Alina had said she didn’t have much of her strength now. Perhaps the Nectar was the last push she needed to resurface.
The possibilities spun around me in a dizzying whirlpool.
It was all happening too fast-Alina’s emergence, winning the LST, acquiring the Moon Dew Nectar.
Each miracle pressed against the other until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began.
Only the hard, fast thrumming of my heart told me that I wasn’t dreaming; this was all overwhelmingly real.
Again, Lucian extended the prizes himself. This one, only for my team-the champions.
He placed each individual vial into its own chest.
“Use it wisely,” Lucian said as Judy reverently accepted the chest. “Both the wealth…and the power you’ve earned.”
Roxy muttered under her breath, “Damn right we will.”
Lucian smirked faintly, as though he’d heard her, then turned to me. “And to you, Seraphina Blackthorne.” His hand was warm as he pressed the small chest into my hands. “Your leadership made this possible.”
I bowed my head, pulse racing wildly as I beheld a literal miracle. “It wasn’t just me. We all fought for this.”
Lucian’s smile deepened, knowing. “Modest, as always. I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”
I looked up at him, and finally, he let his smile slip free, wide and unguarded. He took my hand and held it up. “Behold!” his voice boomed. “The champions of the Latent Spark Trials!”
And the applause that erupted around us was not nearly as loud as my pounding heart.
***
The ceremony gave way to a press interview, and suddenly, we were surrounded by reporters. Cameras shoved close, recorders hovered near my lips, and questions fired at us like arrows.
“Miss Blackthorne, how did your team achieve such flawless coordination despite your differences and weaknesses?”
“What will you do with the Moon Dew Nectar? Will you accept the rumored offers from investors willing to pay millions?”
“What does this victory mean for wolfless wolves across the packs?”
The questions overwhelmed me. Flashing lights blinded me.
But I answered each with a calm I didn’t quite feel.
To the first, I praised my teammates for their resilience and courage.
To the second, I denied any temptation of selling the Moon Dew Nectar, reaffirming that some treasures weren’t meant to be bartered.
To the third, I said simply: “This isn’t just our victory. It belongs to every wolf who has ever been cast aside, underestimated, rejected. I hope this shows them their worth doesn’t vanish because someone else failed to see it.”
I felt the effect my words had on the room, felt the admiration and respect surge towards me like a tide.
And then the questions got deeper.
“Seraphina, how did it feel to face Alpha Kieran of Nightfang in battle?”
“We know he’s your ex-husband; do you believe he let you overpower him?”
My instincts screamed to recoil at the mention of Kieran, but I forced my breathing steady.
“I assure you, Alpha Kieran showed no favors to my team in the Arena.” I lifted the hem of my shirt to show the bandage cinched firmly over my bruised ribs. “Does this look like favoritism to you?”
I didn’t know if I was defending Kieran’s or my own honor; either way, every insinuation that I’d won by anything more or less than my own merit made my blood boil.
The press was relentless.
“And what about your relationship with Lucian Reed? It’s no secret that the two of you are quite…close.”
Irritation warred with my joy. “The LST was as transparent as glass. You all watched the footage, the majority of it live.” I lofted my chin. “
You tell me at what point it looked like I curried favor from Lucian Reed or anyone else.”
“And how do you feel about the tension between you and Celeste Lockwood, especially since her team did not win?”
I bit back a sigh. But the questions kept coming, an unabated flood of inquiries. Some were flattering, some cutting, some eager to drag my private wounds into the public light.
I kept my answers poised, inviolate. I would not let them see the bruises of my past-only the steel I’d forged from them.
This was no longer a battlefield of claws and blood-it was a battlefield of words.
I’d won one. I wouldn’t lose the other.
SERAPHINA’S POV
Finally, blessedly, the press conference came to an end.
We were ushered next to the family waiting area, where laughter and tears collided in a symphony of joy.
The space itself had been softened from the sharp grandeur of the hall. Warm lantern-light pooled in golden circles across the polished floor. Plush couches ringed the chamber, and fragrant sprays of lilies and winter roses lined the walls.
The air buzzed with relief and triumph, scented with salt of sweat and tears and the sweetness of flowers.
Finn’s parents nearly bowled him over the moment we crossed the threshold.
His father, a tall man with the same wiry frame and broad shoulders as his son, clapped him on the back so hard I thought Finn might crack a rib.
“That’s my boy!” he boomed, voice echoing. His mother swatted at him, tearfully scolding, “Not so hard, Harold, he’s bruised already!”
But her arms wound around Finn with crushing strength anyway, her head barely skimming his chin.
Talia collapsed into the arms of a young man, who’d been waiting right at the front. He was tall and stocky with wild blond hair that looked like he’d been pulling at it.
He caught her like he’d been waiting there all day for this moment, hugging her as though he might never let go.
She sobbed openly, the kind of deep, unguarded sob that had no shame in it, while he whispered into her hair. I caught pieces-“I knew you’d make it, baby, I knew”-and my chest tightened.
Judy’s boisterous family enveloped her in seconds.
Her mother pressed a trembling kiss to her forehead, pride etched firmly on her face. “My baby.” Her voice wavered as she cupped her daughter’s cheeks. Her eyes darted over her face and body, as if memorizing every scar and bruise she’d earned in the trials. “I’m so proud I could burst.”
Their tender moment was interrupted when Judy’s sisters and her swarm of nieces and nephews almost sent her to the ground.
Even Roxy-whom I’d imagined growing up alone in a cave-was smothered by a gaggle of brothers. There were four of them, each with the same jet black hair and sharp eyes.
They lifted her clean off the floor, cheering so loudly I was sure half of the West Coast heard. “Roxanne! You beast! You did it!” one of them bellowed, spinning her in a dizzying circle.
She shrieked and swatted at them, but the laughter breaking out of her cracked voice was pure exhilaration.
I stood back, watching them all. A pang tightened in my chest.
This was what victory was supposed to look like. Family. Arms to fall into. Faces glowing with pride and joy.
And me? I had none of that.
My parents weren’t here. Celeste (not that I would ever consider her family to begin with)-well, gods knew what she was doing, probably plotting how to spin her loss into some twisted form of martyrdom.. I had Lucian, yes. Maya too. Ethan…maybe.
But none of them were in sight. I didn’t even know if the no-contact ban had been lifted or not.
And in this moment, surrounded by the warm chaos of reunion, I felt the hollow absence of my own family more acutely than ever.
“Seraphina Blackthorne, you absolute fucking legend!”
A delighted gasp tore out of me as I spun-and was immediately swept off my feet.
“Maya!” My laughter bubbled out of me as the room spun around me, Maya’s arms tight around my waist.
I swayed a little when she set me on my feet. “Hi,” I giggled.
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