LOGINSera Winters pov
The worst betrayals don't come with warning signs. They come with your mother's voice saying be grateful. I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I heard it again. What she is. Not who. What. By the time the sun came up I'd already decided. I was leaving. I didn't care how far the nearest town was. I didn't care that my phone was dead. I'd walk if I had to. I got dressed in yesterday's clothes. Jeans and a sweater. My hands shook so bad I could barely button anything. I didn't bother with my bag. I'd come back for it later. Or not. Didn't matter. The hallway was empty when I stepped out. Quiet. Too quiet. I made it halfway down the stairs before I smelled food. Coffee. Bacon. Toast. My stomach turned. The kitchen was at the end of the hall. Big and open with windows looking out at all those trees. Caelan stood at the stove with his back to me but I knew he heard me. The way he went still for half a second before cracking another egg into the pan. "You're up early," he said. Didn't turn around. "I'm leaving." "No." "You can't keep me here." He plated the eggs. Turned around. Looked at me with those gray eyes. "Sit down." "I don't want—" "Sit." It wasn't a request. I didn't sit. I turned and walked straight to the front door. Locked. I tried the handle. Pulled. Pulled harder. Nothing. "Told you," Caelan said behind me. I spun around. "Where's my mother?" "Gone." "Where?" "Home." "Then take me home too." "You are home." My chest squeezed tight. Like someone had their hand around my lungs. "This isn't my home." "It is now." He pulled out a chair at the table. The legs scraped against the floor. "Sit." "I want to leave." "Sera." His voice dropped. Got quieter. "Sit down. Or I'll make you." My legs felt wrong. Weak. I hated that they felt weak. But I sat anyway because what else could I do? He didn't sit. Just stood there looking at me like I was something he was trying to figure out. "Your stepfather owed us a debt," he said. "He couldn't pay. So he offered collateral." I didn't understand. "What collateral?" "You." The word hit me like I'd been slapped. "That's not—" "Your mother agreed. She brought you here herself." "No. She brought me here to help. To stay for a few weeks. She said—" "She lied." "You're—" "Call her." He pulled a phone from his pocket. Put it on the table between us. Black and sleek and expensive looking. "Ask her yourself." I stared at the phone. At the light reflecting off the screen. "My phone's dead," I said. "Use mine." "It won't have signal out here." "It will." I didn't move. Didn't want to move. Because if I picked up that phone and called her then maybe he'd be right. And I didn't want him to be right. "Go on," he said. "Prove me wrong." My hand reached for the phone before I could stop it. Picked it up. The screen lit up. Full bars. Of course it had full bars. I dialed. My fingers felt numb on the screen. It rang twice. She picked up. "Hello?" Her voice. Normal. Tired. Like she'd just woken up. "Mom?" My voice broke on the word. A pause. Then a sigh. Long and exhausted. "Sera. I told you I'd call in a few days." "I need you to come get me." "I can't do that." "Mom, please. These men said—" "Sera." She cut me off. Her voice went flat. That same empty tone from the car yesterday. "Stop calling. I told you this was temporary. You're helping the family. Be grateful they took you." Be grateful. The words echoed in my head. Over and over. Be grateful they took you. The phone slipped in my hand. I caught it before it fell. "Mom—" The line went dead. I sat there staring at the screen. At my face reflected in the black glass. My ears were ringing. High-pitched and constant. Like someone had hit me in the head and the sound wouldn't stop. She knew. She knew the whole time. She knew and she left me here anyway. She knew and she told me to be grateful. My chest hurt. Not like sadness. Like I'd been punched. Like something had actually broken inside and now it was bleeding and I couldn't stop it. "I need to leave," I said. My voice sounded far away. Like it wasn't mine anymore. "No." I stood up. The chair fell backward. I didn't look at it. Didn't care. I ran. Not to the front door. To the back. Through the kitchen. To the windows. To anywhere that wasn't here. But Daxen was already there. He stepped in front of me. Too fast. Way too fast. One second the hallway was empty. The next second he was blocking my way. "Easy," he said. Smiling that awful smile. "Where you going?" "Move." "Can't do that." I tried to push past him. He caught my wrist. His hand wrapped all the way around it. I pulled. Twisted. Yanked as hard as I could. He didn't even flinch. "Let go." "You're gonna hurt yourself." I swung at him with my other hand. He caught that one too. Held both my wrists in one hand now. Easy. Like I was a kid throwing a tantrum. "Daxen." Caelan's voice behind me. Cold and flat. "Let her go." "She swung at me." "I know. Let her go." He did. I stumbled back. My wrists ached where he'd held them. Red marks already forming on my skin. "You see?" Caelan said. Not looking at me. Looking through me. "You won't make it past the door." "This isn't—" My throat felt tight. Too tight. "You can't just—" "Your stepfather made his choice. Your mother made hers." He picked up the fallen chair. Set it upright like nothing had happened. "Now you live with it." "That's not fair." "No." He said it so simply. Like fairness was a joke he'd stopped finding funny years ago. "It's not." I wanted to hit him. Wanted to scream. Wanted to do something that would make him feel even a fraction of what I was feeling. But my hands just hung at my sides and shook. "What do you want from me?" I asked. "You'll figure it out." "What does that—" Kieran appeared in the doorway. I hadn't heard him coming. Didn't know how long he'd been standing there listening. "Caelan," he said quietly. "Enough." Caelan looked at me one more time. Then walked past. Left the room. Left me standing there with Daxen still watching me like I was entertainment and Kieran looking at me like I was something broken that needed fixing. "Come on," Kieran said gently. He stepped closer but didn't touch me. "Let's get you upstairs." "I don't want to go upstairs." "I know." His voice was soft. Too soft. Like he was talking to a scared animal. "But you need to." "Why?" "Because if you stay down here you're going to do something you'll regret." I laughed. It came out wrong. Bitter and sharp. "I already regret everything." "Not yet you don't." He said it so soft. So certain. Like he knew exactly what was coming and I didn't. I let him lead me back upstairs. Let him open my door. Let him guide me inside like I didn't know where my own room was. "I'll bring lunch later," he said. "I'm not hungry." "You will be." He closed the door. I heard the lock click. That sound was starting to feel familiar. Starting to feel normal. I hated that. I walked to the window. Pressed my forehead against the cold glass. Looked out at the trees. At all that empty forest stretching on forever. No houses. No roads. No people. Just trees and more trees and nothing else. My mother's voice kept playing in my head. Be grateful they took you. Be grateful. Like I should thank them for buying me. Like I should be happy about this. I tasted metal. Like I'd bitten my tongue. But I hadn't. I walked to the bed. Sat down. Stared at my hands. They were still shaking. Red marks on my wrists where Daxen had held me. They'd probably bruise by tomorrow. I lay down. Curled up on my side. And let the shaking turn into something else. Not crying. Anger. So much anger I didn't know where to put it.POV: Sera Winters“Show me everything.”The brothers looked at each other. That silent communication thing they did.“Sera—” Caelan started.“No.” I cut him off. “No more protecting me. Helena said my mother contacted the Council about reincarnation. You said you’ve been investigating her. Show me.”Kieran moved to his laptop. Opened files. Turned the screen toward me.“We started digging after you arrived,” he said. “Your mother’s background. Where she came from. Who she really was.”I leaned forward. Birth certificate on screen. Driver’s license. Marriage certificate to my stepfather.“This says she was born thirty-eight years ago,” I said. “That’s normal.”“Keep looking.”I scrolled. School records. Elementary. Middle school. High school graduation.Then nothing.“Where’s the rest?” I asked. “College? Work history?”“Doesn’t exist,” Daxen said. “No college records. No employment before twenty-five.
POV: Sera Winters“So did you,” I said. “All of you.”Caelan stepped closer. I could feel the heat coming off his body“We’re trained for it. You’re not.” His hands went to my face. Palms rough against my skin. “You’re pregnant. You should have stayed back. Instead you stepped between wolves and attackers.”“I’m Luna. I can’t just hide while—”“I know.” His thumb moved across my cheek. “I know you can’t. That’s what scares me. Watching you put yourself in danger and knowing I can’t stop you.”He looked at me like he was memorizing my face.“You’re brave. Too brave. And I don’t know if I want to lock you somewhere safe or—”He kissed me instead of finishing.His mouth was hard against mine. Hungry. Like he’d been holding himself back all day and finally snapped.I grabbed his shirt. Pulled him closer. Needed to feel him. Needed proof we were both here and alive.When he pulled away we were both breathing too fast.“Sorry
POV: Sera WintersThe healing halls smelled like blood and antiseptic.Pack members lined the cots some shifted back to human form, nursing wounds, while others remained wolves, too injured to manage the transformation. Miriam moved between them with practiced efficiency, checking wounds, adjusting bandages, prioritizing who needed immediate attention and who could wait.I stood near the entrance, watching and feeling useless.“Don’t just stand there,” Miriam called without looking up. “Come help.”I walked over. “I don’t know what to do.”“You’ll learn.” She gestured to a young wolf on the nearest cot male, maybe early twenties, with deep claw marks across his ribs and blood matting the gray fur. “Place your hands on the wound, right here.”I knelt beside the cot. The wolf’s eyes tracked me, glazed with pain, his breathing shallow and rapid.“I don’t know how to heal,” I said.“You do. Luna healing is
POV: Sera WintersThe battle erupted around me.Enemy wolves crashed through every opening. More kept coming. The chamber filled with snarls and screams and the wet sound of teeth meeting flesh.Dominic's pack wasn't just attacking. They were targeting. Moving with coordinated precision toward the Elders. Toward Helena. Toward anyone who represented pack leadership.This was an assassination attempt disguised as a raid.The brothers shifted in unison. Caelan's massive silver-gray form positioned between me and the main surge of attackers. Daxen's huge gold wolf took the left flank, all raw power and savage grace. Kieran's leaner russet-brown form moved right, faster and more agile.Thea's rust-red wolf was already coordinating with Finn's stocky charcoal-black form. Organizing enforcer response. Creating defensive lines. Trying to impose order on chaos.I stood frozen. Watching it happen. My body locked down by
POV: Sera WintersThe council chamber couldn't hold everyone.Wolves packed the space. Standing along walls. Seated on the floor. Spilling into the hallway. Five hundred faces turned toward the front where I sat alone at a small table.The brothers sat in the front row. Close enough to see but not close enough to help. Their expressions were carefully controlled. But I could feel their tension through the bond. Thrumming. Electric.Elder Tobias sat at the high table with other council members. Ronan to his right. Miriam to his left. And at the center, Helena Vance. Silver-streaked hair. Sharp eyes. Radiating authority that made even the Alphas seem diminished.She stood. The room went silent immediately."This hearing is convened under ancient pack law," Helena said. Her voice carried without effort. "To examine the legitimacy of the bond between Luna Sera Winters and Alphas Caelan, Daxen, and Kieran Thorn. Truth spel
POV: Sera WintersRonan spread documents across the study table.Pack law. Council precedents. Hearing procedures. Pages and pages of rules I'd never heard of governing bonds I didn't understand."The hearing follows ancient protocol," he said. His finger traced a passage in faded text. "Elder Council questions you under truth spell. They ask about bond formation. Origins. Consent.""And if they determine the bond isn't legitimate?""They can dissolve it. Remove you from pack territory. In extreme cases, bring charges against the Alphas for coercion." He looked up. "The truth spell makes lying impossible. You'll answer honestly whether you want to or not."My nails dug into my palms. "So they'll learn I was sold. That I came here against my will.""Yes. Which is why we need to frame the narrative carefully. Truth doesn't have to be complete. Just accurate."A knock interrupted us. Isla entered wi
Sera WintersIdentity is just a story we tell ourselves until someone shows us the truth we've been hiding from.I sat in Caelan's study.All three of them were there. Waiting. Like they'd known I'd demand this conversation eventually."I want to know everything," I sai
Sera WintersSometimes the people who hurt you least become the people you need most.I didn't leave my room for hours.Just lay there. Staring at nothing. Crying until my eyes burned and my throat was raw and I had nothing left.Eventually I heard a soft knock."Sera?" Kie
Sera WintersPrivacy is a luxury. Intimacy is a weapon. And sometimes you can't tell the difference until it's too late.The door closed.We stood there. Me with my back against it. Him three feet away. Not moving.The silence was deafening. My pulse hammered so loud
Sera WintersSurrender isn't always defeat. Sometimes it's the only honest thing left.The day lasted forever.Every hour dragged. Every minute felt like ten. I couldn't eat breakfast. Couldn't focus on reading. Couldn't do anything except sit in the common room and watch th







