108 Chapter 108
108 Chapter 108
Seraphina’s POV T
The cold metal of the shackles bit into my wrists as they dragged me from the cell. My legs barely held my weight-the wolf poison still coursed through my veins like liquid fire, keeping A buried somewhere deep
and unreachable.
“Move!” The guard’s boot connected with my lower back, sending me stumbling forward down the narrow
corridor.
Every step echoed off the concrete walls. The prisoners in the other cells pressed themselves against the
bars, watching with hollow eyes as I passed. They knew. They all knew where this led.
To the execution chamber.
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I forced myself to stand straighter. Whatever happened, I wouldn’t
give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.
The corridor opened into arger room that stank of blood and death. Harsh fluorescent lights buzzed
overhead, casting sickly shadows across what looked like an abandoned warehouse. Metal chains hung from
the ceiling. Dark stains covered the concrete floor.
And there, waiting for me like a queen holding court, stood Valerie.
She’d cleaned herself up since ourst encounter. Her golden hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, and she
wore fresh clothes-ck jeans and a red silk blouse that probably cost more than most people made in a
month. But I could still see the faint bruises around her throat from where I’d tried to choke the life out of
her.
Not that I regretted it. Only that I’d failed.
Beside her, Voss lounged in what looked like a throne made from welded metal and animal pelts. The rogue
king was even more massive than I remembered, his scarred face split in a predatory grin as his cold eyes
took in my restrained form.
“Well, well,” Valerie purred, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
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108 Chapter 108
The guards forced me to my knees in front of them. The concrete was rough and cold against my shins, but I
kept my chin up. Met her gaze with every ounce of defiance I had left.
“Sister dear,” I said, my voice hoarse but steady. “Still ying dress-up, I see.”
Her smile faltered for just a moment. Good. I could still get under her skin.
“You always did have a smart mouth,” she said, taking a step closer. “But that’s about to change.”
I tried to reach for A again, desperate for even a whisper of her strength. Nothing. The wolf poison had
built a wall between us that felt impossibly thick.
“You know,” Voss continued conversationally, “I’ve been running this operation for a long time. Years of
collecting the worst scum the wolf world has to offer. Death row inmates, everyst one of them.”
My blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”
“The cells downstairs,” Valerie exined, her voice bright with malicious glee. “They’re not just prison cells,
Sera. They’re holding areas. For condemned prisoners waiting for execution.”
“We’ve been working our way through the list,” Voss added. “One by one.” He grinned. “And now it’s your
turn.”
The casual cruelty in his voice made my skin crawl. But I wouldn’t give them the fear they wanted.
“Damien wille for you,” I said, pouring every ounce of conviction I could muster into the words. “When
he finds out what you’ve done, he’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth. Both of you.”
Valerie threw back her head andughed. The sound echoed off the walls like breaking ss.
“Oh, Sera,” she gasped when she finally stopped. “You really think he’sing to save you?”
“I know he is.”
“Even if he could find you,” Voss said, standing up from his throne to tower over me, “it wouldn’t matter. You see, sweetheart, by the time anyone figures out where you are, you’ll be long dead.”
“And even if by some miracle he did show up,” Valerie added, her eyes bright with cruel delight, “what exactly do you think he could do? You can’t even summon your wolf anymore.”
She was right. The wolf poison had severed my connection to A sopletely that I might as well have
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been human. Weak. Vulnerable. Ordinary.
“That’s the beauty of wolfsbane,” Valerie continued, beginning to pace around me in slow circles. “It doesn’t just block your connection to your wolf-it paralyzes the wolf itself”
My stomach lurched. “A…”
“But here’s the really fun part,” Valerie said, stopping directly in front of me. “The dose we gave you before?
That was just to keep you manageable. What we’re about to give you…” She nodded to one of the guards, who
stepped forward with a syringe that looked twice asrge as the one they’d used before.
The liquid inside was the same sickly green color, but there was so much more of it.
“This should be enough to kill your wolf permanently,” she said. “And then kill you.”
Terror shot through me like ice water, but I forced my voice to stay steady. “Damien won’t let this stand.
Neither will any of the pack. They’ll—”
“They’ll what?” Valerie interrupted. “Hunt down a few rogue wolves who vanished into the wilderness? We’ll
be ghosts by the time they even start looking.”
“You’re insane,” I whispered.
“I’m practical,” Valerie corrected. “I always hate you.”
Voss stepped toward me, the syringe ready in his massive hand. “Hold her still.”
The guards grabbed my arms, pinning them behind my back. I struggled against their grip, but without A’s
strength, I was no match for them.
“Wait, I gasped, desperation wing at my chest.
“No more talking” Voss said firmly. He grabbed my head, tilting it to expose my neck. “Time to say goodbye,
princess.
The needle pierced my skin like a white-hot poker. I screamed as the poison flooded my system, burning through my veins like molten metal.
The effect was immediate and devastating.
Where the first dose had built a wall between me and A, this felt like it was tearing down the very
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108 Chapter 108
foundations of my being. Pain exploded through every nerve ending, as if my body was being turned inside
out.
I convulsed against the restraints, my back arching as agony unlike anything I’d ever experienced consumed
me from the inside. It felt like dying. Like every cell in my body was shutting down one by one.
“That’s it.” Valerie cooed.
The world tilted sideways. Colors bled together. My vision darkened at the edges.
*A,* I called desperately into the void where she should have been. *A, please…*
But there was nothing. Not even an echo of her presence. Just a vast, empty silence that felt like the death of
everything I was.
My muscles seized. My lungs burned. Every breath was a struggle that got harder with each passing second.
This was it. This was how I died.
Not in battle. Not protecting my son or my mate. But chained and poisoned in a basement like a rabid dog.
*Adrian,* I thought as consciousness began to slip away. *I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I couldn’te home to
you.*
The darkness crept in from all sides, cold and absolute. My body went limp against the restraints as the
poison finished its work.
I felt myself falling into a void so deep and ck that I wondered if I’d ever find my way out.
Maybe I didn’t want to.
Maybe this was better than the pain.
My eyes fluttered closed, and everything went silent.
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