Seraphina POV
The dress was wrong.
I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, staring at the white ceremonial gown Ember had insisted I wear for tomorrow's mating ceremony. It was beautiful—lace and silk that hugged my body perfectly—but something in my gut twisted every time I looked at it.
"You're going to be the most beautiful Luna our pack has ever seen," Ember said from my bed, painting her nails blood-red. My best friend since we were kids. The one person who knew all my secrets.
Well, almost all of them.
"What if I'm making a mistake?" The words tumbled out before I could stop them.
Ember's hand froze mid-stroke. "What do you mean?"
I turned away from the mirror, my wolf pacing restlessly inside me. "Thorne is a good man. He'll be a strong Alpha. But Ember... I don't think I love him. Not the way the old stories say mates should love each other."
My best friend set down the nail polish and walked over, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. "Sera, you're just nervous. Love grows with time. Your father arranged this mating because Thorne is perfect for you—future Alpha, strong bloodline, good leader. The feelings will come."
"You really think so?"
"I know so." Ember squeezed me tight, but when I glanced at her reflection in the mirror, something flickered in her green eyes. Something dark and hungry that vanished so quickly I thought I'd imagined it.
My phone buzzed. A text from my father: Don't forget—ceremony is at sunset tomorrow. The whole pack will be watching. Make me proud.
No pressure or anything.
I sighed and pulled away from Ember, grabbing the small wrapped box from my dresser. "I'm going to take this to Thorne tonight. A pre-ceremony gift."
"Tonight?" Ember's voice went sharp. "Why tonight?"
"Because I want one moment that's just ours before tomorrow becomes this huge pack event." I tucked the box—containing the watch his grandfather wore, which I'd searched three months to find—into my jacket pocket. "I need to feel like this is real, you know? Like we're actually choosing each other."
Ember's face did something weird. Her lips smiled but her eyes stayed cold. "That's... sweet. I'm sure he'll love it."
"Want to come with me?"
"No!" She said it too fast, too loud. Then laughed, but it sounded wrong. "I mean, you should have your private moment. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Get some sleep after."
I hugged her goodbye and headed out into the night.
The forest was beautiful under the full moon, silver light turning everything magical. My wolf stirred inside me, wanting to run, to hunt, to be wild and free. After tomorrow, I'd be Luna—responsible, proper, always watched. This was my last night as just Seraphina.
Maybe that's why my feet felt heavy as I walked the familiar path to Thorne's cabin.
The closer I got, the more my wolf whined nervously. Something felt off. Wrong.
I could hear sounds from inside the cabin now. Laughter. Music playing softly. Was he having a bachelor party I didn't know about?
Then I heard something else. A woman's voice, low and breathy. Moaning.
My heart stopped.
No. No, it couldn't be. Thorne wouldn't—
But my wolf's superior hearing picked up more. A male voice, rough with pleasure. Thorne's voice. "You feel so good. So much better than—"
The woman giggled. "Better than your future mate?"
My hand was on the door handle before I could think. Some part of me screamed to walk away, to not look, to preserve the illusion. But I had to know. I had to see.
I opened the door.
The scene burned into my brain like acid. Thorne—my mate, my future, the man I was supposed to bond with tomorrow—tangled in his bed sheets with a woman. Her red hair spilled across his pillows. Her naked back arched as she moved on top of him.
Red hair.
Red nail polish.
No.
"Ember?" My voice came out broken, small.
They both froze. Thorne's eyes went wide with panic. Ember turned to look at me over her shoulder, and the expression on her face wasn't shame or guilt.
It was triumph.
"Sera!" Thorne scrambled up, sheets falling away. "This isn't—I can explain—"
"How long?" The question ripped from my throat.
Ember climbed off him slowly, deliberately, wrapping herself in Thorne's shirt—the shirt I'd given him for his birthday. "Eight months," she said, smiling. "Since your father first announced the mating arrangement."
Eight months. Almost the entire time Thorne and I had been together.
"You're my best friend," I whispered.
"I was never your friend, Seraphina." Ember's eyes glittered with malice. "I was the girl who had to watch you get everything handed to you—Beta's daughter, perfect grades, future Luna. Do you know what it's like to always be second to you? To watch you get the man I wanted without even trying?"
"Ember, stop," Thorne said weakly, but he didn't deny her words. Didn't defend me.
"Why tomorrow?" I asked, my voice steadier now, cold. "Why not just tell me? Cancel the ceremony?"
Thorne had the decency to look ashamed. "Your father already made all the arrangements. The pack knows. It's political, Sera. We can still do the ceremony, and then we'll just... continue like this. Quietly."
"You want me to mate you while you keep sleeping with my best friend?"
"She's better at—" Ember started.
"Get out," Thorne snapped at her. For the first time, he looked actually angry. "Ember, get dressed and get out. Now."
But it was too late. The door was open. I heard gasps behind me.
I turned. At least a dozen pack members stood in the clearing outside Thorne's cabin, drawn by the commotion. They'd heard everything. Seen everything.
My father stood at the front, his face purple with rage and humiliation.
"Seraphina," he said quietly, dangerously. "Inside. Now."
But I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The entire pack had just witnessed my ultimate humiliation—my mate and my best friend, the night before my mating ceremony.
My wolf snarled inside me, demanding blood, demanding revenge.
Instead, I ran.
I shifted mid-stride, my clothes tearing away as my wolf took control. I heard my father shouting behind me, heard Thorne calling my name, but I didn't stop.
I ran toward the border. Toward forbidden territory. Toward the one place no Silvercrest wolf ever went willingly.
I ran toward Shadowfang lands, where enemy wolves killed intruders on sight.
And I didn't care if they killed me.
Because right now, death felt better than facing what I'd just lost.
The full moon watched as I crossed the territorial line, and my wolf howled—not in fear, but in fury.
Behind me, something howled back.
Something big. Something dangerous.
Something coming fast.