Chapter 71. I Told Them To Fuck Themselves
Lia
The silence stretched between us, heavy with the weight of impossible choices.
Finally, Kai spoke: "Tomorrow, I'll tell the Assembly no. I'll refuse their recommendation publicly. And whatever happens after..." He pulled me close. "We face it together."
"Together," I agreed, relief flooding through me.
We made love that night with desperation and tenderness in equal measure, both knowing we were choosing the hardest path. Both were terrified of what came next.
But also both finally, truly united.
Not because we had to be. But because we chose to be.
And that choice, I realized, was worth more than any political alliance or strategic compromise.
Because love chosen freely was stronger than any bond forced by circumstance.
Even if it cost us everything.
I found Seraphina on the training grounds at dawn, demolishing a practice dummy with methodical violence.
Her strikes were precise, controlled, and absolutely brutal. Wood splintered under her fists and feet. By the time I approached, the dummy was barely recognizable.
"Want to talk about it?" I asked quietly.
"No." She hit the dummy again, and its head flew off.
"Want to hit something else? Someone else, maybe?"
That got a bitter laugh. "If you're volunteering to be my punching bag, Luna, I might take you up on it."
"I meant the Assembly Councilors," I said. "Or the pack members who think forcing you into a political marriage is acceptable."
Seraphina finally stopped, breathing hard, her knuckles bloody. "They didn't just suggest it to the Assembly, you know. They came to me first. Three days ago. Before the official proposal."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"Councilor Vera and Adrian. They approached me privately, told me it was my duty to the pack. That I was the only one respected enough, pure-blood enough, powerful enough to 'balance' your influence." She spat the last word like poison. "They wanted me to agree before bringing it to Kai. Thought if I was willing, he'd be more likely to accept."
"And you said?"
"I told them to go fuck themselves." She grabbed a water bottle, drinking deeply. "I've spent five years watching Lyanna's memory haunt this pack. Five years seeing how mate bonds can destroy as easily as they can strengthen. And now they want me to waltz into that mess? To be the 'stable' Luna while you're the 'problematic' one?" She shook her head. "No. Absolutely not."
Relief flooded through me. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you." She met my eyes. "I'm doing it because I refuse to be used as a political pawn. Again. I let them use me after Lyanna died, let them push me toward Kai, let them suggest I'd be the 'natural' successor. And it nearly destroyed me. I won't make that mistake twice."
"What do you mean, again?"
Seraphina was quiet for a long moment, her jaw working. Then: "I need to show you something. But not here. Too many ears."
She led me away from the training grounds, through the pack house, down corridors I'd never explored. We descended several levels until we reached what looked like old storage rooms, dusty and forgotten.
"This is where they kept Lyanna's things," Seraphina said, unlocking a heavy wooden door. "After she died, Kai couldn't bear to look at them. So they were boxed up and hidden away. But I used to come here sometimes. To remember. To grieve."
Inside, the room was filled with carefully labeled boxes. Clothes, weapons, books, personal effects, all the pieces of a Luna's life, packed away and forgotten.
Seraphina pulled out a specific box and opened it, revealing journals. Dozens of them, bound in leather, filled with neat handwriting.
"Lyanna kept detailed records," Seraphina explained. "Not just personal thoughts, but observations. Political notes. Suspicions." She pulled out one journal, flipping to a marked page. "Including this."
She handed it to me. The entry was dated three weeks before Lyanna's death.
"The council is pushing again. They want me to step aside, to let Seraphina take over as Luna. They say I'm too soft, too idealistic, too focused on human alliances. They think Seraphina's warrior background makes her a better fit for wartime leadership.
But it's not about leadership. It's about control. They want a Luna they can manipulate, one who'll follow their orders without question. And they've already started grooming her, praising her strength, elevating her position, creating a faction loyal to her instead of me.
I confronted Seraphina about it yesterday. She swears she's not involved, that she'd never betray me. And I believe her. But the council is patient. They'll keep pushing, keep isolating me, until the pack accepts that I'm not fit to lead.
Kai doesn't see it yet. He's too focused on external threats to notice the ones inside our own ranks. But I see them. And I'm terrified that by the time he realizes what's happening, it'll be too late."
I looked up at Seraphina, horror dawning. "They were planning to replace Lyanna. Even before she died."
"Not replace. Remove." Seraphina's expression was haunted. "I didn't realize it at the time. Thought the council was just recognizing my abilities. But looking back, seeing how they maneuvered, how they isolated Lyanna, how they undermined her every decision..." She took the journal back. "They created the conditions for her to fail. And when she died, it was almost... convenient for them."
"You think the council was involved in her death?"
"I think the betrayal that killed her didn't come from nowhere. Someone gave away our position that night. Someone wanted her dead. And whoever it was had the council's protection." She pulled out another journal. "Lyanna suspected specific people. She kept notes on strange conversations, unexplained decisions, alliances that didn't make sense."
"Who did she suspect?"
"Vera. Adrian. And..." Seraphina hesitated. "And my Beta at the time. A wolf named Garrett."
"The same Garrett who's now on the council?"
"The same." Seraphina's eyes were hard. "He was the one who found Lyanna's body. Said he was tracking her, trying to warn her about the ambush. But he arrived too late."
"Or he led the enemy right to her."
"Exactly." Seraphina closed the box carefully. "I've been investigating quietly for years. Trying to find proof. But whoever orchestrated Lyanna's death covered their tracks perfectly. No evidence, no witnesses, nothing that would hold up in front of the pack."
"Helena knew," I said suddenly. "The Circle operative we captured. She said she'd been working for them for decades. She might know who betrayed Lyanna."
"I've already requested an interrogation session," Seraphina said. "But she's not talking. Says she'll only reveal that information if the Circle guarantees her safety."
"Which they won't do, because she failed to kill me."
"Exactly. So we're stuck." Seraphina leaned against the wall. "But Lia, you need to understand, the council pushing for me to be second Luna isn't new. It's the same pattern they used with Lyanna. They're trying to create division, to make the pack question your fitness, to position me as the 'reasonable' alternative."
"But you're not playing along this time."