Chapter 75 First Duties
Three days passed before Mora allowed young Sera to do anything besides rest.
Three days of sleeping and eating and letting her body heal. Three days of Kai reading to her when she got bored. Three days of Maya bringing tea and sitting quietly when young Sera did not want to talk. Three days of her shoulder slowly getting better.
On the fourth morning, young Sera woke feeling stronger. The pain in her shoulder was now a dull ache instead of sharp agony. She could move her arm slightly without wanting to scream.
She got dressed by herself for the first time since the fight. It took longer than it should have. Everything was harder with only one arm working properly. But she managed.
When she walked into the dining hall for breakfast, Kael was already there with Lyra and Garrett. They were looking at papers spread across the table. Official documents. Reports. The kind of paperwork that came with running a kingdom.
“Good morning,” young Sera said.
All three looked up. Kael smiled, something he did not do often. “You look better. How is the shoulder?”
“Healing. Mora says I should have full mobility back in a few weeks if I am careful.”
“Good. We need you at full strength. Sit. Eat. Then we have something to discuss.”
Young Sera sat and filled her plate with eggs and toast. She was hungry all the time now. Her body using extra energy to heal.
“What do we need to discuss?” she asked between bites.
“Your first official duty as Luna Queen,” Garrett said. “A request came in yesterday from the Riverside Pack. They have a problem and they are asking for our help.”
“What kind of problem?”
Lyra pushed one of the reports toward young Sera. “Omega abuse. Their Alpha has three omega daughters. He has been beating them. Selling them to other Alphas for profit. The oldest daughter managed to escape and made it to our territory. She is asking for sanctuary and help for her sisters who are still trapped.”
Young Sera felt anger flash through her chest. Another Alpha abusing omegas. Another father treating daughters like property. It was too familiar. Too much like her own story.
“We help them,” young Sera said immediately. “We give the oldest sanctuary and we go get her sisters.”
“It is not that simple,” Kael said carefully. “The Riverside Pack is not under our authority. Their Alpha has the legal right to manage his own pack however he wants. If we go in and take his daughters without permission, it could be seen as an act of war.”
“I do not care how it is seen. We cannot leave omega girls in an abusive situation just because pack law says we are supposed to mind our own business.”
“I agree with you,” Kael said. “But we need to be smart about this. We need a strategy that gets those girls to safety without starting a war that would hurt our entire pack.”
Young Sera forced herself to think instead of just reacting emotionally. Kael was right. She could not just charge in and demand the girls be released. She needed to be strategic.
“What are our options?” young Sera asked.
“Option one,” Garrett said, “we request a formal meeting with the Riverside Alpha. We negotiate. Offer to buy the daughters from him. Make it worth his while financially to let them go.”
“That rewards him for abusing them. That tells him he can keep doing this and profit from it.”
“I know. But it is the cleanest solution legally. It follows pack law. It avoids conflict.”
“Option two?” young Sera asked.
“We use your position as Luna Queen to demand a formal investigation,” Lyra said. “Under the reforms your grandmother put in place, Luna Queens have the authority to investigate omega abuse claims across territories. If the investigation proves abuse, we can remove the omegas legally and charge the Alpha with crimes.”
“How long does an investigation take?”
“Weeks. Maybe months if the Alpha fights it. And during that time, those girls are still in his house. Still being hurt.”
Young Sera felt frustration building. Every legal option meant leaving those girls in danger while paperwork was processed. While adults debated and negotiated and followed proper procedures.
“What would my grandmother have done?” young Sera asked.
The three advisors looked at each other. Some silent communication passing between them.
“Your grandmother,” Kael said carefully, “sometimes did things that were not strictly legal. She would find ways around the rules when the rules protected abusers instead of victims. She would use her position and influence to make things happen quickly instead of waiting for official processes.”
“Show me how.”
They spent the next hour explaining the unofficial channels that existed in werewolf politics. The ways powerful leaders could apply pressure without directly breaking laws. The favors that could be called in. The threats that could be made subtly.
“We send a message to the Riverside Alpha,” Garrett explained. “We tell him that Luna Queen Sera is personally interested in his omega daughters. That she is considering a formal investigation. That she has the full support of the Northern Kingdom and several allied territories. We make it very clear that fighting us will cost him far more than just releasing the girls.”
“And if he refuses?” young Sera asked.
“Then we escalate. We start the formal investigation. We make his life difficult in every legal way possible. We use our alliances to isolate him politically. We make him understand that keeping those girls is not worth the consequences.”
It was manipulation. Political pressure. Using power to force compliance instead of violence. Young Sera was not sure how she felt about it. It seemed almost as bad as what the Riverside Alpha was doing.
But then she thought about those omega girls. About what they were probably experiencing right now. About the fear and pain and helplessness she remembered so well from her own childhood.
And she knew she would do whatever it took to save them. Legal or not. Ethical or not. They needed help and she had the power to provide it.
“Send the message,” young Sera said. “Make it very clear that I will not stop until those girls are safe. Make him understand that keeping them means going to war with the Northern Kingdom. And make sure he knows what happened to the last Alpha who challenged me.”
Lyra smiled, fierce and approving. “That is exactly the right approach. I will draft the message personally.”
“I want to meet the oldest daughter,” young Sera said. “The one who escaped. I want to hear her story directly.”
“She is in the guest quarters,” Maya said, appearing in the doorway with fresh tea. “Her name is Sarah. She is sixteen. Very frightened. Very brave for running away.”
“Take me to her.”
Maya led young Sera through the pack house to the guest wing. They stopped outside a door near the end of the hall.
“She barely talks,” Maya warned. “She has been here two days and has only spoken a few words. She is traumatized. Be patient with her.”
Young Sera knocked softly. A quiet voice from inside said “Come in.”
The room was simple but comfortable. A bed. A desk. A window overlooking the gardens. And sitting on the bed was a girl who looked far too thin and too scared.
Sarah had dark hair and brown eyes that were too big for her face. She looked at young Sera with a mixture of hope and fear.
“Hello,” young Sera said gently. “My name is Sera. I am the Luna Queen here. Maya says your name is Sarah.”
“Yes.” The girl’s voice was barely audible.
“Can I sit down? I want to talk to you about your sisters.”
Sarah nodded. Young Sera sat in the chair near the bed, careful not to get too close and make Sarah feel trapped.
“Maya told me you escaped from your father. That took a lot of courage.”
“I had to. He was going to sell me. A buyer was coming next week. I could not let that happen.”
“What about your sisters?”
Tears filled Sarah’s eyes. “Emma is fourteen. Lily is twelve. He keeps them locked in the basement now. Ever since I ran away. He is afraid they will try to escape too. They are down there with no windows. No light. Just darkness and whatever food he remembers to bring them.”
Young Sera felt rage building. Hot and fierce. Another Alpha torturing omega daughters. Another father treating children like possessions.
“We are going to get them out,” young Sera said firmly. “I promise you that. Your sisters will be safe here with you. Your father will face consequences for what he did.”
“He is powerful. He has allies. He will fight you.”
“Let him fight. I have killed Alphas who were far more dangerous than your father. I am not afraid of him.”
Sarah looked at young Sera’s injured shoulder, at the bandages still visible under her shirt. “You really killed someone? Everyone is talking about it. About the fight at the summit. But I thought maybe it was just stories.”
“It was real. I killed Victor Kane in trial by combat three days ago. Your father is nowhere near as dangerous as Victor was. If I could survive Victor, I can handle your father.”
Something changed in Sarah’s expression. Hope, fragile and tentative, starting to bloom. “You really think you can save them?”
“I know I can. It might take a few days. We have to do this carefully so your father cannot hurt your sisters before we get to them. But we will get them out. That is my promise to you as Luna Queen.”
Sarah started crying. Not sad tears. Relief tears. The tears of someone who had been carrying an impossible burden and was finally getting help.
Young Sera moved to sit beside Sarah on the bed. She put her good arm around the girl’s shoulders and let her cry. Let her release all the fear and trauma and helplessness she had been holding inside.
They sat like that for a long time. Two omega girls who had survived abusive fathers. Two girls who understood what it meant to be treated as property instead of people.
“Thank you,” Sarah whispered when she could finally speak again. “Thank you for believing me. Thank you for helping.”
“That is what Luna Queens do. We protect the ones who cannot protect themselves. Your grandmother did it. Now I am doing it. That is my job.”
“Your grandmother?”
“She was Luna Queen before me. She spent thirty-two years protecting omegas. Building laws that were supposed to keep girls like us safe. She died recently. But her work continues through me.”
Sarah wiped her eyes. “She sounds amazing.”
“She was. And she would have helped your sisters the same way I am going to. She never let pack law stop her from doing what was right.”
They talked for another hour. Sarah told young Sera about her sisters. About Emma who loved to draw. About Lily who could sing beautifully. About the girls they were beneath the fear and trauma their father had caused.
By the time young Sera left Sarah’s room, she had a complete picture of the situation. And she had a plan.
She found Kael in his office and told him everything Sarah had shared. “We need to move fast. Those girls are locked in a basement. We cannot wait weeks for official investigations.”
“What do you suggest?”
“We give the Riverside Alpha twenty-four hours to respond to our message. If he refuses to release the girls, we go in and take them. Legally or not. I am not leaving children in a basement while we follow proper procedures.”
“That could start a war.”
“Then we fight a war. Some things are worth fighting for. Protecting children from abuse is one of them.”
Kael studied young Sera for a long moment. Then he smiled. “Your grandmother would have said exactly that. Fine. We prepare for both outcomes. Peaceful resolution or forced extraction. Either way, those girls will be safe by this time tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
“Do not thank me. You are Luna Queen. This is your decision. I am just supporting it.”
Young Sera spent the rest of the day preparing. Lyra helped her choose warriors who would go on the extraction mission if it became necessary. Garrett worked on contingency plans in case the Riverside Alpha had allies who tried to interfere. Maya prepared rooms for the two younger sisters and made sure medical supplies were ready in case they needed treatment.
As evening approached, young Sera stood in her room looking at herself in the mirror. She still had bruises on her face from fighting Victor. Her shoulder was still bandaged. She looked like someone who had been through war.
But she also looked like someone who would not back down. Someone who would fight for people who could not fight for themselves. Someone who was becoming the Luna Queen her grandmother had believed she could be.
A knock at the door. Kai entered carrying dinner on a tray.
“You have been working all day,” Kai said. “You need to eat and rest.”
“I cannot rest. Not while those girls are locked in a basement.”
“You also cannot help them if you collapse from exhaustion. Eat. Sleep a few hours. Then tomorrow we save them.”
Young Sera knew he was right. She sat and ate while Kai kept her company. His presence was calming. Grounding. A reminder that not everything was about danger and politics and fighting.
“Do you think I am doing the right thing?” young Sera asked. “Threatening to go to war over two omega girls?”
“Yes,” Kai said without hesitation. “Because if you do not fight for them, who will? If the Luna Queen does not protect the most vulnerable, then what is the point of having Luna Queens?”
“I am scared I will mess this up. That I will make things worse instead of better.”
“You might. But trying and failing is better than not trying at all. Those girls need someone to fight for them. You are that someone.”
Young Sera finished her dinner and let Kai help her get ready for bed. Her shoulder was aching again. The day had been too long and too active for someone still healing.
But tomorrow she would save two omega girls from the same fate she had barely escaped. Tomorrow she would prove that being Luna Queen meant more than just holding a title. It meant using power to protect the powerless.
Young Sera lay down and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would come soon enough.
And when it did, she would be ready.