Chapter 4: Shadows of the Mind

Malek

​"What? Is something wrong? Is her condition that bad?" I asked, trying to read his stunned look.

​Vance remained completely frozen near the foot of the altar bed, staring down at Seraphina’s pale, blood-stained form as if he’d been struck by lightning. The faint silver glow of her Imperial blood hummed in the air, but Vance didn't reach out to check her pulse or inspect the healing lash marks on her back.

​"Is she dead?" My heart skipped as the thought crossed my mind.

​No, I could still pick up her heartbeat, so she was alive, but why was he staring at her like that? I was starting to lose my cool, the raw Alpha inside me snapping at the delay, but he turned to me calmly.

​"T-the girl. Your mate. She's also my mate," he revealed, leaving me shocked as this hit me hard. My mate was also his mate? How was this even possible?

​The door to the room got pushed open suddenly, and Torin walked in.

​"Brother, what's going on? I came right away when I heard you'd arrived," he said while heading to the bed, but he froze a few feet back as he looked down at her. His eyes went wide with shock all over his face.

​"Mate?"

​The word hung suspended in the heavy sanctuary air, weighted down by the scent of fresh blood and ozone. The initial surge of our freshly sealed ritual bond pulsed wildly through my chest—three distinct threads of raw Alpha power wrapping tighter and tighter around her surging Imperial core.

​"Three of us," Torin breathed out, stepping closer as his amber eyes flared with a lethal mixture of awe and possessiveness. "The ancient legends... the Triad bond wasn't a myth."

​"It's not just the bond," Vance warned, his sharp blue eyes narrowing as he finally snapped out of his trance. He pointed a trembling finger toward Seraphina’s chest. "Look at her aura. The blood-drinking stabilized the Wolfsbane, but her core is fracturing. Someone at Darkmoor didn't just whip her—they put a dormant death-curse inside her veins."

​Before I could speak, Seraphina let out a choked, ragged gasp. Her eyelids fluttered open, her glowing silver eyes instantly locking onto mine.

​A sudden, violent pulse of black-and-silver lightning detonated outward from her body. The shockwave shattered every remaining glass fixture in the sanctuary, blowing the heavy oak doors off their iron hinges.

​"Get back!" I barked, flinging my arm out to brace against the raw energy.

​Seraphina scrambled backward against the stone headboard, clutching her chest, her chest heaving as her inner wolf, Nyssa, bared her mental fangs. The raw power vibrating off her was enough to level a fortress.

​"Stay away from me!" Seraphina rasped, her voice dripping with lethal defiance despite her trembling frame. "If Marcus is coming with five thousand wolves, I'm not hiding behind anyone! I'll rip Cassian's throat out myself!"

​I took a slow, deliberate step toward her, ignoring the static magic stinging my skin. A dark, dangerous smile crept onto my lips as I reached out and caught her trembling jaw in my hand.

​"You won't have to fight them alone, little Empress," I growled softly, my silver eyes flashing. "Because before Marcus's army even reaches our gates... we're bringing the war straight to his doorstep."