The consorts had returned. Their laughter echoed faintly down the castle halls, but not one of them spoke of Serena. Not one of them remembered her.
Naya, however, could not rest. She went to the human's room, but the bed was untouched. Panic tightened her chest. She hurried straight to Lirvana.
"Head Consort." She bowed quickly. "The human… she is not with you?"
Lirvana's face shifted instantly into a mask of concern, though her eyes gleamed cold.
"Ah, true… I haven't seen her. Do you think perhaps she's already gone back to her world?"
Naya's brow furrowed. "I think we should inform the King."
Lirvana's lips softened into a sweet smile. "Of course. Leave that to me. You may go."
Naya hesitated, then bowed again and left.
The moment the door shut, Lirvana smirked, her eyes flashing like knives.
"By now… she should have learned her lesson."
**************
(Throne Room)
The Alpha King paced his chambers, silver eyes storm-dark. A strange pang lanced through his stomach, sharp and sudden. He grunted, clutching his side.
The pain spread like fire in his blood.
It had never happened before.
Everything was just new since that human arrived.
"Guards!" His voice thundered.
They rushed in.
"Are the consorts back?" he demanded, his voice edged with strain.
"Yes, my King."
Another wave of pain made him grunt, his jaw tightening. "Send in the human."
The guard nodded and left.
Kaelen stared into nothing, sweat pearling along his temples as the heat and ache twisted deeper.
Moments later the guard returned, bowing low.
"Your Highness… She is nowhere to be found. Head Consort Lirvana says she ran into the forest. That she claimed she would find her way back to her world."
Kaelen froze. Then fury ripped through him. His voice dropped to a dangerous growl.
"I should have bound her legs. And her hands."
A low snarl tore from his throat. Kaelen shifted. The Trueblood Alpha burst into his wolf form, massive and fearsome, and sprinted out of the castle like a shadow storming the night.
*************
(Forest)
Serena's body trembled violently, lashed to a crude wooden stick. The trolls laughed as they rotated her slowly above a growing fire. Smoke stung her throat. Heat licked at her skin.
Sweat rolled down her face, dripping into her eyes. Her chest rose and fell in shallow bursts.
"Please!" she cried, voice breaking. "Please let me go! I'll never come back here again!"
The trolls howled with laughter.
"Beg, little meat. Beg louder!"
"Please," she sobbed, thrashing. "I… I'm scared of fire!" Serena cried, her voice strangled. Memories pierced through her chest like arrows—her room as a child engulfed in flames, her lungs filling with smoke, her skin blistering…
"Shut your mouth, wolf," one troll spat, rolling her closer.
"I'm not a wolf!" Her voice cracked, desperation spilling over. "Please…let me go!"
"We don't care what you are," another spat. "We'll eat you all the same."
The fire's edge licked her skin. Pain bit sharp, tearing a scream from her chest.
"Aaahhh!" Tears streamed down her face. Her chest heaved. Her head spun with panic until her breaths came ragged and short.
Her eyes fluttered shut. She was slipping away….
And then it came.
A growl so deep it made the earth shudder.
The forest went still.
A blur tore through the camp. The stick snapped like a twig. Serena crashed to the ground with a painful thud, air punching from her lungs.
Through the haze of smoke and tears, she lifted her head.
Silver eyes blazed through the shadows.
Her lips trembled. "The Alpha King, he came for me."
The trolls roared and charged but Kaelen's wolf was already upon them.
Serena could hardly see,her glasses were gone, her eyes stung with tears and smoke….but she heard everything.The sickening crack of bones. The tearing of flesh. The shrieks cut short in wet silence. The ground shook with every violent strike until the night itself seemed to bow before him.
And then....silence.
Only he remained. The Trueblood Alpha. His monstrous wolf form towered before her, silver eyes glowing like twin moons.
"T…thank you," she whispered, her voice faint, trembling.
The wolf shimmered, and then Kaelen stood in the moonlight, bare, powerful, his body carved in ruthless perfection. The night clung to him like worship.
If Serena could have seen him clearly, she would have screamed or stared until her lungs forgot to breathe.
A snap of his fingers. Shadows coiled, forming a cloak over his body.
He strode toward her, every step predatory. His hand closed around her arm, pulling her up roughly.
"You tried to escape." His voice was low, cold, laced with a fury that trembled the air.
"I—" Her words cracked. All defiance was gone. The fire had broken her. Tears streamed down her face. "I'll do anything you ask. Anything. But please….please let me go. Show me a way out. I can't stand it anymore. I beg you!"
Her brown eyes locked with his silver ones, pleading, shattering, drowning.
He stilled, watching her. Then his gaze flicked over her face. She wasn't wearing the strange thing she always pressed against her eyes.
He looked around, found it lying broken in the dirt, and picked it up. Carefully, almost gently, he set it back on her face.
Her vision sharpened and she saw him clearly.
Her lips parted, trembling. "Please… I want to go back home."
Her thoughts spiraled, crushing her: "If she died here, what was she even saving? What reputation? What pride if her life ended as troll meat?. She just wants to live. She just wants to leave Selvayra alive."
Her head swam. Her vision spun. Her lashes fluttered.
She collapsed forward.
"The Alpha shifted aside with calculated coldness, watching her crash to the ground. He didn't flinch, didn't reach. He would rather lift her broken body from the floor than stomach the thought of her falling into his arms."
Then his body shifted, fur surging, claws digging into the earth. The black wolf lowered, letting her fragile body slump against his back.
With a guttural rumble, he turned and carried her into the night, back to the castle.
************
Lirvana's jaw tightened as she watched Kaelen leading the girl away toward her chambers. Heat boiled in her chest, and her nails bit into her palms.
Lirvana… Lirvana…
That voice again. Clear as a whisper inside her skull. Then silence.
Her anger only grew sharper. With a swift breath, she shifted into her wolf, ashy fur bristling as she bolted through the castle gates and into the night. She didn't care who saw her leave. There was only one place that could hold the answers she sought.
The forest fairies.
The trees grew denser as she pushed deeper into the woods, paws thudding against damp earth. Soon, faint glimmers of light flickered between the branches, there were tiny, winged figures hovering in the air.
She slowed, shifting back into her human form as she stepped into their shimmering territory.
"Hey," she called, her voice low but firm. "Take me to your leader."
The fairies exchanged quick looks, wings beating softly, before nodding. They guided her through the glowing thickets until a taller, radiant fairy appeared—her presence commanding despite her delicate form.
"I need answers," Lirvana said immediately, her voice clipped.
The fairy's eyes narrowed. "How rude. No greeting, no respect. Years of acquaintance and still you've learned nothing, Lirvana."
"I don't have time for courtesies," she snapped. "What is the moonmark, and where do I find it?"
The leader tilted her head. "Where did you hear that word?"
"That's none of your business."
"Then I will tell you nothing." The fairy's tone cut like a blade.
Lirvana's lips curled in frustration. "I just… heard it somewhere. Now speak."
For a long moment, the fairy only studied her. Then she sighed. "The moonmark is a blessed mark. We have not seen it in countless years—most believe it no longer exists. The bearer of the moonmark is a divine being. That is all I know."
"Lirvana…" The voice slipped into her head again, harsh and insistent.
"The moonmark is close to you."
Her chest tightened. She clenched her fists and turned away, ignoring the fairy's curious gaze.
If the moonmark was close, then she would find it.
And when she did, she would finally know who had been haunting her mind.