Ex-Alpha's Regret: Siren's Comeback novel Chapter 87

POV: Seraphina

The ship docked at a secret, undisclosed port in the neutral southern territories, a gray, functional place of rust and salt and the cry of gulls. It was a world away from the manicured lawns and oppressive beauty of the Blackwood estate. It was the first day of my new life.

As I walked down the gangplank, leaning on Jax for support, my legs still unsteady, a small delegation was waiting on the pier. Elias, my father's loyal Beta, stood at the front, his face etched with a mixture of grief and fierce loyalty. Behind him were the surviving elders of my pack, their expressions grim but resolute.

When they saw me, they all dropped to one knee, their heads bowed not to a broken victim, but to their Alpha's heir, their Luna, their Queen.

"Luna Seraphina," Elias said, his voice thick with emotion but unwavering in its respect. "Welcome home."

I could feel their eyes on me, searching for the broken, weeping girl they had heard about in the whispered reports. But that girl was gone. I knew they could sense the change in me. My body was weak, fragile, but my spirit, now fused with the cold fire of my awakened wolf, was stronger than it had ever been. There was no tremor in my hand as I motioned for them to rise.

There were no tears, no emotional reunion. The time for that was past. There was only business. The grim business of survival.

"Take me to him," I said, my voice quiet but carrying the unmistakable weight of command.

Instead, I made a vow. A new vow, spoken not to any deity, but to myself, to the silver wolf that now shared my soul, and to the sleeping man who was my only family.

"I will take back everything that was stolen from us," I whispered, my breath fogging the glass. "I will rebuild our family, our pack, our name. And I swear on my own soul, every single person who had a hand in this… they will pay. A thousand times over."

My reflection in the cold glass was a stranger, her eyes glittering with a chilling, absolute certainty.