Chapter 6

(Seraphina POV)

The imposing, wrought-iron gates of the Obsidian Crest border loomed ahead, cast in the harsh, oppressive glare of the security floodlights. It was exactly 9:00 PM on the night before the mandatory death anniversary memorial, and a freezing drizzle was beginning to slick the asphalt.

I rolled my rusted, reliable sedan to a halt at the primary checkpoint and dutifully lowered my window.

"Step out of the vehicle."

The command was sharp and brimming with unwarranted authority. I sighed, killing the engine and pushing the heavy door open. Standing directly beneath the halogen glare were three wolves I recognized with an unpleasant intimacy—Caspian, Jasper, and Asher. The holy trinity of my high school tormentors.

I was well aware that I looked different. The agonizing, cystic acne of my early teenage years had eventually cleared. I was four inches taller, carrying lean muscle mass earned from endless days on my feet in the hospital wards. My breasts had finally filled out, and more importantly, I hadn't worn my thick, oversized glasses in over five years. Nyx had perfectly healed my vision during my first shift, though she had forced me to wear the useless frames as a safety precaution until I permanently relocated to Crimson Peak.

Still, despite the physical maturity, my core features hadn't undergone a total reconstruction. I wasn't unrecognizable—it was simply that nobody in this pack had actually looked at me with clear eyes since I was fourteen.

"Name," Caspian barked, shining an irritatingly bright, tactical flashlight directly into my pupils.

"Seraphina Vance," I replied evenly, suppressing the instinct to slap the cylinder out of his hand.

Caspian paused, lowering the beam slightly as he turned to Jasper. "Isn't that the Beta's defective kid?"

"Can't be," Jasper snickered, leaning his shoulder casually against the bulletproof glass of the guardhouse. "The Goddess cursed her with crater-face for getting Luna Gwendolyn killed. The last time I saw her, she looked like a walking pepperoni pizza."

I gritted my teeth. The phantom sensation of lukewarm marinara sauce dripping down the back of my neck—a parting gift from Jasper in the freshman cafeteria—flared vividly in my memory. The humiliation of not having any money to replace that ruined lunch meant I hadn't eaten for forty-eight hours.

But more grating than the insult was Jasper casually dropping the title *Luna* Gwendolyn. The collective delusion of this pack had apparently mutated into an aggressive, clinical insanity. Gwendolyn and Sebastian had never officially confirmed their mate bond. She had never been marked. She had never been sworn in.

"Identification," Caspian demanded, holding out a thick, leather-gloved hand.

I slapped my state-issued driver's license onto his palm. He squinted at the plastic card, then flashed it to Asher and Jasper with a nasty, theatrical smirk. "Gentlewolves, it appears we have a classic case of stolen identity. The pretty lady just handed me a terrible fake."

"Of all the identities to steal," Asher snorted, crossing his arms, "why would anyone choose to impersonate Seraphina Vance?"

Jasper looked me up and down with an exaggeratedly assessing gaze. "Little lady, you clearly aren't from around here. Anyone living in a fifty-mile radius would know that Seraphina Vance is the absolute last she-wolf you'd want to impersonate. The girl isn't even a real wolf."

"Call Beta Reginald, please," I instructed, my voice dropping to a flat, dangerous register devoid of any patience.

"Are you sure that's a brilliant idea, pretty lady?" Caspian ribbed lazily. "Actually, maybe impersonating Seraphina Vance isn't that crazy. I couldn't blame the Beta for seeing this as a premium opportunity to upgrade from his defective seed."

The three males erupted into a chorus of hyena-like laughter, the sound echoing obnoxiously into the pitch-black woods. I was beginning to wonder if I had accidentally driven into a den of feral coyotes instead of a high-security border crossing.

"Hey, do you guys remember that time Sullivan made her eat his—"

"Call. Beta. Reginald. Please." I interrupted, stepping forward.

This time, I didn't hold back. Nyx flooded my veins, releasing a subtle, glacial wave of her ancient aura. The suffocating pressure rolled off my shoulders and instantly slammed into the three guards. Their laughter died abruptly in their throats. Jasper swallowed hard, suddenly looking extremely pale in the harsh light.

"Fine," Caspian conceded, taking a cautious half-step backward toward the radio controls. "But it is entirely on your head."