Chapter 3 - Sera
Luck has never been my friend, and it seems that still hasn’t changed.
When he appeared, I thought for at least a fleeting moment that everything might just start to turn itself around. The immediate relief I felt when he stopped those shifters from taking me was stupid and reckless.
Relief implies at least some level of safety, and as much as I’ve been chasing after that feeling since before I can even remember, I know that isn’t what this is.
He had stepped into the clearing with such controlled, deliberate steps, like he wasn’t wasting even a single movement. Regardless of my weakened state, I registered as the three wolves stiffened in his presence.
Even I could sense the raw energy surrounding him the moment he appeared.
An Alpha. Not Dawson, and not the old Alpha I once had, who likely couldn’t care less when I left.
For a moment, I even thought he was going to tear the three of them apart for even setting foot in his territory. I expected him to assert his dominance and maybe send them bleeding back to Dawson if they managed to get away in time.
Instead, he negotiated with them. He put a price on my head, as if I were a parcel changing hands rather than a person.
Their exchanged words still linger in my mind even as the trees blur above me, while the sky lightens just enough to signify that the early morning is just now setting in. It’s been a long night, but even in my daze, I feel his skin against mine.
His arms are steady beneath me, carrying me like I weigh nothing at all.
Like I’m not any bigger than the average woman.
He’s so warm and solid that part of me instinctively wants to curl closer, and to soak it all in.
Despite being a stranger, he smells like pine, the cold breeze, and something far too comforting.
Noticing feels like the first offense, and the way my body eases against him while my mind screams not to is the second.
I know I should push away and fight. I should be screaming at him for buying me like livestock, but I feel so empty.
Rather than sitting just beneath the surface, my magic feels more like it’s dormant.
It’s hiding in its brittle condition after what I demanded from it, and if I try to pull from it now, it won’t be subtle or controlled.
I know it will be unstable, and if Coldreach is like the other regions on this island, they won’t be so accepting of it, or of me.
So I swallow the fury and humiliation down and allow myself to be carried. My body hurts too much to protest.
I don’t know how long he walks for, but when I open my eyes again, I catch a big, hazy structure up ahead. As we draw closer, my vision focuses, and I make out the shape of a wrap-around porch and several floors.
Half expecting him to keep going, I tense just enough to be noticeable as he brings me to it.
“You’re safe,” he says quietly, surely not realizing just how grating that word is.
He paid for me…in what world does that make me safe?
I don’t say anything as his steps pad softly against the front steps, seeing Hayes in my mind whenever he studied me like an object, or when Naia batted me around like something to amuse her. I hear Quinn’s voice accepting the deal.
They all assume ownership is the same as protection, and they all think control is kindness when they say it nicely enough.
Inside, the house is warm and immediately works hard to pull the chill from my limbs. It smells clean and fresh, like the windows spend more time open than closed during the day. It’s calm…normal, even.
I haven’t felt anything remotely like that in months.
Lost in how that thought startles me, I only realize where he’s taking me when I catch a glimpse of a bed through the open door at the end of a short hallway.
My whole body clenches immediately as alarms ring in my mind.
No…no, no, no…
But before I can even get a sound out, he sets me down gently on the edge of the bed, not letting his hands linger a moment longer than they need to. Instead, he pulls back, putting up a placating hand, as if ready to move in and steady me if necessary.
“Easy…” he says, watching as I jerk back the moment I have the chance. He sighs, expression shifting to something not quite offended or angry, but closer to thoughtful, like he’s considering his every move and word. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
He already did, just not in a physical sense.
When I don’t say anything, he just stands there watching me for a moment, and as much as I don’t want to focus on anything other than my anger, I take the time to really look at him.
His shoulders are broad, and his body has obviously been well-defined through years of training.
Despite the assertive, dominant air exuding from him, the slight curl to his blonde hair makes him look almost boyish in comparison to the rest of him.
His eyes, watching my every move, are softer now, letting me see just how blue they really are.
The longer I look at him, the harder it is to glance away.
He’s…beautiful.
Damn, Sera. Focus.
Finally, he breaks the silence, and his voice reaches me so deeply that I swear I can feel its vibrations inside me. “I realize this might be a bit backward—me bringing you here before telling you my name. But I’m Luke Rourke. The Alpha here.”
I gathered that much, at least.
Still, I don’t say anything. Instead, I move back a little further on the bed, putting as much distance between us as I can.
With a quick scan of the room, I immediately know it isn’t his.
It’s too simple and impersonal to be anything but a guest room, with a double bed, a small wooden dresser, and a window overlooking the woods outside.
The woven rug on the floor and what looks like a handmade macrame piece hanging on one wall look just intentional enough to be welcoming.
The realization settles in slowly. He didn’t take me to his bed, and he didn’t lock the door behind us. He’s not even standing there like he’s trying to block the exit from me.
If anything, he just looks concerned.
“I need to know what happened and why they were after you,” he says, surprisingly calm and gentle for his size. “But first, can you tell me your name?”
The part of me that’s used to complying and doing whatever I need to just to survive is more than ready to say it, but I stop myself before I can, hesitating.
If I speak, that means deciding how much I can, or should, reveal to him. With magic being forbidden, I can’t just talk about it freely. I don’t know how he’d react in the first place, let alone what he’d do with me if he found out.
“I won’t send you back to them, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he says, words lighter than expected.
A stitch of irritation in my chest forces the words out before I can stop them. “You can’t promise that.”
“I can, and I will.”
My teeth clench together despite the ache that exists in every inch of my body now. “You’re planning on paying them.”
“I’m compensating them to avoid bloodshed,” he corrects, as if that makes a difference.
“For me.”
He doesn’t even flinch. “Yes. To get you away from them.”
The admission jostles me on the inside, and more anger pulses in my gut, so sudden that I forget all about my exhaustion for a moment.
“I’m not something you can buy,” I snap at him, not caring about how gentle his handling of me has been so far.
Luke’s jaw tightens with visible restraint, but he doesn’t rise to meet my irritation. “I know that.”
“Do you?” I ask, knowing I’m pushing my luck. “Because it sounded like you were discussing exchanging me for hunting rights.”
Something flickers through his features at that, looking like what I can only assume is guilt before it vanishes just as quickly as it arrived.
“I know how it sounded, but if I had attacked them, it would’ve escalated into something bigger than any of us want right now. Seeing as you apparently came from Wraith Peak, I can only assume you know exactly what Dawson Voss is like.”
I do, but that doesn’t change much.
“So you bought me like a belonging.”
Luke studies me again like he’s trying to recalibrate, and he takes a breath. “You don’t belong to me, but I did what I had to. Look, just tell me your name, and I’ll leave you to get the rest you clearly need. You can argue with me all you want tomorrow.”
That rage in me continues to burn, but the prospect of being left alone is too good to pass up.
Begrudgingly, I force myself to calm down a bit more as I utter, “Sera.”
“Sera,” he says, more like he’s trying it out. A hint of curiosity surrounds his words. “Is that short for anything?”
I nod despite myself. “Seraphine.”
Those blue eyes take me in a moment longer, then he nods, almost like he approves of it somehow. “That’s all I needed to know for now. I’ll be down the hall putting everything together if you need me.”
I bristle at the implications of ‘everything’, but I hold my tongue.
He watches me for another beat before approaching the door. “I’m not locking you in here…but just try to get some sleep, alright?”
When I refuse to dignify his search for confirmation, Luke takes a breath in before leaving, closing the door just enough to offer privacy without seeming too confining.
Once he’s gone down the hall, leaving me in the spare room, it sets in just how quiet the big house really is.
It allows my thoughts to grow louder, shouting at me that none of this is right. Regardless of the peace and the sense of security within these walls, this is how it all starts.
First comes the space and patience made to seem like kindness, only for expectations, obligation, and control to swoop in once my guard is down.
The scarred part of me wants to get up and slip out through the front door, or to leave through the window if I can manage it, but I don’t move. I already know I barely have enough energy left in me to make an exit plan, let alone stand.
If I run now with my magic and energy completely depleted, I won’t make it far at all. My efforts will have been for nothing, and the Wraith Peak wolves would be on me in minutes.
As much as I don’t want it to be, Coldreach will have to be a temporary shield. But that’s it.
Sinking back onto the bed, the mattress dips perfectly to my contours, and its softness surrounds me like a long-awaited hug. I ease into it, allowing that relief to soothe the aches in places I’ve never felt them before.
I don’t want to leave myself vulnerable by falling asleep, but the longer I lie there while the house is draped in near silence, I can’t help as my body relaxes more and more, and my mind begins to slip.
My body doesn’t care whether I trust Luke or not. It needs this.
More than anything, I need a break and the chance to gather myself up again.
Still, even as I start to doze, the memory of him cradling me in his arms lingers like an unwanted thing, not leaving, regardless of how hard I try to force the thought away.
That steadiness carries me into sleep, too weak to fight it now.