Chapter 82
THIRD PERSON POV
Seraphina perched on the weathered stone bench half-hidden among the palace gardens, staring at roses that clung stubbornly to life despite the frost. Five days without Kael, and every one of them had felt like a slow drowning.
Truth be told, his presence had been its own slow poison. They shared a crown and a bed, but never warmth, never the smallest kindness. He had never touched her with anything but distant courtesy, never looked at her like she was more than a political necessity. Some nights she lay awake and wondered if he even remembered she was alive.
The moon was fattening toward full, and the heat that came with it had settled low in her body like a fever. It made her skin too tight, her temper too short, her loneliness sharp enough to cut.
She trailed her fingers over the silk of her gown—fabric worth a small fortune—and felt only the bars of her cage.
“Shall I fetch you something, milady?” Amelia asked softly, hovering at the edge of the path.
“Just some peace and silence, Ameila. That’s all I need,” Seraphina snapped, the words coming out crueler than she intended. She hated how easily the meanness rose in her these days.
Amelia’s face flickered with hurt before she smoothed it away. “Of course, Milady. I shall leave you to your thoughts.” She slipped back into the hedges without a sound.
Seraphina exhaled, shoulders sagging.
“And why is the Luna of this grand pack looking so…….grim?”
The voice slid down her spine like cold silk.
She turned slowly, every muscle locking.
Ryker stood just behind the bench, silver hair catching the pale light, gold eyes gleaming with that old, dangerous amusement. Taller than Kael, broader, built like something forged rather than born. Beautiful in the way a blade is beautiful—until you remember what it can do.
“You!” The word tore out of her, raw with shock and fury. She jabbed a finger at him. “What in the name of the Moon Goddess are you doing here? You were banished! Not just by the late Lycan King, but also by Kael as you refused to repent!”
Ryker sighed with theatrical sorrow. “Just decided to pay a friendly visit to my former home.” He shrugged and dropped onto the bench beside her, close enough that the heat of his body brushed her arm.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t summon the guards right now and have you dragged back to whatever hole you crawled out of,” she hissed, voice shaking with rage. “And more important, how did you even sneak into the palace grounds? The security here is supposed to be impenetrable!”
He chuckled, low and dark. “Those are concerns that are best left to the….less imaginative minds of your guards, princess.”
The word hit her like a slap. Princess. Mocking. Intimate.
Her breath caught; heat flooded her cheeks.
“Oh? Do you like it? The name….princess?”
She shot to her feet, putting the bench between them like a shield. “You must leave, Ryker. You don’t belong here.”
He rose slowly and caught her wrist before she could back away, tugging her close—so close she could feel his breath on her lips, see the flicker of hunger in those molten eyes.
“Oh, really? And I should believe that you’re happy with the way things are, Seraphina? That you’re content with your life as the Luna of a pack where your husband doesn’t even acknowledge your existence?”
“You know nothing!” She jerked at her arm; his grip only tightened.
“I know a lot more than you can imagine.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Kael,” he spat, like the name tasted foul. “Hasn’t he hurt us both enough already, Seraphina? Haven’t we both suffered enough because of his ambition, indifference and his cold calculating nature?”
She stared at him for one stunned heartbeat—then laughter burst out of her, sharp and disbelieving. “Yeah right. You’re one to talk Ryker! You’re the definition of greed, ambition and cold.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “But I’m willing to change that.”
“Then go pray to the moon goddess for redemption!”
“Seraphina!”
She hadn’t realized tears were gathering until he turned her face to his and saw them.
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say, Ryker,” she whispered, hating how small her voice sounded.
“Oh, but you do, Seraphina,” he murmured, leaning closer. “You’re a wise girl, not a dumb one. You know that your marriage is nothing more than a façade, and Kael is unfit to rule, he’s weak.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Kael is not fit to rule a pack this vast. He doesn’t have what it takes, neither does he deserve you.”
The tears threatened harder now—anger, shame, longing all tangled together. “You’re an asshole, Ryker.”
“But you know I’m an honest asshole, princess.” He released her arm at last, but his gaze held her pinned. “Think about what I’ve said, Seraphina. You’re a smart woman, you know what I mean. And when you have finally realized that you deserve more, that you are worth more than you’re being given…..do well to contact me. You know where to find me.”
Then he was gone—melted into the shadows of the yew trees as silently as smoke.
Seraphina stood trembling, pulse hammering in her throat, the ghost of his fingers still burning on her skin.
And for the first time in years, the weight of her crown felt almost unbearable.