Chapter 5 The Trap Springs

The old cemetery lay shrouded in mist, ancient headstones emerging from the fog like broken teeth. Seraphina stood at the rusted iron gates, her enhanced senses cataloging every scent, every sound, every potential threat hiding in the darkness beyond. This place reeked of old death and older magic-exactly the kind of location Elder Thorne would choose for whatever game he was playing.

She was early. Deliberately so.

The pendant Kai had given her all those years ago hung heavy around her neck, hidden beneath her black tactical gear. She'd put it on without really understanding why, some instinct telling her she'd need every connection to her past before this night was over. The silver felt warm against her skin, as if it still carried traces of the love that had forged it.

*Focus, Sera. Sentiment will get you killed.*

Marcus's voice crackled through her earpiece, a welcome anchor in the growing storm of her emotions. "Alpha, I'm in position on the ridge. Ghost is covering the north approach, Raven has eyes on the south. No sign of Silver Crest forces yet."

"Copy that," she murmured, pushing through the cemetery gates with predatory grace. "Remember, maintain radio silence unless there's immediate danger. I need to hear what this elder has to say."

"Still don't like this," Marcus's voice carried a wealth of worry. "Everything about this screams ambush."

She almost smiled at his protective instincts. Even knowing she could level half the forest if threatened, Marcus still worried about her like she was that broken girl he'd found in the snow. It was one of the things she loved most about him-and one of the reasons she could never love him the way he deserved.

"Trust me to handle this," she said softly, knowing the words would hurt him even as they reassured him. "I'll be fine."

The lie tasted bitter on her tongue. She wasn't fine. Hadn't been fine since the moment she'd walked back into Kai's world and felt the mate bond slam into her chest like a physical blow. The careful control she'd spent five years building was cracking, Ancient power stirring restlessly beneath her skin as memories that weren't entirely her own began to surface.

*You should have killed him when you had the chance.*

The thought whispered through her mind in a voice that wasn't quite her own, carrying the bitter fury of a woman who'd loved and lost centuries ago. Elena Nightfall's memories were growing stronger, more insistent, bleeding through the barriers Sera had built to keep them contained.

She pushed deeper into the cemetery, her boots silent on the frost-covered ground. The headstones here were old, some dating back to the early 1700s when the first supernatural settlements had been established in this region. Many bore the names of pack leaders, respected elders, warriors who'd died defending their people.

Heroes and legends, all of them dust now.

At the heart of the cemetery stood a massive oak tree, its ancient branches twisted into shapes that seemed almost deliberate. Sera could feel the power radiating from it-this was a nexus point, a place where the veil between worlds grew thin. The perfect location for a trap.

Or a revelation.

Elder Thorne stepped out from behind the oak tree as if he'd materialized from shadow itself. In the pale moonlight, his weathered features looked even more pronounced, steel-gray eyes glinting with an intensity that made Sera's wolf bristle with warning.

"Seraphina," he said, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. "Thank you for coming. I wasn't certain you would."

"You said you had information about my heritage," she replied, keeping her tone carefully neutral. "I'm listening."

Thorne smiled, and something about the expression sent ice racing down her spine. It was the smile of a predator who'd finally cornered his prey.

"Your heritage," he repeated, circling the massive tree trunk with measured steps. "Such an interesting choice of words. Tell me, child, how much do you remember of your life before you came to the Silver Crest Pack?"

Sera's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "Enough."

"Do you remember your parents? Your childhood? The circumstances that led a five-year-old girl to wander alone through supernatural territory with no memory of her past?"

The questions hit like physical blows, stirring up the darkness she'd spent years trying to suppress. The truth was, she remembered almost nothing from before Marcus found her-just fragments of dreams and nightmares that might have been memories or might have been imagination.

"What's your point, elder?"

"My point," Thorne said, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried perfectly in the still air, "is that you've been asking the wrong questions. You want to know about your Ancient bloodline, about Elena Nightfall and the power that runs in your veins. But you should be asking why you're here. Why now. Why you were drawn back to this place at this precise moment in time."

Despite herself, Sera felt drawn into his words. There was something hypnotic about his voice, something that made her want to lean closer and listen to whatever truth he was offering.

"The Ancient Ones were not simply hunted to extinction," Thorne continued, his eyes never leaving hers. "They were betrayed. Sold out by those they trusted most. And the entity responsible for their destruction has been waiting, planning, gathering strength for centuries."

"What entity?"

Thorne's smile widened, and for a moment his steel-gray eyes seemed to flicker with something darker. "Me."

The word hit Sera like a lightning bolt. Power exploded from her instinctively, shadows writhing around her as frost spread across the ground in a rapidly expanding circle. But even as she prepared to defend herself, she realized the trap had already been sprung.

The cemetery was surrounded.

Figures emerged from behind headstones and mausoleums-not Silver Crest pack members, but something else entirely. Their eyes glowed with the same sickly light she'd seen flickering in Thorne's gaze, and they moved with inhuman coordination that spoke of a controlling intelligence.

"You see," Thorne said conversationally, seemingly unaffected by the supernatural energy crackling through the air, "I've been orchestrating events for far longer than you could imagine. The rejection that broke your heart and awakened your power? My suggestion to a desperate young Alpha. The threats against your life that forced his hand? My creation. Even your dramatic return to Silver Crest territory-I've been subtly guiding you toward this moment for years."

Rage unlike anything Sera had ever experienced flooded through her system. Not just her own fury, but Elena's as well-centuries of betrayal and loss and bitter hatred combining into a force that threatened to consume her entirely.

"Why?" The word came out as a growl, her eyes blazing with violet fire.

"Because, my dear Elena," Thorne said, and the casual use of her past life's name sent fresh shock through her system, "you are the key to everything. The last daughter of the Ancient bloodline, reborn at the precise moment when the barriers between worlds grow weak. Your power, freely given, will allow me to tear apart the veils that separate dimensions and reclaim the dominion that was stolen from me millennia ago."

The possessed figures began to close in, moving with predatory patience. Sera counted at least two dozen, their movements perfectly synchronized as they formed an ever-tightening circle around the ancient oak.

"Marcus," she whispered into her earpiece. "Code red. I need extraction now."

Static answered her. They were jamming communications somehow, cutting her off from her pack.

"Your friends can't help you," Thorne said, his voice carrying a note of mock sympathy. "The Shadow Entity has been preparing for this confrontation for centuries. Did you truly think a few young wolves could stand against power that predates civilization itself?"

Ancient memories surged through Sera's mind-flashes of Elena's life, her loves, her losses, her final desperate battle against forces beyond imagining. She saw cities burning, armies falling, reality itself bending under the weight of cosmic horror.

And she saw the face of the entity that had orchestrated it all. The same entity that now wore Elder Thorne's weathered features like a mask.

"You," she breathed, recognition hitting like a physical blow. "You're the one Elena fought. The Shadow that consumed the Ancient lands."

"I am indeed," Thorne replied with obvious pleasure. "And now, after so many centuries of careful planning, I have you exactly where I want you. Isolated, surrounded, and finally ready to fulfill your true purpose."

The possessed figures lunged forward as one, their movements inhumanly fast and perfectly coordinated. Sera's power exploded outward in response, shadows erupting from the ground like living things as she fought to defend herself against overwhelming odds.

But even as she battled, she could feel the trap tightening around her. This wasn't just a physical ambush-it was a magical snare, designed to funnel her power in specific directions, to force her to use her abilities in ways that would weaken rather than strengthen her.

*I have to get out of here. Have to warn the others.*

But even as the thought formed, she realized the horrible truth. This wasn't just about capturing her-it was about timing. In less than two hours, she was supposed to meet Kai at Raven's Ridge. He would be there, alone and vulnerable, walking into whatever secondary trap Thorne had prepared.

The Shadow Entity wasn't just planning to claim her power. It was planning to destroy everything she cared about in the process.

Including the mate whose betrayal she'd never quite been able to forgive, and whose love she'd never quite been able to forget.

*Kai.*

His name tore through her mind as she fought desperately against impossible odds, Ancient power and modern desperation combining in a battle that would determine the fate of everyone she'd ever loved.

The trap had sprung, and she was running out of time to save them all.

---

Two miles away, Marcus felt the moment Sera's communication cut out like a physical blow to his chest. He was already moving before his conscious mind processed the danger, Ghost and Raven flanking him as they raced toward the cemetery where their Alpha had walked into what was obviously a carefully laid trap.

"How long?" Ghost asked, her voice tight with controlled panic.

"Ten minutes if we push hard," Marcus replied, his enhanced wolf speed eating up the distance between them and whatever hell Sera was facing alone.

But even as he ran, a horrible certainty settled in his chest. Ten minutes might be nine minutes too long.

Behind them, the night sky above the cemetery suddenly blazed with unnatural light-violet fire and shadow magic clashing in a display of power that could probably be seen for miles.

Sera was fighting for her life.

And somewhere in the darkness ahead, the woman Marcus loved more than his own existence was running out of time.

*Hold on,* he thought desperately, pushing his body beyond its limits as he raced toward whatever nightmare was unfolding in that cursed place. *Just hold on, Sera. I'm coming.*

The question was whether he'd arrive in time to save her-or just in time to watch her fall.