Chapter 113 The Heart’s Rebellion
Chapter 113 The Heart’s Rebellion
After some weeks,
Mid afternoon while Seraphina was cleaning up her surrounding, she heard a voice.
"Seraphina." His voice was rough, raw with emotion. He crossed the room in three quick strides, falling to his knees before her.
His hands trembled as he reached for her.
She was shocked to see him and in that instance her emotions stirred.
"Gideon, you shouldn't have come." Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face. "They'll kill you. They'll—"
"Let them try." He pulled her closer, his hands cupping her face, tilting it up to meet his gaze. "I promised I would never abandon you. And I never will."
She threw herself into his arms, sobbing against his chest. He held her tightly, his hand stroking her hair, his heart pounding against hers.
"I love you," she whispered. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." He pulled back, his eyes searching hers. "We need to go. Now. Before they regroup."
But Seraphina knew it couldn't last. The coven would never stop hunting her. Gideon's pack would never accept their bond. They were enemies, destined to be apart.
"Gideon." Her voice was barely a whisper, thick with tears. "We need to be real about this."
He looked closely at her, his eyes soft and warm. "What is it, my love?"
She took a shuddering breath, steeling herself for the words that would break his heart. "We can't do this anymore. We can't be together."
The warmth in his eyes dimmed, replaced by a flicker of confusion and fear. "What are you talking about?"
"We were never meant to be together, Gideon." Tears streamed down her face, but she forced herself to continue. "We're enemies. Our people have been at war for centuries, they will never accept us, they will never stop hunting us."
"I don't care about them." He reached for her, his hand cupping her cheek. "I only care about you."
"I know." She pressed her hand over his, her eyes closing against the pain. "But I can't keep running. I can't keep watching you risk your life for me. I can't" Her voice broke. "I can't lose you."
"You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere."
"Gideon, please." She pulled away, the distance between them a chasm that felt impossible to bridge. "We have to let each other go. It's the only way."
He stared at her, his eyes filled with a pain that mirrored her own. "You don't mean that."
"I do." She shifted back creating more distance between them, her hands clenched at her sides. "I love you, Gideon. I will always love you. But we can't be together. We were never meant to be together."
She turned and walked away, each step a blade through her heart.
Gideon didn't follow.
He stay rooted at the same spot feeling his heart shedding into pieces.
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Three years passed.
Three long years of silence.
Seraphina buried herself in her duties, throwing every ounce of herself into her magic. She trained until exhaustion drowned her thoughts. She healed the wounded.
She stood beside her mother during sacred rituals. She became the strongest witch the Silverwood Coven had seen in generations.
Yet every victory felt empty.
Every full moon reminded her of him, every walk through the forest ended with her standing in the clearing where they had first met, wondering if he ever thought of her too.
She told herself she had done the right thing. Some nights, she almost believed it.
Then everything changed.
Word spread through the coven that the Shadowfang Pack had requested peace talks.
The Alpha himself would lead the delegation.
Seraphina’s heart nearly stopped.
She spent the entire morning convincing herself it couldn’t be him.
It had been three years.
People changed and perhaps he had forgotten her.
Perhaps he had found someone else.
She hated herself for hoping.
The great hall fell silent as the werewolves entered.
Seraphina stood among the priestesses, her face calm, her hands folded neatly before her, though her pulse thundered inside her chest.
Then she saw him.
Gideon.
For a heartbeat, the world disappeared.
He was no longer the wounded young wolf she had found beneath the ancient oak.
He stood taller now and broader.
Power clung to him like a second skin.
A heavy black cloak rested over his shoulders, the mark of an Alpha gleaming proudly across his chest.
Time had sharpened him.
But his eyes…
His eyes were exactly the same.
They swept across the room with a practiced calm expression before stopping on her.
Neither of them moved.
The silence lasted only seconds but it felt like an eternity.
Then Gideon looked away.
As though she were nothing more than another face in the room.
Something inside Seraphina cracked.
They started the meeting.
The meeting dragged on.
Voices argued over borders, concerning trade and peace.
But she heard none of it.
Every instinct pulled her toward him. Yet he never looked at her again.
Not even once.
When the meeting finally ended, Seraphina escaped before anyone could stop her.
The moon had already risen.
She wandered into the palace gardens, desperate for air.
She stood beside the old fountain, gripping its cold stone edge until her knuckles turned white.
“You still do that.”
The voice was soft and familiar.
She closed her eyes. Then slowly, she turned.
Gideon stood only a few steps away.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. None of the emotions could fit into words.
“You became Alpha,” she whispered.
A small smile tugged at his lips. “And you became everything they said you would.”
She laughed quietly, though tears had already begun gathering in her eyes. “I heard you got married.”
His expression immediately fell. “I never did.”
Her breath caught.
“I couldn’t.”
Silence settled between them again.
Finally, he took one careful step closer. “I tried to hate you.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “I told myself you chose them over me.”
He took another step. “I told myself forgetting you would become easier.” He stopped just out of reach. “It never did.”
Seraphina’s vision blurred. “Gideon…”
“I still love you.” He added.
Tears escaped before she could stop them. “You shouldn’t say that.”
“I know.”
“You’ll only make this harder.” She tried to make him see reasons with her.
“I know.”
“You deserve someone who doesn’t bring war into your life.”
He smiled sadly. “I’ve spent three years trying to convince myself of that.” He shook his head. “There hasn’t been a single day I haven’t loved you.”
Seraphina broke.
She closed the distance between them and buried herself against his chest.
His arms wrapped around her instantly, as though they had never been apart.
Neither of them spoke.
They simply stood there beneath the moonlight, holding on to the only place that had ever truly felt like home.
After a long while, Seraphina looked up at him.
“This changes nothing.”
“I know.”
“Our people still hate each other.” She let in.
“I know.”
“We’re still impossible.”
He rested his forehead against hers and smiled. “Then we’ll spend the rest of our lives proving impossible things can exist.”
She kissed him.
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