Eero’s perspective
Soleil stood up as soon as she saw me walking towards her.
"Eero!" She choked on her tears, blood staining her clothes and hands.
"My Mama's dead. I-I don't know who killed her or how she ended up dead, but we found her lifeless body meters away from the Alpha's house," she said.
Anxiety engulfed me. If Soleil's knew the truth, she would hate me.
"I-I’m sorry," I muttered, embracing her while I raked her hair.
"I should’ve gone to her sooner when the chaos broke out. It was my fault. I was late."
I cupped her cheeks, and our eyes met. I lightly shook my head. "It's not your fault. It's mine."
Soleil stilled. She instantly became hostile to my touches, and her reaction told me that telling her the truth would distance her from me.
"Your fault? What do you mean? Did you kill Mama?" She asked.
"N-No! It’s not me. I only meant that it was my fault that I failed to make you both safe." I couldn't believe it. I was lying to my best friend!
"When you escaped, Mama and I know that you’ll come back for revenge. We should have left the pack, too."
"Soleil..."
"If we had left and chosen to be lone wolves, she might still be alive."
I looked away from Soleil, unable to bear the weight of my guilt.
"Caspian, please take Soleil to have a rest. Look after her." I said to the Beta of Blood Moon Pack before leaving.
"We can't find Ameo and Vera anywhere," Claudius told me.
I swallowed hard and nodded my head once.
"Don’t worry. We have Serra in our hand. Vera and Ameo love her so much. They'll find a way to rescue their only daughter," I said, coming up with audible words even when my mind was in a mess.
"Judging how they left her behind, I don't think they will come back to save Serra."
As Claudius held my arm, I suddenly got a flashback of what had happened between Meredith and me. I pulled away from him, taking a step back even.
"Eero, what is wrong with you? You’re all tensed up. If it’s because Ameo and Vera escaped, I won't stop searching. We’ll find them eventually."
"No, that's not it." I looked around and saw that almost everything in the territory that once served as my home was being devoured by fire.
"Don't worry, I’m fine. We are done here, right?"
"Almost done."
"Good. Then I'll head back to the dungeon. I have a she-wolf that I must punish myself."
"Serra?" He asked.
"Yes. If Ameo and Vera chose to never show themselves, I’ll make Serra pay for her parent's wrongdoing."
Claudius pulled me closer to him. He kissed my forehead before allowing me to leave.
"Luna Eero." The delta guarding the gates of Serra's dungeon greeted me. Serra tilted her head to me.
"How do you like your new room? Is it to your liking?" I asked, finding Serra ignited the same rage that swirled within me back at Moon River's territory.
My guilt for accidentally killing Meredith was flushed out of my system. Hatred and fury was all that I could feel.
"I hope that you'd learn to love this place, since you'll be staying here for a while."
"I beg to differ, Eero," she said. Gone was Serra's obliging demeanor. The smirk on her lips told me that she has something up her sleeves.
"I didn't want to blackmail you, but you’re leaving me with no choice," she trailed, chuckling.
"You should have at least washed off Meredith's blood from your hands before you came to me."
"That was an accident, Serra." My wolf immediately growled at her words.
"Maybe. But in Soleil's eyes, you're still the murderer of her dear mother.” Serra puffed her cheeks as she acted lost in thoughts.
“What do you want me to do?” I got pissed off.
"Free me from this shithole and tell Beta Caspian to accept me as his mate. In exchange for that, I’ll bring your dirty little secret to my grave." Serra shrugged her shoulder.
"God, you're really cunning! You know else I can do to you?" Instead of feeling scared because she knew my secret, my anger intensified.
"No. You won't do that to me! I’m an Alpha's daughter-" Serra stopped at her track, shaking her head in fear.
"Of course I can. I am an Alpha's daughter too, remember? Not Ameo's, but my father Pierce’s. Have you seen what happened to me? I became a breeder because your parents wanted it!!!"
"Eero, no!!!" She shook her head, begging me.
"I promise to keep your secret! Just don't do that to me! Don't make me an omega…"
I stepped away from the iron bars of her dungeon.
"I, Eero Zacreus, Luna of Blood Moon Pack, demote you as a lowly omega, cowering to everyone in this pack."
"Eero, you are such a fucking bitch! I’ll kill you after I got out of here!" she threatened.
"Serra, you know what else I, as a Luna, can do aside from making you a lowly omega?" I asked, glancing at the delta through the bars of the dungeon.
It was as if she had guessed what was about to happen to her. She crawled in the corner of her cell, the same way I did before.
"Will you stay and watch here, Luna Eero?" The delta asked me.
Part of me wanted to say no and took back my command from the delta to violate Serra, but my enraging wolf won.
"Yes. I'll stay here and watch her suffer."