Seraphine POV
Seraphine walked to the center of the council platform like she'd done this a thousand times before.
She hadn't. But her army had taught her that confidence was a weapon. You walked like you belonged somewhere, eventually people believed you did.
The Council members sat around a massive stone table covered in maps and markers. Military advisors. Pack officials. People who'd known her five years ago when she was just the gentle Omega they'd all pitied.
Now they were looking at her like she was something dangerous.
Good.
She placed both hands flat on the table and looked each one of them in the eye. Her voice was calm when she spoke but every word carried weight.
My army has three hundred trained warriors. You're facing Marcus Velis and approximately two thousand northern wolves in fourteen days. Without us, you lose. With us, you survive.
A man with grey streaking his dark hair leaned forward. His uniform marked him as military command. Commander Torres. She remembered him teaching young warriors years ago.
What do you want in return, he asked carefully.
Seraphine kept her eyes on Kael instead of answering directly. The Alpha was sitting in his chair like it was a throne, watching her with dark eyes that burned with something she couldn't name.
Three things, she said.
The mate bond was roaring through her body now, making it hard to think. Making it hard to remember why she'd come here. She'd come for survival. She'd come for revenge. She hadn't come to feel this pull toward him. This hunger.
She'd come to destroy him, not want him.
Seraphine forced the feelings down and continued.
First, you tell this pack the truth about why you rejected me five years ago. No lies. No politics. The truth.
Kael's jaw locked. She could see the muscle working in his cheek like he was grinding his teeth hard enough to break them.
Second, you prove you actually deserve to keep that crown. You lead your army in battle. You fight alongside your soldiers. You stop sitting in halls making decisions that cost other people everything.
The Council members were shifting now. Uncomfortable. Like she was asking for something impossible.
Third, you face what you did to me without hiding behind Alpha authority. You stand in front of me and you acknowledge the damage. No explanations. No excuses. Just truth.
The silence that followed was heavy enough to crush.
Torres cleared his throat. These are extreme terms for an alliance.
These are survival terms, Seraphine said coldly. You want my army. You get my conditions.
She finally looked away from Kael and scanned the other Council members. Their expressions ranged from angry to desperate. They all understood what she was really saying. Kael had to choose between his pride and his pack.
In about five seconds, they'd find out who he really was.
Kael stood up.
The movement was so sudden that half the Council flinched. He was massive when he stood, all the power and authority of an Alpha radiating off him in waves. His eyes were still dark, still burning with that combination of things she couldn't quite name.
He walked toward her.
Seraphine's heart started racing. The mate bond was screaming at her to close the distance, to let him touch her, to give in to five years of hunger. Her wolf was clawing at her insides, desperate.
She forced herself to stand perfectly still.
Kael stopped so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. Close enough that if she moved even slightly, she'd be pressed against him. Close enough that she could feel his heartbeat like it was her own.
He said nothing.
Just looked at her like she was the only real thing in the entire world. Like the Council didn't exist. Like the war didn't exist. Like there was nothing except the space between them and the fire that had never actually gone out.
Seraphine's breath caught against her will.
She could see the pain in his eyes. See the regret. See the hunger that matched what she was feeling burning through her own body. See the man who'd loved her looking at the woman she'd become and realizing exactly what he'd destroyed.
For a moment, just one moment, she let herself remember what it felt like to be loved by him.
Then she remembered what it felt like when he'd rejected her.
Seraphine's breath caught again, but this time it was anger catching in her throat. She turned away sharply, breaking the spell that was pulling her under.
I need to scout the northern borders, she said, her voice harder now. Liv will coordinate with your generals about defensive positions. We'll establish patrol routes and identify weak points in your territory.
She started walking toward the exit without waiting for response.
I expect you to have answers for me about my conditions within twenty-four hours, Alpha. If you're not willing to meet them, we leave.
The words hung in the air behind her as she moved away from him. Away from the mate bond that was trying to drag her back. Away from the look in his eyes that made her want to forget five years of survival and just give in.
Liv caught up with her as she reached the doors. Her scarred friend was carrying a map and looking like she'd just watched something terrible happen.
You felt it, Liv said quietly. The bond.
Yeah, Seraphine said without breaking stride. I felt it.
Are you going to be able to do this.
It wasn't a question really. It was Liv asking if Seraphine could stay strong enough to survive being this close to Kael. If she could remember why she'd come back angry instead of remembering why she'd once loved him so hard it nearly killed her.
I have to be, Seraphine said.
But as she pushed through the pack hall doors and stepped out into the cold northern air, she could still feel the mate bond burning through her chest. Could still feel the weight of his gaze on her back. Could still feel the pull of him asking her to come back.
And she realized with terrible, crystal clarity that surviving Kael Ashford was going to be harder than surviving five years in the wilderness.
Because now she knew what she was surviving from was the one thing she wanted most.