Chapter 10

Seraphina’s POV

Two full days had passed since the night I punished the maids in the royal courtyard, and the atmosphere inside the palace had completely changed.

The heavy, open disrespect was entirely gone. When I walked down the hallways, the guards immediately stood up and bowed their heads. 

The palace maids no longer stood in corners gossiping about me. The moment they saw my hair, they dropped down to their knees, pressing their faces to the floor until I walked past them.

They were finally treating me like a Queen. They respected my power. They knew exactly what I was capable of doing to them if they crossed the line.

But I was not a fool. I was a trained assassin, and I could read the hidden language of their bodies.

When they bowed to me, I saw how their hands turned into tight, angry fists. 

I caught the dark, hateful glares they shot at my back when they thought I was no longer looking. The fear had made them obey, but it had also made them hate me even more.

I did not give a damn about their hatred.

I did not come to the Obsidian Claw Pack to make friends. I came to complete a mission. 

I just needed them to respect me, or at the very least, I needed them to finally respect the late Evelyn.

As I sat alone in my bedroom, staring out the window, my mind started to wander. I thought about the real Evelyn. I wondered what the poor, gentle Queen must have been subjected to inside these cold palace walls.

 If the maids and guards hated her this much for simply existing, what other terrible things did they do to her when Soren was not looking?

A dark question began to form in my mind. Did this heavy hatred cause her death? Was Evelyn really killed by Rogue wolves in the forest, or did someone inside this very palace arrange for her to be kidnapped and murdered?

I decided I needed to investigate her death again. But there was absolutely no one in this pack I could trust to ask. I was surrounded by enemies.

So, I stood up from my chair and walked over to the bed. I reached under the heavy mattress and pulled out Evelyn’s old, dusty diary. 

I sat cross-legged on the soft blankets and began to read through the pages one more time, searching for any hidden clues.

I read through the short, painful entries. She wrote about how cold the palace felt. She wrote about the deep, terrible ache in her chest when Soren would leave her alone for weeks without saying a single word to her. 

She wrote about the pack elders turning their backs on her during meetings, completely neglecting her because she could not produce a child.

My heart felt heavy as I read her simple, sad words. Soren and the pack had emotionally destroyed her. They made her feel entirely useless. But as I turned the very last page, I sighed in frustration.

There was nothing. There was no mention of a plot to kill her. There were no names of specific enemies. There was no solid proof to pinpoint that the pack’s neglect directly led to her murder.

I closed the diary and hid it back under the mattress. I needed fresh air to clear my racing mind.

I threw a simple, warm shawl over my shoulders and stepped out of my room. I walked past the bowing guards and made my way out of the palace, taking a slow walk around the main pack house.

The afternoon sun was warm, and a gentle breeze blew softly. As I walked near the edge of the pack square, I heard the bright, happy sound of children laughing.

I paused and looked over. A group of young pack pups, maybe five or six years old, were playing a game of tag in the green grass. They were running around, giggling loudly, their little faces painted with pure joy.

A small, genuine smile touched my lips. In the dark Rogue Kingdom, children never laughed like that. The pups there were trained to fight from the moment they could walk.

 Seeing these innocent children playing so freely warmed a tiny part of my cold heart.

I decided to step closer. I wanted to see them play. I wanted to feel a little bit of normal pack life.

As I walked toward the grass, a small wooden ball rolled away from the children and stopped right near my feet. I bent down, picked up the smooth wooden toy, and gave the children a warm, friendly smile.

"Here you go, little one," I said softly, holding the ball out to a young boy with messy brown hair.

The boy stopped running. He looked up at me, and my warm smile instantly froze.

The innocent joy completely vanished from the little boy's face. He did not smile back. He did not reach out to take the toy. Instead, his small face twisted into a look of pure disgust and deep fear. 

He took three quick steps backward, putting distance between us.

"Do not touch my toy!" the boy shouted. His small voice was full of poison.

The other pups stopped playing. They all turned to look at me, and every single one of them mirrored the boy's angry expression.

"Keep away from us!" a little girl yelled, hiding behind her friend. "My mother says you are a cursed woman! She says you are barren and useless!"

"Yeah! Go away, weak Luna!" another boy chimed in, picking up a handful of loose dirt and throwing it directly at my expensive dress. 

The dirt hit the clean fabric and scattered across my shoes. I stood completely frozen. I was entirely speechless.

My hand, still holding the wooden ball, shook slightly in the air. The heavy disrespect from the adults was one thing, but hearing these terrible words coming from the mouths of little children felt like a sharp dagger to my chest.

 They were so young, yet they had been taught to hate their Luna with everything in them. They looked at me like I was a walking disease.

Suddenly, several pack mothers rushed out from a nearby building.

 They did not apologize to me for their children's terrible behavior. Instead, they quickly grabbed their pups by the arms and pulled them away, shooting me dark, warning looks before hurrying back into their homes.

Within seconds, the grassy square was completely empty.

I dropped the wooden ball. It rolled slowly into the grass. I stood alone in the silence, my chest tight with a mix of shock and burning anger. The poison in this pack ran deeper than I ever imagined.

I turned around and walked quickly back toward the palace. My mind was spinning, filled with confusion and a heavy, dark sadness.

 Evelyn never stood a chance here. This place was not a home; it was a beautiful prison.

I hurried down the quiet palace hallways, just wanting to lock myself inside my bedroom and talk to Orion through the mind link. I needed to focus on the mission.

But as I turned the final corner toward the royal chambers, I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

A lady was standing directly in front of my bedroom door.

She was young, with long, wavy blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was wearing a beautifully tailored blue riding dress, and she had a travel bag resting by her feet. She looked like she had just arrived from a very long journey.

When she heard my footsteps, she turned her head. Her bright eyes landed on my face, and they instantly filled with heavy tears. 

She covered her mouth with both of her hands, letting out a loud, emotional gasp.

"Evelyn!" she cried out.

Before my assassin reflexes could even kick in, the lady ran across the hallway. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight embrace. She buried her face in my shoulder, crying loudly.

"I knew it!" the lady sobbed against my skin, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.

 "I told everyone! I knew you were not dead! I knew you would be found one day, my sweet Evelyn!"

I stood completely stiff, my arms hanging awkwardly at my sides. Panic instantly flooded my chest.

*Who is this?*

My mind raced at a thousand miles an hour. I dug through all the memories and information Orion had forced into my head during my training.

 I searched for a blonde woman with green eyes. I searched for a best friend, a sister, a cousin, anyone.

But nothing came to mind. My mind was completely blank.

Orion had given me everything about Evelyn's enemies, her favorite foods, and her daily routines, but he never mentioned a woman who would hug her like a long-lost sister.

The woman pulled back slightly, keeping her hands firmly on my shoulders. She looked at my face with so much love and relief, tears streaming down her glowing cheeks.

"Look at you," she whispered, her voice shaking with joy.

 "You are finally safe. Tell me you remember me, Evelyn. Please tell me the forest did not make you forget me."

I stared into her bright green eyes, completely terrified. I had absolutely no idea who she was, and one wrong word could expose my entire fake identity.