I whispered,

“…kill them.”

The room fell silent.

Airless.

Heavy.

Cyrus looked horrified. “Luna, they’re just….”

“I don’t care what they are,” I snapped, stepping forward. “They are the one thing that can destroy my throne. Chase will never look at me again if he finds out they exist.”

I leaned in close, whispering in a voice that wasn’t mine anymore.

“If the world believes Elena died… then her children must die too.”

Cyrus bowed his head.

“Yes, Luna.”

He slipped out through the secret door.

I stood alone, gripping the edge of the vanity until my knuckles turned white.

Elena stole everything from me.

Her existence was a curse on my life.

But I would end that curse.

Her children would not rise.

Her children would not grow.

Her children would not take my place.

I whispered to my own reflection,

“I swear… I will kill the twins.”

And for the first time,

I meant every word.