The Full Moon.

Seraphine Pov.

“I don’t get you?”. I pulled back.

He smiled again.

“Don’t act dumb. You are too smart to be playing dumb”. He teased me.

“I like you because of how intelligent you are”. He moved closer, his shoulder touching my body. “You’ve been groomed inside Ironveil for so long to understand how power is being passed around”. My brows joined together, confusion settled in my spirit, and his gaze fixed on me. “Just a tip of advice from a well-wisher, being loyal to the right person and shutting your witty mouth up can make a two-year sentence feel very short. Do otherwise and it could double”.

I looked at him with so much disgust.

He smiled and his smile pricked my soul, I knew where the hell he was driving at and I couldn’t help but see how much of a demon he was.

A fool.

A silly fool.

Silly of him to think I could read between his eyes to know he was up to no good.

Five years outside of the walls of the iron veil had sharpened me in ways I feared for my soul.

“Lord Cassian.” My voice was low like I was interested in his dumb suggestion. “Thank you so much for showing so much interest knowing you have nothing to gain”.

His smile placed his right hand on his chest as if he were honored.

“I’ll keep your offer in mind,” I said. “I’d like to do some personal investigation on the loan document that landed my silly brother in this mess”.

The smile faded away slowly but still he stood upright, unmoved.

“It was nice speaking with you”.I said.

I walked past him.

He didn’t reach for me. He didn’t try to hold me, he just stood there and watched me leave.

The moment I walked out of his sight, my wolf pressed forward, so hard I couldn’t hold back, I held the wall for balance, pressing my body hard into the wall to calm her.

“Don’t get us killed. Please”.

She pressed further, furious.

She charged towards the opposite wing, as if her eyes saw something I didn’t see, back towards him.

“Stop!”. I warned

She pulled harder.

“I order you to stop”.I yelled, falling to my knees at once.

She went still, I could feel my body rising, she was still furious, my strength rising and falling.

I stayed there for some minutes when the servant began to point accusing fingers, I stood up and walked towards the field.

Mira was waiting at the end of the corridor with a bread roll wrapped in cloth and some fresh fruit.

She looked at my face, her eyes filled with concern.

“I have been looking for you,” she said.

“Cassian is a bastard. He’s up to no good.”

Her face went pale.

“What happened?”.

“He offered me a deal. Using Eli as bait to make me succumb”. I took the bread from her because I hadn’t eaten since yesterday and my stomach was begging to groan loudly. “He’s not hiding it, Mira. He’s not even scared I might turn him in”. I leaned close to the gate.

“Bring your voice down”. Mira warned.” The walls can hear”.

“I’m in a big mess,” I held the food close.

Mira grabbed my arm.

“Sera. The full moon ceremony is tonight. Every ranked wolf in the palace will be in the grounds. Bound servants attend in observance”. She tightened her grip. “Cassian always makes his moves at the ceremony. It’s the one time the court is watching the moon instead of being cautious.”

I looked at her, the dot connecting.

“I need to stay low”.

She shook her head slowly. Like she wanted me to see the bigger picture but my thoughts were too clouded.

“There’s something else”. She whispers pulling me close. “I heard two of the wild guards talking this morning. Before you were summoned.”

“What did they say?”.

Mira looked at me with the expression she wore when she was about to say something she wished she didn’t know.

“They said Cassian filed a court motion yesterday. Before you even arrived.” Her eyes were not leaving mine. “He’s petitioning to have your debt clause reclassified. If it passes the elder vote, you won’t be bound to the Crown anymore.”

My body froze.

“You’ll be reassigned,” Mira said. “To the petitioning lord.”

The bread rolled out of my hand to the ground.

“Mira”. I called her name out, shocked to my bone marrow.

“He filed it before I arrived,” I said slowly.

“Guards assemble “. The voice echoed, Mira ran off, I returned to my cage.

Night crawled in slowly.

The ceremony ground held voices filled with excitement.

Every ranked wolf in Ironveil stood around in a circle gathering before the Moon altar. Omegas and servants lined up around the outside ring.

I stood between Mira and a wall.

After a minute, the moon came to light, in its full glory, so bright and beautiful.

Daxton stood at the altar dressed in a black silk ceremonial robe, his crown shining brightly. Cassian stood close to his right wearing a silly smile like the second in command.

The elder priest raised his staff to the sky honouring the moon, and we all bowed in obeisance.

Slowly the chant started, the court rose, chanting, our voice echoing across the mountain, loud and filled with power.

The more they chant, the more restless I feel.

My body moved before I could control it.

A harsh pull from within.

I tried to gain balance but my strength overpowered me, the pull from within, electrifying and strong, like something had been awakened inside of me.

“No”

“Not here”

“Not now”.

“Please “.

She didn’t listen.

She never listens.

The heat came, boiling from within, my boom blurred connecting with hers, traveling wide at once I stood before him.

Daxton.

Just the two of us with no other wolves in sight.

I pressed my nails into my palm.

The heat didn’t stop.

It doubled.

My action triggered her.

Something inside of me howled out.

Slowly she rose from within.

My body turned light.

I was carrying something sacred, a power so different, huge and powerful, a wolf's blood that didn’t match my bloodline.

My body had housed her for so long without me even realizing it.

She stayed hidden.

The light came off my skin before I could stop it. Silver-white. The colour of the moonstone altar changed, and I could see beautiful stones surrounding the moon. The colours are out of this world.

The chanting stopped.

Every head turned.

The circle went quiet and in shock.

Mira grabbed my arm. I couldn’t feel her grip.

I looked up slowly.

Daxton was already looking at me.

His hand is on his chest. His hand pressed hard against the sternum like he was losing sanity.

I felt it too.

The bond.

Five years of being dormant…

Five years of me telling myself it was dead and gone….

The pull was so strong we both felt it.

And across the ceremony ground, with prying eyes of the beta, elders, and wolves more than a thousand, Lord Cassian looked at me with an eye filled with disgust.