The Lunar Queen Chapter 51

Serena POV

The moment the servant brings me the knife, I wrap it in a cloth and make my way back to the witch. I walk through the door and the smell of smoke lingers in the air , thick and bitter, clinging to the back of my throat the second I step inside.

“You move quickly,” she says, staring into her bowl like she already knew I was coming before I touched the door.

“Do you have the blood?” she asks.

I take the wrapped knife out of my bag and hand it to her. She unwraps the knife and sniffs the blood.

“Are you sure it is hers?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I snap , irritation flaring at being questioned after I did exactly what she asked.

She dips the knife into the bowl she was staring in, and white and blue smoke wrapped around each other rises from the bowl before pink, red, and gray smoke rises from the bowl and wraps around the white and blue smoke , the colors twisting together like something alive, something wrong.

She pricks her finger and drops a single drop of blood into the bowl, and a blinding light shoots from the bowl before the bowl explodes.

“What the hell was that? What was with all of the colors?” I ask , taking a step back before I can stop myself.

“It is in motion. I must let David know. It is her,” she says, smiling , and the look on her face makes my skin crawl because it isn’t excitement—it’s obsession.

“What are you talking about? Where is my spell?” I snarl.

Her head snaps up to me. “You can’t kill her. David needs her alive,” she says.

“But you said you would give me my spell,” I say.

“Oh hush, girl, this is bigger than your silly little desires,” she says , dismissing me like I’m stupid enough not to matter.

“You said you would help me get Cole. How can I do that if she is alive?” I ask , anger and panic tangling together in my chest.

“When David gets what he wants, there will be no Cole,” she says.

“But here, take this. Make sure it gets into her food, or tea, or anything she ingests. This will cause her to miscarry, making it easier for us to grab her. Those babies can’t be born,” she adds.

“Now go. I have much to prepare. We are at war,” she says before pushing me out.

How can she say I can’t kill her? Like I’m supposed to sit back and let everyone else decide what happens to the girl standing in my way.

I will do what I want because Cole will be mine and I will be Queen , with or without their plan.

I head home and straight to Daddy’s office. He is in there with David. I stop at the door to hear what they say. My hand stills on the knob when I hear my own name in the conversation.

“Are we certain that it’s her?” Daddy says.

“Yes, the witch said Serena left about 45 mins ago and she brought her the blood,” David says.

“Has the council found the ruins yet?” David asks.

“No, but we are looking every day, narrowing places,” Daddy says.

“Well, now that we know it’s her we need to get her to my territory where I can hide her,” David says.

“The witch said she is pregnant and if that pregnancy comes to term all of this will be for nothing,” David says.

“Let’s hope your daughter does her job and gets that potion in her system,” he adds.

“She will,” Daddy says.

“Good. I have to go meet the witch and the bear king. We start our attacks in a week. That gives your daughter time to do her part,” David adds before standing.

I run down the hall and pretend to be walking when he comes out.

“Oh David, I didn’t know you were here,” I say.

“I was just leaving. Make sure you do your job,” he says before continuing down the hall without even looking back at me, like I’m just another pawn on his board.

I walk into Daddy’s office.

“Daddy, that stupid witch told me I couldn’t kill Lyric,” I say, throwing myself in the chair in front of his desk.

“David has plans for her that require her to be alive,” he says.

“But what about me?” I whine.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Please, Serena, I don’t have time for this. We only have a week before the first pack is attacked. Just do your part before we both die,” he says , and the way he says it makes something cold slide down my spine because for once he sounds scared.

“Fine,” I say.

I storm out of his office and head back to the palace.

Time to start planning , because if nobody else is going to put me first, I’ll do it myself.

David POV

After I leave Frances’s house, I grab my beta and we make our way to the bear territory.

“Are you really going to kill the girl?” Jonathan says.

“I won’t have a choice. I would love to keep her as my mate. Maybe I can get the witch to give me a spell for her to lose her memory,” I say , because the idea of breaking her into something useful is far better than wasting her.

“What if Serena fails?” he asks.

“Then we kill her and her father,” I say without hesitation, because weak links don’t survive war.

“Serena is already a problem. She’s too impulsive, like her mother,” I say.

When we get to the bear territory, the witch is already there.

“Agora, tell me something useful,” I say, stepping into the conference room.

“Good afternoon, your majesty,” I say to the king.

“What do we know?” Axel says.

“The girl is the key to unlock the magic, but her children need to die first. If they are born, all of this will be for nothing. They will be more powerful than her,” Agora says , her voice calm in a way that makes the words land even harder.

“How is that possible?” Axel says.

“She is the only one that carries the blood of that line,” she says.

“What about the twin?” Axel says.

“It’s only the one who carries the power of Eloise that will carry the witch blood. Her children will be all powerful,” she adds.

“Next week we start attacking. Weaken their allies,” I say.

“Prepare your warriors because next week the real work begins. We need to find a way to snatch her after Serena gives her the potion,” I say.

“I will come up with something,” Agora says.

“Prepare your best warriors for the job to infiltrate the palace,” she adds.

“What about Cole?” Jonathan says.

“He won’t be a problem. I have something for Serena that will keep Cole occupied while we execute our next move,” Agora says , and that gets my attention more than anything else she has said so far.

“Good. What happens if the pups are born?” I ask.

“If the pups are born, we must take them. They can’t be raised as our enemy, especially the firstborn. He will be the most powerful of the 3,” she says.

“Today is Tuesday. Let’s meet again on Sunday to make final preparations. Agora, keep me updated with the Serena situation,” I say.

“Will do, Alpha,” she says.

“Axel, it’s always a pleasure,” I say.

“David, it is always good to see you. We will be in touch,” he says before I turn and Jonathan and I head out the door.

“Have someone watch the witch, but be careful. She can sense that shit. She’s an old witch,” I say as we head out.

Don’t worry, Lyric. Soon I will have you and you will be my Queen and carry my pups. The thought settles deep and ugly in my chest, but it feels right all the same.

After seeing her, she has to be mine , and the worst part is now that I’ve seen her, the throne almost feels secondary.

After seeing her, she has to be mine. She’s even more beautiful than Eloise, and now that I know what she is carrying, this isn’t just about power anymore—it’s about timing, about getting to her before those children are strong enough to become a threat, and if Serena fails to poison her before the week is over, then we won’t just be starting a war… we’ll be walking straight into one we may never be able to win.