Chapter 530 – Why Sera wanted Bryan.
Voren looked at him with visible exhaustion written all over his face. "What is it now?"
His patience had completely run out. "It’s getting late."
He slipped an arm around Seraphine with protective care. "We need to leave."
Ravyn slowly shook his head, refusing to let the moment end. "I gave the order..." Ravyn’s voice was rough with the weight of everything he was carrying. "I admit that."
Pain and frustration twisted together inside him until they spilled out in a rush. "But Corvine..." he pointed toward his former beta with a trembling hand. "He was the one who carried it out."
His eyes returned to Voren with a mix of anger and desperation. "So why am I the only one standing here as the villain?"
His voice cracked under the combined weight of his anger and guilt. "You condemn me..." he gestured toward Corvine one more time. "While patting him on the back for doing the very thing I told him to do."
Ravyn caught the raw agony burning in Voren’s eyes the second Daeva’s attack landed on Corvine, and that look hit him harder than anything.
He knew that exact expression because once upon a time it had belonged to the two of them. Back then they had stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to bleed for each other without a second thought, the kind of loyalty and trust that felt unbreakable.
Now that place belonged to Corvine.
It wasn’t enough that Corvine had claimed Seraphine’s heart. Somehow, he had also stepped into the spot Ravyn used to occupy right beside Voren, and the bitter truth twisted through his chest like a dagger that refused to stop turning.
Voren drew in a breath, clearly about to speak, but Seraphine cut in first.
"I was your Luna," she began, sorrow flickering across her face before it hardened into quiet resolve. "That’s exactly why I understand how the hierarchy works. A Beta doesn’t get to refuse his Alpha."
Her eyes locked onto Ravyn’s and held there. "Corvine stayed loyal to you through my entire time in this pack because he respected that position. Do you honestly believe he walked away because of me?"
A deep frown settled over Ravyn’s features. "Then... why did he leave?"
He had always told himself Corvine resigned because Seraphine chose to go. The real answer crashed into him like a hammer.
"It was because of Daisy," Seraphine answered with absolute certainty. "Corvine couldn’t stand taking orders from someone like her, so he left."
Ravyn’s legs gave out. He dropped hard onto his knees as guilt swallowed every last scrap of pride he had left. His trembling hand stretched toward Seraphine’s feet, desperate for even the smallest chance at forgiveness.
Before his fingers could come close, a brutal kick crashed into his shoulder. "Don’t fucking touch my wife."
Voren’s voice thundered through the hall. Without sparing Ravyn another glance, he pulled Seraphine firmly against his chest and wrapped a protective arm around her waist, shielding her like she needed protecting from something filthy.
Ravyn staggered back onto his feet, rubbing the throbbing spot on his shoulder before lifting desperate eyes toward Seraphine.
"Sera..." His voice cracked under the weight of everything he still needed to say. "Can you spare me a moment? We need to talk. Just the two of us."
"We have nothing to talk about." Seraphine’s answer came without the slightest hesitation.
She turned her back on him completely and fixed her attention on Daisy. A faint, almost playful smile curved her lips, though there wasn’t a single drop of warmth behind it.
"So..." she mused, "how does it feel to lose everything?"
Daisy’s face drained of color as Seraphine taunted her, allowing one of the warriors to peel off the duct tape. "You told me yourself that you encouraged Ravyn to have my pup killed."
Seraphine’s smile widened just a fraction. "That’s exactly why I’m taking Bryan. And trust me, I’ll raise him into a better man than either of you ever could. I’ll love him so completely that one day he’ll forget you ever existed."
Every word landed like another nail sealing Daisy’s fate. "No!"
Daisy’s cry echoed through the hall. Her voice had already turned rough from all the tears she’d shed, yet pure panic still poured out of every syllable.
"Sera, you can’t do that. Bryan is all I have left."
Seraphine’s expression stayed completely unmoved. "You still have another pup growing inside you." Her gaze drifted deliberately toward Daisy’s stomach. "You should be grateful for that."
"No!" Daisy shook her head frantically as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. "Bryan is still my son. You can’t take him away from me."
Seraphine arched an eyebrow. "And who’s going to stop me?"
Silence swallowed the entire room. Then something seemed to cross her mind. "Oh..." she added casually, almost like she had just remembered an afterthought.
"I wanted to keep some of my blood stocked in the blood bank, just in case your Fenrir decides to lose control but then again, what Corvine injected you with is going to help in the formation of your pup so until you give birth, that wolf of yours would remain dormant."
The smile on her lips turned colder. "In case you don’t understand, then hear it. "Your pup would forever have my blood running through it’s veins, and as for you..." Her eyes narrowed. "It’s time you experienced the very dungeon you prepared for me."
The last bit of color vanished from Daisy’s face. "No... please!"
She tried to crawl towards Seraphine, but the chains restricted her. "I’ll do anything. Please don’t send me to the dungeon."
Fear consumed every inch of her. Among everywhere in the pack, the dungeon was the place Daisy feared most.
Countless stories claimed it was haunted, and with her wolf already weakened after being injected with Seraphine’s blood, recovering any real strength would take a long time. She wouldn’t survive down there.
Before Seraphine could answer, Alpha Dante stepped forward.
"Luna Sera..." His eyes briefly drifted toward Corvine before returning to her. "I don’t think this should go to you."
His words earned several puzzled looks. "It should go to Corvine instead."
Everyone stared at him, waiting for an explanation. "You all came here without attending a single business mixer," he continued, forcing a smile as he tried to lighten the atmosphere. "What about partnerships?"
Corvine was about to answer when Voren smoothly stepped in. "Alpha Dante," Voren replied, a faint smile tugging at one corner of his mouth, "We’ve already secured every business opportunity we came here for." His gaze settled calmly on Dante. "And I don’t think you’re one of them."
Confusion spread across Dante’s face. but it wasn’t just him. Nearly everyone leader looked equally stunned.
"Alpha Voren..." Dante blinked hard. "What are you talking about?"