Chapter 246 CHAPTER 246

Chapter 246 CHAPTER 246
Seraphine lifted her glass slowly, watching the deep red liquid settle before taking a sip, her gaze drifting toward Sara as if she had all the time in the world to observe her. The table between them was filled with food—more than enough for a gathering—but only one of them was truly eating.

“You’re barely touching anything,” she said, setting the glass down with quiet precision. “Is it not to your taste?”

Sara didn’t look up immediately. Her fork moved across the plate, shifting the food without taking any of it. “It’s fine,” she said.

Seraphine smiled faintly. “Fine is not a word I enjoy at a table like this.”

She reached forward and nudged one of the dishes slightly closer to Sara. “Eat,” she added, her tone still soft, but carrying something that didn’t leave room for refusal. “You’ll need your strength.”

Sara’s fingers tightened briefly around the fork before she set it down. “For what?”

Seraphine leaned back slightly, her expression easing into something that looked almost pleased. “For the end,” she said. “Everything we’ve been working toward finally settles tonight.”

Sara’s gaze lifted then, just enough to meet her mother’s eyes before dropping again. “You say that like it’s already done.”

Seraphine tilted her head. “It is,” she replied. “They just haven’t realized it yet.”

A quiet stretch passed between them.

Seraphine resumed eating, her movements unhurried, deliberate, like she was savoring something more than the meal itself. “You should be glad,” she continued. “By the time this night is over, there will be nothing left standing in our way.”

Sara didn’t answer.

Her hand moved again, pushing a piece of food across the plate without lifting it.

Seraphine watched her for a moment, then let out a small breath. “Still resisting in your own way,” she said. “You always did prefer silence over obedience.”

Sara’s jaw tightened slightly. “I’m here,” she said.

“Yes,” Seraphine replied. “You better not disappoint me.”

She leaned forward just a little. “We are doing this for our family,” she added. “for your father.”

Sara didn’t respond, but her shoulders held steady, like she had already decided not to fight this moment.

Seraphine’s gaze softened, though the softness didn’t quite reach her eyes. “When it happens,” she said, “I want you to witness it. I want you to understand what power looks like when it is no longer restrained.”

Sara’s fingers curled slightly against the table.

“And when your father’s justice is finally passed” Seraphine added, almost as if she were commenting on the weather, “you’ll see why everything I’ve done was necessary.”

Sara’s eyes flickered at that, but she said nothing.

Seraphine leaned back again, finishing the last of what was on her plate. “You’ll thank me one day,” she said lightly.

Sara gave a small nod, the movement controlled, practiced.

Seraphine rose from her seat.

For a moment, she simply stood there, her gaze unfocused, as if listening to something far beyond the walls of the room.

Then her lips curved.

“Ah,” she said softly.

Sara looked up.

Seraphine’s eyes sharpened, her posture straightening in a way that carried quiet anticipation.

“They’ve arrived,” she said.

Sara’s breath paused for just a second before she pushed herself up from her seat.

Seraphine turned toward her, her expression almost warm now. “Come,” she said. “You wouldn’t want to miss this.”

At the edge of the forest, Liam Blackthorne stood with his feet planted firmly against the ground, his gaze fixed on the space ahead where nothing visible marked the boundary - but everything in him knew it was there.

Behind him, the others waited.

Alpha Reed stood to his right, silent but ready, his guards positioned just behind him. Alpha Richard Moore stood on the other side, his presence carrying a different kind of weight, his gaze steady but heavier.

Further back, Nolan stepped closer, his eyes focused on Liam.

“This isn’t like opening a door,” Nolan said quietly. “You’re not stepping through something that’s meant to let you in.”

Liam didn’t look at him. “I know.”

Nolan studied him for a moment. “It will resist,” he added. “Not just the magic. The structure itself.”

Liam exhaled slowly. “Then we push through it.”

A faint pause followed.

Nolan nodded once. “When you feel it push back,” he said, “don’t fight it head-on. Redirect it. Let it move through you instead of against you.”

Liam gave a small nod, then stepped forward, lifting his hand toward the unseen boundary. For a brief moment, nothing changed, and he held there, his gaze fixed, his fingers hovering as if waiting for the world itself to respond.

Then the air pressed against him, firm and unyielding, as though something invisible had risen to meet him. He leaned into it, his jaw tightening slightly as his hand moved forward into that resistance, the space before him no longer empty but solid in a way that pushed back.

His breathing slowed as he focused, steadying himself against the growing pressure, letting it settle around him instead of fighting it all at once. Behind him, Reed shifted, his stance adjusting, his eyes narrowing as he watched the strain begin to show.

Liam pushed again, holding through it this time, guiding rather than forcing, until the barrier shifted just enough to give—then snapped back against him with a sharp, resisting force.

The force hit him sharply, forcing him to take a step back as a breath left him harder than expected.

Nolan moved closer. “Again,” he said. “Don’t force it. Guide it.”

Liam nodded once.

Liam stepped forward again, slower this time, his hand lifting as he drew closer to the unseen boundary. He didn’t force it at once. Instead, he let his fingers hover there, sensing the edge of it—the quiet resistance, the subtle push that warned him this was not something that would yield easily. 

He held there for a breath, feeling where it strained, where it shifted, where it resisted most, and then he moved, not with force, but with intention, pressing forward in a steady, controlled motion as if guiding it open rather than breaking it apart.

The pressure returned, stronger this time, pushing against him like it had intent.

Liam’s shoulders tensed, but he didn’t stop.

A sharp sting cut across his chest.

Then warmth.

Then…

Blood.

A thin line traced down from his nose, unnoticed at first as he focused.

“Hold it,” Nolan said, stepping closer, his hand lifting, his own energy pressing in to support what Liam was forcing open. “You’re close.”

Liam’s fingers curled slightly as the space in front of him shifted—not opening, not fully, but cracking just enough.

The pressure surged.

His breath hitched.

Another step.

Another push.

Then—

The space broke.

A tear formed in the air, faint and unstable, like something that wasn’t meant to exist.

“Now,” Nolan said.

Liam didn’t hesitate.

He stepped through.

The moment his foot crossed, the pressure dropped—

Then returned in a different way.

The air on the other side felt heavier, quieter, like the world itself was holding its breath.

Behind him, the others followed, moving quickly before the opening could collapse.

The portal flickered once…

Then sealed.

Silence settled.

Liam straightened slowly, his hand lifting briefly to his mouth as he wiped away the blood before it could fall further.

Reed stepped closer. “You still standing?”

Liam nodded once. “I’m fine.”

Nolan exhaled slowly behind him, his gaze shifting across their surroundings. “We’re in.”

No one spoke for a moment.

The land stretched before them, still, but not empty.

At the house, Seraphine stepped away from the table, her movements smooth, unhurried, like she had expected this moment all along.

Sara followed a step behind, her eyes moving toward the doorway, then back to her mother.

“You knew,” she said quietly.

Seraphine didn’t look at her. “I hoped,” she corrected. 

She paused just before the door, her hand resting lightly against the frame.

Then she smiled.

“Come,” she said softly. “Our guests have arrived.”

And without waiting, she stepped out to meet them.