Chapter Eight

Serena’s POV

The air in the pack house main hall was thick with the scent of lilies and cold judgment. 

I stood at the center of the room with a very stiff stance, watching the elders of the Thornblood pack shift uncomfortably on their velvet-lined benches. 

These were the same men and women who had bowed to me for three years and consulted me on trade treaties. 

They always came to me with problems they couldn't handle and begged me to sort it out for them. 

The finance chief who begged me to balance the ledgers when the pack’s coffers ran dry was standing in their mix unable to meet my eyes. 

Cowards. All of them are cowards. They wouldn't even meet my eyes.

"Serena," Belinda began, her voice echoing with that fake sweetness I had recognized to always make my skin crawl lately. 

She sat in the high-backed chair that had been mine for a thousand days, her hands folded neatly over her lap. "We have discussed the current, fragile state of our future. Liliana is carrying the next Alpha and her pregnancy has been classified as high-risk. We all know it's due to the stress of your continued presence in the house and how you always remind everyone of the past that is proving detrimental to her health."

I let out a short, hollow laugh, the sound ringing sharply against the stone walls. "So, I am now a health hazard, Belinda? It's funny how you can so easily shift blame for something so visible and pretend that no one else has a fault in this matter. Not even your son. I was a vital resource last week but you have quickly turned me to a disease. Thank you"

"That is enough," Caden’s voice rumbled from the shadows near the balcony. He stepped into the light, his expression a mask of cold, tactical indifference. He looked at me with the annoyance of a manager terminating an underperforming employee. He never looked at me like his cherished mate anymore. "The council has voted. You are to vacate the pack house effective immediately. Your belongings have already been moved to the outer cabin."

I looked toward the elders. "The same place I slept yesterday? You're really clueless don't you? So this is really how it is? Three years of service, three years of keeping the peace, and I am evicted because the new Luna finds my existence stressful?"

Elder Harken, a man whose pension I had personally ensured was paid on time for the last thirty-six months, cleared his throat and looked at his boots. "The Alpha’s decree is absolute, Luna… excuse me, Serena. We must prioritize the bloodline."

The betrayal burned, not like a fire, but like ice in my veins. They were discarding me like a broken tool. 

"I see," I said, my voice barely a whisper, yet it carried to every corner of the room. "Is there anything else, or should I go pack the air I’ve been breathing?"

"You are free to go," Caden said, his eyes flicking briefly to the door. "Do not cause a scene. It would be a shame to have to escort you out by force."

"Force?" I stepped toward him, my head held high, refusing to let him see the tremors in my hands. "You wouldn't dare. You still need me to finish the handover, don't you, Caden? You need me to teach your little doll how to read those ledgers she can’t even begin to understand. You’re not kicking me out because I’m a liability; you’re kicking me out because you’re afraid of what I might say if I finally decide to stop being silent."

Belinda stood up, her face flushing with genuine anger now. "You are arrogant to think you are indispensable! Pack your things and leave. If you are seen in this house after sunset, you will be treated as an intruder."

I turned on my heel, my heart pounding in my ears. I walked toward the heavy oak doors, the weight of the silence behind me feeling like a physical shroud. 

I had given them everything. My youth, my energy, my loyalty, and this was my reward. 

As I reached the threshold, I felt a hand brush against my arm. It was Gale, my personal guard. He had been standing like a statue, watching the proceedings with a face of stone.

His movements were practiced and swift. As he stepped aside to let me pass, he leaned in, his voice barely a breath against my ear. "Don't let them see you break, my lady. Not yet."

He pressed something into my palm. A small, cool, folded piece of parchment, tied with a thin cord. My fingers closed around it instinctively.

"Get out of the pack lands," Gale whispered, his eyes darting toward the guards watching us. "And then, read that. It’s not just a letter, Serena. It’s the entire reason the Thornblood name is about to fall."

I didn't look back. I marched out into the cool evening air, my mind racing. I pushed my way toward the woods, away from the prying eyes of the pack members, my fingers digging into the paper in my hand. I didn't stop until I was deep in the shadows of the tree line, sheltered by the canopy of the forest.

With shaking fingers, I finally unfolded the note. It wasn't a love letter or a plea. It was a ledger extract. A series of dates, bank transfers, and signatures that I recognized with a jolt of pure, unadulterated terror. 

It was proof of illicit dealings between the Thornbloods and the very rogue packs Caden claimed to be fighting. Proof of embezzlement, double-crossing, and a betrayal of the pack that far exceeded his infidelity.

It was the skeleton key to his downfall.

I looked back at the glowing windows of the pack house, where my replacement was likely being pampered with wine and comfort. 

They thought they had evicted me, that they had successfully discarded a placeholder. They had no idea they had just handed me the weapon to destroy them all.

"You want a war, Caden?" I whispered to the empty, darkening woods, a cold smile finally touching my lips. "Then you’re going to get one.”