"She had three months to turn the most dangerous man in the region into her greatest weapon."
023.
The minute Astrid was called to deliver her first speech, the hall slowly fell silent.
The only thing Seyra wanted to do at this moment was leave. But she didn’t know why she stayed. Maybe she just wanted to see where Astrid would go with her lies this time, even after everything the Alpha said about her.
And she knew the foolish people who cared about nothing but beauty.
They would forget about that and eat whatever she fed them.
Astrid walked to the center with her head held high, the crown sitting perfectly on her head and her crimson gown trailing behind her.
"Thank you all for being here tonight," She began, her voice sweet and calm. "It is an honor to stand before you as the new Lady Royal of Harlow Hades."
The crowd applauded loudly.
Seyra almost wanted to correct her and say she was only acting, but she didn’t want to be petty.
She wanted her to enjoy every moment.
Astrid smiled and waited for the noise to settle before continuing.
"I promise to serve this pack with everything I have. I will stand for you all, support our people, and make sure every woman and child in Harlow Hades knows they have a voice."
Another round of applause filled the hall.
Astrid placed a hand over her heart. "And I promise that I will never forget where I came from. I will honor this position, support my mate, and do everything in my power to make this pack stronger."
The crowd cheered.
Astrid’s smile widened as she looked toward Cassiel. Seyra’s head turned in the same direction.
He stood near the raised platform, dressed in a black suit with silver details that matched the pack’s colors. His expression remained composed, but the pride in his eyes was impossible to miss.
Seyra scoffed. How did he get there so fast? She hadn’t seen him all night.
Astrid walked toward him as the music began to play.
The celebration officially kicked off.
Her friends rushed toward her first, laughing and cheering as they pulled her into the middle of the hall. Someone handed her a glass of champagne, and Astrid lifted it above her head while the crowd shouted her name.
She danced with them, her crimson gown sweeping across the floor as the musicians played faster.
She laughed when one of her friends spun her around and nearly stepped on the hem of her dress. Another friend joined them, raising her glass and shouting a toast to the new Lady Royal.
"To Astrid!" she called.
"To Astrid!" the others echoed.
Seyra rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell off.
She couldn’t wait to see how long Astrid would be able to keep this pretense up.
A few hours later, the ceremony was over.
The grand hall had finally emptied, leaving behind scattered glasses, half-eaten food, wilted flowers, and the faint scent of wine hanging in the air.
Seyra joined the other maids in cleaning the tables. She was already exhausted, her arms aching from carrying trays all night.
She wiped down the long tables, her mind replaying the night over and over. The reveal. The crown. The balcony. Astrid’s threat.
Everything felt too heavy to carry all at once.
Ruth approached from the other side of the hall, a cloth in her hand, her expression guarded as she started wiping the table beside Seyra’s.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then Ruth broke the silence.
"Why did you reject it?"
Seyra kept wiping, not looking up. "Reject what?"
"You know what." Ruth set down her cloth. "The Lady Royal position. It would have set you free, Seyra. No more maid duties. No more being treated like dirt. No more punishments." Her voice softened. "You could have walked out of this palace with power, and you threw it away."
"I didn’t throw it away," Seyra said quietly. "I left it for something else."
Ruth frowned. "What’s so important that you’d let go of your one chance at freedom and choose suffering instead?"
Seyra paused, the cloth still in her hand.
Ruth was right. She knew that. But her mind had already been made up long before Serene had called her name. As much as she wanted to make everyone who had ever looked down on her regret it, her real targets weren’t the pack as a whole.
They were Astrid. Her parents. Cassiel. Garrick and Roan.
If she had accepted the title, she wouldn’t have been patient. She knew herself too well. The moment she had real power, she would have hunted Garrick and Roan down immediately, and people would have talked. Some might have even rebelled.
And the worst part was that they still saw her as a maid underneath it all. A title alone wouldn’t have changed that overnight. She would have had the power, but she would have spent all of it just trying to keep it.
"I’m being patient," Seyra finally said. "I don’t want a target on my back before I’m ready."
Ruth let out a humorless laugh. "Seyra, there’s already a target on your back. Everyone in that hall saw you stand up to the Alpha tonight. Do you understand what that means?" She lowered her voice. "I overheard people calling you proud. Asking who you thought you were. If you rejected the position thinking it would keep you safe, you were wrong. Rejecting it is what’s going to make them come after you harder."
Seyra looked around the empty hall. She looked at the gold decorations still hanging from the walls and at the candles slowly burning down to nothing.
A chill crawled up her spine, but she balled her fists and lifted her chin anyway.
"I’ll endure it," she was stubborn.
"Seyra—"
"Nothing is more painful, Ruth," Seyra cut her off, "Nothing is more painful than what my own family has already put me through." Her voice shook, but she kept going. "My mother slapped me more times than I can count. My father picked up a whip and threatened to use it on me in my own home. They called me a goat. A liability. They sold me to pay a debt they never even used on me, all because I wasn’t beautiful enough for their liking."
Ruth’s eyes filled with sympathy, but Seyra wasn’t finished.
"And Cassiel." Her throat tightened around his name. "He used me for eight months like I was some toy for Astrid’s amusement. He let them hold me down. He laughed while they humiliated me in front of the entire pack." She took a shaky breath. "Nothing, not even the thirty lashes I took in that courtyard, hurt as much as realizing none of them ever saw me as a person."
Ruth reached out and squeezed her hand.
"I’ll endure whatever comes," Seyra said, steadier now. "And I’ll show every single one of them."
Ruth was quiet for a moment, studying her carefully.
"How?" she finally asked. "Astrid has the Lady Royal title now. Your parents are more respected than ever because of it. And Cassiel," She hesitated. "I heard he’s going to be made one of the Alpha’s special soldiers during the festival. Your enemies are climbing higher, Seyra, while you’re still stuck beneath all of them."
Seyra allowed herself a small smile.
"I’m not going for something beneath them," she said. "I’m going for someone stronger than all of them combined. Someone higher. Someone they all bow to."
Ruth’s brows pulled together. "Who?"
"Alpha Orin."
Ruth blinked, certain she’d misheard. "What?"
"Alpha Orin," Seyra repeated. "He’s the power I want."
Ruth’s mouth fell open. "Seyra, do you wish to be killed? You cannot just say things like that out loud. If anyone hears you—"
"If the Alpha wanted me dead," Seyra said calmly, "he would have done it already. Many times over." She met Ruth’s wide eyes without flinching. "So as long as he hasn’t killed me yet, I’m going to get him."
Ruth stared at her like she’d grown a second head. "You’re insane."
"Maybe," Seyra admitted. "But insane people don’t get walked over as easily."
Ruth shook her head slowly, though something like reluctant admiration flickered behind her worry. "You’ve changed, you know that? The Seyra who first walked into this palace would never have said something like that."
"That Seyra is gone," Seyra responded simply. "She died somewhere between the whip and Mira’s burial."
Ruth fell silent at that, her expression softening with grief of her own.
They finished clearing the last of the tables in a comfortable quiet, the exhaustion of the night finally settling fully into Seyra’s bones.
By the time they were done, the moon had climbed high above the palace, casting silver light through the tall windows.
As they made their way out of the hall, Ruth glanced at her one more time.
"For what it’s worth," she said quietly, "I hope you get everything you’re after."
Seyra offered her a tired smile. "So do I."
"I sure hope you know what you’re doing, Seyra." Red said.
Seyra sighed. "To be honest, I think I just embarked on a suicide mission."
Red let out a soft growl. "Giving up?"
"No."