Chapter 68 068

Chapter 68 068
Natasha

I heard a soft knock on the door just after midnight.

I was lying in bed fully clothed, staring at the ceiling, my bag packed and ready under the bed. Tomorrow night. Less than twenty-four hours and we would be gone.

If Seraphina let us go.

I opened the door to find her standing there in a robe, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders. She looked tired.

"Can I come in?"

I stepped aside and she closed the door quietly behind her.

"I've been thinking about what you told me all day," she said without preamble. "About your plan to run."

My heart was pounding. "And?"

"I think you're making a mistake." She said softly.

The words hit me right in the chest. "What?"

"Running away is not the answer," She sat on my bed, looking up at me. "Natasha, sit down. Please."

I sat, feeling extremely numb.

"I know you're scared," She continued. "I know it feels like there's no other option, but there is."

"Dimitri would never allow us to be together."

"You and Mikhail share no blood," She said it plainly, like stating a fact everyone already knew.

"Everyone in this pack knows that. You're from a completely different bloodlines."

"That doesn't matter," I said helplessly. "We grew up together. We were raised as brother and sister. Dimitri made that clear from the day I arrived, I was part of his family. Mikhail's little sister. That's how everyone sees us."

"I know," Her voice was quiet. "Believe me, I know exactly how that works."

Of course she did. She had been in the same position once, raised in this household alongside Mikhail and I before becoming Dimitri's mate.

"So you understand why we can't stay," I said. "Even if there's no blood relation, the pack will never accept it. They watched us grow up together. They think of us as siblings."

"Some will, yes," She nodded slowly.

"But Natasha, there's no law against it. Nothing in pack tradition that forbids two people who grew up in the same household from mating if they're not blood related. It's unusual, yes. Uncomfortable for some people, but it's not forbidden."

"Dimitri will see it as a betrayal."

"Dimitri will see it however I frame it for him," Something fierce flickered in her eyes.

"And I can make him understand that what you and Mikhail have isn't some childhood confusion or inappropriate attachment. It's real. It's grown beyond whatever sibling bond you might have had."

I wanted to believe her so badly it hurt. "He won't listen."

"He listens to me," She leaned forward. "Maybe not always, maybe not about everything, but about this? I think I can reach him. I think I can make him see that forcing Mikhail into a political mating when his heart belongs to someone else will only breed resentment."

"What about Irina's pack? The alliance?"

"Let me worry about politics," Her jaw set.

"There are other ways to secure alliances. Other matches that can be made. Dimitri wants what's best for the pack, but he also wants Mikhail to be happy. He won't admit it, but I've seen it. He loves his brother."

"Even if Dimitri agreed, what about everyone else?" My voice cracked. "They'll say it's wrong. That we're practically siblings."

"It might be uncomfortable, strange and not what they expected," She nodded. "Yes. They'll talk. Some will judge. It won't be easy, Natasha. I'm not going to lie to you about that,"

She paused. "But would that be worse than spending your life running? Always hiding? Never being able to come home?"

The question hung in the air.

"If you run," She continued quietly, "You lose everything. Your pack. Your family. Any chance at a normal life. You'll always be looking over your shoulder, always wondering if Dimitri's trackers are close. Is that really better than facing some gossip and judgment?"

"It's not just gossip, Seraphina." I sighed, feeling headache creep up my skull.

"No, it's not. It's a fundamental shift in how the pack sees you both. I know," Her voice softened.

"But Natasha, if you stay, if you let me try to fix this, you might actually have a real future here, openly."

I felt tears burning behind my eyes. "You really think you can convince him?"

"I think I have to try," She stood. "I'm going to talk to Mikhail tomorrow. Tell him the same thing, and then I'm going to approach Dimitri."

"When?"

"Soon. Before the ceremony. I need to find the right moment and the right way to frame it," She moved toward the door. "But I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"That you'll wait. That you won't run while I'm working on this."

Every instinct screamed at me to say no and stick to the plan. To leave while we still could.

But there was something in her face. It looked like she actually believed she could pull this off.

"How long?" I whispered.

"Give me three days. If I can't make progress by then, if Dimitri won't listen..." She trailed off. "Then you do what you have to do."

Three days. That wasn't much time.

"Okay," I said finally. "I'll wait."

She nodded and left. I didn't sleep that night.

The next evening, Mikhail came into my room like always, but this time I could see he was as wired as I was.

"Seraphina talked to you?" I asked, eyeing him warily.

"Yes, this morning. She cornered me after training," He paced my small room. "She knows everything."

"I had to tell her. She figured it out."

"I know. She explained," He stopped pacing and looked at me. "She also told me we shouldn't run. That she can fix this."

"Do you believe her?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I don't know. Part of me thinks she's crazy. That there's no way our brother will ever accept this."

"And the other part?"

"The other part remembers that Seraphina is the only person who's ever been able to actually change his mind about anything," He sat beside me on the bed. "He loves her, Natasha. He really loves her. If anyone can make him see reason, it's her."

"She said there's no law against it. That we're not blood related and everyone knows it."

"Technically true," He took my hand. "But we both know that's not the real issue. The issue is that we grew up together. That everyone saw us as siblings for years."

"They'll think it's wrong."

"Some will," His grip tightened. "But you know what? Let them think that way. At least we would be together. At least we would be home. We wouldn't have to spend the rest of our lives hiding."

Home. My chest tightened instantly. The word ached.

"You want to stay." I said slowly.

"I want to give Seraphina a chance," He turned to face me fully.

"Look, our plan was good. We could make it work if we had to, but Natasha, I don't want to spend my life running from our brother’s trackers. I don't want you to have to give up everything because we're too afraid to fight for what we want."

"What if she can't convince him?"

"Then we run like we planned." His jaw set with determination. "If Seraphina can't make headway before the ceremony, we stick to the original plan, but if there's even a chance we can have a real future here, together, without having to hide, don't we owe it to ourselves to try?"

I thought about it. Running meant freedom, but also exile. Never seeing Seraphina or Dimitri again. Never coming home. Always wondering if we woulld be found.

But staying, if Seraphina could somehow pull this off, meant something completely different. It meant being together openly. Mating properly. Building a life here, where we belonged.

Even if some people never accepted it.

"Okay," I said finally. "We’ll wait."

Mikhail pulled me into his arms and I buried my face against his chest.

He murmured. "If she can't do it, we go."

I nodded in agreement.

We held each other for a long time, both of us caught between fear and hope.

When Mikhail finally left, I stared at my packed bag under the bed. After a moment, I pulled it out and started unpacking.

I lay in bed that night thinking about Seraphina's words. About how Dimitri might actually listen to her and how we might not have to run after all.

She had been in Dimitri's household too, raised alongside Mikhail and I, and now she was his mate. If anyone understood the complicated dynamics of this family, it was her.

Maybe she really could work this miracle. Maybe we could have a real future.

I thought about the ceremony. About Irina and how close Mikhail and I had come to running.

Part of me still wanted to. I still felt safer with the idea of escape rather than confrontation, but Mikhail was right.

If there was any chance at all that we could stay, that we could be together without losing everything else, we had to try.

I let myself imagine it. Mikhail and me, together openly. Not hiding anymore. Not sneaking around. Just us, building a life here in the pack.

Some people would judge. Some would never accept it.