Chapter 8

Seraphina’s POV

I stood in the cold hallway, watching the two maids walk away with their cleaning buckets. They were still giggling, whispering cruel jokes about the barren, useless Luna.

My mind flashed back to the dusty old diary I had found hidden under Evelyn’s mattress. When I first opened it, I was confused because most of the pages were completely blank. 

But now, staring at these disrespectful servants, the truth hit me like a physical blow. Those blank pages were not peaceful. 

They were the silent screams of a woman who had absolutely no power, no friends, and no voice in her own home. The late Evelyn had lived in pure misery.

But I was not Evelyn. I was an assassin. I was trained by the deadly Rogue King, Orion, to be a weapon. And weapons do not cry. They strike.

"Stop right there," I commanded. My voice was no longer a soft whisper. It was loud, sharp, and carried the heavy weight of authority.

The two maids stopped walking. They turned around slowly, looking at me with annoyed expressions. 

They really thought I was just going to cry and run back into my bedroom.

"Drop to your knees," I ordered, staring them straight in the eyes.

The hallway was dead silent. Then, the second maid—the one with the nasty smirk let out a loud, mocking scoff. She shifted her weight to one leg and rolled her eyes.

"Are you serious, your Highness?" she asked, not even trying to hide her disrespect. "We have a lot of cleaning to do. We do not have time for your little tantrums tonight."

They turned around to walk away again, completely ignoring my command. They honestly believed I would not do anything to them. They thought I was too weak to fight back.

A dark, bitter laugh escaped my lips. The sound was so cold and unnatural that it actually made them stop and look back at me.

I took slow steps toward them. My bare feet made absolutely no sound on the floor. When I was standing just two feet away from them, I stopped.

"You think you are very smart, don't you?" I asked, a dangerous smile playing on my lips.

 "You think because you bullied a weak woman two years ago, you can do the same thing today."

The first maid frowned, looking slightly uneasy, but the second maid kept her chin raised.

"I am the Luna of this pack," I continued, lowering my voice into a deadly whisper. "And right now, your Alpha is sitting in his room, drowning in guilt. He just bought me a mountain of the most expensive dresses and jewels in the kingdom. He is desperate for my forgiveness. He will do absolutely anything I ask him to do."

I saw the nasty smirk finally drop from the second maid's face. The realization was slowly dawning on them.

"So," I said, leaning closer to them. "What do you think the great Alpha Soren will do if I walk into his office right now, crying, and tell him that his pack maids are openly mocking my trauma? What will he do to you when I tell him you were making cruel jokes about my barren womb?"

The color completely drained from their faces. The first maid dropped her feather duster. It hit the floor with a soft thud.

"He will chop off your heads," I whispered simply. 

"Or better yet, he will throw you into the dungeons and let the guards practice their torture methods on you. Because right now, protecting me is his obsession."

Panic flashed in their eyes. They finally saw that I was dead serious. I was not playing a game, and I was not the crying victim they remembered.

Instantly, both maids dropped hard to their knees. Their knees slammed against the cold marble floor, and they bowed their heads, their hands shaking in pure terror.

"Please, Luna!" the first maid cried out, tears instantly falling down her cheeks. "Please forgive us! We were just joking! We did not mean it!"

"Have mercy, your Highness!" the second maid begged, all her arrogance completely gone. She pressed her forehead to the floor. 

"Please do not tell the Alpha! We will never disrespect you again, we swear to the Moon Goddess! Please forgive us!"

I looked down at them, feeling a dark sense of satisfaction warming my chest. This is what power felt like.

"Forgive you?" I asked coldly.

I turned around and began to walk back toward my bedroom door.

"I do not forgive," I said over my shoulder. "Stay on your knees until I tell you to get up. If you move even a single inch, I will personally drag you to the Alpha."

I stepped into my room and closed the door, leaving them shivering on the floor.

SOREN’S POV

I sat behind my desk, rubbing the bridge of my nose to ease a growing headache. The door to my study opened, and Lucas, my Beta, walked in.

I sat up straight. "Well? Did you find anything?"

Lucas walked over and placed a thick leather folder on my desk. His face was serious and hard. When he had whispered in my ear earlier, he told me that his secret spies had finally returned from the borders of the Rogue Kingdom. 

I had sent them there to investigate Evelyn’s story and make sure there was no foul play.

"I read through the entire report, Alpha," Lucas said, his deep voice filling the quiet room. "There is absolutely nothing strange about Seraphina's story. My spies questioned the border smugglers and the outcast wolves. It is all true."

I let out a deep breath.

"So she was really there?"

"Yes," Lucas confirmed, nodding his head. "She was held captive deep inside the Rogue territory. The outcasts confirmed that the Rogue King had a silver-haired woman locked away. They said she was tortured brutally for years. Her story checks out perfectly. She is exactly who she says she is."

A massive wave of anger crashed over me.

Hearing that it was all true did not make me feel better. It made me feel like a complete failure. My beautiful mate had been locked in the dark, suffering unimaginable pain, while I was sitting comfortably on my throne.

My hands curled into tight fists on top of the desk. My wolf growled furiously inside my mind. 

"Did your spies see the famous Rogue King?" I asked, my voice low and dangerous.

 "Did they see Orion?"

"No, Alpha," Lucas replied, shaking his head. 

"Orion remains hidden in the shadows. He is like a ghost. No one knows what he truly looks like, and his fortress is guarded by dark magic. But his cruelty is legendary."

I slammed my fist hard onto the wooden desk.

"Who exactly is he?" I growled, my teeth grinding together. "And why does he seem to hate me so much? Why would he kidnap my wife and torture her just to punish me?"

"I do not know, Alpha," Lucas said quietly. "But the Rogue Kingdom is growing bolder."

"Not bold enough," I snarled, standing up from my chair.

 My Alpha aura flared aggressively. "I swear to the Moon Goddess, I am going to exact my revenge. I am going to tear that King apart with my bare hands for what he did to my Luna."

I looked directly at Lucas, my eyes glowing with authority.

"Gather all your best spies. Send them back into the shadows," I ordered. 

"I want every single piece of information you can find about the Rogue Kingdom. Find their weak spots. Find their hidden paths. Gather the army, Lucas. We are going to strike them, and we will wipe Orion off the face of the earth."

Lucas bowed deeply, his eyes burning with loyalty. 

"Yes, Alpha. I will begin the preparations immediately."

He turned and marched out of the study, closing the door behind him.

I was left alone in the quiet room. The heavy anger still boiled in my blood, but as the silence settled around me, my mind slowly drifted back to the bedroom.

I walked over to the large glass window and looked out at the moonlight shining over the pack lands. A soft, warm smile slowly replaced the angry scowl on my face.

I reached up and gently touched my own lips with my fingertips.

I could still feel the heat of her mouth. I remembered the way she kissed me back with such wild, hungry desperation. I remembered the soft, sweet little moan she made when I pulled her against my chest.

It was strange. The kiss felt somehow... unfamiliar. It didn't feel exactly like the timid, shy kisses the old Evelyn used to give me. 

The kiss had been intense and filled with emotion.

It felt different from every kiss we had shared before, but I didn't care. The forest had changed her somehow, and there was a new fire inside her that I couldn't ignore.

To me, it had been the most unforgettable kiss of my life.

Even now, the memory of her in my arms refused to leave my mind. The warmth of her touch lingered, making it impossible to focus on anything else.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.

I had promised myself that I wouldn't rush her. Whatever happened between us next had to happen at her pace.

A sudden knock interrupted my thoughts.

Before I could respond, the study door swung open.

A young pack guard hurried inside, breathing heavily and looking visibly anxious.

"Alpha!" he said, bowing quickly. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but you need to come and see something immediately."

I frowned as my thoughts instantly shifted from Ravenna to the urgent interruption.

"What is it?" I asked, rising from my chair. "Are we under attack?"

"No, Alp," the guard swallowed hard, pointing a shaking finger toward the hallway. "It is the Luna, sir. She is... she is punishing some maids in the royal corridor."