Chapter 1

Seraphine’s Point of View

"Tonight, on the first full moon of this year, we all gather to witness the union of Seraphine Wildfrost and Maximus Wilder. A bond forged under the light of the full moon is unbreakable, a testament to love, loyalty and strength."

I fought the urge to grimace at what I just heard. A threatening glare from Maximus made me swallow which I instantly regretted when his eyes followed the movements of my throat. The raw hunger in it made my stomach coil in disgust.

Testament to love my ass.

"Maximus," the elder who was officiating the wedding called out. "Do you vow to protect Seraphine, to stand by her side through every trial and success, through sickness and health, and to cherish her with all your heart?"

Maximus flashed me a smile before responding in a loud, confident voice: "I do."

My heart clenched tightly at the pure happiness and possessiveness in his brown eyes.

"Seraphine. Do you vow to support Maximus, to share in his joys and burden, and to love him with all your heart?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, my heart beating erratically in my chest as I tried to force out the answer I promised to myself will only be told once, to the only man I will truly love for eternity, not the man who forced his way to have me despite knowing I would never love him the way he wants me to.

Tears welled up in my eyes. To others who didn't know what truly happened, they'd think it's tears of joy. But to my pack members who are watching now, they know this is far from joy.

It's the tears of someone resigned to an eternity of hell.

"I... I..."

Maximus' smile slowly faded. His eyes darkened as his hold on my hands tightened a bit.

"Seraphine," he mumbled in a tight voice.

I shut my eyes tightly before forcing out the words that would condemn me to a life of imprisonment.

"I... do."

I'm so, so, sorry, Cassius.

###

[A week before the wedding]

"What got my dutiful husband so busy he didn't have time for me anymore?"

Cassius lifted his head to look at me, and the look in his eyes made me regret my joke. The dark circles under his eyes paired with the guilt in his vibrant blue eyes made me realise that he took my joke to his heart.

"Sera. I'm sor-"

"Cassius, love, I'm just joking. You don't have to apologise," I said, quickly cutting off his apology. I stood behind the chair he's sitting on as I took a look at what he's reading. "Is that from the Viperclaw Pack?"

Cassius breathed out heavily and then he hummed in affirmation. "They are asking for a negotiation to share the north side of the forest, just a few meters away from the border between our pack and theirs."

"For what?"

"They didn't say in the letter. I believe they will tell me during the meeting."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're actually considering it?"

"Why not? I want to see what they can offer for us."

"Of course," I said, fondly rolling my eyes at my husband. "Hey, mind telling me why Maximus is always travelling to different places? The last I heard of him was six months ago, I think? And he said he's been busy travelling. I’ve been meaning to ask you but I keep on forgetting it.”

"The Elders and I had assigned him to form an alliance with the West packs since we're already allied with the East and a few of the North packs have been reaching out to us."

I nodded my head in understanding. "Yeah, that's a great strategy. Maximus is the best choice when dealing with alliances."

"Never been more grateful to have him in our pack."

I smiled at Cassius, then I leaned down to kiss him. But just as our lips met, a loud crash followed by several howls permeated the whole area. Cassius and I immediately stood, my Luna senses prickled in dread as I recognized what kind of howls I just heard.

"Someone ambushed our territory," Cassius voiced out my own realisation. His eyes hardened as he strides out of his personal office in the homestead. Once outside, the gruesome scene made my heart drop.

Unfamiliar black and grey wolves were attacking and seizing down our defenceless pack members. Some of them laid injured on the ground, some gathered cowering on the side as they watched the strangers tackled down their family and friends.

"Alpha! Alpha! A lot of our men have been severely injured! Some... some are dead in the woods where they were ambushed..." Luster, the Lead General, came running to us. He was breathing heavily, whole body filled with dirt and bruises. His voice thick with emotion but still managed to keep it clear enough for us to realise the damage the ambush had caused.

Cassius' eyes darkened, his fists clenched tightly on his side. In a flash, he transformed into his wolf form. He let out a long, anguished, yet challenging howl. Whatever is happening around instantly stopped at the frightening howl of our pack's furious Alpha.

The group of invaders moved aside in one motion, as if making way for someone. Then a familiar dark brown wolf slowly walked on the makeshift path, directly to our direction.

"Maximus!" I exclaimed in relief. Thank heavens he's finally h-

The mocking growl he released made me freeze on my spot. He stopped a few feet away from Cassius, then they both returned to their human form.

"Maximus. What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Cassius asked in that dangerous low voice he always unconsciously used whenever he was mad. It sent shivers down my spine, my stomach churning not in the usual awe I feel but in fear. “And who are all these wolves prancing and attacking my pack?”

“Why, they’re my people, Silverton. You did not think the missions you have sent me to were for you, right?”

Cassius' eyes went blank. “I see. So all this time, you are forging an alliance for yourself?”

“You got it right, Alpha,” he mocked my mate, not bothering to hide his contempt at what he called Cassius.

“Since you are acting mighty and high right now to the point you even attacked my pack, state what you came for and I will ponder what kind of punishment I would give you for your treason.”

Maximus’ eyes went cold.. "Cassius," he called out in that smug and proud voice of his. Then he flashed a grin. "I'm here to challenge you."

"Maximus!" I yelled out furiously. I took a step beside my husband. "What are you talking about? Stop this nonsense! You’ve already caused a lot of damage! Several of our pack members are injured, and some of them are already dead!"

He turned his attention to me, an eyebrow raised. "Ah, my dearest best friend. It's devastating, isn't it? However, their deaths are necessary so I can prove myself worthy of challenging your husband." The way he spat the last word made my skin crawl. His eyes held so many emotions that I couldn't discern, but the most prominent one is blind rage towards Cassius.

"Necessary?! Are you hearing yourself, Maximus?! Stop this right away!"

"As much as I held you in high regard, my dear Seraphine, I would refuse your request for now. There's much more pressing matter to do."

"That is not a request, you traitor!"

Maximus' eyes flashed darkly.

"Enough, Sera."

I glanced at my husband. "Cassius?"

"Stand back and let me handle this traitor."

Despite wanting to protest like a petulant child, I backed away from him. It's a matter concerning only the Alpha after all, no matter if I'm his wife and the Luna of the pack. It's the Alpha that was challenged by another.

I have full confidence in Cassius' ability and strength. He's been the Alpha of the Silvercrest Pack for seven years already, and he's been trained for it since he started to walk.

But the look of confidence and rage in Maximus' eyes made me fear the results of this fight. Maximus has always been strong and powerful in his own ways, but he was never in the same league as Cassius. While my husband is great at brawling, Maximus is the brain of our pack. He's far more intelligent than our Alpha. What he lacks in strength, he makes up with his unrivalled wit.

"Maximus."

Amusement was visible in the traitor's eyes as he regarded our Alpha. "Cassius," he trailed off. "I challenged Cassius Silverton to a death match."

My eyes went wide at his declaration.

"Really, Maximus? My throne?" Cassius scoffed. "After all this time, you're still bitter over the fact that your best friend, your first and most beloved woman, is my mate?"

Maximus growled, canines flashing in contempt. "You stole her from me! You took her away!"

I watched in stunned disbelief as my best friend screamed incredulous remarks to my husband. All this time, Maximus is in love with me? How can I not notice it before?

"I stole nothing, traitor," Cassius calmly stated. "The Moon Goddess has seen us fit with each other, and so we were fated to be mates."

"The Moon Goddess is fallacious! Untrue! A fraud!"

Gasps and indignant cries rippled through the place upon hearing Maximus insults over the divine lady. Some of them were screaming profanities to Maximus, some were outright cursing him to die.

It made Maximus even more mad. "STOP! Shut the fuck up!" He yelled at the others. "I challenged Cassius Silverton to a death match! Or are you too frightened to accept it, which is why you're prolonging this conversation?"

"I am simply giving you more time to think about what you're saying. But it seems you've already decided on this."

"Of course, I am! I've been waiting for this moment for years!"

"Very well," Cassius coldly muttered. "Luna Seraphine, make sure no one tries to intervene in the match." With that, Cassius walked towards the large circle in front of the homestead. I anxiously trailed behind, still making sure everyone else is inside the safety barrier.

Once both of them were inside the circle, Maximus wasted no time in lunging. Cassius gracefully slid away to avoid the brown wolf. He transformed smoothly and revealed his sleek, large wolf form as black as the moonless night.

Maximus growled again, but didn't attack. They circled around each other, muscles rippling, canines grinding in an attempt to intimidate the other. Neither of them breaks eye contact.

It was Maximus who struck first. He aimed for Cassius' throat with a vicious howl, but was avoided smoothly by sidestepping, seeming like he anticipated the move. Cassius retaliated with a powerful strike to his legs. Maximus howled in pain, but it didn't stop him from attacking.

They exchanged strikes and bites, but neither seemed to land a fatal blow. I was getting restless in my spot, despite knowing that Cassius seemed to have the upper hand.

Several shrieks resounded the spectator's area when Cassius surged in a blur of motion. He tackled a recovering Maximus on the ground, rolling in a flurry of teeth and claws, and Cassius was the victor who emerged on top. He has a foot on Maximus' throat where a visible cut can be seen, and his jaw clamped on one of Maximus' arms. Cassius let out a growl so deep and resonant it echoed with so much authority and threat that got the tackled brown wolf whining submissively beneath the Alpha.

My eyebrow raised in confusion when Cassius moved away from Maximus. From the way his body relaxed, he must've interpreted the whine as a submission and yielding. But seeing how Maximus didn't relax and went limp, I knew Cassius made a big mistake by turning his back on the enemy.

"CASSIUS! NO! IT'S NOT YET D-" I wasn't able to finish warning my husband when someone clamped a hand tightly in my mouth. I tried to remove it, but they're far stronger than I am.

So I watched helplessly as Maximus stood up and surged forward, towards Cassius who belatedly realised what I was trying to convey to him.

In a quick motion, Maximus landed a powerful strike on Cassius' throat. His claws formed a long, deep cut on Cassius' throat. The blood wasn't visible on his black fur, but a lot of his blood streamed down the ground.

I let out a strangled cry as I managed to break free from the strong hold on my person.

"No... Cassius! No..." I wailed in despair as I tried to run in my husband's direction. But before I could even reach him, someone had tackled me on the ground.

"No! Move away! Get off me! Cassius..." I cried out frantically. I turned around to look at my husband, and he was already looking at me. He already transformed back into his human form, his body completely naked this time as he had no more control of his transformation. There were a lot of bruises and cuts on his body, but the most prominent one was on his throat right where my mark is.

"Cassius..." I muttered.

His hand tried to reach out despite having no strength. The light and fire in his eyes are slowly fading.

"Cassius..."

"S-sera..." I saw him mumble, before the life in his eyes faded and his eyes shut completely. He laid there on the ground, devoid of life.