Chapter 88 The Final Months
Eight months became nine months. Nine months became ten.
Young Sera kept playing her role. Submissive prisoner considering bonding with her captor. She ate dinner with Thomas. Walked in the gardens with him. Listened to his speeches about how good they could be together.
And secretly, she coordinated omega rescues through the hidden phone Maya had given her.
The omega protection network was thriving. Under Diana’s leadership, they had rescued forty-three omegas in ten months. Forty-three lives saved—forty-three girls who would have been trapped without help.
Young Sera guided the strategy from her cage. Advised on difficult cases and helped Diana navigate politics with Alphas who resisted change. She was still Luna Queen, even if Thomas thought she was just his prisoner.
But the deception was taking its toll. Every dinner with Thomas felt like swallowing poison. Every fake smile made her feel dirty. Every moment pretending to consider bonding with him made her hate herself a little more.
Only the secret phone kept her sane. Only knowing she was still helping, still fighting, still mattering kept her from breaking completely.
“You seem different lately,” Thomas said one evening. Ten months into captivity. Two months until freedom. “Lighter somehow. Less angry.”
Young Sera forced a smile. “Maybe I am adjusting. Accepting my situation.”
“Or maybe you are starting to see that bonding with me would not be so terrible. That we could build something good together.”
“Maybe.”
The lie tasted bitter. But two more months. Just two more months and she would never have to lie again.
Thomas reached across the dinner table and took her hand. His touch made her skin crawl but she did not pull away. Could not risk making him suspicious now. Not when freedom was so close.
“I have been thinking,” Thomas said. “When the year is complete, when you are free to choose, I want to ask you properly. No pressure. No threats. Just a genuine request for you to consider a bond with me. Will you at least think about it?”
“I will think about it,” young Sera lied. She had already thought about it. The answer was no. Would always be no. But Thomas did not need to know that yet.
“Good. That is all I can ask.”
That night, young Sera messaged Kael on the secret phone. “Two months until my year is complete. Start preparing for my return. I want to come home the moment Thomas releases me. Have warriors ready in case he tries to go back on the agreement.”
Kael’s response came quickly. “We will be ready. The entire pack is counting down the days. We miss you. Kai especially. He asks about you constantly.”
Young Sera felt tears build at the mention of Kai. She missed him desperately. Missed his steady presence. Missed feeling like herself instead of constantly performing.
“Tell Kai I am surviving. Tell him I will see him soon. Tell him I need him to remind me who I am when I get back. I am afraid I have been pretending for so long that I have forgotten.”
“You have not forgotten. You are still you. Still our Luna Queen. Still, the girl who killed Victor Kane and rescued omegas and refused to break no matter what happened. Two more months. Then you come home.”
Young Sera deleted the messages and hid the phone. Two more months. She could survive two more months.
The next morning, everything changed.
Thomas came to her room earlier than usual. His expression was strange. Excited but also nervous.
“I have a surprise for you,” Thomas said. “Something I have been planning for months. Come with me.”
Young Sera followed Thomas downstairs. Through the house. Out to the gardens where a large white tent had been set up overnight.
Inside the tent was a wedding setup. White chairs arranged in rows. Flowers everywhere. A minister standing at the front wearing formal robes.
And guards. Dozens of guards. All armed. All positioned around the tent like they were expecting trouble.
Young Sera felt ice flood through her entire body.
“What is this?” she asked, though she already knew. Already understood what Thomas had done.
“Our bonding ceremony,” Thomas said. “I know the year is not complete yet. But I realised something. I have fallen in love with you over these months. And I do not want to wait two more months to make you mine. So I moved up the timeline. We are bonding today. Right now.”
“No. That is not the agreement. You promised a full year. You promised I could choose.”
“Plans change. I changed the plan. You are bonding with me today whether you agree or not.”
Young Sera stepped backwards. Toward the exit. But guards blocked her path. She was surrounded. Trapped.
“You are forcing this. Breaking your promise. Showing your true self.”
“I am showing that I am done waiting. Done being patient. I tried to win you over fairly. But you are too stubborn. Too loyal to the Northern Kingdom. So I am taking what I want. The way Alphas have always taken what they want.”
“The Northern Kingdom will come for me. Kael will not let this stand.”
“Kael does not know where you are. No one knows except my pack. By the time anyone finds out, the bond will be complete. Permanent. You will be mine legally and spiritually. Nothing can break a completed bond.”
Young Sera’s mind raced. She needed to stall. Needed to find a way to contact Kael. Needed to escape before the ceremony started.
“At least let me send a message to the Northern Kingdom,” young Sera said. “Let me tell them what is happening. Give them a chance to object formally.”
“No. No messages. No delays. We start the ceremony in five minutes.”
Guards grabbed young Sera’s arms. Dragged her toward where the minister waited. She fought. Struggled. Screamed.
But there were too many guards. Too much Alpha strength. She was just one omega against dozens of warriors.
They forced her to the front of the tent. Made her stand beside Thomas. The minister looked uncomfortable but did not protest. He had been paid well to perform this ceremony and ask no questions.
“Do you, Thomas Reed, take this omega as your bonded mate?” the minister began.
“I do.”
“And do you—”
“She does not consent!” a voice shouted from the tent entrance.
Everyone turned. Diana stood there. Covered in dirt and blood. Breathing hard as she had run for miles. Behind her were twenty Northern Kingdom warriors.
“Diana?” Young Sera gasped. “How did you find me?”
“Maya told me. She sent an emergency message when she learned what Thomas was planning. We drove all night to get here. You are not bonding with this monster.”
Thomas’s expression darkened with rage. “Kill them. Kill all of them. This ceremony continues.”
His guards attacked. Diana’s warriors met them. Fighting erupted throughout the tent. Chaos and violence and the crash of bodies colliding.
Young Sera used the distraction to break free from the guards holding her. She ran. Toward Diana. Toward safety. Toward freedom.
But Thomas caught her. Grabbed her from behind. His arm locked around her throat.
“You are not leaving,” Thomas snarled in her ear. “You are mine. If I cannot have you willing, I will have you by force.”
Young Sera felt his wolf rising. Felt him preparing to complete a forced bond. Once he initiated the bond, nothing could stop it. She would be connected to him forever. Trapped in a spiritual chain that could never be broken.
She had seconds. Maybe less. To stop this. To prevent the bond.
Young Sera reached for the silver knife hidden in her clothes. The small blade Maya had smuggled to her weeks ago. She had kept it hidden. Saved it for an emergency.
This qualified as an emergency.
She drove the blade backwards. Into Thomas’s side. The silver burned through his shirt and into his flesh. He screamed. Released her. Stumbled backward.
Young Sera ran. Diana grabbed her hand and they ran together. Out of the tent. Toward the vehicles, Northern Kingdom warriors had brought.
Behind them, Thomas was shouting orders. Guards were chasing. But Diana’s warriors provided cover. Fighting. Dying. Buying time for young Sera to escape.
They reached the vehicles. Young Sera jumped in. Diana was right beside her. The driver hit the gas before the door even closed.
They drove away from Thomas’s estate. Away from the forced ceremony. Away from captivity.
Young Sera looked back through the rear window. Saw Thomas standing in front of his burning tent. Guards around him. His hand pressed to his side where young Sera had stabbed him.
He looked furious. Murderous. Absolutely enraged.
But he was getting smaller. Farther away. Disappearing as the vehicles drove toward freedom.
“You are safe,” Diana said, hugging young Sera tightly. “You are free. He cannot touch you anymore.”
Young Sera started crying. Relief and trauma and delayed fear are all crashing together. She had escaped. Had survived. Had refused to bond even when Thomas tried to force it.
She was free.
“How many warriors did we lose?” young Sera asked between sobs.
“Five. Five died to get you out.”
“Five lives. For me.”
“Five warriors who chose to fight for their Luna Queen. Who believed you were worth saving. Do not dishonour their sacrifice by feeling guilty. Feel grateful. Feel determined to make their deaths mean something.”
Young Sera nodded. Diana was right. Five warriors had died to save her. She would honour them by being the best Luna Queen she could be. By continuing the work. By fighting for omegas with everything she had.
The drive to Northern Kingdom territory took six hours. Six hours of young Sera alternating between crying and staring blankly out the window. Processing everything that had happened. Everything she had endured.
As they crossed into Northern Kingdom territory, young Sera saw warriors lining the road. Hundreds of them. All standing at attention. All saluted as her vehicle passed.
They were welcoming her home. Showing respect. Acknowledging what she had survived.
When they reached the pack house, everyone was waiting. Kael stood on the steps. Lyra and Garrett are beside him. Maya with tears streaming down her face. Sarah and Michelle are holding hands nervously.
And Kai. Standing slightly apart from everyone else. Looking like he had not slept in days. Looking like he had been crying.
Young Sera got out of the vehicle. Her legs were shaky. Her body is exhausted. But she walked forward anyway. Toward her pack. Toward home.
Kael met her halfway. Pulled her into a hug that felt like coming home. “You survived. I knew you would. But I was still terrified.”
“I almost did not survive. Thomas tried to force a bond. If Diana had not arrived when she did…”
“But she did arrive. You are safe. That is what matters.”
Kael released her and young Sera turned to the others. Hugged Lyra and Garrett. Thanked Maya for the phone and the knife that had saved her life. Hugged Sarah and Michelle who looked at her like she was a hero.
Finally, she reached Kai. He looked at her like he was afraid to touch her. Afraid she might break if he held on too tight.
“Hi,” Kai said softly.
“Hi,” young Sera replied.
Then she was in his arms. Crying. Holding onto him like he was the only solid thing in a world that had tried to destroy her.
“I missed you,” young Sera sobbed. “I missed you so much. I forgot who I was without you. Forgot how to be myself.”
“You are still you. Still the girl I love. Still my Sera. Nothing Thomas did changed that.”
They stood like that for a long time. Young Sera was crying in Kai’s arms while the pack gave them space. Eventually, Mora appeared and gently suggested that young Sera needed medical attention and rest.
Young Sera let herself be led to the medical wing. Let Mora examine her for injuries. Let the healer treat the rope burns on her wrists from where Thomas’s guards had grabbed her. Let herself be cared for by people who actually cared.
When the examination was complete, Mora looked at young Sera seriously. “Physically you are fine. A few bruises. Some minor injuries. Nothing permanent. But mentally? Emotionally? You went through something traumatic. You need time to process. Need counselling. Need to be gentle with yourself while you heal.”
“I do not have time to heal. The omega protection network needs me. There is work to do.”
“The work can wait a few days. You cannot help anyone if you are broken. Rest first. Heal first. Then return to work when you are ready.”
Young Sera wanted to argue. Wanted to insist she was fine. But she was not fine. She was exhausted and traumatised and barely holding herself together.
“Okay,” young Sera said quietly. “I will rest. Just for a few days.”
She went to her room. Her actual room. In the Northern Kingdom's pack house. A room that smelled familiar and felt safe and had no locks on the outside of the door.
Kai stayed with her. Not talking. Not demanding anything. Just present. Just there.
Young Sera lay down in her own bed for the first time in ten months and felt something inside her chest finally release. The constant tension. The constant performance. The constant fear.
It all came pouring out. Tears and sobs and gasping breaths. Ten months of held-back emotion releasing all at once.
Kai held her through it. Did not try to fix it. Did not tell her to stop crying. Just held her while she broke apart in the safety of her own room.
Eventually, the tears stopped. Young Sera felt empty. Hollow. But also lighter. The worst was over. She had survived. She was home.
“Thank you,” young Sera whispered. “For being here. For reminding me who I am.”
“Always,” Kai said. “I will always be here.”
Young Sera closed her eyes and slept for the first time in ten months without fear. Without guards outside her door. Without Thomas watching her every move.
She slept deeply. Peacefully. In her own bed. In her own pack. In her own life.
Free at last.