Chapter 1My Alpha brother gave me to the monsters as a present — I was 18.
Thirty pregnancies. Thirty beatings. Five years of hell.
All because his REAL sister said I tried to kill her.
Spoiler: She lied about everything.
When I came home looking like death, she threw a party. Invited my rapists.
He slapped me for throwing a vase at my rapist. Called it "embarrassing."
I smiled alright.
Then I burned the whole place down with me inside.
The DNA test came back after I was already ash.
Too bad my brother would only figure it out when he was kneeling in my ashes.
Now it's time to watch it all burn.
---
Five years in hell, and my Alpha brother finally decided his sister was worth a helicopter ride.
Like he's doing me a favor.
The rotors kicked up dirt and dust, blasting everything in their wake.
Dorian Voss stepped out first, suit perfect, hair perfect, everything perfect.
Of course.
Celeste Whitmore followed right behind him—the real daughter. The one with the matching DNA.
She looked like she'd just finished a spa day. Not a care in the world.
Meanwhile, I probably looked like something that should've stayed dead.
But here's the kicker—she'd brought a whole damn audience.
People I used to hang out with, all lined up to watch whatever sick show she had planned.
Celeste stepped forward, and her eyes went wide when she saw me. "Seraphina... is that really you?"
The crowd was eating it up, staring at me like I was some kind of freak show exhibit.
She walked closer, her voice dropping to something that sounded almost sympathetic.
"Thirty pregnancies," she said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Thirty losses. Five years. God, what did this place do to you?"
Whispers rippled through the group. Disgust. Pity. Morbid curiosity.
I met Celeste's eyes and said nothing.
That threw her off. She'd expected me to cry or scream or beg.
When I didn't react, she backed up real quick, grabbing onto Dorian's arm. "She's scaring me," she whined.
Dorian had been watching me with this cold, calculating look. Now he spoke up, his Alpha voice cutting through everything. "Hope you learned your lesson," he said flatly.
I nodded.
Yeah, I'd learned plenty. Being kind gets you destroyed.
Being nice gets you destroyed.
Loving someone who doesn't care about you ruins everything.
Something crossed his face. Maybe guilt. Maybe satisfaction.
"Good," he said. "About damn time."
My mouth twitched. Almost laughed.
The second I climbed into that helicopter, the Moon Goddess spoke. Her voice filled my head like bells.
"Your trial is complete, child. Twenty-five years survived. Your soul will be returned in three days. Your reward: one billion dollars."
I looked at my hands.
Twisted. Scarred. Barely worked.
Three more days.
Dorian stared at me from across the cabin.
"When we land, stay away from Celeste. Don't talk to her. Don't even look at her. Do that, and I won't send you back. I'll also keep quiet about what happened."
I turned to really look at him then. My brother. The person I used to think hung the fucking moon.
He looked exactly the same as five years ago when he threw me away.
Expensive suit, perfect hair, not a care in the world.
I looked like death.
"Fine." I said, my voice completely flat.
Everyone went quiet. Pretending not to listen while hanging on every word.
My old friends were holding their noses. Celeste saw them and did the same.
Then she forced herself to sit next to me anyway, looking like she might throw up.
"So like," she said, all sugary sweet, "how are you even alive right now? Thirty miscarriages? That's fucking insane."
My nails dug into my palms under the dirt-caked sleeves.
Five years ago, the day after Dorian found his precious real sister, Celeste said I tried to kill her.
All lies.
But Dorian believed every word.
He dumped me in the mountains and handed me over to Garrett Blackthorn.
One rule: keep her alive.
Everything else was fair game.
I was eighteen the first time Garrett raped me.
By morning I wanted to die.
A month later I found out I was pregnant.
They beat me until I lost it.
Then I got pregnant again.
They beat me again.
Over and over, thirty fucking times, until my body just gave up.
I didn't answer Celeste.
Couldn't trust what would come out.
Dorian jumped in. "I set you up with the best doctors. Top hospital. Everything paid for. Just admit what you did and we're good."
I almost laughed. "How generous."
His eyebrows pulled together, like he wanted to say something but didn't.
I looked away, letting my eyes drift around the cabin.
That's when I recognized it.
This helicopter.
The custom interior. The layout. Everything.
Dorian gave this to me for my eighteenth birthday. Had it specially made.
One of a kind.
I barely used it before Celeste showed up with her DNA test.
Never thought the next time I'd be here, I'd look like this.
"Babe," Celeste said, wrinkling her nose. "We need to get this thing deep cleaned when we land. It smells so bad."
She glanced at me. "Oops. Sorry Sera. You know me, no filter."
Dorian pulled her close, actually laughing. "Yeah, you're not wrong. It's pretty bad."
Celeste melted into him. Shot me a look over his shoulder.
Smug. Satisfied.
I gave her nothing.
Five years ago I would've been sobbing. Begging him to look at me instead. Dying inside watching them together.
That girl was dead.
Dorian looked back at me.
"If you want another helicopter, I'll buy it. But this one's Celeste's now. Just so you know."
I stared at him, genuinely confused. "Did I ask for it?" I said. "She can have it."
His whole expression changed. He actually moved Celeste aside to lean forward, studying my face like I was some kind of puzzle.
"You don't care?" His voice went weird. "I had this custom built for you. You used to love it."
I smiled—small, easy, completely unbothered. "People change."
Just like how he used to swear I was his whole world. Until I wasn't.
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Nothing came out.
I turned to the window.
The Moon Goddess spoke again. Softer this time.
"The original Seraphina Voss has fallen. Her mission failed. You must return to me, child. This vessel must be released."
My hands stopped for just a second. Then I nodded slightly.
So I had to die. Make it dramatic, make it count.
After five years of hell, that would be easy.
Chapter 2
Two hours later, the helicopter touched down.
The estate looked exactly the same. Big. Perfect. Cold.
The second Celeste stepped off the helicopter, Omega servants rushed over. Fussing. Cooing. Falling all over themselves.
One of the younger maids glared at me. "Can't believe she has the nerve to show her face here," she said, not even trying to whisper. "After everything she did."
Celeste heard every word. She didn't say anything. Just adjusted her sunglasses with this slow, satisfied smile.
Like she'd won something.
That was all it took. The other servants started up immediately.
"I heard from Alpha Dorian's beta that she got gang-raped up there. Lost over thirty babies."
"Thirty? Jesus. She probably has diseases. What if we catch something?"
They all backed up at once, covering their mouths.
I stopped walking, letting my eyes move over them slowly.
Then I walked straight toward the young maid who'd started it. Took my time.
"What?" She lifted her chin, trying to look brave. "I'm not wrong. You're used goods. Everyone knows it."
My fingers twitched, but I smiled instead.
"Elara. Seven years ago, your dad drank himself to death and your mom ran off. Remember who gave you a job? Who made sure you had a place to sleep?"
Her face went red. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.
Celeste moved in fast. "Sera, come on. They're just venting. You don't need to attack people." Her voice went all wobbly. Eyes getting wet. "Or is this really about me? Do you blame me for taking your place?"
Dorian had just gotten off the helicopter. He heard her and came over immediately, pulling her against him.
"Hey, don't cry." His voice went all soft. "You're family, Celeste. This is your home. No one gets to make you feel bad about that."
Then he looked at me. The gentleness disappeared.
"You've been back for what, ten minutes? And you're already causing problems?" His eyes went hard. "Keep it up and you'll be back in those mountains by tonight."
My shoulders stiffened. I didn't argue.
"You're right," I said. "My fault."
He blinked. Like he'd been expecting a fight and didn't know what to do when he didn't get one.
"That's it?" He stared at me. "You're just gonna take the blame? What if I'm actually wrong about you?"
I laughed. Dry and short.
"You already made up your mind five years ago. Why would today be any different?"
His jaw clenched. Something flashed across his face—irritation mixed with something else I couldn't read.
I turned and walked away before he could respond.
Dorian caught up with me a few seconds later.
That's when I saw it.
The lemon tree I'd planted as a kid was gone. Ripped out completely. In its place was a huge bed of Moonlight flowers.
Celeste's favorite.
Dorian's eyes flicked to me. Something uncertain crossed his face.
"Celeste's allergic to lemon," he said. "But if you want, I can have the gardeners plant another one somewhere else. Maybe by the back gate."
I froze.
His voice from years ago hit me suddenly. Clear as day.
"This tree's gonna grow up with you, Sera. We'll see who ends up taller—you or the tree."
The memory faded.
I kept my voice flat. "Don't waste your time. It's better off dead anyway."
Chapter 3
Something flickered in his eyes.
He took a breath. "Three days from now, I'm throwing a party. Official welcome for Celeste. Whole pack's gonna be there."
"You need to show up. If you don't, people will ask questions. Makes her look bad."
Three days.
I almost laughed.
"I can't make it," I said.
I'd be dead by then anyway.
That was all the excuse he needed.
His face went dark. He grabbed my wrist and twisted.
Something cracked.
"This isn't a fucking request." His grip tightened. "Or did those five years not teach you anything?"
My face went white. I bit down hard to keep from screaming.
Then he shoved me.
Hard.
"Don't show up," he said, "and you'll wish you were back in those mountains."
I stumbled backward and hit the ground. My wrist—already just bone wrapped in skin—bent at a sickening angle.
He stood over me for a second, then turned and walked away.
My eyes burned.
But I didn't cry.
Not anymore.
I went upstairs. Found my old room from memory.
Everything was different.
New bed. New furniture. New everything.
Photos of Celeste plastered all over the walls. Celeste at graduation. Celeste with Dorian. Celeste smiling like she owned the world.
Because she did.
She appeared in the doorway right on cue, like she'd been waiting.
"Oh. Sera." Her smile was pure sugar. "This is my room now. Has been for five years, actually. You can take one of the guest rooms downstairs." She tilted her head. "Or there's always the servants' quarters if that's more your speed."
I didn't say anything.
Just turned around and headed back downstairs.
She watched me go, and I could feel her frustration burning into my back.
She'd wanted a scene. Wanted me to scream, to cry, to beg.
This empty version of me gave her nothing.
She stared at my back until I disappeared around the corner. Then her face went cold, calculating.
She pulled out her phone.
I picked a guest room at random.
First shower in five years.
When the hot water hit my skin, I flinched back. My body didn't know what to do with warmth anymore. Didn't trust it.
I forced myself to stand under the spray anyway.
When I finally got out, I wiped the steam off the mirror.
The woman staring back was a stranger.
Scars everywhere. Old whip marks crisscrossing my back. Burn scars on my arms. Newer cuts layered over old ones.
A map of everything they'd done to me.
That night, I didn't sleep.
Just lay there in the dark, replaying the same scenes over and over. The same sounds. The same hands on me.
I couldn't tell what was dream and what was memory.
I woke up at dawn drenched in sweat.
Voices drifted up from downstairs.
"We really appreciate you coming, Mr. Garrett."
"No, no, Alpha Dorian. Thank you."
Every muscle in my body locked.
I knew that voice.
I'd spent five years trying to forget it.
I was out the door before I even realized I'd moved.
They were in the living room.
Garrett Blackthorn and two of his men, standing there talking to Celeste and Dorian like this was a social call.
Garrett's eyes landed on me.
He smiled.
Slow and deliberate, like he had every right.
"Well, well. Little Sera." His gaze dragged over me, and I felt my skin crawl. "You clean up real nice."
Something inside me snapped.
"Why the fuck are you here?" I grabbed the nearest thing—a heavy glass vase—and hurled it straight at his head. "Get out! Get the fuck out!"
It caught him across the temple. Blood started running down his face.
"You crazy bitch!" He raised his hand but stopped himself, eyes cutting to Dorian.
I couldn't breathe. The nightmare had followed me out of sleep.
I ran to the kitchen. My hand closed around a knife.
"I'll kill you. I'll kill all of YOU!"
Dorian was across the room in seconds.
The slap came out of nowhere.
Everything stopped.
My cheek exploded with pain and I hit the floor hard.
Tears came without permission.
"Pull yourself together." Dorian's voice was ice. "Celeste invited them. She thought it was appropriate. They're the reason you finally learned to behave. They'll be at the party in three days. So get your shit together and stop embarrassing yourself."
All the fight drained out of me.
I looked up at him. This man I used to love more than anything in the world.
"Why..." My voice broke. "Why are you doing this to me, Dorian? Just kill me. It'd be easier."
His eyes sharpened. "What did you just say?"
I spat blood onto the floor and collapsed.
He just stood there, his hands trembling.
