Chapter 34 The Price of Salvation
Chapter 34:
Sera's POV
I woke to pain.
Not the sharp, immediate kind from battle injuries, but something deeper. Fundamental. Like my body was remembering how to hurt after being too numb to feel.
"Easy." Dante's voice, close. His hand steadying mine. "You've been asleep for two days."
"Two days?" I tried to sit up. Failed. My body wouldn't cooperate. "Asher-"
"Is fine. Safe. Asking about you constantly." He helped me recline against pillows. "The healers say you absorbed most of the ritual backlash. Your body is... struggling to recover."
I looked down at my hands. They trembled constantly, silver light flickering beneath the skin like a faulty connection. "How bad?"
"Bad enough that you need to rest. Not run a territory." He tried to smile. "Doctor's orders."
"Since when do I follow orders?" But even talking exhausted me. "What happened while I was out?"
"The Continental Council called an emergency session. They want to discuss the corrupted Lunar Lycan threat and Aurora's response." He hesitated. "They're questioning whether you're capable of leading two territories while... compromised."
"Compromised." I let bitter laughter escape. "I saved my son and purified a corrupted Lunar Lycan. But sure, I'm compromised."
"Sera-"
"I'm fine." I forced myself to sit up properly, ignoring how the room spun. "When's the session?"
"Tomorrow. But you can't attend. You can barely sit up."
"Watch me." I swung my legs over the bed's edge. Immediately regretted it as nausea hit.
Dante caught me before I collapsed. "This is exactly what they're talking about. You're pushing too hard, taking too much on yourself-"
"Because I have to!" The words came out harsher than intended. "The moment I show weakness, they'll move against me. Against us. You know how pack politics work."
"I do." He helped me back onto the bed. "Which is why I'm attending in your place. As your co-ruler and mate, I have authority to represent Aurora."
"They'll eat you alive." But I was too tired to argue effectively.
"They'll try." His expression hardened. "Let them. I've had weeks to think while cursed. To understand what you've been carrying alone. It's my turn to shoulder the burden."
"Dante-"
A knock interrupted. Lyssa entered, her face grim. "Majesty, Alpha. We have a situation."
"What now?" I asked wearily.
"Lydia is here. At the gates. Asking for sanctuary." Lyssa's jaw clenched. "She says she has information about who's funding the corrupted Lunar Lycans. Claims it's her last chance at redemption."
Dante and I exchanged glances. Lydia, his false mate, my stepsister, the woman who'd tried to poison Asher.
"It's a trap," I said.
"Probably," Dante agreed. "But what if it's not?"
"Then we're idiots for falling for the same trick twice." I forced myself to stand, using the bedpost for support. "Bring her in. Under heavy guard. Search her for anything, weapons, magic, hidden surprises."
"You're not seriously meeting with her," Dante protested. "You can barely stand-"
"Which is exactly why I need to face her now." I gripped his arm for balance. "Show no weakness. Not to enemies, not to allies who might become enemies."
Lyssa left to arrange it. Dante helped me dress in formal attire that hid how much I was shaking.
Twenty minutes later, we sat in the audience chamber. Me on my throne, Dante beside me, guards positioned strategically. Lydia was brought in, hands bound, looking haggard and desperate.
"Sera." She dropped to her knees immediately. "Thank you for seeing me."
"Talk fast." I kept my voice cold. "You have five minutes before I have you thrown out."
"The corrupted Lunar Lycans, there are more. A whole network, funded by someone powerful." She spoke rapidly. "I only know because they tried to recruit me after you exiled me. Offered me power, revenge, everything I wanted."
"And you said no?" I let skepticism show. "Forgive me for doubting your sudden conscience."
"I said no because I saw what they did to Mira." Lydia's voice cracked. "What the corruption did to her. I may be ambitious and cruel, but I'm not suicidal."
"Who's funding them?" Dante demanded. "Names, Lydia."
"I don't have names. Just a description." She looked up, meeting our eyes. "A woman. Older. Impossibly powerful. She looked like-" She hesitated. "She looked like Sera. But aged, corrupted. Like looking at a dark mirror."
My blood ran cold. "What?"
"I thought I was hallucinating," Lydia continued. "But she said something specific. She said, 'Tell the young Queen her future is coming for her.'"
The Empress. The figure Malkor had warned about before he died.
"Where is she?" I forced the question through numb lips.
"I don't know. She appeared in my dreams, made her offer, then vanished." Lydia's desperation seemed genuine. "But she's coming. Soon. And she's bringing an army."
"This could be misinformation," Dante said quietly. "Designed to make us paranoid."
"Or it could be truth." I stared at Lydia, trying to read her. "Why tell us? What do you gain?"
"Survival." Simple. Honest. "I've made enemies everywhere. The High Council remnants want me dead for failing with Dante. The corrupted Lycans want me dead for refusing them. I have nowhere else to go."
"So you come to the woman whose son you tried to murder." My voice could freeze fire. "And expect sanctuary?"
"I expect nothing." She lowered her eyes. "I'm just asking. One last time. Let me prove I can be useful. Let me help against this coming threat. Then execute me, exile me, whatever you want. Just, please. Give me this one chance to do something right."
Silence stretched. Every instinct screamed not to trust her. But if the Empress was real, if she was coming...
"Conditional sanctuary," I decided. "You stay under guard. You share everything you know. First sign of betrayal, and you die. Clear?"
"Crystal." Relief flooded her face. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." I gestured to guards. "Take her to the restricted quarters. Full surveillance."
They led her away. Alone with Dante, I finally let myself slump.
"The Empress." He helped support me. "An older, corrupted version of you. What does that mean?"
"I don't know." But fear coiled in my stomach. "But Malkor called her the real threat. If Mira was just her general-"
"Then we're facing something worse than anything we've survived." He finished grimly. "And you're in no condition to fight."
"I'll heal." I had to believe that.
"Will you?" He gestured at my still-trembling hands. "The healers say the backlash damaged something fundamental. Your power is destabilizing. If you push too hard-"
"I die. I know." I'd heard the whispers. "But what choice do I have? Curl up and wait for the Empress to destroy everything?"
"You could let me help." Frustration bled into his voice. "Let the council help. Let anyone help instead of carrying it all alone."
"I'm not alone." I touched his face. "I have you. That's more than I've had in years."
He leaned into the touch. "Then trust me. Let me lead tomorrow's session. Rest. Heal. Be ready for the real fight coming."
I wanted to argue. But exhaustion pulled at me like gravity.
"Fine." The word cost me. "But if they try to remove me from power-"
"They'll have to go through me first." His eyes blazed with Alpha authority. "I may have failed you once. I won't fail you again."
"You didn't fail-"
"I did. But I'm trying to do better." He helped me toward our chambers. "One day at a time. One choice at a time."
"Together," I whispered.
"Together," he agreed.
Outside, storm clouds gathered. Somewhere, an Empress planned our destruction. Enemies circled. Threats multiplied.
But we'd survived worse. Barely, but survived.
And tomorrow, we'd wake up and fight again.
Because that's what we did.
Break. Survive. Rebuild.
Until we got it right.
Or died trying.