SERA'S POV
My Alpha Prime power explodes outward like a shockwave.
The blood wraiths stumble backward, hissing. They're creatures of dark magic, but I'm something older—something their magic wasn't designed to fight.
"Get to my father!" I shout to Lyra. "Break those chains!"
Kael, Damon, and Asher move instantly, forming a protective wall between me and the wraiths.
"There's too many!" Damon shouts, slashing at a wraith that dissolves into smoke and reforms behind him.
He's right. For every wraith we destroy, two more appear. Morgana's laughter echoes through the chamber, mocking us.
"You can't win, little Alpha Prime. My blood magic is eternal. Your power is just a spark compared to—"
I stop listening.
Because inside my mind, my wolf Lunara is speaking for the first time since we entered the catacombs.
"The altar. The chains. They're not just binding Father—they're draining his Alpha Prime power to fuel the wraiths."
Understanding crashes over me.
"The chains!" I yell. "Destroy the chains and the wraiths die!"
Lyra reaches my father and raises her weapon to strike the glowing runes—
A massive blood wraith materializes in front of her, twice the size of the others. Its claws slash downward.
Asher throws himself between them, taking the blow meant for Lyra. He screams as dark magic rips across his chest.
"NO!" The word tears from my throat.
The mate bond scar over my heart ignites with his pain. I feel every ounce of his agony as if it's my own.
He's dying. Right in front of me.
Something inside me breaks.
Not my heart—something deeper. The walls I've built around myself, the armor I've worn for five years, the determination to never let anyone hurt me again.
All of it shatters.
Because Asher just died protecting someone I love, and I can't lose him. Not again. Not when I just got him back.
Power erupts from me—pure Alpha Prime fury that lights up the entire chamber like the sun.
The blood wraiths shriek and dissolve. Every single one of them, gone in seconds.
Morgana's laughter cuts off with a choked gasp.
I don't care. I run to Asher.
He's on the ground, blood pouring from the wounds across his chest. His eyes are fading.
"No, no, no." I press my hands to the wounds, but they're too deep. Dark magic poison spreads through his veins like black ink.
"Sera," he breathes. "I'm sorry. For everything. I—"
"Don't you dare." Tears stream down my face. "Don't you dare die on me, Asher Silverclaw. Not after everything. Not now."
Kael and Damon drop to their knees beside us. Both are bleeding from their own wounds, but they ignore the pain.
"The mate bond," Kael says urgently. "If we complete it—if she accepts us—our combined power might heal him."
"It's never been done with a broken bond," Damon argues. "It could kill her too."
"I don't care!" I press my forehead to Asher's. "Tell me what to do."
"Accept us," Kael says. "All three of us. Fully. The way you should have five years ago."
I look at the three men who destroyed me. The three men who've been fighting to save me all night. The three men whose mate bonds are burning in my chest, begging to be completed.
Five years ago, they rejected me.
Tonight, they're dying for me.
"I accept you," I whisper. "Kael Thornhart. Damon Nightshade. Asher Silverclaw. I accept all three of you as my mates."
The broken bonds ignite.
Pain explodes through my chest as the shattered pieces try to reconnect. It feels like dying and being reborn at the same time. My power surges, combining with theirs—three alpha kings and one Alpha Prime, bound together in a way that shouldn't be possible.
The bond snaps into place with a sound like thunder.
Golden light pours from me into Asher. The dark magic poison burns away. His wounds begin to close.
His eyes open, clear and alive.
"Sera," he breathes.
I sob with relief and pull him close.
Behind us, Lyra's voice: "My Queen! The chains!"
I turn.
My father is free. Lyra broke the chains while I was saving Asher. He stumbles forward, weak from years of captivity, but alive.
"Little wolf," he says, tears streaming down his face. "You came."
I run to him, and he catches me in his arms. For the first time in five years, I'm held by my father.
"I thought you were dead," I sob into his chest.
"I thought I'd lost you too." His voice breaks. "But look at you. You became everything I knew you could be."
The reunion is perfect.
For exactly ten seconds.
Then Morgana screams with rage.
"NO! This is impossible! You can't complete broken bonds! You can't—"
Her voice cuts off.
I turn to see her standing in the chamber doorway, her face twisted with fury and something else.
Fear.
"You've ruined everything," she snarls. "Thirty years of planning. All of it, destroyed by one stupid girl who refuses to die."
My father steps forward, his voice weak but filled with authority. "It's over, Morgana. The Alpha Prime bloodline survives. Your reign ends today."
"No." Morgana's eyes glow with dark power. "If I can't have the throne, no one will."
She raises her hands, and I feel it—massive dark magic building, enough to collapse the entire temple and kill everyone inside.
"She's going to bring down the catacombs!" Damon shouts.
"We need to run!" Kael grabs my arm.
But there's no time. The magic is already releasing, the ceiling beginning to crack—
My father pushes me behind him. "Protect my daughter," he orders Kael, Damon, and Asher.
"Father, no—"
"I've lived in chains for five years, little wolf. Let me die free, saving the one thing that matters." His eyes meet mine one last time. "I love you. Now GO!"
He releases his own Alpha Prime power—power he's been saving, power he's been hiding from Morgana all these years.
It crashes into her magic like a tidal wave.
"RUN!" he roars.
Kael throws me over his shoulder. Damon grabs Lyra. Asher leads the way, and we run through collapsing tunnels as the entire temple shakes itself apart behind us.
I scream for my father, but we're moving too fast, and I can't break free.
Behind us, I hear my father's voice one last time: "Tell the kingdoms the truth. Tell them about Morgana. Tell them everything."
Then an explosion rocks the catacombs.
The tunnel behind us collapses completely.
My father is gone.
Again.
We burst out of the catacombs into pre-dawn light, gasping and bleeding. The entrance crumbles behind us, sealing shut forever.
I fall to my knees, sobbing.
I found him. I saved him. And I lost him in the same night.
Kael kneels beside me, pulling me into his arms. Damon and Asher surround us, the completed mate bonds humming between us all.
"I'm sorry," Asher whispers. "I'm so sorry."
I can't respond. Can't think. Can't do anything but cry.
That's when Lyra's voice cuts through my grief: "My Queen. Look."
She points to the sky.
The sun is rising.
Dawn has arrived.
And in the distance, I hear drums beating—the signal that the Combat Trial is beginning.
I'm supposed to be in the Blood Arena right now, fighting Viktor to the death.
But Viktor is dead. Murdered. And I've been accused of killing him.
Lyra's face goes pale. "The trial. Morgana said if you don't appear, you'll be declared guilty and executed."
"Let her try," I say, my voice cold and broken. "I just lost my father. I survived blood wraiths and collapsing temples. I completed three mate bonds that should've killed me."
I rise to my feet, power radiating off me in waves.
"Morgana wants a trial? Fine. I'll give her a trial. But not in her arena. Not by her rules."
Kael stands beside me. "What are you planning?"
"I'm going to march into the Summit hall, in front of every alpha in the Seven Kingdoms, and I'm going to challenge Morgana for the High Crown. Right now. No delays. No games."
"She'll refuse," Damon warns. "She'll have you arrested—"
"She can't." I smile, cold and fierce. "Because my father just died destroying her blood magic. Because I have three alpha king mates who will testify to her crimes. Because I'm an Alpha Prime, and ancient law says I can challenge for the crown at any time."
Asher's eyes widen. "You're going to force a public confrontation."
"I'm going to end this. Today."
I start walking toward the Summit hall, my three mates falling into step behind me. Lyra and my Shadowfang guards emerge from hiding and join us.
We must look like something out of a nightmare—covered in blood and dirt, radiating power, marching toward the center of the Summit with deadly purpose.
Wolves scatter out of our path.
We reach the grand hall where this all began. The doors are closed, the Summit in session.
I don't knock.
I blast the doors open with Alpha Prime power and walk inside.
Every head turns.
High Queen Morgana sits on her throne, looking smug and composed. She clearly expects me to be dead in the catacombs.
Her face goes white when she sees me.
"Sera Ashwood," she says, voice shaking slightly. "You're under arrest for—"
"I challenge you," I interrupt, my voice carrying to every corner of the hall. "High Queen Morgana Bloodcrown, I challenge you for the throne. Right here. Right now. Ancient rite. Bloodmoon Trial."
Chaos erupts.
Morgana's smile returns, vicious and confident. "You already challenged me once, girl. You can't—"
"That challenge was for the trials. This is different." I step forward. "This is a formal accusation of treason against the crown. You murdered my father. You've been systematically killing Alpha Primes for thirty years. You framed me for Viktor's death."
Gasps echo through the hall.
"Lies," Morgana hisses.
"Then prove it. Accept my challenge. Or admit you're afraid."
I've cornered her. In front of every alpha in the Seven Kingdoms, she can't refuse without looking weak.
Morgana stands, her eyes blazing with hatred.
"Challenge accepted. We fight at sunset. Winner takes the crown and the loser dies." Her smile is poison. "I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart, little girl."
"We'll see."
I turn to leave—
Morgana's voice stops me: "Oh, and Sera? One more thing. Your father's last words—the ones about telling the kingdoms the truth?" She laughs. "He was trying to tell you something. The truth about who really sealed your Alpha Prime power at birth."
My blood runs cold. "What are you talking about?"
"It wasn't me who sealed you, child. It was him. Your precious father. He's the one who crippled you, who made you weak, who turned you into the pathetic omega those princes rejected."
The words hit like physical blows.
"You're lying."
"Am I? Ask yourself—why would I seal your power at birth if I wanted you dead? No, your father did it. To protect you, he said. To hide you from me." Her eyes gleam with malice. "He's the reason you suffered. He's the reason you were rejected. He's the reason for everything."
My world tilts.
My father... sealed my power?
My father... made me weak?
My father is the reason I was rejected, exiled, left to die?
"No," I whisper.
"Yes. And he died before he could tell you the truth. Tragic, really." Morgana's smile widens. "See you at sunset, Alpha Prime. Try not to spend all day hating your dead father. You'll need your strength."
She walks out, leaving me standing in the middle of the hall with that revelation crushing me.
My three mates immediately surround me.
"She's lying," Kael says firmly. "She's trying to break you before the fight."
"Is she?" My voice sounds distant. "Because it makes sense. Everything makes sense now."
If my father sealed my power to hide me from Morgana, then he made me weak. Which led to my rejection. Which led to my exile.
Everything I've suffered—all of it traces back to him.
To the father I just watched die saving me.
Asher takes my hands. "Whatever the truth is, we face it together. You're not alone anymore."
I look at my three mates—the men I just bonded with, the men who are now connected to me for life.
"Together," I repeat.
But inside, I'm breaking all over again.
Because I fought so hard to save my father.
And he might be the reason I needed saving in the first place.