Chapter 181: The Ravencrest Court

Seraphine's POV

The guards' grip on my arms tightened as they forced me forward. My bare feet left bloody prints on the pristine marble—the glass cuts from earlier still seeping through the filth coating my skin. Every eye in the hall tracked my progress like wolves watching wounded prey.

Keep your head up. Don't let them see you break.

Damien didn't stand as we approached. He simply watched from his throne, one leg crossed over the other, fingers drumming against the armrest. The afternoon light streaming through stained glass painted him in shades of crimson and gold.

The guards threw me down at the base of the dais. My knees cracked against marble, sending pain shooting up my legs. The collar's burn intensified as I tried to catch my breath, silver eating into partially healed wounds until I tasted blood from biting back a scream.

"This," Damien's voice carried across the hall with perfect clarity, "is Seraphine Hale. Daughter of Matthias. One of the surviving members of Silverwood's ruling bloodline."

Murmurs rippled through the assembled crowd. I forced myself to lift my head, to look at them even though I wanted to disappear. Dozens of faces stared back—some curious, most hostile, all waiting to see what happened next.

"Her father," Damien continued, standing now and descending the dais steps with measured precision, "tried to poison the Alliance against Ravencrest. Tried to turn the other packs against us with lies about territory disputes and broken treaties."

He circled me slowly, boots clicking against marble. "He paid for that betrayal with his life. His mate paid with hers. And now their precious daughter kneels before us, the last remnant of their failed rebellion."

You murdered them, I wanted to scream. You slaughtered my parents in cold blood and burned my territory to ash. But the collar tightened around my throat, and all I could manage was a strangled gasp.

"The amusing part," Damien stopped directly in front of me, forcing me to crane my neck back to meet his eyes, "is that Silverwood's military officers still refuse to surrender. They're holed up in what's left of the border territories, playing soldier with a handful of survivors." His smile was all edges. "They think their precious Hale bloodline will somehow return and save them."

"They're fools," Malachar's voice came from somewhere to my left. "Clinging to ashes and ghosts while their people starve."

I found him standing near one of the massive pillars, arms crossed. The bastard who'd dumped food on the floor and made me eat scraps. Rage burned hot in my chest.

"But," Damien crouched down until we were eye level, his hand shooting out to grip my jaw in a bruising hold, "they'll see reason eventually. All we need is the right motivation. Show them their princess broken and begging, and those loyal officers will fold."

I jerked my face out of his grasp. "Go to hell."

The words came out barely above a whisper, but Damien heard them clearly enough. His smile widened. "There's that fire. Good. I was worried the drugs had dulled you too much."

He stood, pacing back toward the throne. The crowd waited in perfect silence.

"However," Damien turned to face the assembled pack, "I've discovered our little captive has even more value than I initially thought."

No. No no no—

"She's been marked," Damien announced. "By the Shadowmere Alpha himself. That four-eyed monster who's been killing our warriors in the past months."

The murmurs turned into outright shock. I felt my chest constrict, panic clawing up my throat.

He knows this. What is he planning to—

"She reeks of him," Malachar added. "Even under all the blood and filth, you can smell Shadowmere's claim on her. The monster actually thinks she belongs to him."

"Which means," Damien's smile turned predatory, "we have leverage over the most dangerous Alpha of northern Frostpine. Kaelen has been systematically destroying every pack that crosses his path—but he won't risk his marked mate's life. Will he, Seraphine?"

My hands were shaking. Not from fear of what they'd do to me, but from terror of what they'd make Kaelen do. What they'd force him to do, using me as currency.

"You can't," I heard myself say, words scraping past my ruined throat. My whole body felt like it was coming apart. "You can't use him like that—"

Damien's laugh was genuine amusement. "Listen to her. The Silverwood princess actually cares about that freak." He exchanged glances with Malachar. "This is even better than I thought."

"Please." The word tasted like poison. I didn't care. Couldn't care when the alternative was worse. "You can do whatever you want to me. Kill me, torture me, parade me through every fucking territory. But leave him out of this."

"Not part of what?" Damien descended the steps again. "Your family's pathetic last stand? You're right, he isn't. But now he will be." He crouched in front of me. "We're going to send him a message. A very clear message about what happens to his little mate if he doesn't help us eliminate those stubborn Silverwood officers."

"No—" I lunged forward without thinking, hands still bound but not caring, not thinking about anything except stopping this. I tried to throw my weight at Damien, to do something that would make them understand I'd do anything if they'd just leave Kaelen alone.

Damien moved like liquid shadow, sidestepping my attempt with ease. His hand shot out and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back so hard I felt something pop in my neck. Then his knee drove into my stomach, forcing all the air from my lungs.

I hit the floor face-first, the impact splitting my lip open. Blood flooded my mouth. Before I could process the pain, Damien's boot came down on the back of my neck, pressing the collar's silver deep into barely-healed flesh.

The scream that tore out of me wasn't human. It was pure animal agony, nerve endings lighting up like fire. The collar burned and cut simultaneously, silver reacting with blood and torn tissue in ways that made my vision white out.

"This eager?" Damien's voice came from above. The pressure on my neck increased, grinding the collar deeper. "Don't worry, princess. You'll see your monster soon enough. Right before we make him watch you beg for mercy."