Cast away

CHAPTER TWO

Sera’s POV

The physician’s face drains color. He looks up at Kade, lips trembling.

“His wolf… it’s not suppressed. It’s not blocked. It’s—”

“What?” Kade snaps.

“It’s gone,” the man finally forces out. “Completely gone.”

For one beat, no one moves. Then the clearing explodes into chaos.

“She’s cursed!” a woman screams.

“She’s extended her bad luck to them!”

“The wolfless one is a defect!”

“Kill her before she destroys us all!”

Their voices hit me like blows. I clap my hands over my ears, but the sound still pierces through—snarls, shouts, feet pounding closer. Faces I grew up seeing now twisted with hatred.

Shadowcrest warriors draw weapons, silver glinting under torchlight. My stomach twists. They look less like men and more like demons.

And then—my father’s voice, cold and sharp as a blade:

“She is an abomination! Destroy her before she harms anyone else!”

The ground tilts under me. I can’t move. My knees lock. My thoughts blur.

I touched Marcus. Now his wolf is gone.

What the hell am I?

Kade moves before I can think. His hand shoots out—grabbing my sleeve, not my skin—and yanks me hard against his chest. I crash into him, breath leaving my lungs.

“No one touches her!” His voice booms through the clearing, an Alpha command so strong it vibrates through my bones. Wolves freeze mid-snarl, mid-step, eyes flicking toward him.

“She’s mine,” Kade growls. “My claim. My problem.”

His heart pounds against my back. His grip tightens, the fabric between us the only barrier he dares to keep.

The tension around us crackles like a live wire.

“She destroyed Marcus!” someone shouts.

“She’s a threat to every wolf here!” another yells.

“Let us finish it!”

Kade draws his knife, its silver edge gleaming in the firelight. “Anyone takes another step,” he snarls, “and I start cutting throats.”

A low growl ripples through the Shadowcrest wolves, but none move. His command still binds them, even as fury trembles in their eyes.

Then my father steps forward. Every gaze follows him. His expression is pure contempt.

“Alpha Blackthorn,” he says loudly, voice steady despite the chaos. “I apologize for my daughter’s existence. Whatever debt stood between our packs, consider it paid. Take her life and be done with it.”

The words slice through me. My existence. Not my actions. My existence.

Kade’s fingers tighten on my arm. “You’re offering your own daughter’s death?”

“She’s no daughter of mine,” my father says flatly. “She’s a curse in the flesh.”

Murmurs rise in the crowd. Kade’s jaw ticks, his eyes flashing silver in the torchlight.

“You call yourself a Beta,” he growls, “but you’d sacrifice blood for pride?”

“Blood?” My father spits on the ground. “That thing beside you is not blood. She’s a stain on our lineage.”

My throat burns. “Father—”

“Don’t call me that.” His eyes meet mine, cold and hard. “You should have died the night your wolf refused to wake.”

The words hit harder than any blow. My body goes rigid, but Kade steps in front of me, blocking my father’s view.

“That’s enough,” he says, voice low but lethal. “Say one more word, and I’ll silence you myself.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” my father sneers.

Kade’s knife lifts, the blade flashing. “Try me.”

The crowd holds its breath. For a heartbeat, the world narrows to the space between the two Alphas.

Then Kade snaps his fingers. “Shadowcrest warriors—clear the circle. Anyone who disobeys, consider it treason.”

No one moves for a second. Then his warriors obey, dragging hesitant wolves backward, forcing them behind the stones.

Kade turns his head slightly, his breath hot against my ear. “You move when I tell you. Understand?”

I nod, trembling.

He hauls me forward, pushing through the tense crowd. Every step feels like walking through a nest of knives. Eyes burn holes into my back.

“Alpha Blackthorn!” my father shouts. “If you protect her, you’ll doom us all!”

Kade stops. His voice is ice. “If she’s a curse, she’s my curse now.”

Gasps ripple through the crowd. The words are final—a declaration no Alpha can take back.

“Are you insane?” a Shadowcrest warrior blurts out. “She—”

“Question me again,” Kade snaps, “and you’ll end up like Marcus.”

Silence slams down.

Kade drags me past the boundary stones, his grip unrelenting. I stumble once, twice, trying to keep up.

“Where are you taking me?” I whisper.

He doesn’t answer. His jaw is locked tight.

“Say something!” I yank against his hold, but he doesn’t let go.

Finally, he stops and turns, gray eyes storm-dark. “You think I have answers for what you did? You think I know what the hell you are?”

“I didn’t do anything!” My voice cracks. “He touched me—”

“Exactly,” he cuts in. “He touched you. And now he’s gone.”

His voice is low, dangerous. “So tell me, wolfless one… what happens if I touch you?”

The question hangs between us like a blade. His fingers flex on my arm, the only thing separating his skin from mine is just a thin sleeve of fabric.

Behind us, wolves stir and growl. I can hear the shuffle of boots, the click of metal, the whisper of drawn weapons.

“Kade,” I whisper, “they’re not going to let you walk away with me.”

“I’d like to see them try.”

He moves in close, his breath ghosting across my cheek, voice barely a whisper. “You’re going to explain every damn thing, and if I don’t like what I hear—”

“What?” I challenge, my heart hammering. “You’ll kill me like my father wanted?”

His eyes narrow. “No.” His voice drops to a growl. “I’ll find out what you are before I decide if you deserve to live.”

Before I can respond, a shout splits the air behind us.

“Alpha!” someone screams. “Marcus—he’s moving!”

Kade spins around, eyes widening. The torches flicker. Every wolf turns toward the platform.

Marcus—who was dead minutes ago—now sits upright, his head jerking unnaturally, eyes rolling white, lips moving soundlessly.

The physician stumbles back, shouting, “He’s not breathing—his heart isn’t beating—”

Then Marcus’s head snaps in our direction, and his voice comes out hollow, echoing—

“She’s not wolfless.”

Every torch in the clearing flares higher. Wolves snarl.

Kade’s grip on me tightens.

And in the space between one breath and the next—Marcus smiles.

Right before the flames explode.