The emergency surgery lasted four hours, and Luna's hands were steady throughout every crucial moment. The two surviving wolves from the rogue attack had been in critical condition—one with massive claw wounds across his chest and abdomen, the other with bite marks that had barely missed his jugular. But Luna's enhanced healing abilities, combined with her surgical skills, had pulled them both back from the brink of death.
She was finally washing the blood from her hands when Seraphina appeared in the surgical suite, her face pale with concern.
"Luna, thank the Goddess. I heard about the attack." Seraphina wrapped her arms around Luna's shoulders, offering comfort that Luna desperately needed after the intense life-or-death procedures. "Are they going to make it?"
"I think so." Luna leaned into her friend's embrace, allowing herself a moment of vulnerability. "It was close, though. If the patrol hadn't found them when they did..."
"But they did, and you saved them." Seraphina squeezed her tighter. "You're a miracle worker, Luna Nightwood. Those wolves are alive because of your skill."
The praise warmed Luna's heart, but she was too exhausted to fully appreciate it. The combination of emotional turmoil from her encounter with Damien and the physical demands of emergency surgery had left her drained. All she wanted was to go home, take a hot bath, and try to make sense of the chaos her life had become.
"I should check on the patients one more time," Luna said, pulling away from Seraphina's embrace. "Make sure their vitals are stable for the night."
"Actually," Seraphina said, her voice taking on a strange quality that made Luna look at her more closely, "I already checked on them. They're both sleeping peacefully, and I've assigned two of our best nurses to monitor them through the night."
Something in Seraphina's tone made Luna's wolf stir uneasily, but she was too tired to analyze the feeling. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'll never have to find out." Seraphina's smile was bright, almost too bright. "Come on, let me walk you home. You look dead on your feet."
They left the medical facility together, walking through the pack lands under a canopy of stars. The night air was cool and crisp, carrying the scent of pine and approaching autumn. It should have been peaceful, but Luna couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"Seraphina," she said suddenly, stopping in the middle of the path. "How did you know about the rogue attack so quickly? I thought you were helping with dinner preparations."
Her friend's step faltered for just a moment before she recovered her stride. "News travels fast in a pack this size. Half the territory knew about the attack within an hour."
It was a reasonable explanation, but something about the way Seraphina avoided her eyes made Luna's unease deepen. "And you just happened to be free to help with the medical response?"
"I dropped everything when I heard you were involved." Seraphina's voice carried a note of hurt. "Luna, what's wrong? You're acting like you don't trust me."
The accusation stung because it held a grain of truth. Luna did feel like something was off, though she couldn't put her finger on exactly what. Maybe it was just exhaustion and stress making her paranoid.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You're right, I'm just tired. It's been a long day."
They resumed walking, but the comfortable camaraderie that usually existed between them felt strained. When they reached Luna's small house on the edge of the pack lands, Seraphina lingered on the porch steps.
"Luna, can I ask you something?" Seraphina's voice was carefully casual. "About the Alpha King?"
Luna's hand froze on her door handle. "What about him?"
"Are you really going to do this? Really going to risk everything for a man who could destroy you?"
The question was almost identical to the one Seraphina had asked that morning, but something in her tone made it sound different. More urgent. More desperate.
"I thought we already discussed this," Luna said carefully.
"We did, but..." Seraphina moved closer, her green eyes bright in the moonlight. "Luna, I care about you too much to watch you make this mistake. He's going to hurt you. Men like him always do."
"Men like him?" Luna turned to face her friend fully. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Powerful men. Alpha men. They take what they want without thinking about the consequences for anyone else." Seraphina's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "They make promises they can't keep, offer things they'll never deliver, and when politics or convenience demands it, they walk away without a backward glance."
There was something raw in Seraphina's voice, something that spoke of personal experience rather than general observation. Luna felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air.
"Seraphina, what aren't you telling me?"
For a moment, her friend's carefully constructed mask slipped, and Luna saw something ugly underneath. Envy. Bitterness. A rage so deep it took her breath away.
"Nothing," Seraphina said quickly, the mask sliding back into place. "I'm just worried about you. As your friend."
But Luna's enhanced senses were picking up something else now. A scent that didn't belong, woven so subtly through Seraphina's natural fragrance that she almost missed it. The sharp, medicinal smell of wolfsbane. And underneath that, something darker. Something that made her wolf recoil in instinctive fear.
"Seraphina," Luna said slowly, her hand moving to the silver pendant at her throat—a gift from her grandmother that had always brought her comfort. "What have you done?"
"I don't know what you mean." But Seraphina's eyes were fixed on Luna's pendant, and her pupils were dilated in a way that spoke of magical influence.
"The rogue attack," Luna whispered, pieces of a terrible puzzle clicking into place. "You knew about it before it was reported. You were waiting for me at the medical facility."
"Luna, you're being paranoid—"
"And the attack itself. You said the survivors reported it was rogues, but Captain Reese never mentioned survivors talking." Luna backed toward her door, her heart hammering with growing terror. "Because there were no survivors conscious enough to give reports, were there? Not until after I brought them back."
Seraphina's friendly mask finally cracked completely, revealing the cold stranger underneath. "You always were too smart for your own good."
"It was you." The words fell from Luna's lips like stones. "You arranged the attack. But why?"
"Because you don't deserve him!" The words exploded out of Seraphina with venomous force. "You don't deserve any of it! The Alpha King's attention, his love, his promises of a crown. It should be me!"
Luna stared at her oldest friend, seeing her clearly for the first time. "Seraphina..."
"Do you have any idea what it's like?" Seraphina's voice cracked with pain and fury. "Living in your shadow for years? Watching you get everything I've ever wanted? First the medical position that should have been mine, then Marcus's attention before he rejected you, and now the Alpha King himself?"
"I never wanted any of those things," Luna said desperately. "I never tried to take anything from you."
"You didn't have to try!" Seraphina laughed, the sound sharp and broken. "You just existed, perfect and pure and special, while the rest of us scrambled for scraps. Well, I'm done being your supporting character."
The scent of dark magic was growing stronger now, and Luna could see shadows moving around Seraphina that had nothing to do with the moonlight. Her friend—former friend—was practically vibrating with malevolent energy.
"The rogue attack was a distraction," Luna realized. "To get me away from Damien. To make me look unreliable, unavailable when he needed me."
"Among other things." Seraphina smiled, and Luna saw something inhuman in the expression. "Though I have to admit, I enjoyed watching you scramble to save those pathetic wolves. Knowing that every second you spent healing them was another second I had to work my magic."
"What magic?" But even as Luna asked the question, she was remembering the strange incidents of the past few days. The way her scent seemed to carry farther than usual. The intensity of Damien's reaction to her presence. The way other wolves had been looking at her with an almost hypnotic fascination.
"Scent magic," Seraphina said proudly. "Very old, very dangerous, and very illegal. I've been weaving myself into your natural fragrance for weeks, making myself irresistible to any Alpha who catches your scent."
Luna's hand flew to her throat, to the pendant that had been growing warm against her skin. Her grandmother's protective charm, recognizing the dark magic and trying to counteract it.
"Tonight was supposed to be the culmination," Seraphina continued, her eyes glowing with an unnatural light. "The Alpha King would catch my enhanced scent, mistake me for you in the darkness, and finally see what he's been missing. By morning, I would be claimed, marked, and carrying his child. You would be forgotten, and I would be queen."
Horror washed over Luna as she understood the full scope of her friend's betrayal. "You're insane."
"I'm desperate," Seraphina corrected. "And I'm done playing fair."
She raised her hands, and Luna could see dark energy crackling between her fingers. The scent of wolfsbane and corruption filled the air, making Luna's wolf whimper and retreat deep inside her consciousness.
"I gave you every chance to step aside gracefully," Seraphina said, her voice distorting as the dark magic consumed her. "But you're too selfish to see what's best for everyone. So now I'll have to take what should have been mine."
Luna tried to run, tried to reach the safety of her house, but the dark magic was faster. It wrapped around her like chains, freezing her muscles and stealing her breath. She collapsed to her knees on the porch steps, her vision graying at the edges.
"Don't worry," Seraphina said, her voice seeming to come from very far away. "It won't hurt for long. And when they find your body, everyone will assume the rogues got you too. The Alpha King will be devastated, naturally, and I'll be there to comfort him in his grief."
Through her fading consciousness, Luna heard footsteps approaching. Multiple sets, moving with the coordinated precision of trained soldiers. Damien's guards, she realized with desperate hope. But as the darkness closed in, she heard Seraphina laugh.
"Right on time," her former friend said. "Though I'm afraid Dr. Nightwood won't be available to help you tonight, Captain Reese. She seems to have had a rather unfortunate encounter with some rogue wolves."
The last thing Luna heard before the darkness claimed her was the sound of Seraphina's voice, but it was different now. Deeper, richer, carrying the exact cadence and tone that Luna had heard from her own lips a thousand times.
Seraphina wasn't just stealing her scent. She was stealing her voice, her mannerisms, her very identity.
And by the time anyone realized the deception, it would be far too late.