Chapter 5

Seraphina’s Pov

I was falling.

The wind roared in my ears as I clawed helplessly at empty air, my screams swallowed by the endless darkness below.

Just before I struck the rocks—

I bolted upright with a gasp.

My chest rose and fell violently as I struggled to breathe. Cold sweat soaked my nightdress, and every part of my body trembled as though I had truly fallen from Moonstone Cliff.

"Gently, Luna Seraphina," a calm voice said beside me. "You are safe."

I blinked, my blurred vision slowly clearing.

I was lying on a bed inside the pack's healing hall. The familiar scent of herbs drifted through the room, while healing crystals glowed softly around the carved stone walls.

The pack healer watched me with gentle concern.

He was not alone.

Alex stood a short distance away, with Cassey beside him and his mother lingering just behind them.

Cassey stepped forward first, tears glistening in her eyes.

"How are you feeling, Seraphina?"

I looked past her.

"What happened?" I asked the healer.

Before the old wolf could answer, Alex's voice cut across the room.

"You ungrateful she-wolf."

His words were colder than the mountain wind.

"Cassey saved your life. When I pushed you from the cliff, she threatened to leap after you if I didn't catch you first. I barely reached you before you struck the rocks, though you had already lost consciousness."

His gaze hardened.

"She has remained beside your bed for two days, refusing to leave until you woke."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

It started quietly.

Then it grew until tears streamed down my face.

The three of them stared at me as though I had gone mad.

Finally, I looked at Alex.

"She framed me."

My voice shook with restrained fury.

"You nearly killed me, Alex. So tell me... what exactly do you expect? Should I thank the she-wolf who pushed me toward death? Or should I praise the mate who threw me from a cliff?"

His mother's face twisted with contempt.

"You should have let her fall," she muttered. "The pack would have been better rid of that poisonous tongue."

I met her gaze without fear.

"You're right."

My smile held no warmth.

"He should have let me die."

Then I looked back at Alex.

"Or better yet... he should have finished the job the day he murdered our pup."

Silence settled over the healing chamber.

Even the crackling fire seemed to fade.

No one spoke.

Alex was the first to break the silence.

"You've lost your senses."

He let out a dismissive scoff before turning away.

"The healing herbs must still be clouding your mind."

He offered his arm to Cassey.

"Come."

Cassey hesitated before approaching me once more.

She clasped both of my hands, squeezing them tightly enough that her nails bit into my skin.

"I'm so sorry, Seraphina," she whispered through carefully practiced tears. "Everything that's happened is my fault. Please forgive me."

I jerked my hands away.

"Stop pretending."

The words came out sharper than I intended.

"Leave me alone."

Cassey stumbled backward as though I had shoved her.

Alex caught her before she could fall.

He looked at me with such fury that a lesser wolf might have shrunk beneath it.

"You should thank the Moon Goddess Cassey possesses such a gentle heart," he said. "If anyone else had treated her this way, I would have broken every bone in their body."

Without another word, he guided her from the chamber.

His mother followed.

Only the healer remained.

He lingered awkwardly near the doorway before lowering his gaze.

"Luna..."

"I wish to leave."

My voice was calm now.

There was nothing left worth saying.

The healer sighed softly before nodding.

"As you wish."

By the time I returned to the Alpha Manor, the afternoon sun had already begun its descent.

A folded bundle of parchments rested upon the table inside my chambers.

The moment I saw Elder Rowan's seal pressed into the wax, I knew what it was.

The dissolution papers had arrived.

Three days.

Just as promised.

I tucked them carefully beside the resignation parchment I had prepared before giving birth.

Now there remained only one obstacle.

Alex's seal.

Without it, neither document would become valid beneath pack law.

A knock sounded against the chamber door.

Alex entered before I could answer.

He tossed a neatly folded gown onto the bed.

"Prepare yourself," he ordered. "The neighboring Alphas have gathered tonight. We're expected at the council feast."

I glanced at the gown.

"Why not attend with Cassey?"

"I am."

He answered without shame.

"But you're still my attendant. Questions would arise if you were absent."

Attendant.

Not mate.

I almost smiled.

Instead, I gathered the parchments and a quill before walking over to him.

"The healer asked me to bring these."

I placed the documents before him.

"They're the records confirming my release from the healing hall. He said you needed to place your Alpha's seal here."

Alex frowned and reached for the papers.

"What are these?"

Before he could read beyond the first line, Cassey's cheerful voice drifted down the corridor.

"Alex! Come quickly! I want you to see how I look."

His expression softened instantly.

The irritation vanished from his face as though it had never existed.

Without another glance, he pressed his Alpha's seal onto both parchments and scrawled his signature beneath them.

"There."

He thrust them back into my hands before hurrying from the room.

I looked down at the fresh ink.

He hadn't read a single word.

The dissolution of our mate bond...

My resignation from the Alpha Manor...

He had signed both without knowing.

For the first time in days, I felt something close to relief.

Carefully folding the parchments, I hid them inside my travel chest before changing into the black gown Alex had once given me.

It fit perfectly, concealing the bruises scattered across my body beneath elegant folds of dark fabric.

When I descended the stairs, Alex looked up.

For one brief moment, surprise crossed his face.

Then Cassey appeared beside him.

His attention shifted to her immediately.

As though I had never existed.

The journey to the council feast passed in suffocating silence.

Cassey spent most of it leaning against Alex while recounting memories only the two of them shared.

She spoke of moonlit nights, stolen kisses, and the countless times they had hidden together within the very carriage carrying us now.

Each story was meant for me.

Each word another knife.

Eventually even Alex seemed uncomfortable.

"Enough, Cassey."

He glanced toward me, searching my face for some reaction.

I gave him none.

Instead, I quietly traced my thumb across the moonstone hidden beneath my sleeve.

A faint warmth answered me.

The bond activated.

"Everything is prepared," the familiar voice echoed gently through my mind.

"Tomorrow night, I'll be waiting beyond the northern border."

I allowed myself the smallest smile.

"I'll be there."

Tomorrow.

Everything would finally end.

By the time we reached the gathering, the great hall was already filled with Alphas, Lunas, elders, and warriors from neighboring packs.

Cassey never left Alex's side.

More than once, wolves greeted her as though she were already the Luna of the Valcrest Pack.

Alex never corrected them.

He occasionally glanced toward me, guilt flickering in his eyes.

I simply remained several steps behind them.

Not as his mate.

Only as another servant of the Alpha Manor.

The feast was nearing its end when a deafening howl shattered the celebration.

The great doors burst open.

Rogues.

Chaos erupted instantly.

Warriors shifted, snarls echoed through the hall, and terrified wolves scattered in every direction.

Without hesitation, Alex threw himself in front of Cassey, shielding her body with his own.

His choice left me standing alone.

I barely had time to react before a burning pain exploded through my side.

An arrow.

I looked down in disbelief as blood spread across my gown.

My knees buckled.

"Alex..."

My voice broke.

"Help me..."

He turned immediately.

For one hopeful second, I believed he had chosen me.

He reached me in only a few strides, catching me before I collapsed completely.

His hand pressed against the wound.

"You'll survive," he murmured. "Just stay awake."

He began carrying me toward the exit.

Then Cassey screamed.

"Alex!"

Her voice trembled with panic.

"Our pup... I can't move!"

Everything changed.

Without hesitation...

Alex set me down.

He turned away.

Crossing the distance between us, he swept Cassey into his arms as though I weighed nothing at all.

As he hurried past me, he paused only long enough to speak.

"You're strong, Seraphina."

His voice remained maddeningly calm.

"You'll endure this. I can't risk Cassey or our pup."

Then he walked away.

Leaving me behind as blood pooled beneath my body.

I watched him disappear through the doors while Cassey rested safely in his arms.

Just before they vanished from sight...

She looked back at me.

And smiled.