22 Chapter 22: The Luna’s Stand
“The maid I saw isn’t here,” Seraphina insisted, her eyes scanning the line of servants one final time. Her legs trembled beneath her, still weak from the poison that had nearly claimed her life.1
Kaelen’s jaw tightened. “You’re certain?”
“Yes. Her voice didn’t waver despite her exhaustion. “I’ve told you what I saw.”
The head maid stepped forward, hands clasped primly at her waist. “Alphas, we’ve accounted for every staff member. Perhaps the Luna is… confused from her ordeal.”
Seraphina’s cheeks burned. “I’m not confused.”
“An unfamiliar maid who mysteriously disappears after delivering poisoned juice?” Orion, scoffed.
Convenient.”
“You think I’m lying?” Seraphina challenged, pushing herself to stand straighter despite her mother’s steadying hand on her elbow.
*I think you’re unwell, Ronan said, his tone softer than his brothers‘ but no less dismissive. “You
should return to bed.”
Seraphina opened her mouth to argue further but caught the futility in their expressions. They’d already made up their minds.
“Fine.” She turned away, allowing her mother to guide her from the room. As they reached the doorway, she paused to look back at the triplets. “Someone in this house wants me dead. Remember that when you find my body next time.”
She didn’t wait to see their reactions, focusing instead on the monumental task of climbing the stairs. Each step sent waves of exhaustion through her limbs.
“They don’t believe me, she murmured as her mother helped her back into bed.
Mrs. Moon’s weathered hands smoothed the blankets. “They will, when they find evidence. Until then, trust no one with your food or drink.
“Not even you?” Seraphina attempted a weak smile,
“Especially not me, her mother replied seriously. “Anyone could be forced or coerced, Take nothing that hasn’t been tested first.”
After her mother left, Seraphina stared at the ceiling. Someone had tried to kill her, and her own mates thought she was either suicidal or lying. The realization cut deeper than she’d expected.
Days passed slowly as she regained her strength. The triplets visited occasionally, their conversations stilted and awkward. They’d assigned guards outside her door, but Seraphina
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couldn’t shake the feeling that the protection was as much to watch her as to protect her.
By the end of the week, she was strong enough to join the triplets for dinner. The prospect filled her with dread, especially when she learned Lilith Thorne would be joining them.
“You look almost healthy,” Lilith remarked as Seraphina entered the dining room. Her poisonous
smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Such a pity about your… accident.”
Seraphina ignored her, taking her place at the table. The triplets filed in moments later, each nodding curtly in her direction before taking their seats.
“How are you feeling?” Ronan asked, the only one who bothered with pleasantries.
“Better,” Seraphina replied stiffly. “Though I’d feel safer if my would–be murderer had been caught.”
Kaelen’s silverware clinked sharply against his plate. “We’ve questioned everyone. Searched the grounds. There’s no evidence of an intruder.”
“Then they’re good at hiding their tracks,” Seraphina insisted. “Or they had help from within.”
Orion rolled his eyes. “You’re being paranoid.”
The servants began bringing out the first course. Seraphina watched as her mother entered with a pitcher of water, head bowed in the familiar posture of submission. Something in Seraphina snapped at the sight.
“Stop,” she commanded, her voice ringing clear across the dining room.
Everyone froze. Her mother looked up, confusion etched across her face.
“Put down that pitcher, Mother,” Seraphina said, rising from her seat. “You are no longer a servant in this house.”
“Seraphina,” Kaelen warned, “what do you think you’re doing?”
She ignored him, walking to her mother’s side and taking the pitcher from her trembling hands. “My mother is not an Omega anymore. She is the Luna’s mother, and she will be treated with
respect.
“This is ridiculous,” Lilith huffed. “She’s been serving this house for years. It’s all she’s good for.”
Seraphina turned her gaze on Lilith, cold fury radiating from every pore. “One more word against my mother, and you’ll regret it.”
“Are you threatening me?” Lilith’s eyes widened with mock shock.
“I’m promising you,” Seraphina replied evenly. She turned to her mother and guided her to the empty chair beside her own. “Sit, Mother. You will dine with us from now on.”
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Mrs. Moon hesitated, glancing nervously at the triplets. “I shouldn’t…”
“You should,” Seraphina insisted. “You will.”
For a tense moment, no one moved. Seraphina stood her ground, heart pounding but refusing to back down. This small act of defiance felt monumental – the first real assertion of her authority as Luna.
To her surprise, it was Ronan who broke the silence. “Mrs. Moon, please join us,” he said, gesturing to the chair.
The other servants exchanged startled glances as Mrs. Moon cautiously lowered herself into the seat. Seraphina returned to her own chair, catching the calculating look in Lilith’s eyes.
“How… touching,” Lilith said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Our Luna, champion of the downtrodden.”
“Our Luna, asserting her rightful authority,” Ronan corrected, surprising Seraphina again.
Dinner proceeded in tense silence, broken only by the occasional clink of silverware. Seraphina could feel the weight of multiple stares Kaelen’s disapproving glare, Orion’s thoughtful assessment, and Lilith’s barely contained rage.
—
“Well,” Lilith finally said as dessert was served, “this has been… unconventional.” She paused, her lips curving into a smile that sent warning signals through Seraphina’s body. “But I suppose I should get used to changes around here.”
Seraphina set down her fork. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, didn’t the Alphas tell you?” Lilith’s eyes gleamed with malicious delight. “I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with them while you’ve been… indisposed.”
“Lilith,” Kaelen warned, but she continued undeterred.
“We’ve made some arrangements,” she said, looking directly at Seraphina. “Important ones.”
Seraphina’s heart hammered against her ribs, but she kept her expression neutral. “I’m their Luna. Any arrangement concerning this pack concerns me.”
“This arrangement concerns you very directly,” Lilith countered, her voice sweetening to a dangerous degree. “It concerns your position, in fact.”
Mrs. Moon reached under the table to squeeze Seraphina’s hand in warning or support perhaps both.
“Explain, Seraphina demanded, looking between Lilith and the triplets. None of them would meet her gaze except Lilith, who seemed to be savoring the moment.
“Tomorrow,” Lilith announced, sitting back in her chair with satisfaction, “the Alphas will take
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me as their concubine.”
The room fell silent. Seraphina felt as if she’d been doused in ice water, her limbs suddenly
numb.
“That’s enough, Lilith,” Ronan said sharply.
“Why? She needs to know.” Lilith leaned forward, the triumph in her eyes unmistakable as she delivered her final blow. “Soon enough, I’ll be your equal.”
Seraphina stared at her former friend, then at each of the triplets in turn. Kaelen looked away first, confirming without words that Lilith spoke the truth. Orion examined his wine glass with sudden interest. Only Ronan met her gaze, something like regret flickering across his features before he mastered it.
“Equal?” Seraphina finally said, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “A concubine is never equal to a Luna.”
She rose from her chair with deliberate slowness, her hands flat against the table to hide their trembling. “Mother, I believe we’re finished here.”
As she helped her mother from her chair, Seraphina paused beside Lilith. “You may share their bed,” she said quietly. “But never forget whose name is written in the pack records. Never forget who wears the Luna’s mark.”
Lilith’s smug expression faltered slightly. “For now.”
“Forever,” Seraphina corrected. “You can be their plaything, Lilith. I’ll be their legacy.”
Without waiting for a response, Seraphina left the dining room, her mother at her side. Only when they were safely behind the closed door of her bedroom did she allow the mask to slip, sinking onto the edge of her bed as her knees finally gave out.
“How could they?” she whispered, the pain finally breaking through her composure. “After everything, how could they do this?”
Her mother sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “They seek to hurt you, to control you.”
“They already have a mate,” Seraphina said, her voice cracking: “What need do they have for a concubine unless it’s to humiliate me?”
“Men with power often believe they deserve more than others,” Mrs. Moon sighed. “But you showed strength tonight, my dear. Real strength.
Seraphina wiped away a tear before it could fall. “What good is being Luna if they still treat me like nothing?
“They can only treat you like nothing if you allow it, her mother said firmly, “Tonight, you didn’t
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allow it. Tomorrow, don’t allow this either.”
Seraphina nodded slowly, determination hardening within her chest. She might not be able to stop the triplets from taking Lilith as their concubine, but she would not cower. She would not
break.
Someone in this house wanted her dead. Now she knew at least one face behind that desire.
And if Lilith thought becoming a concubine would elevate her above the Luna, she had severely underestimated Seraphina’s resolve.
“Tomorrow,” she said quietly, “I remind them exactly who I am.”
Her mother squeezed her hand. “And who are you, my daughter?”
Seraphina lifted her chin. “I am Seraphina Moon, Luna of the Silver Crescent Pack. And I will not jbe
be replaced.”
As night fell around the pack house, Seraphina stared out her window at the waxing moon. In its silvery light, she made herself a promise: Lilith Thorne might become the triplets‘ concubine tomorrow, but she would never, ever become Seraphina’s equal.
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