Chapter 12
Apr 30, 2025
Lucien’s POV
Lyra—or Seraphina, as she insists I call her now.
Yeah, that name suits her. It sounds royal. Sharp. Untouchable.
And I’m not even going to lie—she looked the part. Dressed in silver, her hair pinned back with elegant braids, her chin lifted like she belonged on a throne. Not in my room scrubbing the floors.
I watched her from the corner of my eye as we rode through the woods. She didn’t talk much, just stared out the window like she was already far away from me. And maybe she was. Maybe she always had been.
I hated that I noticed the way the light hit her cheekbones. Or the way her lips moved silently, as if she were repeating words only the Moon Goddess could hear.
I never paid attention to her in the two years she worked in my home.
Not once.
And now… I couldn’t not notice her.
Deep down, yeah, I felt like a jackass. She lived in my pack, served my family, took beatings with her head down. I never asked why. Never even looked twice.
But I can’t turn back time. And truth be told, I still don’t trust her. She kept secrets. And secrets in a pack are dangerous.
So, no—I didn’t like her. Not really. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
But that didn’t stop me from watching her. We were barely twenty minutes away from Hawthorne when the carriage wheel hit a snag. The whole damn thing groaned and tilted to the side.
I swore under my breath and jumped out. To my surprise, so did she. Without hesitation, Seraphina stepped off the carriage and crouched beside the wheel. Her hands, still decorated with faint healing scars, reached for the wooden frame.
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” I asked, folding my arms.
She glanced at me and smirked. “Spent two years fixing your family’s broken things. I think I’ve got this covered.”
Her fingers worked with practiced ease, tightening the bolt, adjusting the axle.
“Who’s the princess now, huh?” she muttered, half to herself, half to me.
I rolled my eyes. But I couldn’t help watching her. She didn’t flinch. Didn’t whine. Didn’t act like she was too delicate for dirt.
Seraphina Drayne was nothing like I expected a royal to be.
***
A few hours later, we reached the gates of the Hawthorne Pack. The sun was rising, casting gold over the walls and towers. My home looked the same, but it felt different now. Because I wasn’t walking in alone. And the girl beside me? She wasn’t just a servant anymore. She was a Luna.
She was my Luna.
The guards at the gate snapped to attention as we approached. The moment they opened the iron doors, silence fell over the entire courtyard. Warriors paused mid-training. Omegas froze near the stables. Servants looked up from their brooms and buckets.
All eyes landed on her.
Seraphina walked between two guards, the royal crest of the Alpha King embroidered in silver across her chest. She held her head high, her steps calm.
But I could see her fingers twitching. She felt it. The weight of all those stares. The ones who used to spit near her feet. The ones who called her rogue trash. And now, they watched her in stunned silence.
“She was the Alpha King’s daughter this whole time?” one of the younger omegas whispered.
Another girl—one I recognized all too well—bowed stiffly as we passed.
Talia.
The same girl who strutted out of my room not even a week ago. She dipped her head just enough to show fake respect. Then rolled her eyes.
I stopped walking. Turned around and stared her down. “Watch yourself,” I said, voice low but sharp. “That’s your Luna now.”
