Sera's POV
I woke up screaming.
Again.
My sheets were soaked with sweat, and my heart pounded so hard I thought it might break through my chest. The nightmare was always the same—golden eyes staring at me through darkness, a voice calling my name like a prayer, hands reaching for me that I couldn't quite see.
"Sera?" Marcus's voice came from my doorway. Soft. Worried. Safe.
I pressed my hands against my face, trying to stop shaking. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
Marcus crossed my bedroom and sat on the edge of my bed. He was already dressed in his Alpha suit for today's summit, looking perfect like always. Kind eyes. Gentle smile. Everything the monster in my dreams wasn't.
"Same nightmare?" he asked.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
He handed me a small white pill and a glass of water from my nightstand. "Take your medicine, love. Dr. Chen said the anxiety from the attack might get worse during stressful times. The summit tonight has you on edge."
The attack. Three years ago. The rogue wolves who killed my family and left me for dead. I didn't remember it—Dr. Chen said trauma did that sometimes, blocked out the worst memories to protect you. But Marcus had found me in the woods, barely alive, and brought me to Crescent Moon Pack.
He saved me. Gave me a home. A purpose as a healer. Asked me to be his wife.
I should feel grateful. I should feel safe.
So why did the medicine always make me feel empty inside?
"Sera?" Marcus's hand touched my shoulder. "Take it. Please. I can't watch you suffer like this."
I swallowed the pill. It tasted bitter, but within minutes, the shaking stopped. The nightmare faded. Everything felt... distant. Calm.
Marcus smiled and kissed my forehead. "Better?"
"Better," I lied.
He stood up, straightening his jacket. "I need to prepare for the summit. All the major Alphas will be there—this is important for the Alliance. For peace." He paused at my door. "You're still coming tonight? As my fiancée?"
I looked down at the engagement ring on my finger. Beautiful. Expensive. Wrong.
No. Not wrong. I was just nervous. Wedding jitters. That's what Marcus said.
"I'll be there," I promised.
After he left, I sat alone in my room, staring at nothing. The medicine made everything fuzzy, like I was watching my life happen to someone else. I'd been taking it for three years. Every morning. Every night. Sometimes more when the nightmares got bad.
But lately, something felt different. Off.
The dreams were getting stronger. More real. And sometimes during the day, I'd smell something—pine and smoke and wild things—and my chest would ache like I'd lost something important.
My wolf stirred inside me. Barely. She'd been silent since the attack, too damaged to fully emerge. Dr. Chen said I might never shift again. That I was basically human now.
But this morning, for just a second, I felt her wake up. Felt her push against the invisible wall keeping her trapped.
Then the medicine kicked in, and she went quiet again.
I got ready slowly, choosing a simple blue dress for the summit. Nothing fancy. I didn't like attention. Didn't like crowds. Preferred my quiet life in the healing center, helping injured wolves, staying in the background.
Safe. Small. Grateful.
That's what I was supposed to be.
So why did it feel like a cage?
The peace summit was held at the Alliance's neutral grounds—a massive stone building surrounded by forest. Dozens of Alphas and their packs gathered inside, talking and laughing. Politics. Power. Things I didn't understand.
Marcus held my hand as we entered, his grip tight. Possessive.
"Stay close to me," he whispered. "Some of these Alphas can't be trusted."
I nodded, letting him guide me through the crowd. People stared at me—at my violet eyes mostly. Dr. Chen said they were rare. Special. I hated them. They made me stand out when all I wanted was to disappear.
We were halfway through the greeting ceremony when I felt it.
A pull. Deep in my chest. Like something was tugging at my heart, trying to drag me toward the doors.
I stopped walking.
"Sera?" Marcus frowned. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know." My hand pressed against my chest. The ache was getting worse. Painful. Like something inside me was waking up after being asleep for years. "I feel... strange."
"It's the anxiety. Come on, let's get you somewhere quiet—"
The doors exploded inward.
Screams erupted. Alphas shifted into wolves. Warriors charged forward.
And through the chaos, through the smoke and terror, I saw him.
Tall. Dangerous. Covered in scars and radiates power that made my knees weak. Black hair. Sharp features. And eyes—golden eyes that glowed like fire in the darkness.
The eyes from my nightmares.
He stood in the doorway with hundreds of rogue wolves behind him, scanning the room like a predator hunting prey. When his gaze found me, the entire world stopped.
Everything inside me screamed.
Not in fear. In recognition.
My wolf threw herself against her cage, howling. The ache in my chest exploded into something so intense I couldn't breathe. The medicine's fog shattered like glass.
And I knew—knew—that I'd seen this man before. That he mattered. That he was important in ways I couldn't remember but felt in my bones.
"Sera." His voice carried across the chaos. Rough. Desperate. Broken. "I found you."
Marcus grabbed my arm, yanking me backward. "Get away from him! That's Kael Thorne—the Rogue King! He's the monster who destroyed your family!"
But the Rogue King wasn't looking at anyone else. Just me. And the way he stared—like I was the only thing in the world that mattered, like he'd been searching for me forever, like seeing me was killing him and saving him at the same time—
"Who are you?" I whispered.
Something cracked in his expression. Pain. Rage. Hope.
"Your mate," he said. "Your husband. And I'm taking you home."