The Alchemist's Vow: A Rejected Mate's Revenge

Chapter 1

The sound of Leo’s coughing was what shattered the quiet of the alchemy lab, but it was the metallic, sickening scent of silver that made Seraphina’s blood run cold.

"Leo!" Seraphina Vance dropped the bundle of dried wolfsbane she was holding, the brittle leaves scattering across the stone floor. She rushed to the corner of the dimly lit laboratory where her younger brother lay convulsing on a small cot.

"Sera..." Leo gasped, his back arching in agony. A thick, silvery substance oozed from the corners of his pale lips. The veins along his neck were bulging, glowing with a faint, toxic luminescence beneath his skin.

"No, no, no. Not tonight. You were stable this morning!" Seraphina cried out, her hands flying over his trembling body as she desperately searched for her diagnostic vials. She grabbed a small glass dropper, placing a single drop of blue liquid against the silver foam on his mouth.

The liquid instantly hissed and turned a violent, ashen black.

Silver-Blight. The curse was accelerating.

"It burns, Sera," Leo whimpered, his fingers weakly clutching her apron. "My chest... it feels like it's tearing apart."

"I know, sweetie, I know. Look at me," Seraphina commanded, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to keep it steady. "Keep your eyes on me. I’m going to fix this. I am the Pack Alchemist. I won't let you die."

"You... you can't brew a cure fast enough," he choked out, his golden eyes rolling back slightly. "It's in my heart now."

He was right. Alchemy alone couldn't stop a late-stage Silver-Blight attack. There was only one thing powerful enough to neutralize the toxic magic ravaging his system: the pure, undiluted blood of an Alpha. Not just any Alpha, but her fated mate. Alpha Kaelen Thorne.

"I don't need to brew anything," Seraphina said fiercely, wiping the toxic silver from his chin with the hem of her sleeve. "Kaelen will give me his blood. We are fated. He is my mate, Leo. He won't let my brother die."

"He... he doesn't like me," Leo whispered, a tear slipping down his cheek. "He says I'm... defective."

"He’s an arrogant fool, but he is my mate," Seraphina snapped, though her heart clenched at the truth in her brother's words. Kaelen had always been cold, obsessed with strength and pedigree. But the Goddess had tied their souls together. He had to help. "Come on. Put your arm around my neck. We are going to the Moon Grove."

Seraphina hauled her fourteen-year-old brother off the cot. He was alarmingly light, his muscles wasted away by the chronic magical affliction. She braced his weight against her hip, practically carrying him as she kicked open the heavy wooden door of the laboratory.

The night air of the Crimson Vale was crisp, illuminated by the ominous, crimson glow of the Blood Moon hanging heavy in the sky. It was a night of immense magical power, a night meant for pack unity and strength.

"Stay with me, Leo,"