Chapter 4

Seraphina's POV:

The moment Kaelen's car disappeared, a desperate strength flooded my limbs. I scrambled to my feet and plunged into the icy, murky water, my hands searching frantically in the darkness. Panic was a living thing, coiling in my stomach, but the image of my mother's face pushed me onward.

My fingers brushed against wet fabric. I grabbed hold, pulling with all my might, fighting the sucking mud and the dead weight of her unconscious body. I finally dragged her onto the bank, her face a terrifying shade of blue, her chest still.

"Healers!" I screamed through the Mind-Link, pouring every ounce of my will into the call. "Help me! At the Blackwater Mire! Please, help my mother!"

It felt like a lifetime before the pack's Healers arrived. They worked tirelessly for three hours, using ancient herbs and channeling the faint moonlight through the storm clouds to draw the swamp's poison from her lungs. Finally, a weak, rattling breath escaped her lips. She was alive. But the Healers warned me the toxic water had severely aggravated her old lung injury. She would never be the same.

When she woke up in the sterile white room of the pack's infirmary, her first whispered word was my name.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," I choked out, tears I thought I no longer had spilling down my cheeks. "This is all my fault. I was so stupid to think he ever cared for me."

She squeezed my hand, her touch frail but firm. "He didn't just try to drown me, my daughter," she whispered, her voice a rasp, but her eyes were like steel. "He tried to drown our spirit. We will never let him."

The door creaked open and Kaelen walked in. He didn't look at me. He addressed my mother, his tone unapologetic and cold. "I'm glad to see you're recovering. It's unfortunate this had to happen, but your daughter gave me no choice. She kidnapped my future Luna."

He left as quickly as he came, leaving a trail of icy fury in his wake.

The next day, seeking a moment of peace, I went down to the infirmary's courtyard, where a fountain dedicated to the Moon Goddess bubbled softly. That's when I saw Lila, accompanied by her elderly grandmother in a wheelchair. A young Omega orderly was passing by, and I saw his eyes widen for a second at the scene before he quickly looked away and hurried on. They hadn't seen me.

"...and you should have seen his face!" Lila was saying, her voice a triumphant whisper. "He was like a puppet on a string. A powerful Alpha, and all I have to do is cry a little, and he'll burn the world down for me. He's so easy to train."

My blood ran cold.

Lila turned then and saw me. Her eyes widened, but she recovered instantly, plastering a concerned look on her face. "Seraphina! I'm so glad to see you. I want to apologize for all the trouble with the... kidnapping. I know you didn't mean it." Her eyes flickered towards the infirmary wing where my mother lay. "I hope your mother recovers. It would be a shame for such a... fragile Omega... to suffer because of her daughter's mistakes."

The veiled threat, the insult to my mother, made me see red. Before I could speak, she took a step closer, her eyes glittering with malice.

"You know," she whispered, "he's mine now. Utterly."

Then, she did the unthinkable. As I took an angry step toward her, she grabbed my outstretched hand and yanked it forward, violently shoving my own hand against her grandmother's wheelchair.

The chair tipped sideways with a sickening screech of metal on stone. The old woman tumbled out, landing with a splash in the shallow water of the Moon Goddess fountain.

"Grandma!" Lila screamed, her voice filled with anguish.

Footsteps pounded down the hall. Kaelen burst into the courtyard, his eyes taking in the scene: me standing with my hand outstretched, Lila kneeling and sobbing by the fountain, and her grandmother sputtering in the water.

"What did you do?" he roared, his gaze locking onto me.

Lila looked up at him, tears streaming down her perfect face. "She pushed her, Kaelen! Seraphina pushed my grandmother! She said... she said she was getting revenge for her mother!"

Kaelen's face was a thundercloud of pure rage. He strode towards me, ignoring my stammered denials.

"You are a monster," he hissed.

He didn't hesitate. His hand flew through the air, the crack of it connecting with my cheek echoing in the silent courtyard. The force of the blow snapped my head to the side, my skin stinging, my pride shattering.

He wasn't done. He slapped me again, on the other cheek, just as hard.

"Kneel," he commanded, his voice laced with the undeniable power of the Alpha's Command. My body betrayed me, my legs buckling as the order washed over my senses. "Kneel and apologize to Lila and her grandmother."

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