Chapter 2 Wolfless and Barren

"What?" Seraphina's breath caught in her throat. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

"You heard me," Ethan said, his voice calm but cutting. He walked over to the couch where Zara sat, extending his hand toward her. Without hesitation, Zara placed her delicate fingers into his strong grasp, a soft, triumphant smile spreading across her face.

"Zara will be my Luna," Alpha Ethan declared, wrapping an arm possessively around her waist. He watched Seraphina closely, revelling in her reaction. "Honestly, it's a good thing the wedding was called off. You're wolfless, after all." His smirk deepened, his eyes cold and unforgiving. "At least Zara is an Omega. Not some weak, powerless woman who can't even control her urges."

Each word was a dagger to Seraphina's heart. The pain in her chest tightened as Ethan continued, throwing cruel insults her way.

She couldn't believe it. The same man who had cost her everything, the wolf, her future-was now standing before her, mocking her for it. The bitter irony was suffocating.

Thirteen years ago, when they were just kids, Ethan and Seraphina had been inseparable. They shared a bond so deep it felt unbreakable. That day in the Wilson family stables should have been like any other. But then, raiders attacked. An arrow laced with Wolfsbane had been aimed directly at Ethan.

Seraphina didn't think. She acted.

She knocked Ethan from his horse just in time. The arrow missed, but it found her instead, sinking deep into her stomach. The poison nearly killed her.

It took days before her father could find a doctor skilled enough to remove the arrow. But the damage was done. She lost her wolf. And worse, the wound left her barren.

At sixteen, when others found strength in their wolves, she had nothing but emptiness. She had wept for the loss, but Ethan... had sworn to stay by her side.

Now, he stood here, treating her like she was nothing.

"I can't believe you're saying this to me, Alpha Ethan," Seraphina whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears. "I lost my wolf saving you. Have you forgotten?"

She searched his eyes, desperate for a flicker of the boy who once cared for her, the boy who had once sworn under the full moon that he would marry her.

For a moment, something flashed in his gaze-hesitation, maybe even guilt.

Then it was gone.

"You fool," Ethan spat. "That was a lifetime ago. And tell me, why would I marry a woman who can never bear my children? You're barren. Worthless."

Seraphina felt her heart shatter. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall.

Zara, meanwhile, smiled.

"I begged Seraphina not to go out last night," she said, feigning innocence. "She wore that tight, revealing dress and snuck off. I tried to stop her."

Seraphina's jaw dropped in horror. "That's a lie, Zara! You took me to that club-it was your idea!"

"Shut up, you lying bitch!" Ethan's slap came so fast that she barely had time to react. The force of it sent her crashing to the floor. A sharp pain exploded in her cheek as blood trickled from her nose.

And her family did nothing.

"Pack your things and get out of my house," Alpha Kendrick, her father, ordered his voice void of emotion.

"Please, Father," Seraphina sobbed, clutching at his leg. "I have nowhere to go."

"Not my problem," he said, shaking her off like she was dirt beneath his feet.

"Father, I think she's right," Zara chimed in, pretending to look thoughtful. "Seraphina has no home. But she can still stay here... as a maid. At least she'll have a roof over her head."

Seraphina stared at her sister in disbelief.

"Zara, you're such a kind soul," Grandma Thalia said with a sickening smile. Then she turned to Seraphina. "You heard her. Stay as a maid, or leave."

Seraphina swallowed the lump in her throat. "I... I will stay."

"Good girl," Grandma Thalia purred. "A wise decision."

Seraphina sat on the cold, hard floor, her back aching from hours of scrubbing clothes. The washing machine was off-limits to her. Grandma Thalia insisted she do everything by hand.

Her hands, once delicate, were raw and cracked. Her fingers, once adorned with rings, were now bruised from endless labour. She had scrubbed the floors, cleaned the windows, and washed everything.

And when exhaustion pulled at her, her bed was a bare floor in a tiny, windowless room in the maid's quarters.

She was dozing off when a loud knock startled her awake.

Rubbing her sore eyes, she opened the door.

"Your father wants you in the parlour," Meg, a golden-haired maid, informed her.

"What now?" Seraphina muttered, too tired for another task.

"There's a guest. You're to bring him water."

Seraphina sighed, tied her long brown hair back, and made her way to the kitchen. She filled a glass and walked to the parlour.

The moment she stepped inside, she froze.

Sitting across from her father was a man unlike any she had ever seen. His piercing forest-green eyes locked onto her, his dark midnight hair framing a face both regal and powerful. He was enormous-his sheer presence commanding the room.

But it wasn't just his size or aura that made her heart pound.

He was a Lycan Prince.

And somehow, he felt familiar.