When The Moon Hides Her Crown (Seraphina) by Pooja novel Chapter 243

**He Promised to Give Me the World, Yet the Price Was My Soul by Caden Blake**

**SERAPHINA**

The instant the man collapsed, a gaping wound marring his chest, a visceral wave of horror swept through the crowd, igniting a frenzy that spiraled into utter chaos. Panic surged like a torrential wave, as people surged forward, their fear morphing into a desperate stampede. I stood frozen in place, my breath lodged in my throat, as the world around me spiraled into madness, each soul ensnared in the wrath of Ronan. Silas, his face a mask of terror, shouted for his men, grappling with the overwhelming weight of loss, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the horror that had just unfolded.

“RUN!” he screamed, his grip on my hand tightening as he struggled to pull me away from the chaos. In that fleeting moment, clarity struck me like a bolt of lightning: Silas had made a catastrophic error, one that would only escalate the violence. Because Ronan had arrived.

My heart thundered in my chest as I caught sight of him—a towering figure, a dark silhouette against the backdrop of destruction. Clad in black, each step he took seemed to extinguish another flicker of life. The instant our eyes locked, and he saw me being dragged away by Silas, a lethal wave of energy surged through him, sealing the fate of everyone within our vicinity.

It was my presence that would lead to the slaughter of the innocent.

With a rush of adrenaline, I wrenched my hand from Silas’s grasp, fear and guilt clawing at my insides like a wild beast desperate to escape. “Take your people and run!” I commanded, my voice trembling yet resolute, a fire igniting within me.

Silas’s eyes widened in disbelief, panic etched deep across his features. “No, you’ll die!” he protested, desperation lacing his tone, his voice rising above the din of chaos.

I took a step back, creating distance between us, my resolve hardening. “Go,” I insisted, my voice unwavering, before I turned and plunged back into the chaos.

Silas tried to follow, but his comrades restrained him. “Silas, let’s go!” Theo’s voice cut through the noise, urgency palpable as he and his men pulled Silas away. “You have to stay alive for all of us!”

I didn’t look back. I ran, my voice rising above the cacophony, fighting my way through the throng of terrified bodies. “Stop it, Ronan!” I shouted, my voice a desperate plea.

But my cries fell on deaf ears. With each passing second, the carnage escalated. Men fell like leaves in a tempest, limbs severed, bodies contorting grotesquely. The area had devolved into a slaughterhouse, a nightmarish tableau of chaos and despair.

Panic gripped me, its icy fingers tightening around my heart. No. I can’t let this happen.

“STOP IT!” I screamed, forcing my way through the panicked crowd, my heart racing as I pushed myself free. I sprinted toward him, my feet barely grazing the ground, the sound of my ragged breath echoing in the stillness of devastation. I halted just a few feet from him, breathless but resolute.

“STOP ALL OF THIS, RONAN!” I cried out, my voice cracking under the weight of my emotions. “DON’T KILL ANYONE!”

His gaze locked onto mine, the intensity of his stare cutting through me like a blade. The air around us crackled with electric tension, thick with his power and rage. His aura remained sharp, yet the screams began to fade, the symphony of death quieting. The remaining men hurriedly dragged away the injured, their bodies broken yet clinging to life, as silence enveloped the ruins like a heavy shroud.

In mere moments, the entire area emptied, leaving just the two of us standing amidst the remnants of chaos.

A haunting stillness settled in the air, the wind whispering through the shattered walls, yet neither of us moved nor spoke. The silence between us resonated, louder than any words could convey.

It felt as if the very ground beneath us had paused, holding its breath.

“Why this bloodshed?” My voice emerged as a fragile whisper, “The Ronan I know doesn’t take lives simply because he is angry and powerful.” I gazed at him, searching for a glimmer of the man I once knew, hoping for a flicker of recognition, a denial. But he remained unmoved, his expression as cold as ice.

I swallowed hard, my chest constricting painfully. “Or…perhaps I simply never knew you. Because you are not Ronan Volkstane,” I said, my voice trembling, yet my heart cried out for him to refute my words, to shout that I was mistaken. That he was Ronan, the man I loved. But he merely stared at me with those unreadable, icy eyes.

My heart shattered into a million fragments, each piece splintering with doubt. “Earlier, someone mentioned that I am the Blood Petal and you are the Dread Lord. That’s not true, right? We’re just Ronan and Seraphina, right? We’re soulmates, still in love…”

My voice faltered, breaking under the weight of his unwavering gaze. I could no longer endure the silence, the frigid void between us.

“SAY SOMETHING!” I screamed, the rawness of my voice causing my chest to ache. “SAY YOU’RE MY RONAN! SAY YOU DIDN’T LIE TO ME! SAY YOU’RE NOT SOME KIND OF DREAD LORD! SAY I’M NOT THE BLOOD PETAL THAT KILLED YOUR MOTHER!”

My scream reverberated through the ruins, but his expression remained unchanged. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move. He stood there, a statue of ice, and for a fleeting moment, the silence between us felt like an eternity.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he spoke.

“I am not a Volkstane.”

I froze. His words struck me like a physical blow, knocking the breath from my lungs. My chest tightened painfully, as if the very air had been siphoned away. No…

“They all perished years ago. They chose to end their lives when their Alpha, Alpha Odric Volkstane, took his own. He could not bear the burden of living after his Luna’s death. He had endured enough as she slowly succumbed to madness, tormented for fourteen years after being touched by the Blood Petal during that experiment.”

I shook my head, retreating in disbelief, unable to grasp the magnitude of his statement. My mind raced, searching for some explanation, some reason, but I found nothing to cling to.

“You are that Blood Petal,” he concluded, his voice cold and unyielding.

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