Seraphina's POV
I ran.
My bare feet slapped against the cold stone floors as I raced through the pack house passageways. Behind me, I could hear the crowd still cheering about the wedding announcement, but all I could think about were Marcus's closing words.
Tonight, we hunt.
They were going to kill me. The pack that was supposed to guard me was going to hunt me down like a wild animal.
I had to find Caelum. He wouldn't let this happen. He couldn't.
I burst through the doors leading to the Alpha's private rooms, not caring about protocol or manners. Guards tried to stop me, but I pushed past them.
"Caelum!" I screamed. "Caelum, where are you?"
I threw open door after door until I found him in his father's study. He was standing by the window with his back to me, his shoulders stiff.
"They're going to kill me," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "Your father just announced they're hunting me tonight."
Caelum didn't turn around. "I know."
"You know?" My voice cracked. "And you're just standing there?"
Finally, he faced me. His eyes were red like he'd been crying, but his face was cold. "There's nothing I can do."
"Nothing you can do?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You're the future Alpha! Tell them no!"
"It's not that simple, Seraphina."
"It is that simple!" I grabbed his arms, trying to make him understand. "Choose me, Caelum. Please. Just this once, choose me over everyone else."
He pulled away from my touch. "I can't."
"Why not? Why can't you fight for us?"
"Because you don't understand what's at stake!" His voice rose. "This isn't just about us anymore. Your bloodline is dangerous."
I felt like he'd slapped me. "Dangerous? How am I dangerous?"
"The pack elders did research after I told them about your smell. They found old records, ancient predictions." Caelum ran his hands through his hair. "Your family line was supposed to die out centuries ago for a reason."
"What reason?"
"Because moon-blessed omegas like you can destroy entire pack systems. You can make Alphas lose power, start wars, destroy everything we've built."
My head was spinning. "That's ridiculous. I'm just me. I don't have any special skills."
"Don't you?" Caelum stepped closer, and I could see the pain in his eyes. "Look what you've done to me, Seraphina. I've never broken pack law before meeting you. I've never disobeyed my father. I've never put my own wants above the pack's needs."
"Those are good things! That means you're following your heart!"
"That means you're changing me in ways that could destroy everything." His voice was barely a whisper. "The elders showed me what happened to the last pack that had a moon-blessed omega. The Alpha went crazy trying to protect her. He killed his own pack members. The area fell into chaos and hundreds died."
I felt sick. "You think I'll make you do that?"
"I think I might already be losing my mind." Caelum's laugh was bitter. "I was ready to start a war for you, Seraphina. I was ready to tear apart every partnership we have just to keep you by my side. Does that sound sane to you?"
"It sounds like love!"
"It sounds like the curse my father warned me about." He turned away again. "This is why they want you gone. Before I lose myself completely."
"So you're just going to let them kill me?" My voice was so small I could barely hear it myself.
"I'm going to let them do what's best for the pack."
Something inside me broke. Not just my heart this time, but something deeper. Something that felt like my soul breaking in half.
"I trusted you," I whispered. "I gave you everything. My heart, my body, my whole life. And you're going to throw it all away because some old men told you to be scared of me?"
Caelum's shoulders shook, but he didn't answer.
"Look at me!" I shouted. "If you're going to betray me, at least have the courage to look me in the eye!"
He turned around, and I saw tears running down his face. "I'm sorry, Seraphina. I'm so sorry."
"Sorry isn't good enough." The anger felt good. It was better than the pain. "You're a coward, Caelum. You're not an Alpha. You're just a scared little boy who does whatever daddy tells him to do."
"That's not fair."
"Fair?" I laughed, and it came out rough and wild. "You want to talk about fair? Is it fair that I found my mate just to have him choose politics over love? Is it fair that your pack wants to murder me for something my relatives might have done? Is it fair that you're going to marry another woman while I run for my life?"
"Seraphina, please-"
"Please what? Please understand? Please forgive you?" I stepped closer until we were inches apart. "Please make this easy for you so you don't have to feel guilty?"
"I don't have a choice!"
"Everyone has a choice!" I screamed. "You're picking your pack over me! You're picking safety over love! You're choosing to be just like every other Alpha who treats omegas like property!"
My hand moved before I could stop it. The slap rang through the room like a gunshot.
Caelum's head snapped to the side, and when he looked back at me, there was a red handprint on his face.
"There," I said, my voice deadly quiet. "Now we're even. You broke my heart, and I broke your beautiful face."
I turned and walked toward the door, every step taking all my strength.
"Where are you going?" Caelum called after me.
"Away from you. Away from this pack. Away from everything that's trying to destroy me."
"Seraphina, wait. The hunt doesn't start until tonight. We can figure something out. Maybe I can convince them to just send you instead-"
I spun around so fast he stepped backward. "Exile me? Like I'm some kind of criminal?"
"It's better than death."
"Is it? Is spending my whole life running and hiding really better than dying?"
"Yes! Because if you're living, maybe someday-"
"Someday what? Someday you'll grow a backbone and come find me? Someday you'll choose love over duty?" I shook my head. "Don't make promises you won't keep, Caelum. You've hurt me enough."
I walked out of the room, leaving him standing there with tears on his face and my mark on his cheek.
But as I ran through the halls toward my room, I heard something that made my blood freeze.
Howls. Lots of them. Getting closer.
I looked out a window and saw wolves running toward the pack house from every direction. Not the regular pack members - these were different. Bigger. Meaner looking.
Hunter dogs.
They weren't waiting until tonight.
The hunt had already started.
And I was stuck.