Seraphina’s POV

The phone slipped from my trembling fingers after Caleb’s call abruptly ended. I stood frozen by the dining room window, staring out at nothing while his warning echoed in my mind.

Forbidden things.

Those two words sent ice through my veins. The dining room felt suffocating now, Vivian’s cruel taunts from earlier still fresh in my memory. But Caleb’s desperate voice drowned out everything else.

If he was right about Julian being in danger, then our entire pack was walking into a nightmare.

I grabbed my phone and tried calling back. The line made a harsh clicking sound before going completely dead. Not even a dial tone. Someone was jamming the signal deliberately.

My heart pounded as I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind instead. The secret mental connection Caleb and I had forged during our first days in Nebula pack still existed. We’d created it to survive in hostile territory when we couldn’t trust anyone around us.

’Caleb? Can you hear me?’

Silence stretched for several agonizing seconds.

’Seraphina? The connection is weak... they have signal blockers everywhere.’

’Tell me exactly what you found. What are these forbidden things?’

His fear hit me like a physical blow through our link. It was raw and consuming.

’There’s a hidden chamber beneath the Alpha’s mansion,’ his mental voice was strained. ’The stench down there is unbearable. Old blood mixed with decay. Seraphina, I found hundreds of glass containers. Each one sealed with silver and filled with... something that glows faintly. I think they’re capturing the souls of wolves from other packs. The ones who mysteriously vanished.’

My blood turned to ice. Soul harvesting was the darkest form of forbidden magic. When a wolf’s spirit was torn away, what remained was nothing but an empty shell.

’There’s more,’ Caleb continued urgently. ’I discovered the Alpha’s personal grimoire. It details a specific ritual designed to merge the power of a White Wolf with that of a Great Alpha. They want to create some kind of controlled monster. Seraphina, that gala they’re planning soon isn’t a celebration. It’s a trap designed specifically for you and Julian.’

The mental link severed instantly, leaving me alone with the horrifying truth.

Nausea rolled through me in waves. A ritual. They weren’t just planning to destroy us. They wanted to harvest our combined power and create something unnatural with it.

Cordelia wasn’t here as Julian’s future bride. She was here as his executioner. And Vivian... was she actually helping them destroy her own son?

I stormed out of the house, my mind racing. The deal I’d made with Julian meant nothing now. He needed to know what we were really facing.

I headed straight for his office, but someone stepped directly into my path.

Cordelia stood in the center of the hallway like a beautiful roadblock. She held an ornate vase overflowing with fresh lavender. The cloying scent was so overpowering it made my sinuses burn.

"You seem to be in quite the rush, Seraphina," she said sweetly. Her voice was honey over broken glass. "Where could you possibly be going in such a state?"

"Move aside, Cordelia." I didn’t have patience for games.

"You look absolutely dreadful," she continued, completely ignoring my command. She began rearranging the purple blooms with deliberate slowness. "Perhaps you should rest. Your erratic behavior since returning has become quite the topic of conversation among the pack members."

"I told you to move," I snarled. My wolf was clawing at the surface, begging to be released. I felt my eyes beginning to shift color.

Instead of backing down, Cordelia moved closer. Despite being significantly shorter than me, she radiated confidence and control. Not an ounce of fear showed on her perfect features.

"You really believe you’re so clever, don’t you?" she whispered, her voice dropping to something almost intimate. "You think being born a White Wolf automatically makes you the winner. But true power isn’t about brute strength, Seraphina. It’s about who remains standing when everything else crumbles to dust."

Her hand reached out to touch the fabric of my red dress. Her fingers were unnaturally cold against my collarbone.

"Julian belongs to me now," she stated matter-of-factly. "This pack will be mine to command. Even your precious children have grown quite fond of me. Wouldn’t it be simpler for everyone if you just disappeared? Think of all the unnecessary suffering you could prevent."

The threat in her words was crystal clear despite her gentle tone. She knew something about what was coming. Maybe she knew everything.

"You have no idea what you’re involved in," I said through gritted teeth. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Cordelia smiled, but it never reached her cold eyes. "Oh, but I know exactly what I’m involved in, Seraphina. The question is, do you?"

She stepped back just enough to let me pass, but her message had been delivered. As I walked toward Julian’s office, I could feel her watching my every step.

Whatever was coming at this gala, Cordelia was a willing participant. And if she was working with whoever had those captured souls hidden beneath the Alpha’s house, then Julian and I were in far more danger than we realized.

I quickened my pace. Time was running out, and I still had no idea who else in this pack could be trusted.