Chapter 148: Breach

Seraphine's POV

My paralysis shattered.

I lunged for the nightstand, fingers stretching desperately for the phone. Just one button. One fucking button and Kaelen would come—

Damien's hand clamped around my ankle like a steel trap, yanking backward with brutal force. I pitched forward, palms slamming into the mattress. The phone sat inches away, impossibly out of reach.

So close.

I twisted, kicking at his face with everything I had. He dodged. I kicked again, aiming for his throat. My heel connected with air as he grabbed my knee with iron fingers.

Then dragged me.

I clawed at the sheets, nails digging into fabric. They ripped beneath my desperate grip, threads snapping one by one. My nightshirt rode up as he pulled me across the mattress like I weighed nothing.

"Let go!"

He hauled me off the bed. I got my feet under me for half a second before he spun me around with vicious efficiency.

My back slammed into the wall. Pain exploded across my shoulder blades, white-hot and blinding. His hand closed around my throat before I could scream.

Controlled pressure. Just enough to cut off my voice but not my breathing. His thumb pressed against my windpipe—a calculated reminder that he could crush it anytime he wanted.

I wheezed, unable to make any sound louder than that pathetic noise.

"Three months." His face was inches away, breath hot against my skin. "You hid here. Let that freak mark you."

His free hand touched the necklace. Something dark flickered in his eyes—possessiveness mixed with rage, churning together into something volatile.

"This doesn't suit you." His fingers traced the chain with disturbing gentleness. "You should be wearing—"

He stopped. Jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind.

I slammed my knee into his stomach. He grunted but didn't loosen his grip even a fraction.

Instead he threw me.

I hit the floor hard, shoulder screaming in agony. Before I could move, his weight pinned me down. Knees on either side of my hips. Hands wrenching my wrists above my head and slamming them against the hardwood floor.

The impact sent fresh pain shooting up my arms.

I thrashed beneath him. Useless. Too heavy. Too strong. My body remembered exactly how outmatched I was.

"You killed her!" The words tore from my throat, raw and broken. "You murdered my mother!"

"Yes." No emotion. Flat. Dead. "I killed her."

His free hand hooked into my collar. Ripped. Fabric tore away like paper, exposing my shoulder.

Kaelen's mark.

Damien stared. His eyes flashed gold, wolf surging forward with violent force. Something twisted in his expression—rage, betrayal, possessiveness all mixed together into something terrifying.

"Your father trained you for me." His voice dropped, barely human now. "Years of grooming you to be the perfect mate. For me. And now you're out here spreading your legs for some freak?"

"We're nothing!" I spat, thrashing harder. "My father's dead because of you!"

"Liar."

He leaned down, nose brushing my neck as he inhaled deeply. The intimacy made my skin crawl, nausea rising in my throat.

"You reek of him." Disgust dripped from every word. His hand slid lower, across my ribs. "But your body remembers me."

Horror flooded through me. Because there was truth there—shameful, sickening truth. My body had responded to him once, before everything went to hell. Before I knew what monster lurked beneath that handsome face.

"Before Moonlight Valley." His breath was hot against my ear. "That pack meeting. Three months before everything burned. You were twenty-one. You smiled at me."

Memory slammed into me like a physical blow.

"That girl is dead!" I snarled, putting every ounce of hatred into those words. "You killed her!"

"Did I?" His thumb traced my jaw, almost gentle. The tenderness was worse than violence. "Or is she just buried under all this rage?"

"Fuck you!"

I tried to headbutt him. Missed by inches. His hand caught my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"When he touches you, do you think of me?"

The question was a knife sliding between my ribs. Because sometimes—shamefully, horrifyingly—the answer was yes.

"Go to hell," I whispered.

Damien smiled without warmth. "I'm already there."

I forced myself to stop struggling. Fighting wasn't working. My muscles screamed, bruises forming where his hands held me. I needed to stall. Think.

"So what's your plan?" I kept my voice cold, detached. "Rape? Murder?"

His jaw tightened. Good. Hit a nerve.

"This isn't revenge."

"Then what is it?"

Silence. His eyes searched my face, looking for something I wouldn't give him.

"You came alone. Nobody knows you're here."

A muscle twitched beneath his eye. Confirmation.

"Kidnap me, and Kaelen destroys Ravencrest. Everyone. Blood for blood."

"Shadowmere isn't—"

"He's an Arclight." I cut him off. "Want to test what he'll do when someone hurts his mate?"

Damien's hands tightened painfully around my wrists. "You're not his."

"I'm wearing his mark. Living in his territory. Sleeping in his house. Whether I like it or not, that's reality."

"You hate him."

"What I want doesn't matter." Truth in those words, bitter as poison. "The bond is there. Touch me, start a war."

His grip loosened slightly. Not enough to escape. But something shifted in his expression.

My eyes darted around, searching for any advantage. The necklace lay on the floor three feet away, moonstone gleaming in the darkness like a lifeline.

If the mate bond was real—if Kaelen could feel me through that thing—

I pulled my attention back to Damien.

A howl split the night.

Distant. Primal. Getting closer.

Damien's head snapped toward the window. "Shit."

He released me. Stood in one fluid motion.

I scrambled backward, grabbing the nearest lamp. Not much of a weapon against a wolf, but better than nothing.

Damien looked at me, then the window. The howl came again, closer now. Louder. Filled with something that made my blood run cold.

Recognition hit me like ice water.

Shadowmere.

Kaelen.

Oh fuck.

"This isn't over," Damien said, backing toward the window.

Then he was gone. Out the window into darkness like a shadow dissolving.

I stayed frozen, lamp clutched in shaking hands. The howl sounded again.

Much closer.

Too close.

My door exploded inward, wood splintering like matchsticks. The frame cracked, pieces flying across the room in a spray of splinters.

Kaelen stood there.

Four eyes blazed gold and black, brighter than I'd ever seen them. Disheveled grey-white hair fell across his face in wild strands. Only sleep pants, bare chest gleaming with sweat, muscles coiled tight with lethal tension ready to unleash.

His gaze swept the room in one violent sweep. Broken window. Torn sheets. Me on the floor, half-naked. Ripped nightshirt hanging off my shoulder. Bruises already forming dark purple against my pale skin.

Understanding hit him.

The air exploded.

Pressure slammed into me like a physical force, making my ears ring. Alpha fury poured off him in waves so thick I could taste it—metallic and wild. Pure. Lethal. Absolute.

His scent flooded the room, overwhelming Damien's lingering smell with something wild and possessive and utterly terrifying.

"How dare you?" His voice was barely human, more growl than words as he stared at the broken window. "How dare you touch her!"