Chapter 9

Seraphina POV

I didn't wait for Kaelen to recover from the shock of his own sins. I turned my back on the Alpha of the Black Moon Pack, leaving him suffocating in the ashes of his shattered narrative, and walked straight out of his penthouse office.

My destination was the Pack Infirmary.

The moment I pushed through the heavy glass doors of the Isolation Ward, the sterile stench of bleach burned my nose, but it was the sight of my son that tore my heart to shreds. Liam lay motionless, his tiny chest barely rising beneath the tangle of medical tubes.

The Pack Doctor, a graying man with exhausted eyes, looked up from his charts. "Lady Seraphina. His vitals are dropping. The poison is aggressive. If we don't perform the marrow transplant soon..."

He didn't need to finish. The agonizing beep of the heart monitor said it all. Every maternal instinct in my body screamed at me to jump onto that bed and let them drain my blood right now. But deep within my mind, my inner wolf, *Selene*, let out a low, warning growl.

*Do not yield without the bond,* she warned, her silver fur bristling with ancient memory. *He ripped our pup from our arms once. He will do it again.*

I closed my eyes, forcing the tears back. I had to be ruthless. I couldn't save Liam only to be exiled without him again. I needed an ironclad guarantee.

*Sera,* Dominic's deep voice suddenly echoed in my head through our mind-link. *The Alliance Gala is tonight. It's the perfect public stage. The entire high society will be watching. Corner him there. Go get a dress.*

*I'm on it,* I replied, my resolve hardening into diamond.

An hour later, I stood in the center of Éclat Boutique, the most exclusive luxury shop in the human city. I was running my fingers over the silk of a midnight-blue gown when the cloying, artificial stench of vanilla and sharp floral perfume assaulted my senses.

"Look what the trash dragged in," Vanessa sneered.

I turned slowly. Vanessa and Cassondra stood in the aisle, their faces twisted in ugly, venomous sneers.

"Buying expensive rags with your brother's money to play the Alpha's whore?" Vanessa stepped closer, her eyes flashing with pure malice. "You think canceling my brother's ceremony makes you special? You're still just a dirty Omega."

"You ruined everything!" Cassondra shrieked, her jealousy boiling over. She lunged forward, raising her hand to slap me across the face.

She never made contact.

My body moved on its own. Before my conscious mind could decide, my arm had already lifted. My hand caught Cassondra's wrist midair, my grip tightening like a steel vise until she gasped in pain.

What was this? A surge of shock rose within me. Five years ago, I had been weak and helpless, at the mercy of anyone who wished to harm me. But now, my reflexes were lightning fast, and my strength-though still unstable, still unfamiliar-surged through my veins like a rushing current.

Selene growled in my mind, her silver fur bristling, but her voice carried something I had never heard from her before: pride.

Without thinking, I raised my other hand and backhanded Vanessa across the face.

*Crack.*

The sharp sound echoed through the boutique. Vanessa stumbled back, clutching her reddened face in absolute shock.

"How dare you!" Vanessa screamed, her inner wolf surfacing. She slammed a heavy platinum card onto the nearest glass counter, glaring at the terrified boutique manager. "I am Vanessa Steele! Throw this Omega bitch out onto the street immediately, or I'll have this place shut down!"

The manager trembled, looking between us.

With a maddening calm, I released Cassondra's wrist, letting her stumble backward. I reached into my purse and pulled out a solid, matte-black metal card-the Rhodes Legacy Black Card, the ultimate symbol of Silverwood's financial empire. I placed it gently on the glass.

"I'll take the midnight-blue gown," I told the manager, my voice smooth as ice. "And I'd appreciate it if you cleared the store of... pests. Their artificial perfumes are ruining the silk."

The manager's eyes bulged at the sight of the Black Card. His demeanor instantly shifted. He signaled the security guards. "Ladies, I must ask you to leave. Now."

Vanessa and Cassondra were physically escorted out the glass doors, their humiliated shrieks muffled by the thick glass. I didn't bother correcting Vanessa's delusion about Dominic's money. Let her think what she wanted; she didn't need to know my brother was already happily mated to Clara.

Hours later, the crystal chandeliers of the Alliance Gala cast a starlit glow over the elite crowd. The ballroom was a sea of politics and champagne, but I didn't stay inside. I slipped out onto the private upper terrace, the cool night air biting at my bare shoulders.

I didn't have to wait long.

The heavy, suffocating scent of winter pine and ozone crashed over the white climbing roses. Kaelen stepped out of the shadows. His obsidian eyes were dark, wild, and burning with a toxic mix of suppressed rage and absolute desperation.

In his clenched fist, he held a rolled parchment inscribed with ancient runes-a Pack Covenant.