Chapter 2

Seraphina POV

The Uber dropped me off at the edge of the Stonehaven Pack House. My skin still hummed with the phantom electricity of the masked stranger's touch, but the moment I stepped inside, the oppressive scent of stale wood and cheap perfume dragged me back to my nightmare.

Alpha Alaric and Luna Genevieve were waiting for me in the dimly lit study. They sat behind the massive oak desk like judges ready to deliver a sentence.

"Your little stunt at the training grounds today was reckless," Alaric began, his voice devoid of any fatherly warmth. "But breaking the engagement with Aidan is convenient. We have arranged a much more profitable match for you."

I froze, the exhaustion in my bones instantly replaced by a cold dread. "A match?"

"You are going to mate with Kaelen Knight, the Lycan King," Alaric stated flatly. "His family has agreed to clear our Pack's debts and offer their protection in exchange for a bride."

The room spun. Kaelen Knight. The rumors about him were terrifying-a ruthless, reclusive tyrant who had been crippled in a fire centuries ago. He was a monster who ruled the Blackmoon Dominion with an iron fist.

"Why me?" I demanded, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and rage. "If this is such a great honor, why not send your precious Cassandra?"

Genevieve let out a sharp, mocking laugh. She looked at me as if I were a stain on her expensive rug. "Don't be ridiculous. I would never sentence my own blood, a true she-wolf, to be mated with a broken, powerless Lycan! A wolfless Omega like you is all he deserves."

The sheer malice in her words turned my blood to ice. "I won't do it," I said, backing toward the door. "I'd rather be a Rogue than be sold to a monster."

Genevieve stood up, her eyes narrowing into venomous slits. She walked slowly around the desk, her cheap floral scent suffocating me.

"If you refuse this Mating," Genevieve hissed, her voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "not only will we be unable to afford Naomi's treatment, but I will personally cast her out of the Pack. She will die alone in the woods, and her death will be on your hands."

My breath hitched. Naomi. The frail, elderly Omega servant who used to sneak me extra food when Genevieve starved me. She was the only mother figure I had ever known, and her health had been rapidly declining.

Genevieve smiled, knowing she had struck the killing blow.

Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I closed my eyes, the weight of my invisible chains crushing the last bit of fight out of me. "I agree."

The actual Mating ceremony took place a few days later in a dusty, unused hall. There were no flowers, no guests, and no groom. Just a bored notary sliding a heavy parchment contract across a wooden table.

As I picked up the pen, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Aidan.

*Heard you're mating with my cripple cousin. Is this some pathetic attempt at revenge? He can't even Shift. A wolfless bitch for a broken Lycan. A perfect match.*

I stared at the screen, my face entirely devoid of emotion. Aidan's cruelty didn't hurt anymore; it only confirmed that I was making the right choice in leaving this Pack behind. I deleted the message, pressed the pen to the parchment, and signed my life away.

I was now Luna Knight.

Hours later, a sleek black town car deposited me in front of a massive, modern fortress hidden deep within the Blackmoon territory. The structure was made of black stone and towering glass, looming in the darkness like a sleeping beast.

A tall, broad-shouldered man in an immaculate suit stood by the entrance. His scent was a steady, calming cedar, marking him as a high-ranking wolf.

"Luna Knight," he said, his tone entirely professional and devoid of any warmth. "I am Caleb, the Beta. Follow me."

He didn't offer to help with my single suitcase. I followed him through the cavernous, minimalist halls. The silence in the fortress was deafening, heavy with an unseen, terrifying power.

Caleb opened a door to a sprawling, luxurious bedroom. It looked like a showroom-beautiful, but entirely lifeless.

"Where is my husband?" I finally gathered the courage to ask.

Caleb paused, his jaw tightening slightly. He didn't even look at me. He simply stepped back into the hallway and pulled the heavy oak door shut, the lock clicking ominously into place.

I stood alone in the center of the massive room, my heart pounding against my ribs. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill, but it wasn't the temperature that was making me shiver.

It was the air.

The entire room was saturated with a heavy, intoxicating scent that made my knees weak and my pulse race. Pine needles before a violent storm, mixed with the sharp tang of cold steel.

It was the exact scent of the masked stranger from the penthouse.