Chapter 5 THE DEAD QUEEN

I could not breathe.

The woman before me had my face. My silver hair. My pale eyes. She looked like a portrait of me painted twenty years into the future.

"You're dead," I whispered. "Everyone told me you died."

"Many people believe that." She dismounted gracefully, her movements smooth despite her age. "Letting them believe kept me alive."

Kiran stepped between us instantly. "Identify yourself."

"Peace, Shadow Prince." Her voice carried weight... authority... power. "I am Seraphine of the Silvermoon Pack. Last Luna of the white wolf bloodline. And I mean my daughter no harm."

Thane appeared at my other side, hand on his blade. "Pretty words from a ghost."

"I bring truth." Seraphine's eyes never left mine. "Something my daughter has been starved of her entire life."

"You left me." The words ripped from my throat before I could stop them. "If you're really my mother... you abandoned me. For nineteen years."

Pain crossed her face. Real pain.

"I had no choice, Cassia."

"Everyone has choices."

"Not when the alternative is watching your child die." She took a step forward. "Do you think it was easy? Hiding in shadows while they carved binding runes into your skin? Hearing your cries and being unable to hold you?"

My chest tightened. "You were there?"

"Always." Her voice broke slightly. "Hidden. Waiting. Protecting you in ways I could."

"Protecting me?" I laughed bitterly. "I was beaten. Starved. Called worthless every single day. Where was your protection then?"

"Who do you think killed the assassin in your room when you were seven?" Her tone hardened. "Who poisoned the wolfsbane they planned to slip into your food when you were twelve? Who has been eliminating threats since the day you were born?"

I stared at her.

The assassin when I was seven... I remembered waking to sounds of struggle. Blood on my windowsill. Everyone said a rogue wolf had been killed by guards.

The kitchen illness when I was twelve... three servants died, including the one who always prepared my meals separately.

"That was you?"

"That was me." Her expression softened. "I could not raise you openly, Cassia. If I had revealed myself, Aldric would have killed us both. The binding runes suppressed your wolf and your scent. As long as you seemed powerless, you stayed safe."

"Safe?" I stepped out of the carriage, bare feet hitting cold ground. "I was never safe. I was a prisoner."

"You were alive." Her voice cracked. "Every day you survived was a victory."

Caspian moved forward, silver eyes calculating. "The Silvermoon Pack was destroyed thirty years ago. Every member was hunted and executed. How did you survive?"

"Because I wasn't there when the slaughter happened." Seraphine's jaw tightened. "I was being held captive by Alpha Aldric. A war prize. A trophy."

"Did he break you?" Kiran asked quietly.

"He tried." Her smile held no warmth. "But Silvermoon women do not break. We bend. We wait. We strike when our enemies least expect it."

"And now?" Thane crossed his arms. "What's your strike?"

"Now I take my daughter somewhere she can learn what she truly is." Seraphine met each prince's gaze. "The capital will not help her. Your father's court is riddled with spies. Half the council wants her dead before the prophecy unfolds."

"You expect us to hand her over?" Caspian's voice dropped dangerously. "On your word alone?"

"I expect you to use your senses, young prince." Seraphine tilted her head. "Scent me. Read my heartbeat. Tell me if I'm lying."

Silence stretched.

Caspian's nostrils flared. His eyes narrowed... then widened with surprise.

"She believes what she's saying," he admitted reluctantly.

"I have no reason to lie." Seraphine turned back to me. "Cassia, I know you're angry. You have every right. But there are things you need to understand."

"Like what?"

"Like why the infected attacked tonight." Her expression grew grave. "Like why the prophecy terrifies the royal court. Like why three princes were sent to a minor pack during a blood moon... and why all three of them cannot stop watching you."

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

"The mate bond is already stirring." Seraphine's voice dropped low. "Between you and all three of them."

The world tilted.

"Impossible," Thane said sharply. "Mate bonds are singular. One wolf, one mate."

"For ordinary wolves, yes." Seraphine looked at me with something like sorrow. "But my daughter is not ordinary. She is the white wolf. And according to ancient law, the white wolf's mate is chosen differently."

"How?" I asked, though I feared the answer.

"Trial by blood." Her words fell like stones. "The three must compete. Prove their worth through challenges testing strength, wisdom, and heart. At the end... the white wolf chooses."

"What happens to the two not chosen?" I whispered.

No one answered.

"Mother." I used the word deliberately. "Tell me."

"The bond, once stirred, cannot be ignored." Seraphine's voice was barely audible. "If you choose one prince as your mate... the other two will die. Their wolves will wither. Their bodies will follow."

The ground seemed to vanish beneath me.

Three princes. Three men who had protected me tonight.

And choosing one meant killing two.

"There has to be another way," I said.

"There is." Seraphine reached into her cloak and withdrew a small silver vial. "But it requires something you may not be willing to give."

"What?"

"Your humanity." She held the vial toward the moonlight. "This is essence of the first wolf. Drink it, and you become something more than any Luna before you. Something that can bond with multiple mates without destroying them."

"What's the catch?" Kiran's voice cut sharp.

Seraphine met my eyes. "The transformation is permanent. Painful beyond imagination. Many who tried... did not survive."

"How many survived?"

"None." Her face was a mask of grief. "But they were not white wolves. You might succeed where others failed."

"Might?" Thane laughed harshly. "You want her to gamble her life on might?"

"I'm offering her a choice." Seraphine pressed the vial into my palm. "More than anyone else ever gave her."

The glass felt cold. Inside, silver liquid swirled like living moonlight.

I looked at the three princes. At my mother. At the blood moon above.

"How long do I have to decide?"

Seraphine's expression flickered. "That depends."

"On what?"

A howl split the night before she could answer.

Not a normal howl. Something twisted. Wrong. The same terrible sound from Silver Crest.

"Infected," Caspian snarled, his body already shifting. "A lot of them."

Through the trees, green eyes appeared. Dozens of them. Rushing toward us.

And leading the pack... a massive wolf with fur the color of dried blood.

"An Alpha infected," Seraphine breathed. "That's impossible. They're supposed to be mindless."

The creature's burning gaze found mine.

Then it spoke inside my skull.

"Found you, little Luna." Its voice was smoke and ruin. "Father sends his regards."