Chapter 6

Seraphina POV

"Ms. Reeves?" Cathie's voice snapped like a whip through the encrypted comms, dragging me back to the nightmare of my reality.

I gripped the edge of my desk, my knuckles turning white. "Cathie, I swear to you, MQ Clothing has not authorized any changes to Darlene's contract. I had no knowledge of this."

"Then you better get your PR Director on a leash," Cathie spat, her tone dripping with disgust. "Evelyn Garrett personally informed us of the termination. If the Blackwood Pack thinks they can humiliate my client to make room for your Alpha's ex-girlfriend, you can expect a formal dispute."

The line went dead.

I sat in the sterile silence of my office, a wave of nausea washing over me. Evelyn Garrett. Of course. I was supposed to be the future Luna, yet I was completely blind to a major pack business decision. Kain's cruel severance package from last night was already taking effect. My authority was bleeding out, and the vultures were circling.

I didn't wait for my assistant. I marched straight out of my office and headed down to the PR department.

I shoved Evelyn's office door open without knocking. The aggressive, cloying scent of her heavy rose perfume hit me like a physical wall. Outside in the corridor, several pack employees paused, their eyes darting toward the open doorway.

Evelyn was leaning back in her plush leather chair, casually scrolling through her phone. She was a high-born she-wolf, and for three years, she had made no secret of her disdain for my wolfless existence.

"Evelyn," I demanded, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Why did you terminate Darlene Ortiz?"

She didn't even flinch. She slowly lowered her phone, a smug, condescending smirk playing on her lips. "It was the Alpha's decision, Seraphina. He believes Princess Galilea's image aligns much better with our Pack's elevated status."

"You bypassed me," I said, stepping closer to her desk. "I am the head of this brand."

Evelyn let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Are you? Let's face reality. You were just a placeholder. Now that the true Luna has returned, Kain is finally done playing house with a wolfless charity case."

Her words sliced through the frayed remnants of my mate-bond, but I refused to let her see me bleed. "This is a business matter, Evelyn. You breached a contract with a powerful allied pack."

"I secured a better one," she countered, standing up to use her height advantage. Her eyes flashed with a hint of her inner wolf's gold. "You have no power here. The only reason you're even breathing our air is because the former Alpha took pity on your pathetic, wolfless father."

My blood ran cold. "Don't talk about my father."

"Why not?" Evelyn sneered, stepping around her desk, her voice rising so the onlookers in the hallway could hear. "Connor Reeves died a worthless death. He was a weak, pathetic human-equivalent who left behind an equally useless daughter. Your father died a miserable death because he had a shameless-"

*Smack.*

The sound of my palm striking her cheek echoed like a gunshot.

The murmurs from the hallway instantly died. The entire floor went dead silent.

Evelyn's head snapped to the side. For a split second, genuine shock widened her eyes. But as she slowly touched her reddened skin, a twisted, triumphant smile crept onto her lips. She had wanted this. She had wanted me to break.

"Look at this," Evelyn hissed, her eyes welling with fake tears as she looked toward the open door. "Is this our future Luna? Throwing a tantrum and attacking pack members like a feral rogue? Your father would be disgusted by what a shameless bitch you've-"

Blind, white-hot fury consumed me. I raised my hand to strike her again, putting every ounce of my strength into it.

But my hand never landed.

Fingers like bands of iron clamped around my wrist mid-air, halting my momentum so violently it sent a jolt of pain up my arm.

The temperature in the room plummeted to freezing. The overwhelming scent of pine after a storm and cold steel flooded my senses, suffocating the rose perfume entirely. A crushing, terrifying Alpha aura filled the space, so heavy it made my knees buckle.

I looked up, my breath catching in my throat, straight into Kain's furious, ice-cold eyes.