Chapter 85 The Exchange
Young Sera stood outside Thomas Reed’s territory border at midnight.
She had sent a message two hours ago. Simple and direct. She would trade herself for Kael. No conditions. No tricks. Just her for him.
Thomas had responded immediately. He accepted. Gave her coordinates for the exchange. Told her to come alone or Kael would die.
Of course, she did not come alone. Lyra and twenty warriors were hidden in the woods around the meeting point. Waiting. Watching. Ready to strike when the moment came.
But Thomas could not see them. Could only see young Sera standing in a clearing by herself. Looking small and vulnerable in the moonlight.
Right on time, vehicles approached. Three of them. Headlights cutting through darkness. They stopped fifty feet from where young Sera stood.
Thomas got out of the first vehicle. He walked toward young Sera slowly. Confidently. Like a predator approaching prey that had already given up.
“Luna Queen Sera,” Thomas said. “I admit, I am surprised. I did not think you would actually come. Did not think you were this stupid.”
“Where is Kael?” young Sera asked.
“Nearby. Safe. He will be released once I have you secured.”
“How do I know you will keep your word?”
“You do not. But you came anyway. That tells me everything I need to know about you. You are too emotional. Too attached to people. That is your weakness.”
Thomas gestured and guards emerged from the other vehicles. They surrounded young Sera. Weapons drawn. Ready to capture her if she tried to run.
“Let us make this simple,” Thomas said. “You come with me quietly. You do not fight. You do not cause problems. In exchange, I release Kael unharmed. The omega protection network can continue without you. Everyone gets something. Fair deal?”
“Show me Kael first. Prove he is alive.”
Thomas smiled. Pulled out his phone. Made a call. “Bring him.”
Guards dragged Kael from the third vehicle. He looked worse than in the photo Thomas had shown. More bruised. More bloody. But alive. Still fighting against the chains holding him.
When Kael saw young Sera, his eyes went wide with horror.
“No,” Kael shouted. “Sera, run! This is a trap! Get out of here!”
“I know it is a trap,” young Sera said calmly. “I came anyway.”
“You should not have come. You should not have traded yourself for me.”
“You sacrificed yourself for me. I am returning the favour.”
Thomas laughed. “How touching. Two people who care about each other more than themselves. This will make breaking you both so much more satisfying.”
He nodded to the guards. “Take her.”
Guards moved toward young Sera. She did not fight. Did not resist. Let them grab her arms and put silver chains on her wrists. The metal burned her skin. Made her wolf whimper inside.
But she endured it. Because this was the plan. Let Thomas think he had won. Let him drop his guard.
“Release Kael,” young Sera said.
“Not yet. First, we leave this place. Get somewhere more secure. Then I release him.”
“That was not the deal.”
“I am changing the deal. I keep Kael as insurance until I am sure you are not planning anything. Once I have you locked up somewhere your friends cannot find you, then Kael goes free.”
Young Sera felt panic rising. This was not the plan. Thomas was supposed to release Kael here. Where Lyra and the warriors could reach him. Where they could rescue both of them at once.
If Thomas took them somewhere else, the rescue plan fell apart.
“Fine,” young Sera said, thinking fast. “Take us both. But you promised Kael would be released. I am holding you to that.”
“You are in no position to hold me to anything. You are my prisoner now. You do what I say. When I say it.”
Guards pushed young Sera toward the vehicles. She looked back at the woods where Lyra was hiding. Tried to signal somehow that plans had changed. That they needed to follow.
But she could not signal anything obvious. Could not let Thomas know the warriors were waiting.
She just had to trust that Lyra would figure it out. Would follow them. Would find a way to rescue both her and Kael.
Young Sera was shoved into the middle vehicle. Kael was thrown beside her. Guards sat on either side of them. More guards in the front seat. No chance to escape.
The vehicles drove for an hour. Deep into Thomas’s territory. Far from the Northern Kingdom borders. Far from help.
Young Sera tried to stay calm. Tried to believe the rescue would still happen. But fear was growing. What if Lyra could not follow? What if Thomas had somehow detected the hidden warriors and killed them?
What if young Sera had just thrown away her freedom for nothing?
Beside her, Kael was pulling at his chains. Trying to break free even though the silver was burning him.
“Stop,” young Sera whispered. “You are hurting yourself.”
“I do not care. I need to get free. Need to protect you.”
“You cannot protect me while chained. Save your strength.”
“I should never have let you come. Should have known you would try something like this.”
“You did not let me do anything. I chose this. Same as you chose to save me at the warehouse.”
Kael looked at her with anguish. “If Thomas hurts you, if he forces a bond, I will never forgive myself.”
“Then we make sure he does not get the chance. We survive long enough for rescue. Together.”
The vehicles finally stopped at a large building. Old factory or warehouse. Something abandoned that Thomas had turned into a prison.
Guards dragged young Sera and Kael inside. The interior was cold and dark. Water dripped somewhere. The smell of rust and decay was heavy in the air.
Thomas led them to a large room in the centre of the building. Empty except for chains hanging from the ceiling. Chains designed to hold prisoners. To keep them helpless and in pain.
“Welcome to your new home,” Thomas said. “You will stay here until you learn your place. Until you understand that challenging me was a mistake.”
Guards chained Kael to the wall. Silver chains through loops that forced him to stand. Forced him to hold his weight on burned wrists.
They chained young Sera the same way. Ten feet from Kael. Close enough to see each other. Close enough to talk. But too far to touch. Too far to help each other.
Thomas stood between them. Looking at them both like prizes he had won.
“Now we talk about the future,” Thomas said. “Luna Queen Sera, you have two choices. Choice one: You agree to a secondary bond with me. You become my mate while maintaining your connection to Kael. This gives me political power and control over the Northern Kingdom. In exchange, I release Kael and do not hurt either of you.”
“No,” young Sera said immediately.
“Let me finish. Choice two: You refuse the bond. I keep you both here. I torture Kael while you watch. Every day. Every hour. Until you break. Until you beg me to accept the bond just to make his suffering stop. Which choice sounds better?”
“There is a third choice,” young Sera said. “My warriors rescue us. You face justice for kidnapping a Luna Queen and an Alpha King. You spend the rest of your life in prison.”
Thomas laughed. “Your warriors are not coming. I made sure of that. I have guards watching every approach to this building. If anyone tries to rescue you, I will know. And I will kill you both before they reach you.”
He walked closer to young Sera. Reached out and touched her face. She flinched away but the chains prevented much movement.
“You are beautiful when you are helpless,” Thomas said. “All that strength and defiance turned into vulnerability. I am going to enjoy breaking you.”
“Touch her again and I will kill you,” Kael snarled. “Chains or no chains. I will tear you apart.”
“You will try. But you are weakened by silver. Weakened by days of torture. You cannot protect her anymore. No one can.”
Thomas turned away from them. “I will give you tonight to think about my offer. Tomorrow morning, I start hurting Kael. Every time I hurt him, I will ask you again. Eventually, you will say yes. They always do.”
He left. Guards followed him. The door slammed shut. Locked from the outside.
Young Sera and Kael were alone. Chained. Trapped. With no visible way out.
“I am sorry,” young Sera said. “This is my fault. I thought I could trade myself and Lyra would rescue us. But Thomas was smarter than I. He moved us too far. Too fast.”
“Stop apologising,” Kael said. “You tried to save me. That took courage. I am grateful even if the plan failed.”
“What do we do now?”
“We wait. We hope Lyra finds us. We stay alive long enough for rescue.”
“And if rescue does not come?”
Kael was quiet for a long moment. “Then we do not let Thomas break us. We refuse to give him what he wants. We die before we surrender.”
Young Sera understood. If rescue failed, they would die here. Both of them. Rather than let Thomas force a bond or torture them into submission.
It was a terrible backup plan. But it was all they had.
Hours passed. Young Sera’s arms ached from hanging in chains. The silver burned continuously. Every movement made it worse.
She tried to reach her wolf. Tried to find strength from that part of herself. But the silver suppressed her wolf. Made the connection nearly impossible.
Beside her, Kael was struggling too. His breathing was laboured. His wounds from previous torture were bleeding again. He needed medical attention. Needed rest and healing.
Instead, he was chained to a wall waiting to be tortured more.
“Talk to me,” young Sera said. “Tell me something. Anything. Keep me from thinking about tomorrow.”
Kael thought for a moment. “When I first met you, I thought you would not survive a week. You looked so small. So broken. So afraid of everything.”
“I was broken. I was afraid.”
“But you survived anyway. You kept getting back up every time something knocked you down. You killed Victor Kane. You rescued omegas. You built a network. You became exactly what the Northern Kingdom needed. I am proud of you.”
“We might die tomorrow. You know that, right? Thomas might kill us both.”
“I know. But at least we tried. At least we fought for something that mattered. That is better than living safely while doing nothing.”
Young Sera wanted to believe that. Wanted to feel brave about facing death for a good cause.
But mostly she just felt scared. Young. Overwhelmed by everything that had gone wrong.
“I do not want to die,” young Sera admitted. “I know that sounds weak. But I do not want to die. I want to live. I want to keep fighting. I want to see the network succeed.”
“That does not sound weak. That sounds human. We are allowed to be afraid of death.”
A noise came from outside. Voices. Movement. Something is happening beyond the locked door.
Young Sera and Kael both tensed. Was it Thomas coming back? Guards preparing for tomorrow’s torture? Or could it possibly be rescue?
The door burst open. But it was not Lyra who came through.
It was Diana.
The omega rushed into the room carrying bolt cutters. Behind her were Maya and five Northern Kingdom warriors young Sera did not recognise immediately.
“We found you,” Diana gasped. “Finally. We have been searching for hours.”
“How?” young Sera asked, disbelieving. “How did you find us?”
“I put a tracking device in your jacket pocket. Before you left. I knew you were planning something stupid. So I made sure we could follow you.”
Diana worked on young Sera’s chains while Maya went to Kael. The bolt cutters cut through the silver slowly. Each second felt like forever.
“Where is Lyra?” young Sera asked.
“Creating a distraction. Drawing guards away from this building. We have maybe five minutes before they realise what is happening.”
The chains finally broke. Young Sera fell forward. Diana caught her.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes. I can walk. Let us go.”
Maya freed Kael. He could barely stand but Garrett suddenly appeared to support him. Two more warriors helped. They moved as fast as possible toward the exit.
Guards were shouting somewhere in the building. Running toward their location. The distraction would not hold much longer.
They burst out into the night. Three vehicles were waiting. The rescue team rushed toward them.
But before they could reach the vehicles, guards appeared. Dozens of them. Surrounding the building. Surrounding the rescue team.
They were trapped.
Thomas Reed walked forward from the guards. His expression was furious.
“Did you really think I would not have backup?” Thomas snarled. “Did you really think I was stupid enough to let you escape?”
“We are leaving,” Lyra said, appearing from the shadows with her own warriors. “You can let us go peacefully. Or we can fight. Your choice.”
“Fight then. I have three times your numbers. You will not survive.”
“Maybe not. But neither will you. I will make sure of that personally.”
Both sides stood ready. Weapons drawn. Wolves on edge. One wrong move and battle would erupt.
People would die. Many people. On both sides.
Young Sera stepped forward. Away from the rescue team. Into the space between both groups.
“Stop,” young Sera said. “No one needs to die tonight.”
“Sera, get back here,” Lyra hissed.
“Thomas,” young Sera continued, ignoring Lyra. “You want me. You want to force a bond. You want control over the Northern Kingdom. But you cannot take those things by force. They have to be given.”
“What are you saying?” Thomas asked suspiciously.
“I am saying I will make a deal with you. A real deal. No tricks. No rescue attempts. You let everyone here go safely. Let Kael return to the Northern Kingdom. Let Diana and Maya and all the warriors leave unharmed. In exchange, I stay. I give you one year to convince me to accept a secondary bond voluntarily.”
“Sera, no!” Kael shouted. “Do not do this!”
“One year,” young Sera continued. “If after one year, I choose to bond with you willingly, you win. If I still refuse, you let me go. No torture. No force. Just one year to prove you are worth bonding with.”
Thomas looked suspicious. “Why would you offer this?”
“Because I am tired of fighting. Tired of people getting hurt because of me. This way, everyone survives. You get a chance. I get time. It is better than battle where half of us die.”
It was a lie. Young Sera would never bond with Thomas voluntarily. Would never give him what he wanted. But she needed to buy time. Needed to get everyone to safety. Needed to stop the fighting before it started.
Thomas studied her for a long moment. Trying to determine if this was a trick.
“One year,” Thomas said finally. “You stay with me. I try to convince you that bonding is beneficial. No torture. No force. Just persuasion. If at the end of the year you still refuse, I let you go free. No revenge. No punishment. Deal?”
“Deal. Let everyone else leave first. Once they are safely gone, I will come with you voluntarily.”
“Sera, do not do this,” Kael pleaded. “We can fight. We can win.”
“You cannot win. There are too many guards. You will die trying to save me. I cannot let that happen.”
Young Sera turned to face her pack. Faced Kael and Lyra and Diana and everyone who had come to rescue her.
“Go home. Take care of the Northern Kingdom. Build the omega protection network. Make sure my year with Thomas means something. Promise me.”
Lyra looked at young Sera with anguish. “I cannot leave you here.”
“You have to. That is an order from your Luna Queen. Go home. I will survive this. I always survive.”
One by one, the Northern Kingdom wolves backed toward their vehicles. No one wanted to leave. But they could not disobey a direct order from their Luna Queen.
Kael was the last to go. He looked at young Sera with devastation.
“I will find a way to get you back,” Kael said. “I will never stop trying.”
“I know. But give me this year. Let me buy time for the network to grow strong. Then come save me if you want. But not before. Promise me.”
“I promise. One year. Then I am coming for you.”
The Northern Kingdom wolves left. Vehicles driving away into the darkness. Taking young Sera’s pack back to safety while leaving her behind.
Young Sera stood alone between Thomas and freedom. Made her choice. Sacrificed herself one more time.
Thomas smiled with satisfaction. “A wise decision, Luna Queen. Come. Let me show you your new accommodations. You are my guest for the next year. I promise you will be comfortable.”
Young Sera walked toward Thomas. Toward one year of captivity. Toward an uncertain future. Toward a sacrifice that might save her pack or might destroy her.
But she walked with her head high. Because that is what Luna Queens did. They sacrificed for their people. Always.