Chapter 3

Serena's POV

The dark basement reeked of blood and moldy dampness.

I lay crumpled on the cold stone floor like driftwood, completely drained. Three straight days of blood extraction had pushed my beast core to the breaking point. The apex predator aura I'd once been so proud of was now barely detectable.

The iron door screeched open. Carlisle strutted in wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, looking on top of the world. Obviously Lydia was thriving after absorbing my blood.

He held a parchment scroll, looking down at me like I was dirt.

"Serena, your stubbornness has been driving me crazy, but at least you finally got smart." He tossed the scroll at my feet. "Sign it. Once this 'severance contract' goes into effect, you'll voluntarily give up everything the Fangarde clan left you—it all goes to Arthur and Lydia. In exchange, I'll let you stay in Locke territory."

I forced my eyes open and stared at the contract pulsing with faint magical energy.

In shifter society, severance contracts were the cruelest curse imaginable. They didn't just steal your wealth—they severed your soul connection to your birth clan. Once signed, I'd truly be powerless and alone.

Clever bastard. He wanted my money AND to cut off any chance of me calling my brother for help.

"Pen." My voice scraped like sandpaper. I didn't look at him.

Carlisle seemed surprised by how easily I gave in, but quickly chalked it up to me being completely broken. He handed me a quill dipped in special ink.

I gripped the pen, my wrist shaking violently from weakness. But as I signed, I secretly mixed a drop of blood from my fingertip into the ink.

This was Fangarde clan secret magic—"blood binding." With that drop of blood, this contract wouldn't be chains around me anymore. It would be a ticking time bomb that could turn on its master anytime.

I signed my name.

The scroll flashed blinding red light as the contract activated. Carlisle rolled it up with satisfaction, his mouth twisting into a cruel smile.

"Perfect. Starting today, you move to the storage room in the north wing. Don't you dare leave without my say-so."

He turned and strode out like looking at me one more second would poison his eyes.

The basement fell silent again.

I lay still, waiting.

Once I was sure no one was around, my eyes snapped open, my dulled pupils exploding with terrifying light.

I pulled a blood-stained necklace from deep inside my torn collar. The pendant was a crystal-clear mate stone—forged from Carlisle's beast core fragment and my heart's blood when he proposed years ago.

"Carlisle, you think draining my blood would cage me?"

I bit my tongue and spat blood onto the mate stone.

CRACK—

The sharp sound of shattering echoed through the silent basement. The mate stone exploded from within, turning to powder.

Mate bond forcibly severed!

The violent backlash made me vomit black blood, but what followed was pure relief as some deep soul shackle snapped completely.

I forced myself up and pulled out a hidden bone blade, picking the shackles.

Without the mate bond suppressing me, my Fangarde bloodline went crazy repairing my damaged channels. I slipped past Locke's lazy guards like a ghost and vanished into the night.

I wouldn't spend another second in that cesspit.

......

The next morning.

Carlisle pushed open the basement door, ready to gloat over his victory, only to find it empty.

The chains lay neatly cut on the floor. Not a trace of Serena's scent lingered in the air.

"FUCK! How did she escape?!" Carlisle roared.

He rushed to where Serena had been lying, searching for clues. Suddenly, his gaze froze.

On the cold stone floor lay a pile of pink powder—the remains of a shattered mate stone.

Next to the powder, written in dried blood, was a single line.

Carlisle stared at those words, cold dread shooting through him. His breathing stopped.

The message read:

[Happy rebirth, Carlisle. I took everything that belongs to me—including your life.]

She knew!

She'd known from the very beginning that he was Carlisle!

She'd signed the contract, endured the blood extraction—all to lull him into thinking she was broken, so he wouldn't notice when she severed their mate bond!

Carlisle's body shook violently as panic consumed him. If Serena told the Shifter Council his real identity...

"FIND HER! I want her found NOW! Search every inch of this territory, but BRING HER BACK!"

The Locke territory echoed with his frantic bellowing.