Chapter 53: Shifting Lines

The tree overhead rustled gently in the breeze, its branches casting long shadows across the courtyard where Serena sat with Elias. For a moment, it almost felt like peace. Almost.

Elias leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on hers. “Do you regret loving me?”

The question hit Serena harder than expected. She looked away, her fingers curling in her lap. “No. I regret how it ended. I regret how much it still haunts me.”

Elias nodded slowly, his expression unreadable. “When I lost you, I lost everything that felt real.”

“I wasn’t taken from you,” she said quietly. “You let me go.”

“You told me to.” His voice was sharp now, like flint on steel. “And I listened because I thought you'd be safer that way. But now I know that safety was a lie. You’ve been running ever since.”

Serena turned to him, her expression soft but strained. “You think I’ve been running? I’ve been surviving. I didn’t get to retreat to a throne and lick my wounds. I had to keep walking, even when everything in me was broken.”

His gaze softened. “I never meant for you to suffer.”

“And yet here we are,” she whispered.

Silence stretched between them, thick with words neither dared to speak. She hated that her heart still reacted to his nearness, the way the air seemed charged when he was around. But there was no denying the pull. There never had been.

“Why now?” she finally asked. “Why come here?”

“Because I know what you are. What you mean to the prophecy. And I know what Theron is willing to do to keep you.”

She stiffened. “Don’t twist this.”

“I’m not,” Elias said, rising to his feet. “I’m warning you. Theron may love you, but he’s still a king. He will always choose his kingdom over you if it comes to that.”

Serena stood slowly, meeting his gaze head-on. “And you wouldn’t?”

He stepped closer, the space between them electric. “I’d burn my kingdom for you.”

Her breath caught.

“I already did once,” he said softly. “And I’d do it again.”

She wanted to pull away, to shut the door on that chapter of her life. But Elias leaned in, brushing a strand of hair from her face, his fingers lingering at her cheek.

“You may be his fated mate now,” he said, “but you were mine first.”

Her heartbeat thundered in her chest, confusion twisting inside her like vines. “I can’t do this.”

“You already are,” he whispered. “And you feel it too.”

She pulled away then, stumbling back a step, needing distance before she drowned in old feelings. “I chose Theron.”

“Did you?” he challenged. “Or did fate choose for you?”

Before she could respond, a gust of wind tore through the garden, and from the shadows, a figure stepped forward.

Theron.

His face was carved from stone, unreadable, save for the faint flicker of hurt that passed through his eyes when he saw them—close, intimate, too familiar.

Serena froze. “Theron—”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said calmly, though his jaw was tight. “But I think I’ve heard enough.”

Elias didn’t move. He stood tall, defiant. “I meant what I said.”

“I’m sure you did,” Theron replied, walking forward until he was beside Serena. He didn’t touch her, just stood there like a storm waiting to break. “But you’re trespassing, Elias. And even your title won’t protect you much longer.”

Serena placed a hand on Theron’s arm. “Please. Not now.”

He looked at her, and his expression softened, if only slightly. “Come with me.”

She hesitated, glancing back at Elias.

“I won’t stop fighting,” Elias said, voice low and steady. “Not for you. Not ever.”

Theron’s grip on her hand tightened just enough for her to feel the message: He already is.

As they turned away from the courtyard, Serena’s mind swirled with doubt and fire and longing. Two alphas. Two pasts. One future.

Later that night, Serena stood by the arched balcony of her room. The moonlight streamed in like silver silk, and yet she felt no clarity. Only ache.

She had made her choice.

Hadn’t she?

Behind her, the door opened softly. She didn’t need to turn to know it was Theron.

He came to stand behind her, his chest warm against her back. “I don’t want to be the reason you’re unsure.”

“You’re not,” she said. “I’m just… confused. It’s a lot.”

“I know,” he murmured, brushing her hair aside and kissing the bare skin of her neck.

Her breath hitched.

“But I won’t let him take you from me,” he whispered, voice rough with something primal. “You’re mine, Serena. Every breath, every inch of you belongs to me.”

She turned in his arms, her eyes wide, heart fluttering like a trapped bird. “Theron…”

He kissed her then, hard and fierce, like he was claiming her all over again. And she let him. Because right now, in this room, under this moon, she belonged to him.

And for a while, the war outside faded away.