Chapter Nine

Serena’s POV

The archive room smelled of damp parchment and ancient dust. A sanctuary of forgotten secrets that felt more welcoming than any room in the pack house. 

I stood before Master Aris, the pack’s elderly archivist whose eyes were as clouded as old glass. He was the only one who remembered the law before the Thornbloods turned it into a weapon.

"You are certain, Master Aris?" I asked, my voice echoing slightly in the cramped, windowless chamber. "There are no lingering bindings or any invisible shackles?"

Aris shuffled through a stack of yellowed ledgers, his withered fingers trembling. "The law is as clear as the Moon Goddess’s reflection, child. A Luna’s bond is forged in the Marking ritual. It is a spiritual and legal contract. Without the mark, you are merely a resident. You are free to walk away from any obligation, be it domestic or administrative, with no legal claim upon your soul or your services."

"So, I am not bound to him," I breathed, a weight I hadn't realized I was carrying starting to lift from my shoulders. "I never was."

"Precisely," Aris muttered, closing a heavy book with a thud. "You were a volunteer in a war you thought was a partnership. Once you stop volunteering, the war ends."

I left the archives feeling a new wave of strength. The fear that had paralyzed me for years, the fear of being an eternal, pathetic addition to Caden’s greatness vanished immediately. I had the evidence Gale gave me in my pocket, and now, I had the legal freedom to use it.

I returned to the small, drafty cabin at the edge of the pack lands. It was humble, but it was mine. 

I began to pack the few items I had reclaimed: a silver-backed hairbrush, a stack of books, and the small wooden box that held the few personal trinkets I’d managed to hide away. 

I moved in silence, my mind churning with everything that was about to come. I wouldn't just leave. I would dismantle everything they held dear.

I was folding a linen dress when the door creaked open. I didn't look up. I immediately thought it was Gale, but the scent that drifted into the room was cloyingly sweet, scenting like peonies and synthetic musk. The scent immediately made my stomach turn.

"It’s certainly... rustic, isn't it?"

I turned slowly only to see Liliana standing in the doorway draped in a silk robe that looked like it had been pulled from the high-end boutiques I used to manage for the pack. 

She looked radiant or at least she was trying to. Her face was pale, and she leaned heavily against the frame, resting a hand protectively over her stomach.

"What do you want, Liliana?" I asked, resuming my packing. I didn't stop to offer her a chair because she didn't deserve the hospitality of the home she had helped steal.

She drifted inside, her eyes sweeping over my meager belongings with a look of practiced pity. "I just wanted to come and thank you. Caden said you were being... difficult. But I knew you would see reason eventually. It’s for the best, really. You weren't happy, and Caden… well, he deserves someone who can actually give him what he needs.”

I stopped packing and turned to face her, leaning against the wooden trunk. "And what is it he needs, exactly? A puppet? Oh no. A teenager who cries at the slightest sign of conflict. That's it right?"

Liliana’s smile didn't waver, but her eyes hardened into two chips of black glass. "He needs a mother for his children. He needs someone who doesn't smell like old ledgers and stress. You should be grateful, Serena. I’m letting you leave with your life. A less generous Luna might have demanded you face the pack council for your 'neglect' of your duties."

"My neglect?" I stepped closer, my shadow falling over her. She flinched, a small, involuntary movement. "I ran this pack for three years while you were being hunted in the woods. I balanced the books, I fed the warriors, and I kept your 'Alpha' from bankruptcy. If there is anyone who should be thanking anyone, it’s you. You are living on the foundation I laid, wearing clothes I paid for, and resting in a bed I cleaned."

"That was your job," she retorted, her voice losing its sweetness. "You were just the help, Serena. A placeholder until the real mate arrived. Caden never loved you. He told me so every single night. He said being with you was like a chore he couldn't wait to finish."

I knew she was saying those words to hurt me and rip open the old wounds, but they didn't. To me, they sounded just like noise. Hollow, desperate lies from a woman who knew her position was as shaky as a house of cards.

"Then I hope you enjoy your chores," I said, my voice cold and steady. "Because the honeymoon is over, Liliana. You have no idea what you’ve inherited. You think you’ve won, but you haven't even begun to pay the price for what you’ve stolen."

She stepped back, her hand tightening on her stomach, her face twisting in a mix of fear and defiance. "You’re just bitter because you’re barren and abandoned. Don't think for a second that anyone will miss you. You are a ghost in this pack, Serena. And ghosts are easily forgotten.”

I looked at her, I truly looked at her, and saw the deep, underlying insecurity that defined her. She was a hollow shell, and she knew it. 

"Maybe so," I said, a faint, dangerous smile touching my lips. "But remember one thing. Ghosts have a way of haunting the living. And I have a very, very long memory."

She opened her mouth to snap back, but then the sound of heavy boots thudding against the porch stopped her. A guard appeared in the doorway, his eyes darting between us. He looked at Liliana, then at me, his expression grim.

"Luna," the guard said, addressing Liliana with a nod. He then turned his gaze toward me, his voice dropping to a gravelly, urgent tone. "Caden sent word. There’s a disturbance at the border. He wants you to return to the main house immediately, Liliana. But he specifically told me to inform you, Serena... that the eviction order has been moved forward. You have until midnight to be off the property, or they’re sending the enforcement squad to burn the cabin to the ground with you inside."