Chapter 1

 Chapter 1

Serena's POV

The cold had stopped hurting, and that frightened me more than the pain ever had.

I was chained to a metal post outside the Silver Fang Pack's shelter, my knees buried in the snow and my body barely strong enough to remain upright. Blood soaked through my clothes from the wounds I had suffered while protecting Ethan from the mutated beasts during the evacuation, yet I had forced myself to keep moving because I believed that if I could reach the shelter, Adrian would let me inside.

The gates were already closing when I finally arrived.

"Adrian!"

My voice cracked as I lifted my head. He stood on the other side of the gates with Elena beside him, one hand resting over her pregnant stomach. My parents were there too, watching from behind them.

None of them looked frightened. My mother's lips curved into a smile. It was the expression that hurt most.

For years, I had believed that my parents would always be the people I could turn to when everything else fell apart. Yet as I lay bleeding in the snow, my mother looked almost pleased to see me reduced to this.

"Ethan!"

My son's face appeared beside Adrian. Tears ran down his cheeks as he saw the chains around my wrists.

"Mom!"

He tried to come toward me, but Adrian caught him by the shoulder.

"Stay here."

"Please, Dad. She's hurt."

I looked at Adrian and remembered the man he had once been—the man who had promised that we would survive the apocalypse together, no matter what it cost us. I had believed him enough to spend the last two years risking my life for this pack, gathering food from frozen ruins, guarding the Moonstones, and standing between our people and the mutated beasts whenever they came.

There were only two places left inside the shelter.

Surely there was still a place for me.

"I can survive," I pleaded. "I don't need food or medicine. Just let me inside. I'll stay out of the way until I recover."

Adrian glanced at Elena before answering.

"The baby counts as one."

My gaze moved to Elena's stomach.

"Adrian..."

"Elena is the second."

He looked at me without a trace of hesitation.

"There isn't room for you."

The gates continued closing behind him.

My mother stepped forward, her smile never fading. "You always thought you were better than us, Serena. You had Adrian, Ethan, the Moonstones, and the respect of the pack. You acted as though everything depended on you."

She looked down at the chains around my wrists.

"But look at you now."

I turned toward my father, hoping he might say something, anything, that would stop this humiliation.

He only watched.

That was when I understood that neither of them intended to help me.

Then Adrian gave an order that made the air seem colder.

"Take her blood."

I barely had time to process the words before two warriors approached and tightened the chains around my arms.

"What are you doing?"

Adrian remained where he was.

"We discovered that your blood strengthens awakened flames."

The first needle pierced my arm.

Pain shot through me as dark red blood began filling the container beside me.

"When did you find out about this?"

"Last week, We tested it." He said with satisfaction

The warriors continued draining me while Adrian watched. There was no shame in his expression, only the cold practicality of someone taking something he believed he was entitled to.

"You've been using me."

"Your blood kept our warriors strong," he replied. "You should be proud that you're still useful."

The words hollowed me out.

My mother watched the container fill without looking away. My father stood beside her with the same detached satisfaction, while Elena wore the necklace that had once belonged to me.

My Moonstones hung against her chest.

The crystals I had protected with my life now belonged to the woman who had replaced me.

I looked toward Ethan.

"Son, tell your father to stop."

He was crying too hard to speak. For a moment, I waited for him to move.

He didn't.

Adrian kept one hand on his shoulder while the warriors continued taking my blood, and Ethan remained beside him, watching the woman who had given him life slowly weaken in the snow.

When they finally finished, my body collapsed against the post.

The warriors removed the chains and stepped back.

I could no longer feel my hands.

The shelter gates were almost completely shut now, leaving only a narrow view of the people I had once called family.

Adrian stood beside Elena. My parents remained behind them.

No one came for me.

Then something growled behind me.

The sound was low enough to vibrate through the frozen ground.

I turned as far as my weakened body allowed and saw a mutated beast emerging from the snow. Its enormous frame was twisted by the Awakening, its claws sinking into the ice as another beast appeared behind it.

I tried to crawl toward the shelter. My fingers dug into the snow, but I barely moved.

"Adrian!"

He looked at me.

"Please."

His mouth curved into a small, satisfied smile. The gates closed and the beasts charged.

The first one struck me hard enough to send me rolling across the snow. Another caught me before I could escape, its claws tearing through the wounds that had already drained what little strength remained.

I heard Ethan screaming my name somewhere beyond the gates.

Then everything became pain, snow, and darkness.

The beasts tore into me until I could no longer feel their claws.

My final thought wasn't about Adrian. It wasn't about Elena. It wasn't even about my parents.

It was a promise to myself.

If I ever got another chance at life, I would never beg them again.