Seren
The day my stepsister disappeared was the day my life stopped being mine.
Tonight was meant to be Agatha’s mate coronation—her bond union sealed beneath the eyes of the entire pack.
A night where she would be claimed by Thorne Calderis, the Alpha heir spoken of in hushed tones—half fear, half worship—across the northern territories.
Instead, she ran away.
She left before the ceremony even began.
The torches were still burning when the news spread.
The ceremonial grounds, once filled with music and laughter, turned into something unrecognizable. What had been a celebration only a minute ago with the Alpha of the Calderis—her mate’s coronation, her rise beside the future Alpha—collapsed into whispers, then panic, then fury.
“Find her and drag her back to me!” The Alpha of the Calderis—Thorne—had roared to his subordinates, who scattered around to find the future Luna of the Calderis.
My stepsister.
Agatha.
She had disappeared before the bond could be sealed.
No one saw her leave, and no one knows why she had left either.
“Could it be the future Luna had eloped?”
“I’ve heard that they had seen a woman whose back was similar to the future Luna’s built—ran away with a rogue Alpha.”
“She’s got some guts, running off with a stranger. Not only did she spit on the Moon Goddess’s blessing, but she also shamed the Alpha in front of us all.”
The guests leaned closer to one another, voices dropping into hurried whispers. Gossip flickered between them like sparks, rumours swelling with every stolen glance. They hadn’t come only to celebrate the Alpha’s coronation or his bond with his Luna—they came to watch, to judge, to wonder what secrets might spill before the night was over.
“Do you think that her sister knows about her disappearance?”
I could feel every head turn—not toward the empty altar, not toward the gates she must have slipped through—but toward me. Their stares pressed against my skin, heavy with questions I couldn’t answer.
I didn’t even realize I had stepped back until my heel caught on the uneven stone.
A hand clamped around my arm before I could retreat, the grip so tight it forced a hiss from my lips. His strength burned through my skin, unyielding, and impossible to shake off.
“Where is she?”
Alpha Thorne.
Even before I looked up, I knew it was him. The pressure of his grip alone was enough—unyielding, controlled, like he was already deciding how much force to use.
When I met his eyes, something in my chest tightened.
His eyes locked on mine, and the weight of it made me tremble. The feeling was the same as facing a snake—every instinct screaming that one wrong move could mean the bite.
I hurriedly bowed my head as my whole body trembled under his gaze.
“I…I don’t know, Alpha.”
I groaned, sweat prickling across my forehead as his grip tightened. Then came the crack—the searing pain of my arm breaking forced a hiss through my teeth.
“I really don’t know… Alpha,” I said between the grit of my teeth.
He let out a cold chuckle as his hand clamped onto my jaw, forcing me to meet his eyes.
“Your brother had told me that someone had let her escape,” he murmured, voice sharp as a blade. “He saw her leaving your room in the middle of the night before the ceremony.”
My heart went still.
A bitter taste settled on my tongue.
Everyone knew the Ashwyn siblings treated me like a servant—a parasite clinging to their home, the stain that ruined their family.
But I couldn’t blame them either.
I was born to a mistress.
My blood alone was a sin, and because of it, I let them vent their anger however they pleased.