Chapter: 5

My gaze flickered unbidden to Kieran's face. Our eyes locked again.

His expression remained unreadable-arctic, assessing, utterly devoid of warmth.

Ten years sharing a bed, yet he still felt galaxies away. I'd never touched his heart.

And now, with Celeste's return, a terrible truth crushed my chest like an iron weight: I was about to lose my second family.

If my wolf lived within me, she would have whined low in her throat. I didn't know if I could survive the coming storm-but one thing burned brighter than fear:

No matter what arrived, no one would take my son from me.

No one.

Seraphina’s POV

“Dad! Where are you?” A familiar voice shattered the silence of the hallway.

Every head turned toward the source of the sound. When Celeste appeared, my heart sank—her golden hair streamed behind her, and her cheeks were flushed from running. Tears welled in her eyes, but even grief couldn't dull her beauty.

She brushed past me, just as she had ten years ago, without even a glance.

Almost instinctively, I turned to Kieran. His mouth hung open as he stared at Celeste, as if she were a dream he was terrified to wake from. The raw yearning in his eyes answered the question that had haunted me for a decade—his heart had never belonged to me.

“Tell me I'm not too late,” Celeste pleaded, her voice breaking. I saw my mother shake her head beside Ethan.

“Oh, God.” Celeste’s sob tore through the air, and her body went limp.

Kieran moved faster than any wolf should. He caught her before she hit the ground, clutching her tightly in his arms. My mother and brother joined them, folding into an embrace—a perfect picture of a grieving family. A picture I had never been part of.

Whenever Celeste appeared, I vanished. I couldn't keep pretending that I still belonged with them, that I was still Kieran’s Luna. I had to do something.

I opened the car door and slid inside. I'd thought my father’s death might ease the distance between us, but all it did was give them someone new to blame. None of them had ever bothered to uncover what really happened ten years ago.

I exhaled. I couldn’t leave Daniel home alone for too long. He was nine now, but it was still dangerous—he was Kieran’s heir, and rogues might seize any chance to strike.

I pressed down on the gas pedal. When I got home, I immediately went to check on Daniel—but to my surprise, he was already awake.

Light spilled out from beneath his door. When I pushed it open, I found my nine-year-old son curled up, his knees drawn tightly to his chest like a fortress against the world.

“Mom?” he asked anxiously. “Why didn't Dad come back with you?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and sat down beside his race-car- shaped bed. “Your dad’s helping your uncle with some things. I was just worried you'd wake up looking for us—like now.”

“Sweetheart, did you have a bad dream?” I asked, running my hand through his hair.

He bit his lip, uneasy. “Grandpa Edward... something happened to him, didn’t it?”