Chapter 31
When they arrived at Seraphina’s abode, Kayla barely waited for the car to stop before she unfastened her seatbelt.
Through the window, she spotted Leo and some warriors lounging beneath the trees, plucking and licking the juice off fresh fruits like they had no care in the world.
The moment Axel brought the car to a complete stop, Kayla threw the door open and stepped out. Her eyes immediately sought Leo, who stood a few feet away, casually biting into a ripe fruit.
She strode toward him without hesitation.
“Have you seen Zayron?” she asked. “Or heard anything about his whereabouts?”
Leo shook his head, but his attention was elsewhere. His gaze had drifted to Ana, who had just stepped out of the car, stretching as she adjusted her long sleeves.
Kayla noticed instantly. Her patience thinned.
“Leo! Have you seen Zayron?” Kayla asked again.
But Leo's attention was completely gone.
Kayla sighed, shaking her head, and without another word, walked past Leo, heading straight for Seraphina.
The older woman stood beneath a sprawling tree, breathing heavily as though someone tried to kill her.
The wind rustled the leaves above, casting shifting shadows over her worn face.
Seraphina’s eyes softened the moment they landed on Kayla, but her lips pressed into a grim line.
“Alpha Zayron is now breaking the very laws he once punished others for,” Seraphina said.
Her voice showed something had happened.
Kayla’s heart clenched.
“What do you mean?” she asked, stepping closer.
Seraphina exhaled heavily.
“He’s masking his scent. That means he doesn't want to be found. It isn't just a precaution, Zayron is deliberately cutting himself off. But I’m glad,” Seraphina added, her eyes gleaming with something unspoken. “You can still follow it.”
Kayla’s gaze darted around, scanning the surroundings as if expecting to find a trace of Zayron.
But there was nothing. No footprints, no lingering scent, nothing but the rustling trees and the murmuring of the warriors behind her.
Her chest tightened.
She turned back to Seraphina.
“Has Zayron been here?”
Seraphina nodded.
“He just left. Those cowards are over there, enjoying fresh fruit, while I was fighting for my life! Not one of them saw me struggling, not one of them lifted a finger to help!” Seraphina said, pointing at Leo and the warriors that were with him.
“Why did Zayron come?” Kayla asked, ignoring what Seraphina said about Leo and the warriors.
“To learn the truth about the Lunar Insignia,” Seraphina sputtered. “He nearly killed me for it.”
Kayla’s blood ran cold.
“What?”
Seraphina’s lips curved in a grim smile.
“I told him the truth. The same thing I told him before,” Seraphina said. “That the Lunar Insignia originally belonged to the Azure Moon pack, not the Silver Mountain pack.”
Kayla barely reacted.
The Lunar Insignia was the least of her concerns right now.
Zayron was taking dangerous steps, and she needed to save him before he did something he couldn’t undo.
Kayla forced herself to stay focused.
“Where did he go?”
Seraphina turned slightly and pointed behind her.
“That way.”
Kayla followed her gesture, eyes narrowing at the thick forest beyond.
But there was no sign of Zayron.
No movement. No scent. Nothing but the eerie silence stretching between the trees.
Her stomach twisted.
Again, she reached out through their mind link, desperate to break through the barricade the shadow caster had thrown up.
But once more, she was met with an empty void.
Seraphina's expression shifted, her sharp eyes widening for the briefest moment before narrowing again.
It was as if she had heard something she never expected.
Without a word, she reached up and plucked a single leaf from the tree overhead.
She closed the leaf tightly within her palm, her fingers curling around it like a fist sealing away a secret.
For a moment, she sat perfectly still, as if listening to something beyond their reach, beyond the realm of the living.
The wind barely stirred, yet a strange hush settled over the space around them.
Kayla watched without fear. This wasn't the first time she had seen her aunt acting strange. She was already used to her dramas.
“What is it?” Kayla asked.
Seraphina didn’t respond immediately.
Her head tilted slightly, as though straining to hear a voice carried by the wind, a voice only she could perceive.
Then, without looking at Kayla, she murmured, “Alchemist of Lythos did what?”
Kayla rolled her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Which of the trees is speaking to you?” Kayla asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Seraphina lifted a slow, deliberate hand and pointed to the ancient Ydris tree beneath which she sat.
Kayla glanced up at the towering tree.
“What is it telling you?” Kayla asked.
Seraphina didn’t answer.
Instead, she lifted a single hand and gave a sharp wave, signaling for silence.
Her head tilted further, as if leaning into the whispers only she could hear.
Kayla pressed her lips together, suppressing her impatience.
Whatever the tree was saying, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.
But she couldn't see herself giving up on her quest.
Kayla waited.
Before she knew it, Leo and Ana were no longer in sight. Even the warriors had gone.
Only Beta Axel remained, leaning against his car, looking lost in thought.
His face held a sadness Kayla had never seen before.
She knew why.
Axel had secretly loved Ana, but he had never, not once, voiced his feelings. Seeing her with Leo made him feel so sad.
Kayla caught the distant, almost longing look on his face but chose to look away.
It wasn’t her place to say anything.
More than thirty minutes passed.
Then, without warning, Seraphina slammed her palm against the boulder beside her.
The sharp sound cut through the quiet, making Kayla look down.
Seraphina gestured for her to sit.
Kayla didn’t hesitate.
As soon as she sat, Seraphina began to talk.
“The vision I had last week at your place came back again,” she said.
“This time,” Seraphina continued, “I saw the Alchemist of Lythos holding the silver hair, and she became out of control.”
Kayla stiffened as she recalled the vision Seraphina had shared with her the last time she visited the Silver Mountain pack.
Back then, none of them had understood what it meant.
“Do you remember the vision?” Seraphina asked.
“Yes,” Kayla responded.
“What did I say?” Seraphina pressed.
“You said you saw a boy, unlike any other you had ever seen. His hair was silver like the moonlight, shimmering as if woven with ancient power. It was not just hair. It was a thread of fate itself, something that shouldn’t be severed.”
“You also said you saw a battle, one that could break the world. A storm of blood and fire. And in the heart of it, I stood, a sword in my hand. I severed the boy’s silver thread, and it fell, gleaming, into the hands of another.
A hand that carried it through the darkness and laid it upon Alpha Zayron’s table. ”
Kayla glanced around, unease creeping into her chest.
The part where she stood at the center of it all felt eerily familiar.
Right now, only she and Helena stood for Zayron.
And everything Zayron had been doing lately, it could lead to war.
Her eyes narrowed.
Could this be the meaning of the vision?
“Moon flower, you remembered everything. I'm glad you haven't forgotten,” Seraphina said.
“However, this time, instead of Zayron’s table, the mysterious hand, a betrayer, took the silver thread to the table of the Alchemist of Lythos.”
“What?” Kayla frowned, tension tightening in her chest.
She turned to Seraphina.
“In the last vision, when the silver hair landed on Zayron’s table, did it stop the war you saw in the vision?”
Seraphina shook her head.
“The vision ended the moment the silver hair landed on Alpha Zayron's table. I never saw what happened after that.”
“And now that you saw it land on the Alchemist’s table, what happened next? The war continued?”
“The moment the alchemist lifted it, she disappeared with it.” Seraphina’s tone darkened. “Then the vision ended.”
Kayla narrowed her eyes and tried to solve the puzzle, but she couldn't.
She turned and faced Seraphina again.
“How do you even know the woman in the vision was the Alchemist of Lythos?”
“Because I met her before,” she admitted.
“When my brother, Alpha Dracon, his wife, Rhiannon, and their son, Mikel, died mysteriously, I went searching for how to avenge their death. I visited the alchemist. I still remember her face.”
“Did you get what you wanted?” Kayla asked.
Seraphina shook her head before responding.
“I couldn’t pay the price.”
“What price?”
Seraphina pointed at her.
“You. You are the price she demanded.”
Kayla stiffened, and Seraphina continued talking.
“I remember what the fig tree told me before I embarked on that journey.”
“What did it tell you?” Kayla asked urgently.
“It warned me: The Alchemist of Lythos takes the solution to your problem from you and leaves you with the weight of your own regret.”
“I wanted revenge. I wanted Roman dethroned! I wanted his wife dead!” Seraphina’s voice trembled with restrained fury.
“The Alchemist promised me everything I asked for, but only if I brought you to her. You would work for her for the rest of your life. That was her price.”
Silence stretched between them.
After some minutes of silence, Kayla spoke.
“How did you leave the place alive?”
“I told her that I had to go home and get you. I said it only so I could escape without losing my life.”
Kayla’s pulse pounded.
After a long pause, she spoke again.
“Did you say she demands the solution to your problem from you? What if your problem doesn’t have a solution?”
Seraphina’s gaze turned cold.
“She made me understand that every problem, except death, has a solution. Some people just don’t find it until they die. When they die, it will look as though their problem doesn't have a solution.”
Kayla inhaled deeply.
Seraphina’s words only strengthened her resolve.
She had to visit Lythos.
If for nothing else, to hear what price the Alchemist would demand from her.
Seraphina suddenly eyed her with suspicion.
“Do you have any connection to the Alchemist of Lythos? Anything at all, any business? I see fate is about to change!”
Kayla hesitated, then said, “I plan to visit her tonight.”
Seraphina shot to her feet.
“What?!”