Chapter 1: The Last She Wolf

"When am I going to meet him?" I asked, my voice breaking the silence of the room like an unwanted echo. My aunt didn't even look up from her spot on the sofa; she just kept adjusting her scarf, which seemed to hide her eyes in the shadow, as she adjusted her scarf with a practiced hand. She looked up at me, and I wondered why she was always so cold—so distant. I bet I didn't even exist to her most days. I knew she blamed me for the death of my uncle, though I didn't know why. I was just a day old when he died, and it's not like my parents didn't suffer with him, so if she thought about it well, I'm also suffering too....it's not just her.

She finally started speaking. "Tomorrow," she muttered, her voice flat and unfeeling. Her voice clearly said she hated me, but what could I do... nothing. I was being sold to the alpha of the Silverbane pack; I should be happy, but no, how could I be happy? She was selling me off to some alpha who wanted me just to bear him kids. She said he said I had a pretty face, pretty enough to give him handsome sons. [Sighs] Was that my only use? He didn't want me because he loved me, but because I had a pretty face. But then I was going to leave this house.

Tomorrow. That was the day. The day I would leave this useless place and meet Alpha Azariel Silverbane. My future husband, if you could even call it that. I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest as if it were trying to claw its way out. Tomorrow wasn't just any day—it was the day my life would be officially sold, claimed by a man I knew nothing about, who saw me only as a prize, a pawn in some game that had been set in motion long before I was born.

I wasn't even angry or sad anymore; I just felt numb. Numb from years of being pushed, pulled, and tossed aside. I knew I was the last of my kind, cursed from the moment I took my first breath. I was a hybrid of wolf, vampire, and siren, born under the red blood moon. The pendant around my neck was the only thing that kept me somewhat grounded. My parents had given it to me before they died—my mother, a wolf and vampire, my father, a merman. I had inherited their blood, and now, I was the last of them. The last of a dying breed. And for that, I was cursed.

I didn't care what my aunt thought. She was the one who sold me to Azariel anyway. The moment she found out I could attract men with my scent, she saw nothing but opportunity in my existence. She'd been bitter ever since my parents died, blaming them for everything. For me.

I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to push away the creeping thoughts, the spiraling frustration. I had to focus. I turned away from my aunt's lifeless gaze and headed up the stairs to my tiny room. The space was bare, the walls stripped of warmth, no comfort to be found. It felt smaller now, emptier. I had few belongings to pack anyway—just the basics, things that couldn't be left behind.

I looked down at my watch. 6:56 p.m. Nearly 7:30. My boss would be angry. I couldn't afford to lose my job—my only source of income. So I dropped everything and hurried into the bathroom, where I scrubbed my body quickly with the last bits of soap I had. My scent still lingered; it was always there—something I wished I could wash away.... something I couldn't wash away. No matter how hard I tried.

When I was done, I grabbed the first set of clothes I could find—my work uniform. It was slightly wrinkled, faded from wear, but it was all I had. I didn't even bother looking at myself in the mirror. It wasn't like it mattered.

Down the stairs I went, my heart racing. I could already hear my aunt's murmurs from the living room. She was speaking to herself again. It was the same thing every day—her quiet bitterness, her self-loathing. I didn't want to face it, so I kept my head down and rushed out the door.

The cold night air hit my face like a slap, and I inhaled deeply, trying to center myself. I ran toward the pack's war zone, my heart pounding in my chest as I thought about what awaited me. I worked at the war clinic, where injured soldiers came in from the battlefield. It wasn't glamorous, but it was something. I did what I could to heal them, ...but sometimes, I felt like I was just putting a band-aid over the bleeding wound of my own existence.

The clinic wasn't far, but the journey there always seemed to stretch on forever. The familiar faces, the looks of pity and disgust, were always waiting. Men would look at me like they could smell my blood from miles away, their eyes hungry, like I was nothing more than prey. The pendant around my neck kept some of them at bay, but it didn't shield me completely.

As I walked into the clinic, the familiar stench of blood, sweat, and fear hit me. I hated it, but it was my reality.

And then I saw Kael. He stood near the back of the room, his eyes locked on me as always. His gaze was predatory, lingering in a way that made my skin crawl. He wasn't shy about what he wanted.

"Have you reconsidered my offer?" Kael's voice was smooth, almost too smooth, like silk slipping over stone.

I felt a flash of disgust as his words settled into my bones. The offer. The one where he'd pay me if I let him take what he wanted. My body. My stomach churned, but I didn't show it.

"What offer?" I replied, trying to keep my voice steady, even though my pulse was rising.

"You know exactly what I mean," he said, his grin widening. "You could have everything you want, Seraphina. Money. Comfort. A life without all this." He waved his hand around dismissively, as if everything in my life could be fixed with a few pieces of gold. "All you have to do is say yes."

I could feel the heat rising in my chest, a familiar anger boiling over. I didn't ask for this life. I didn't ask to be born with blood that made men look at me like I was something to devour.

I should have just destroyed him with my magic, I thought, my fingers twitching with the urge to unleash my powers. I could have turned him to ash with just a thought. But I didn't. I kept my magic hidden, a secret known only to me and my aunt.

Instead, I spoke, my voice sharp. "I'm not that f***ing cheap," I said, cutting through the thick air between us.

Kael's eyes flared with anger, his lips curling into a sneer. "You think you're special? You're nothing but a damn omega, a healer, a nobody. You should be grateful I'm offering you this."

I felt a surge of anger at his words. How dare he call me a nobody? I knew I was so much more than that. I could literally destroy him with just a thought.

But I didn't. I kept my cool, my voice steady. "I should be grateful some creep wants to f*** me?? Kael, I said no. Go find someone else to humiliate."

Kael's face turned red with rage, his nostrils flaring. Before I could react, his hand shot out, slapping me across the face.

The sound echoed through the room, a ringing slap that left my cheek burning. I staggered backward, stunned. The shock coursed through me like a wave, and for a moment, all I could do was blink, trying to clear the fog from my mind.

"You don't get to speak to me like that," Kael hissed, his voice low and venomous.

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but before I could say another word, the door to the clinic swung open with a violent crash

"Enough."