Chapter 15: What He Serves

The door opened.

Elara stepped inside, and for a second I felt something close to relief. It wasn’t a guard. It wasn’t Seraphina. It wasn’t Isolade returning to finish what she started.

It was Elara.

Her eyes widened when she saw Kael on one knee in front of me, his hand braced against the floor, breath uneven.

"My lady—"

"Close the door," I said quickly.

She did. No questions. The latch clicked into place.

I turned back to him. The bond in my chest was frantic, pulling at me, urging me closer. His pain wasn’t sharp anymore. It was heavy. Pressing. Like something was forcing him down from the inside.

"I can help," I said, already reaching for him.

My palm pressed against his chest and I felt it immediately.

Something coiled around his heartbeat. Not natural. Not his. It tightened every time he tried to push through it.

My hand began to warm. The familiar sting crawled up my fingers. I could burn it out. I knew I could. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

His hand shot up and wrapped around my wrist.

Hard.

"Don’t."

His eyes were open now, clearer than they had been seconds ago, but still shadowed with strain.

"You’re in pain," I said.

"I can handle it."

Another tremor went through him. His jaw clenched.

Elara took a cautious step closer. "Should I call the healer?"

"No." His voice was sharp enough to stop her mid-step. "No healer."

I tried to pull my hand free. He tightened his grip.

"Kael, whatever this is—"

"Stick with your role."

The words were steady. Controlled.

"You don’t have to care, do you?"

It felt like the air left my lungs. I stared at him.

I had just been ready to burn my own skin open to pull whatever was choking him out, and he was standing there reminding me what I was to him.

A title. A contract. A role. My hand went still in his.

His grip loosened just enough for me to feel the rejection settle between us.

He pushed himself up slowly, using the edge of the table. His body wasn’t steady, but he forced it upright through sheer will.

Elara moved to support him. He lifted a hand without looking at her.

"I said I’m fine."

He wasn’t.

He took one step toward the door, then another. His shoulders were rigid, like if he allowed himself even a fraction of weakness he would fall again.

I didn’t move to stop him. I didn’t offer again.

He opened the door. For a second, I thought he might turn back. He didn’t.

The door shut behind him. The room felt colder.

Elara looked at me carefully. "My lady..."

"He’s right," I said quietly, though the words tasted wrong. "I don’t have to care."

But the bond didn’t listen to reason. It throbbed low and constant, like something alive inside me that refused to be ignored.

Elara watched me for a moment longer, then bowed her head slightly. "I’ll have someone watch the corridors."

I nodded.

Elara’s gaze lingered on my hand where it had touched his chest.

When she left, I remained standing in the middle of the room, my palm still tingling from magic I hadn’t used.

He had stopped me. Not because he didn’t need help. Because he didn’t want me seen helping him.

That was worse.

---

Kael pov

The corridor blurred at the edges, but I kept walking.Each step was deliberate. Measured.

If anyone saw weakness now, word would spread before dawn.

The bond pulsed behind me, Liora’s confusion, her hurt, the restraint she forced on herself when I pushed her away.

Good. Let her be angry. Anger was safer than attachment.

The east tower rose ahead. I didn’t need directions. I could walk this path in the dark.

I didn’t knock when I reached her chambers.

I never did.

Seraphina was seated near the window when I entered, a cup resting between her fingers. Moonlight cut across the room, turning her expression sharp.

"It took you long enough to visit," she said without looking at me.

"I was busy with pack matters."

"Were you?"

She set the cup down carefully and turned her gaze to me.

"You seem to forget your place ever since that wolfless thing entered the pack."

I said nothing.

"Is she teaching you things?" she continued. "Influencing you?"

"She is wolfless," I replied evenly. "There’s nothing she can teach me."

"Yet you defended her."

"Isolade overstepped."

A faint smile touched her lips. Not warm. Not amused. Just calculating.

"Did she?" Seraphina rose from her seat and crossed to the cabinet against the wall. "Or did you?"

She opened a drawer and removed a small glass vial.

My body reacted before my mind did.

The ache in my chest sharpened. The tightness returned like a hand closing around my lungs.

She noticed. Of course she did.

"The bond is making you sentimental," she said, turning the vial between her fingers. Dark liquid shifted inside it. "It clouds judgment."

How does she know? I never told her about the bond.

Liora wouldn’t have spoken either.

So how did she know?

"It changes nothing." I didn’t argue

"No?" She stepped closer. " were you even planning to ever tell me about that stupid bond? You allowed her to stand beside you tonight. You let her speak."

"She is my Luna."

"She is a placeholder." Her eyes held mine. Calm. Certain.

"Do not mistake convenience for loyalty."

The pressure in my chest tightened further. I kept my breathing steady.

She extended the vial toward me.

"Take it."

I didn’t move immediately. Her gaze hardened slightly.

"You know what happens if you refuse."

I did.

The first time she withheld it, I thought I was dying.

The second time, I learned better.

I took the vial.The glass was cool against my palm. Too familiar.

"Drink."

I uncorked it and swallowed the contents in one motion.

It burned all the way down. Bitter. Heavy.

Within seconds, the vice around my chest loosened. My pulse steadied. The faint tremor in my hands faded.

And the bond—

Muted. Not gone. Just quieter. Manageable.

Seraphina watched my face carefully as the effect settled.

"There," she said softly. "Better."

I handed the empty vial back to her.

"You will attend the ceremony," she continued. "You will present her. And when the time comes, you will remember where your loyalty lies."

"My loyalty is to the pack."

She stepped closer.

"You belong to me," she said. "You have since the night I saved your life. Or do you wish to revisit that memory?"

I held her gaze. "I remember."

"Good." She returned the vial to the drawer.

"You may go."

I turned toward the door. It opened before I could reach it.

Lord Valerius stood on the other side.

We regarded each other in silence for a brief moment.

"Alpha," he said, inclining his head.

"Lord Valerius."

I stepped aside and exited. The door closed behind me.

I didn’t walk away.

Instead, I moved into the shadowed alcove beside the corridor torch, where the light didn’t reach. The walls in this tower were old. The wood thin.

Their voices carried.

"Are you really going to watch that wolfless thing humiliate my daughter?" Valerius demanded.

"You have nothing to worry about," Seraphina replied calmly.

"Nothing to worry about?" His voice rose slightly. "Did you not see how he protected her? He almost tore Isolade’s throat out with a look."

"That was instinct. Not affection."

"And if it becomes more?"

"It won’t."

A pause.

"Do I need to step in?" Valerius pressed. "Take care of that wolfless thing myself?"

My jaw tightened.

"Do not act on impulse," Seraphina said evenly. "I told you everything remains under my control. The ceremony will proceed exactly as planned."

"And if she survives it?"

"She won’t survive what follows."

Silence stretched between them.

"And Kael?" Valerius asked.

"He will do as he’s told," Seraphina replied. "He always does."

I forced myself not to react.

"She is nothing," Seraphina continued. "A distraction. A tool. When she serves her purpose, she will be removed."

Removed. Clean. Efficient. Planned.

Footsteps approached the door.

I moved deeper into shadow just before it opened.

Valerius stepped out first, adjusting his cuffs. He walked past without noticing me.

The door closed again.

I remained still until his steps faded down the corridor.

The bond stirred faintly. Liora’s presence at the edge of my awareness. Confused. Guarded now.

Good. Let her think I meant it. Let her think I don’t care.

If Seraphina suspects otherwise, she won’t wait for a ceremony to humiliate her.

She’ll eliminate her quietly.

Two days.

Two days before the pack gathers.

Two days before every wolf shifts and circles the clearing.

Two days before Liora stands in the center without a wolf to answer them.

And now I know—

It isn’t humiliation they want. It’s proof.

Proof she doesn’t belong. Proof she can be discarded.

I stepped away from the alcove and walked down the corridor, the effect of the vial steady in my veins.

I have endured Seraphina’s control for years. But I will not let her touch what is mine.

The bond pulsed once more. Distant. Muted.

But still there.

And for the first time since it formed, I began to consider what it would cost to break the chain wrapped around my throat.

Two days.

If I fail—

Liora won’t be the only one who falls.