Chapter 165: Sacrifice and Message

Seraphine's POV

Orion's entire body went rigid. His ears pinned back, lips pulling away from his teeth in a silent snarl. But he didn't attack. He was smart enough to know better.

Damien laughed. Low and cold. "So the dead man walks. How dramatic."

Orion began to circle, slow and deliberate. His movements were calculated—not aggressive, but not retreating either. Keeping distance. Assessing.

"Lucian's coming," Orion's voice rang out, clear and commanding despite his wolf form. The words came out distorted but understandable. "He's bringing the entire guard. They'll be here in minutes."

Damien's expression didn't change. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"You should leave now," Orion continued, still circling. His gaze flickered to me, then back to Damien. "While you still can."

Vespera struggled to her feet, clutching her bleeding thigh. "Damien, we need to go. Now."

But Damien didn't move. He watched Orion with the kind of focus a cat gives a mouse before the kill.

Orion kept talking, kept moving. "I've already sent up the signal. Every wolf within five miles knows where we are."

A bluff. It had to be. But Orion's voice was steady, convincing.

Damien took a step forward. Orion immediately stepped back, maintaining the distance between them. Not fleeing. Just staying out of reach.

"Run all you want, little Gamma," Damien said. "I'll catch you eventually."

He lunged.

Orion dodged, his smaller form more agile. He darted to the side, then circled back around, staying just beyond Damien's reach.

Damien swiped at him again. Orion ducked under the blow, teeth snapping near Damien's calf but not connecting. He danced away before Damien could grab him.

"You're fast," Damien said. "I'll give you that."

Orion didn't respond. He just kept moving, kept circling. Drawing Damien away from me. Away from Vespera and the syringe still lying in the grass.

Smart. So smart. Buy time. Keep them distracted.

Damien charged again, faster this time. Orion twisted away, but not quite fast enough. Claws raked across his shoulder, drawing blood. He yelped but didn't stop moving.

"Damien!" Vespera's voice was sharp with panic. "We don't have time for this!"

"Then help me corner him," Damien snarled.

Vespera limped forward, trying to cut off Orion's escape route. But her injured leg made her slow. Clumsy. Orion saw the opening and darted past her, putting himself between them and me again.

Damien's patience snapped. He could see what Orion was doing—stalling, buying time. And it was working.

In one fluid motion, Damien pivoted and crossed the clearing. Not toward Orion this time. Toward me.

His hand closed around the silver collar. The smell hit me first—burning flesh, acrid and sharp. His palm sizzled against the metal, skin blistering instantly. But he didn't let go. His jaw clenched, muscles in his neck standing out like cords, and he yanked me upward with brutal force.

I gasped as the collar dug deeper into my throat, the silver searing into already raw skin. My feet left the ground. His other hand came up to steady me, gripping my shoulder, and I could see the damage—his palm charred black where it touched the collar, flesh peeling away in strips.

He didn't even flinch.

Black spots danced across my vision. My hands clawed uselessly at his arm but I had no strength left. No wolf to draw on. Just failing human muscles and burning lungs.

"Enough of this shit," Damien said, his voice dead calm despite the smell of his own burning flesh. He turned to face Orion, holding me like a shield. Smoke curled from where his hand gripped the collar. "You want to keep playing games? Fine. But every second you waste is another second she suffers."

Through the haze, I saw Orion freeze. His wolf's body went rigid, ears pinned back.

"Let her go," Orion growled.

"Make me." Damien's fingers tightened. My vision went white at the edges.

"Orion." My voice came out as a rasp. "Run. You're not—his match. Run."

Damien shifted his weight forward slightly. His grip loosened just a fraction—enough that I could drag in a tiny breath. His body tilted, balance shifting.

A trap. It's a trap. Don't—

But I saw it in Orion's eyes. The decision. The resignation. He knew it was a trap. He knew he couldn't win.

He was going to try anyway.

"Such a loyal warrior," Damien mused. "Willing to die for his Luna. How touching."

Orion's muscles tensed, preparing to spring. His eyes locked on mine one last time, and I saw everything there—regret, determination, and a sad kind of acceptance.

Please don't. Please.

He lunged.

His wolf form moved like lightning, jaws aimed straight for Damien's exposed throat. Perfect form. Perfect timing. It should have worked.

Movement flashed from the ground. Vespera, dragging her injured leg with a grimace of pain, pushed herself up with her arms. The syringe gleamed in her hand as she lunged forward, compensating for her weakened stance with desperate momentum.

She drove the needle deep into Orion's exposed flank.

The effect was immediate. Orion's attack faltered mid-leap. His body went slack, momentum carrying him forward into a clumsy tumble. He hit the ground and tried to rise, but his legs wouldn't hold.

Damien released me. I collapsed, gasping and choking. Through the pain, I watched Damien step casually to the side as Orion's wolf form struggled uselessly against the sedative flooding his system.

"Predictable," Damien said. He reached down and grabbed Orion by the throat, lifting him like he weighed nothing. "You mutts are all the same. So fucking noble."

Orion's wolf tried to snap at him but the movement was sluggish. Uncoordinated. His eyes rolled, fighting to focus.

Those eyes found me. Even through the haze of drugs, I saw his expression clear for just a moment.

"Luna," he rasped. The word came out in a voice caught between wolf and man. "I'm sorry. I couldn't—couldn't protect you."

"Orion, no—" My voice cracked.

Damien's claws extended. Long. Curved. Gleaming.

"Any last words?" he asked pleasantly.

Orion didn't look at him. He kept his gaze locked on mine.

"Worth it," he whispered.

Damien's claws punched through Orion's chest.

The sound was wet. Horrible. Orion's body convulsed once, then went still. Blood poured from the wound, steaming in the cold air.

"No!" The scream tore from my throat, shredding what was left of my voice.

Damien withdrew his hand slowly. He was holding something—Orion's heart, still weakly beating. He examined it with clinical interest before dropping it carelessly on the ground.

Orion's body shifted as he died, wolf form melting into human. He looked smaller like this. Younger. The wound in his chest gaped obscenely wide.

Damien rolled Orion's corpse over and used his claws to carve something into the cooling flesh. Letters. A message.

For Kaelen.

I couldn't stop screaming. The sound ripped from somewhere deep inside me, primal and broken. Birds exploded from nearby trees. My hands clawed at the ground, trying to drag myself toward Orion's body.

The collar burned. My vision blurred with tears. But all I could see was Orion's face—that last look of disappointment and determination.

Another one. Another loyal wolf dead because of me.

Damien ignored me completely. He wiped his bloody hand on Orion's shirt, then turned to Vespera. She limped over, her ruined leg leaving a trail of blood.

"Give me the other dose," he said.

She pulled out a second syringe. Damien took it and walked toward me.

I tried to scramble away but my body wouldn't obey. The collar had burned so deep I could barely move my head. Every breath felt like swallowing glass.

"Kaelen," I gasped out. Desperately. Uselessly. "Kaelen, please—"

Nothing. The bond that should have been there—that lifeline connecting us—was gone. The silver collar didn't just burn my skin. It severed the mate bond completely, cutting me off from Kaelen like a wall of ice. I couldn't feel him. Couldn't reach him. The emptiness where our connection should be was hollow and terrifying.

Damien grabbed my hair, yanking my head back. The needle pressed against my neck, just below the collar.

"He's not coming," Damien said. Cold. Final. "That collar makes sure of it. And by the time he realizes you're gone, you'll be locked in my dungeon."

The needle pierced my skin. Ice flooded my veins.

I fought it. Tried to stay conscious. Tried to reach through the severed bond one more time.

Kaelen. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

The clearing tilted. Vespera's voice drifted over, saying something to Damien. I couldn't make out the words.

Then I heard it. Distant but distinct. Lucian's voice, raised in a furious howl. Running footsteps. Crashing through underbrush.

Too late. They're too late.

I tried to call out but my tongue wouldn't work. My limbs felt like lead. The darkness pulled at me, heavy and inevitable.

Damien's face hovered above mine, blurring at the edges.

"Sleep tight, little Luna," he said.

The last thing I saw was Orion's body, crumpled and broken in the grass. The last thing I felt was the emptiness where my bond with Kaelen should be—severed and hollow.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm—

The darkness swallowed me whole.