Chapter 1 ( Death Over Love?)

Seraphina's Pov

The moment I walked into the house, I felt the tension radiating from my mother. Her fierce gaze burned into me. She didn’t need to speak; the tension crackled in the air. I hesitated, my pulse quickening, but I knew better than to ask questions just yet.

“Sit,” she ordered, her voice cold and sharp. It sent a chill down my spine. I quietly took a seat, my heart racing, waiting for her to explode. “Why didn’t you attend the coven’s meeting?” she asked, though her tone suggested she already knew the answer.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “I... I was with Aiden.” The words had barely left my mouth before her fury erupted. She stood abruptly, pacing across the room, her fists clenched.

“With that monster again?” Her voice was louder now, filled with venom. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing, Seraphina? Do you even understand the consequences?”

I couldn’t see her eyes, but I felt her anger scorching through the air. I knew she was right to be upset, but I couldn’t stay away from Aiden. I loved him.“The coven is enraged,” she spat, her voice trembling with anger.

“They won't change their minds, and you know that. They want nothing to do with you if you continue this... this foolishness.”

She paused, her voice lowering to a dangerous whisper. “It would be better if you let Aiden go.”" But mother, I love him. Aiden is my mate. The bond we share is beyond anything I’ve ever felt. Please, let me marry him," I pleaded, my voice trembling with emotion.But my mother's face was hardened, her eyes shadowed with a deep, knowing sadness.

"Seraphina, you cannot marry him. The coven will never allow it. You must understand… If you choose this path, it will be the end of you. But, I love you so much more than watching you die before my eyes.

"My breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding in her chest. "What… What do you mean, the end of me? Are you saying… they would kill me?"Elysia's expression softens, but the gravity of her words is undeniable. "Yes, my child.

They will see your love as a betrayal, a threat to everything we have built. The coven will stop at nothing to protect its own. If you marry Aiden, they will kill you."My jaw dropped, what was going on? I really can't leave Aiden.

The room seems to close in around her as the weight of my mother’s words sinks in. "But… he is my heart, Mother. I chose him. Isn’t our bond sacred? How can love be a death sentence?" I said with tears filling up her eyes she went out slamming the door angrily.

I heard my mother calling me back, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. The tears came faster, blurring my vision as I walked, no, practically ran, trying to put as much distance as I could between me and that house. My heart ached, each sob choking me.

Why couldn’t they just accept that I wanted to marry Aiden? What was so wrong about that? All I ever wanted was their protection, their love. But now… now it felt like my own family had turned their backs on me.I didn’t even realize where I was heading until I reached the river.

This was the only place I felt I could breathe, yet today, even the familiar sight of the water flowing by couldn’t calm the storm inside me. I stood there, staring blankly at the river, tears silently streaming down my face.

My chest felt so tight, like I couldn’t catch a full breath.

Suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned around sharply. Aiden. The moment I saw him, my resolve broke. I threw myself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

He  wrapped me in his embrace, whispering softly into my hair, trying to comfort me. But nothing could take away the pain I was feeling.“I was at your house,” he said softly, rubbing my back. “Your mother wouldn’t tell me where you were, but I guessed you’d be here.”

I pulled away slightly, looking up into his eyes. He was hiding something, I could tell. His face was strained, like there was something more he wasn’t saying. “What else did she say?” I asked, wiping at my tear-streaked cheeks

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter. What matters is I found you, and you’re okay.”I knew there was something more he wasn’t telling me, but I also knew Aiden. He didn’t like to upset me if he didn’t have to.

So, I let it go for now. He was always trying to make me smile, always going out of his way to keep me happy.

He smiled down at me, his eyes softening. “I have a surprise for you.”I couldn’t help but give him a small, tearful smile back. “What is it?”He chuckled and shook his head.

“You’ll have to wait a few minutes. Stay here, I’ll go get it.”I watched him walk away, feeling a bit lighter just by his presence.

Aiden always knew how to pull me back from the edge. I trusted him, more than anyone. And that's why I can't leave him for anything. I wouldn't be the one to betray our love.

As I waited, I started walking around the woods by the river. The soft sounds of the leaves under my feet and the distant flow of water were calming. I heard a twig snap and turned, smiling. “Aiden?” I called out, thinking he was trying to surprise me. “Stop teasing me!”No answer.

I laughed softly, thinking he was being playful, but as I took another step, something felt… off.Before I could take another step, a strange force seemed to grip me. My whole body stiffened, and suddenly I couldn’t move.

My chest tightened, worse than before, like something was squeezing the air out of my lungs. My breath came in short, painful gasps, and panic rose inside me. I tried to call out for Aiden, but my voice wouldn’t come. The pain in my chest intensified, like a burning, stabbing sensation deep inside me.

I dropped to the ground, my hand instinctively going to my chest, where I felt something warm and sticky. Blood. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t scream. I was suffocating, my heart pounding so loud in my ears I could barely hear anything else.

My vision blurred, and the world around me seemed to grow darker, colder. I tried to think of a spell, anything to stop the pain, but my lips wouldn’t move.

My mind was too foggy.The darkness swallowed me whole, its weight pressing in on all sides. I was falling, or maybe floating, I couldn’t tell anymore. There was no sound, no light, no sense of time. Just an endless void that stretched out forever.

Aiden.

His name was the only thing anchoring me, the only thought that cut through the numbness. I tried to focus on him, on his face, on the way his arms felt when they held me, but even those memories were slipping away, like sand through my fingers.Was this death?

The thought lingered at the edge of my mind, but it felt distant, unreal. How could this be the end? There was still so much I needed to say, so much I needed to do. I couldn’t just disappear into the void.

I couldn’t leave Aiden like this.But the more I struggled to hold on, the further I drifted. The pain in my chest was gone now, replaced by a cold emptiness. My body no longer felt like my own. I wasn’t sure I even had a body anymore. I was just… here. Existing in this space of nothingness.

Suddenly, a ray of light appeared in the distance. Faint at first, but growing steadily brighter. I tried to move toward it, but I couldn’t. I was frozen, bound by the weight of the darkness. The light moved closer, and with it came warmth, a gentle, familiar presence that brushed against me like a soft breeze.

"Seraphina…" The voice was barely a whisper, but I recognized it immediately. My heart clenched.Aiden.I tried to reach out, to call his name, but I couldn’t make a sound. The light grew brighter, closer, until it enveloped me completely, washing away the cold and the darkness.

For a moment, I felt weightless, like I was floating in a sea of warmth and light. And then, I saw him.

Aiden stood before me, his eyes filled with the same worry and love I had seen in them a thousand times before. He reached out, and though I couldn’t feel his touch, the sight of him grounded me.

I tried to speak, to ask him what was happening, but no words came."Seraphina," he whispered again, his voice filled with so much emotion it almost broke me. "I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you."Tears filled my eyes, the weight of his words crashing down on me. He knew. He knew what had happened.

He knew I was… gone. But how? Why?Before I could react, the warmth around me shifted, turning cold again. The light began to fade, and I felt myself being pulled away, back into the void.

No. No, I couldn’t go back.

Not now. Not when I had just found him.I fought against the pull with everything I had, but it was no use. The light was slipping away, and Aiden’s figure was growing dimmer.

My heart ached, a deep, soul-crushing pain that was far worse than anything I had felt before. I wasn’t ready to leave him. I couldn’t.Is this it? Was I really gone?