WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK.
The color drains from my face so fast I feel lightheaded, like all the blood in my body has abandoned ship at once. My skin goes cold. My ears start ringing.
This can't be real.
No.
No no no.
"W–what?" The word barely makes it past my lips, thin and broken. It doesn't even sound like my voice. Cameran's grip tightens around my arm, grounding me, anchoring me upright, because my knees are threatening to give out. Seraphina is laughing—actually laughing—at the look on my face.
The room tilts.
The chandeliers blur.
I must be tripping. I have to be. Because why in the HELL would she pick me? Me. Of all people? We hate each other. She's hated me since we were kids. This has to be a sick joke. A cruel little power play she'll drop in two seconds once she gets bored.
She's lying.
The Alpha won't allow this.
He'll give me a choice.
He has to.
A sudden, horrifying thought crashes into me like ice water.
What if he Alpha-wills me?
No. No, he wouldn't. He couldn't. My stomach lurches violently, bile burning the back of my throat. I might actually throw up.
"You fucking sadistic bitch!" Cam explodes beside me. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you?"
Her voice slices through the air, sharp and furious, but I can't even react. I'm still standing there, mouth open, staring like a stunned animal caught in headlights.
"I just thought," Seraphina says lightly, almost conversational, "what's the best way to make sure Samantha knows her place?"
Her eyes glitter.
"Well—under my foot, of course."
Every word feels deliberate. Carefully chosen to cut.
"Serving me. Always. Indefinitely." She tilts her head, watching me unravel. "Daddy said he'll even Alpha-will you if he has to. Force a mating with one of the runts from the Herculean Pack so you won't run away."
My heart stutters.
Force a… mating?
"That way," she continues sweetly, "you'll be bound. We all know bonded mates can't stay away from each other."
No.
No no no.
My chest constricts so tightly I can't breathe. That's cruel. That's taboo. Mate bonds are sacred—holy. Even the worst wolves respect that line.
Goddess—no.
'CUT HER THROAT OUT!' Emma roars inside my head, fury crashing against my skull like thunder. Her presence surges, wild and violent, clawing for the surface.
She wants to shift.
No.
I shove her back with everything I have, panic and terror flooding me. This is not happening.
"Why?" I choke out. The word tastes like blood.
"Why?" Seraphina laughs and steps closer.
She's a few inches taller than me, just enough that when she looms over me, I have to tilt my chin up. It's intentional. Dominating.
'Don't you dare look away,' Emma growls fiercely. 'We have never submitted. Not to her. Not ever.'
She's right.
We submitted once.
Once.
I was a child. At some stupid birthday party. The Alpha greeted me and I didn't lower my gaze. I couldn't. I didn't understand why—I just couldn't look away. When he growled, my father begged me to submit. Alpha-willed him to order me.
I never forgot that feeling.
The shame.
The fury.
But Seraphina?
Fuck no.
I might be forced to follow her—but she will never have my submission.
"Like I said," Seraphina smirks, satisfied. "I want to show you your place. Under my foot."
She pauses, mock-thoughtful.
"It won't be all bad," she adds brightly. "I'll even let you play doctor once a month. How about that?"
She winks.
Then she turns and walks away, laughter trailing behind her like poison.
The entire dining hall has gone quiet.
Whispers ripple outward, spreading fast. Curious. Judgmental. Hungry.
I can't go with her.
I can't.
The rest of my life?
No.
I would rather die.
"Look at me." Cam steps directly in front of me, hands firm on my shoulders. "Sam. Look at me."
I do.
"You need to breathe," she says urgently. "Sweetie, you're turning blue. Breathe."
I suck in a sharp gulp of air I didn't realize I'd been holding. My lungs burn. Cam keeps a grip on me as she steers me away from the hall. I don't protest. I can't. My appetite is gone—obliterated. There's no reason to stay.
We head back to my room.
My mind is chaos—confusion, anger, humiliation, defeat crashing together until everything goes numb.
I replay every interaction I've ever had with Seraphina. There has to be something. Something I did. Something I missed.
But there's nothing.
We were children.
We were friends.
Until the fire.
The fire that took my parents.
She didn't lose anyone that night.
I lost everything.
My family. My home. My place in the pack. My friend.
I feel hollow. Like this is all a cruel joke and I'm the punchline.
"We're going to figure this out," Cam says fiercely, pacing the room. "Do you hear me? We're going to figure this out."
Her eyes are blazing.
"That fucking Cruella bitch is not getting away with this. She can't just take you. Keep you as a slave because she feels like it? That's inhumane!"
She spins toward me.
"Sam, baby girl—we got this. If I have to gut her, I will."
I don't respond.
I just stare at the wall.
Numb.
Empty.
Everything I worked for—my degrees, my savings, my escape plan—gone. Just like that. Reduced to nothing because Seraphina decided she wanted to prove something.
I don't even know what.
Why does she hate me so much?
Why has she always hated me?
The question echoes unanswered.
I feel suffocated, closed in, locked in a room with no handle on my side of the door.