Chapter: 15

I exhaled through my nose. "Let me drive you." Sera froze. So did Celeste—I felt her stare burning into my back.

Shit. I schooled my features into something colder. "Your car's still at the cemetery. Divorced or not, you're still my son's mother. That makes you my responsibility."

"No." Her laugh was bitter as wolfsbane. "You already proved my point. Even when you're right beside me, you don't choose me. I won't trust my safety to someone who's resented me for a decade."

"Sera." The warning in my voice should've made her flinch. She didn't even hesitate. Just walked out.

And fuck if that didn't feel like a silver bullet to the chest. Sera was a viper. Her distance should've been a relief.

So why did the line she'd drawn between us make me want to tear the whole goddamn world apart?

Celeste's touch startled me. "This is just... temporary, right?" Her fingers trembled against my arm. "We won't have to keep doing this?"

I forced my attention back to her—to the woman I'd loved for years. My rightful Luna-to-be.

"Nothing changes.” I covered her hand with mine, squeezing. "You'll always come first."

"Kieran," she sobbed into my chest, "with Father gone, I—I don't feel safe. I need you."

"I've got you," I murmured, pulling her closer. "No one will tear us apart again."

Celeste nestled deeper into my embrace, her tears dampening my shirt. Yet my traitorous gaze kept drifting to that empty exit, where Sera disappeared.

The unease coiled in my gut.

Why?

SERAPHINA'S POV "Mom!"

Daniel unfolded himself from Christian Blackthorne's lap and raced to me as soon as I stepped in through the front door.

I exhaled, catching his body against mine in a one-armed hug. I pressed his head against my chest, feeling his little heart thunder against me.

He was fine; he was safe. My family had failed me in countless ways, but at least they'd protected him. I was so thankful for that.

"Hi, baby," I whispered into his curls.

Daniel pulled back and eyed my injured arm, wrapped in bandages and a sling, his face tightening. "You're hurt." His voice wobbled.

I shook my head, cupping his cheek to pull his gaze away. "It's okay, my love." I pressed his head against my chest again, kissing his hair. "I'm okay."

He clutched onto the fabric of the shirt I'd borrowed from a nurse, and the shudder that ran through him seemed to reverberate through me.

"It's okay, Mom." His voice was muffled. "I'll take care of you."

I closed my eyes as a tear slid down my cheek. "I know you will, baby." My strong, beautiful boy who loved me in a world where no one else did. "We'll take care of each other."