The moon hung low that night, fat and red as if it had been dipped in blood. The keep's stone walls seemed to breathe with unease, every torch flame fluttering under an invisible draft. Seraphina lay awake, tangled in the furs, Dominic's steady warmth pressed against her back. His arm was heavy around her waist, his chest rising and falling with the deep breaths of a man finally surrendered to sleep.
But she could not rest.
Her song had saved him. Her body had bound him. Her heart had claimed him. Yet fear crawled like a tide in her veins. Lyanna had not been defeated, only stalled. That woman was too proud, too clever, too venomous to retreat quietly. She would strike again—soon.
Seraphina's unease proved true before dawn.
A low rumble shook the ground beneath the keep, subtle but insistent. Seraphina stiffened, propping herself up on her elbows. Dominic stirred, his wolf instantly awake, golden eyes flashing in the dim firelight.
"You feel it?" she whispered.
He nodded once, already rising, pulling on his trousers with swift, efficient movements. "It's not natural. Stay here."
But Seraphina was already pulling on her gown. "If it's her, she'll expect you. She won't expect me."
He growled, baring his teeth. "I will not risk you again."
She lifted her chin. "You can't stop me, Dominic. We are bound. If danger comes for you, it comes for me too. You know this."
For a moment, their gazes locked—Alpha against Luna, wolf against siren. Then Dominic cursed under his breath and seized her wrist. "Stay close, then. No farther than my reach."
Together, they descended the spiral stairs into the keep's lower halls. The rumbling grew louder, accompanied now by faint screams, the crackle of fire, the clash of steel. Wolves shifted in the corridors, warriors sprinting toward the southern gate.
When they reached the courtyard, the sight froze Seraphina's breath in her lungs.
The southern wall was burning. Flames licked skyward, unnatural in their sickly green hue. The stone itself seemed to sizzle under the fire's touch. And from beyond the wall came the roar of beasts—not wolves, not human, but twisted, misshapen things with too many eyes and teeth like knives.
Lyanna had opened the gates of nightmare.
Dominic shifted instantly, his body elongating, muscles swelling, black fur rippling across his skin until the great Alpha wolf stood where he had been. He leapt into the fray, a blur of claws and teeth, his growl shaking the air as he tore through the first wave of beasts.
Seraphina's voice rose without thought, instinct overtaking fear. Her song wove through the courtyard, a haunting, rising melody that wrapped around the wolves of the pack. Wounds knit. Fear ebbed. Strength surged. Warriors who faltered rose again, eyes blazing as they fought beside their Alpha.
But with every note, Seraphina felt the drain. It was not poison this time, but sheer force—Lyanna's spell fighting against her song. The fire on the wall pulsed in rhythm with her voice, as if mocking her, feeding on her magic.
From the shadow of the gatehouse, Lyanna appeared. She wore no gown now but armor of black steel, her hair unbound, her face radiant with cruel triumph. At her side prowled a massive beast—part wolf, part serpent, its body dripping with shadow like smoke.
"Sweet siren," Lyanna called above the clash. "Sing louder. Sing until your throat bleeds. It will not save him this time."
Seraphina's voice wavered, her song nearly faltering. The beast beside Lyanna lunged forward, scattering warriors with a single lash of its tail. Dominic snarled, launching himself at the creature, his fangs sinking deep into its flank. But the beast did not fall—it turned, its jaws snapping down on Dominic's shoulder with bone-crunching force.
"No!" Seraphina cried, her voice breaking into a desperate, high-pitched note. The sound lanced through the courtyard, shattering glass, splitting stone. Wolves staggered, covering their ears—but the beast shrieked, thrashing violently as the sound pierced its skull.
Lyanna's eyes narrowed. She raised a hand, dark energy spiraling around her palm. "Then let us see if your song can save you from silence."
The spell shot toward Seraphina like a spear of shadow. She had no time to move. No shield. Only instinct.
And instinct answered.
Her throat glowed bright blue, her scales rippling across her skin, her song shifting into something deeper—ancient, oceanic, terrible in its beauty. The shadow-spear struck her mid-breast and dissolved, swallowed by the resonance of her voice. The flames on the wall flickered, faltered.
Lyanna's smug smile finally cracked.
Dominic tore himself free of the beast's jaws, blood matting his fur, and with a final brutal lunge, he ripped out its throat. The creature fell in a heap of dissolving shadow, and the Alpha wolf turned his glowing eyes on Lyanna.
She did not flinch. She only smiled again, though it was tighter now, her teeth bared like a cornered viper. "This is only the beginning," she hissed, her voice carrying even above the chaos. "The pack will see you both ruined. I will see you broken, Seraphina. And when you fall, Dominic will follow."
With a gesture, she vanished into a cloud of smoke, the last of her creatures retreating with her. The unnatural flames on the wall sputtered out, leaving behind charred stone and scorched corpses.
Silence fell.
The courtyard was littered with the dead, both wolf and shadow-beast. The surviving warriors turned to their Alpha and Luna, eyes wide with shock and awe. Some bowed, others simply stared, but none spoke.
Dominic shifted back, blood streaking his chest and shoulder. He stumbled once, catching himself on the ruined gate. Seraphina rushed to him, her hands already glowing faintly as she pressed them to his wound, humming low to close the torn flesh.
He caught her wrist, stopping her. His eyes—still gold, still burning—locked on hers. "She came for you."
Seraphina swallowed hard. "No, Dominic. She came for us."