Chapter 9 - The Queen in the Shadows
Seraphina appeared during winter.
She entered the capital without an army.
Only six guards.
Yet every wolf in the city sensed her power.
She was ancient.
Elegant.
Terrifying.
She looked at Kalin.
“My grandson.”
Kalin's face hardened.
“You should be dead.”
“I have disappointed people before.”
Rosaline stepped forward.
Seraphina's eyes settled on her.
“The Moonblood.”
Rosaline stood her ground.
“The woman who ruined your plans.”
Seraphina smiled.
“No.”
She looked at Kalin.
“The woman who saved you.”
Kalin's grip tightened.
“You orchestrated everything.”
“Yes.”
“Richard's murder?”
“Yes.”
“Harrington?”
“Yes.”
“Alaric?”
“My son was always ambitious.”
Rosaline's blood ran cold.
“Why?”
Seraphina looked at her.
“Because the old kingdom belongs to the bloodlines.”
“No.”
Rosaline shook her head.
“It belongs to the people.”
Seraphina laughed.
“You sound like your mother.”
Rosaline froze.
“You knew her?”
“Of course.”
“Tell me the truth.”
Seraphina finally revealed it.
Rosaline's mother had once been chosen as a royal healer.
She had discovered the queen's plan.
She escaped.
She hid Rosaline.
Richard protected them.
Seraphina ordered their deaths.
But Richard saved Rosaline.
That was why he had trusted her.
Why he had treated her like family.
And why he had kept the secret.
Rosaline cried silently.
Everything finally made sense.
Richard had never seen her as merely a healer.
He had seen her as his daughter.
Seraphina raised a hand.
“Join me.”
“No.”
“You could rule the north.”
“No.”
“You could become more powerful than any Luna in history.”
Rosaline looked at Kalin.
“I already have what I want.”
Seraphina sighed.
“Then I suppose we finish this.”
Her guards attacked.
Kalin and Rosaline fought together.
But Seraphina had one final weapon.
A poisoned blade coated in concentrated silverthorn.
She drove it toward Rosaline.
Kalin stepped in front of her.
The blade entered his chest.
Rosaline screamed.
“No!”
Seraphina smiled.
Then something unexpected happened.
Kalin did not fall.
The Moonblood power inside their bond rejected the poison.
Rosaline placed her hands over the wound.
Light spread.
The poison vanished.
Seraphina stared.
“The prophecy.”
Kalin stood.
“No.”
He looked at Rosaline.
“Our choice."
Together they defeated Seraphina.
She was captured.
Not executed.
Rosaline insisted.
“No more rulers deciding who deserves to die.”
Seraphina was sentenced to permanent exile.
The northern packs finally became free from the old dynasty.
The war ended.
The kingdom began rebuilding.
And months later, under the first spring moon, Kalin brought Rosaline to the highest tower of Bornkeep.
“This is where it started,” he said.
Rosaline looked down.
Twenty-one months ago, she had been chained beneath the castle.
Now she stood above it.
Free.
Kalin took her hand.
“I want to ask you something.”
She smiled.
“Go ahead.”
“Will you choose me?”
May you like
She looked into his eyes.
“Every day.”
