Page 124

"Well? Happy?"

Seren said nothing.

Her sorrow hung thick in the silence. This was not what she wanted. But it was how it had to be.

For a breath, the goddess's monstrous face softened. Just for a moment. A glimmer of compassion.

Then it was gone.

She rolled her neck. "Sentimentality is so exhausting."

She snapped her fingers once.

"It's done."

Her voice echoed like thunder.

"Enjoy your freedom, darling. Now run along—"

The mist behind Seren turned black, swirling like a storm.

"—it's time to wake up."

And then—

The world tilted.

The wind howled.

And she was sucked back into the vortex.

Chapter 47

Hagan

Like the doomed star of a grand and tragic spectacle, Hagan stood at the centre of the tribe's watchful eyes, his life unravelling in the aftermath of his own folly. Everything he had unknowingly taken for granted had dissolved into nothingness.

Lia's revelations didn't just burn through the bond between him and Seren—they scorched the foundation of everything else in Hagan's life. Her powers as an enchantress were only amplified by her Wolfblood from her father's line. She could hypnotise the susceptible with a touch.

His parents had changed beyond recognition. His father could not meet his eyes. Not due to anger. But due to guilt.

That was worse.

His mother hadn't said a word when she looked down on him, beaten and bruised, in the longhall. She had lain a hand on his arm and looked at him like she was trying to reconcile the boy she raised with the man who had let this happen to his fated. Her eyes were clouded with guilt.

His father had spoken only once, voice low, cracking: "The fates chose her. And we failed her."

Veyr... Veyr refused to speak to him or even look at him after the fight.

He didn't know if he should be grateful or jealous of all the time Seren spent with him.

And Dain?

Dain hadn't said a word since the truth came out—about Lia's enchantment, about how long she'd manipulated them both. About how he had helped her. Dain had stood in that long silence with guilt written across his face like a brand, but also anger—because somewhere deep down, he had loved her too. Lia had admitted to using her magic—whispers, spells, subtle touches—to cloud Hagan's mind, and Dain's. And Dain, who'd been in love with her for as long as he could remember, had turned a blind eye. He'd thought Hagan used her and threw her away. But the truth was... messy. After Hagan had explained that he was going to be true to Seren, Dain and Lia had become close friends. And gradually lovers. It had just happened.

Secretly.

And when Hagan began working with her again, Lia had clung to the hope that he was coming back. Dain wanted her to be happy, and Hagan had been too distracted to see how twisted what was happening right in front of him.