When The Moon Hides Her Crown - Chapter 36: Chapter 36

SERAPHINA
My breath caught as I reread the note, the words blurring slightly due to the way my hands trembled.
“Finn…” Panic gripped me like a vice. The memory of Finn being attacked and wounded last night crossed my mind.
I spun around, scanning the crowd, wildly this time.
Where were Reed and Cassius?
They were always lingering somewhere nearby. Shadowing me since the start of the trials. Watching. Whispering. Waiting.
But now?
They were nowhere to be found.
I didn’t like the coincidence. It obviously was not one!
Then bam, I slammed right into a wall of muscle as soon as I spun around again.
I stumbled back, and strong hands steadied me. “Hey, careful.”
I glanced up to find Alpha Asher standing there. Obviously lazing around since he was among the top three in the hierarchy and he already had one of those luxurious rooms.
He looked down at the note that had slipped from my fingers and now lay open between us on the ground. He bent to pick it up, casually brushing the dust off as he read.
A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “Well,” he murmured, folding it with unsettling calm, “this was bound to happen.”
I blinked up at him. “What was bound to happen?”
He slid the note back into my hand, eyes unreadable. “Being friends with a newbie Alpha…a tiny one, no less, who was supposed to be weak and easy to ignore or bullied; but instead, turned out to be a savage little thing who beats every ass that’s shoved in his way.”
His gaze drifted toward the combat ring, where another brutal fight ended with blood in the dirt.
Then he looked back at me, one brow arched. “That kind of Alpha doesn’t just earn respect,” he said, meaning this was all about me. “That Alpha earns enemies. Now being your friend? That just painted a target on that person’s back.”
My chest constricted. Why had I not realized it before? Finn had been living a quiet life but since he became my friend and we started to hang out together he started being bullied more and more. This was all because of me.
I clenched my fists then I strode past Alpha Asher before I took off running toward the Academy building without another word.
I didn’t notice the way the atmosphere around the had field subtly shifted.
But Ronan did.
He watched me sprint from the combat grounds with sharp, narrowed eyes.
He’d been watching me all along, his attention never straying.
But this…this was different.
There was a weight to my retreat, a desperation in my posture, he noticed it all and once his eyes met Asher’s, his jaw clenched.
Ronan’s gaze slid toward Dante, still calmly standing at the far end of the field, arms folded, eyes pinned to my back, it all clicked together.
Ronan’s eyes met his across the distance.
Something unspoken passed between them before Dante smiled and walked away as well.
I burst through the door to the men’s restrooms.
“Finn?” I called, heart racing.
The room echoed with silence, stalls empty, lights flickering faintly. There was no sign of him. Not even a hint of his cologne.
Phina growled in my mind, “He didn’t come here.”
I turned and sprinted out, checking every hallway, every stairwell, even the supply rooms along the East wing. Nothing. No trail. No sound. Not a single trace of him.
“Where the hell are you?” I whispered under my breath, panic winding tighter with each passing second.
When I rounded the main corridor near the dorm wings, I was met with Asher.
“Why are you here?”
He sighed and asked instead of replying to my question, “Still can’t find your friend?”
I shook my head, chest heaving. “He’s not in the Academy. I’ve looked everywhere. Every floor, every wing, he’s just gone.”
Asher's jaw tightened slightly. “That’s because he’s most likely not inside the building.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are too many eyes in here,” he said simply. “Instructors. Dorm assistants. Patrol wolves. If someone wanted to hurt him, they wouldn’t do it where there was this much surveillance.”
A cold chill ran down my spine. “That means…” I realized something.
I didn’t wait. I took off again, flying down the empty hall. The moment I crossed the rear courtyard, the air changed.
It was quieter. Too quiet.
Then I saw it, the abandoned building tucked into the far side of the academy grounds, half-swallowed by shadows and wild ivy. Windows boarded up. Doors hanging half off their hinges.
Without wasting another second, I shoved the door open and stepped inside.
My heart stopped.
Finn was there.
He was on the floor, bleeding, his arms shielding his head as a group of Alphas surrounded him. Each one taking turns landing kicks or laughing.
Among them—
Reed and Cassius.
My stomach twisted.
Finn’s blood was on their fists.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak. My body locked up.
They didn’t see me at first. My eyes were glued to Finn, his swollen lip, the deep purple bruises already blooming on his cheek, the trickle of blood on his brow.
I stepped in slowly. Just as Cassius looked up, and that sickening grin spread across his face.
“Well, look who finally arrived,” he sneered.
Reed turned slowly, grinning wider. “You’re late, tiny motherfucker. The fun’s already started.”
I did not look at them. I could not.
All I could do was stare at Finn, slumped, gasping, but alive.
They all looked me up and down as I continued to slowly walk in.
“Hey Seth!” Alpha Asher stepped through the doorway, his presence like a blade slicing through the thick air.
The Alphas froze.
Even Reed’s smug grin twitched into uncertainty.
Cassius narrowed his eyes. “You brought help? Really?”
Another one snorted. “Can’t even stand up for your weak little friend without crying for backup?”
Reed glared, “Let me guess, this time Ronan refused to help you so you brought another one? Do you really think you will be able to get out of here alive?”
Asher, to his credit, didn’t say a word. His sharp eyes took in the scene, Finn on the ground, my rigid stance, and the circle of wolves that had clearly expected to have more time.
His gaze flicked to me, “Seth.”
“Alpha Asher,” I cut him off and tilted my head to meet his gaze, “Can you do me a favour?”
Asher raised a brow, his posture casually unreadable. “Go on.”
“Take Finn.” My voice didn’t shake. “Get him to the trial grounds. His name’s being called. The instructor is waiting.”
The room silenced even further if that was possible.
Asher froze in surprise.
Reed scoffed. “Hey, you think you can simply walk out of here, so that you can go and play? Don’t be so cocky little fucker. You are not leaving.”
“Who said I was leaving?” I quipped, not even sparing them a glance. “I’m sending Finn away seeing as I am here now, he does not need to be here. You wanted me here, right?” saying that I turned to Asher again, “Please take him.”
Asher looked at me for a long moment, calculating, unreadable, then nodded once.
I strode forward and everyone had to make space for him. No one dared stop him.
They knew that challenging Asher was as good as walking into your own execution.
He moved forward, helping Finn to stand up. He was still dazed, his breathing shallow, but his eyes flickered open the second he sensed movement.
When Asher carefully pulled him to his feet, Finn stumbled but caught himself.
Then his hand shot out and caught mine, gripping it tightly.
“Come with me,” he said hoarsely. “You can’t stay here. Let’s go—now.”
I smiled at him, small and warm. “Soon.”
“Seth—no—”
“Finn,” I cut in softly. “You have to go. They’re calling your name. You have to show up. The instructor is waiting. If you don’t go now…they’ll disqualify you. Just remember I am not letting you win so easily," I grinned.
He pursed his bleeding lips, eyes full of resistance and fear for me.
Until finally, slowly, he nodded.
Asher slung Finn’s arm over his shoulders and began to lead him toward the door. The Alphas stepped aside without a word, their sneers long gone.
The moment they passed the threshold, I was alone in a room full of Alphas with unfinished business.
Eight Alphas stood before me, shoulder to shoulder, forming a wall of muscle, ego, and bloodlust. Their sneers curled like smoke.
“This is where you die, motherfucker,” Cassius taunted, cracking his knuckles. “And no one will even know.”
“I told you it would not end there,” Reed growled at me. “But if you lick my shoes now, I might let you live.”
They all laughed, cruel, unafraid, and confident in their numbers. I stared at them blankly.
Until suddenly, as if struck by an invisible force, their laughter faltered.
One by one, their grins slipped away, as their eyes shifted past me.
Something had changed.
I felt it before I heard it, the slow, deliberate footsteps, the shift in the air, the dark heat coiling behind me like a rising storm.
Then…
A warm breath ghosted along my ear.
“You know,” came a smooth, low murmur, voice dipped in shadows and silk, “eight versus one looks an awful lot like suicide.”
I didn’t flinch. Didn’t turn. Still every nerve in me lit up like lightning.
Ronan’s voice was dark velvet, threading around my spine as he leaned closer, face beside mine. “If you cry out my name for help,” he continued, “I might be tempted to save you.”
I slowly titled my face a little to meet his smiling eyes.
Then I slowly turned to face him.
His violet eyes glinted like moonlit steel, expression unreadable, but something in them burned, calling to decrease the distance between us and I rose on my toes.
I slid a hand up into his thick soft hair, as I pulled him slowly down towards my face and whispered into his ear, my lips grazing his skin.
“Alpha Ronan…” I whispered, soft but sharp as a blade.
His breath hitched, just a fraction, as our eyes locked. “Help me…”
A slow smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Sadly for him I wasn’t finished.
“…be my watchdog for a while,” I added, voice turning cold as steel, “and make sure no one escapes before I’m done with them.”
“What the fuck,” his smile widened, something dangerous gleaming behind it. “And you say you aren’t seducing me.”