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46 Knock At The Door 

Sera 

A violent shiver ripped through my spine. My teeth clamped together so hard my jaw ached. My stomach cramped, a sharp, twisting pain that made me curl into a tight ball on the floor. The forced healing. Yvara had warned me. My body had burned through its fuel to stitch my skin together. Now it was starving, cannibalizing itself for energy. 

“Food,” I gasped. My throat was completely dry. “Mina. Food.” 

“I will get it. Stay here.” Mina scrambled up and ran out the door. 

I lay curled on the rug, my muscles locking up. The cold seeped directly into my bones, freezing me to the floor. I couldn’t move. I hated the feeling. It was a sickening, suffocating helplessness. 

I had felt helpless before. 

I remember my second month in Blackwater. The head maid, a bitter woman named Clara, had deliberately dumped my basket of clean laundry into the mud of the courtyard. When I confronted her, she laughed in my face. She called me a stray Omega whore who was playing house. 

I went straight to Kane. I was shaking with righteous anger. I expected him to drag Clara out of the kitchens and strip her of her position immediately. 

Instead, Kane sighed. He set down his pen, leaned back in his heavy leather chair, and rubbed his temples like I was giving him a headache. 

“Sera, you are overreacting,” he said. His voice was calm. 

“Overreaction? Are serious right now! Kane, she dumped my clothes in the mud, and you think I’m 

overreacting?” 

“Relax, baby.” 

He reached out and pulled me into his lap. He stroked my hair, his fingers heavy and warm against my scalp. “You have to understand how it looks to them, Sera. You are an unmated Omega living in the Alpha’s private quarters. I haven’t married you yet. You can’t expect the pack to bow to you when you 

don’t have a title.” 

I looked at him, the anger turning into a cold, heavy knot of shame in my gut. “Then give me the title.” 

He smiled. It was a soft, deeply patronizing smile. “I will. You know I will. You are going to be my Luna. But we have to wait for the right time. The elders need to warm up to you. Just keep your head down, Sera. Don’t cause trouble. Do it for me.” 

And I did. I nodded against his chest. I buried my anger, walked back out to the courtyard, and picked my dirty clothes out of the mud by myself. 

Lying on the floor in Ironmaw, staring at the wood grain of the floorboards, I wanted to scream at the 

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nineteen-year-old girl I used to be. Kane had manipulated every single word. He hadn’t defended me because he didn’t respect me. He never intended to marry me. I wasn’t a Luna in training. I was a secret he was fucking for free, and was hiding in plain sight, and I had thanked him for it. 

I dug my fingernails into the thick wool rug until my knuckles ached. Never again. I would never let someone else decide my worth. I would never shrink so a man could feel tall. 

The door flew open. Mina rushed in carrying a heavy wooden tray. I could already smell it before I saw it. 

I was salivating. 

It was loaded with roasted meat, thick slices of bread, and a massive block of sharp yellow cheese. The smell of hot grease hit my nose, and my stomach cramped again. She dropped the tray on the floor next 

to me. 

I grabbed a chunk of meat with my bare hands and tore into it with my teeth. Grease ran down my chin. I chewed and swallowed as fast as I could. I ate like a starved animal. Mina just watched me. She didn’t judge. She poured water into an iron cup and pushed it across the rug toward me. 

I ate half the meat before the violent shaking stopped. The cramping eased into a dull ache. I sat up, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and drank the water in three long gulps. 

A heavy knock hit the door. 

*** 

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