Seraphina’s POV

Emptiness consumed me. That’s all I was now—a hollow shell where life once grew. My chest felt crushed under an invisible weight, my heart ripped from its cage. Nothing remained but this aching void.

Julian lingered at the foot of the hospital bed like a phantom. He appeared broken, defeated, but I felt nothing for him. No pity stirred in my chest. No sympathy softened my resolve.

"Take me home." The words scraped past my raw throat, but they carried the force of an ultimatum. I fixed him with a burning stare, seeing only the man who had caged me, who had watched me wither in that cold stone prison.

He shifted uncomfortably, uncertainty flickering across his features. "Seraphina, you shouldn’t be moving yet. The doctor said you need rest."

Rest? How could I rest when my child was gone? How could I close my eyes when my world had shattered? I held his gaze without blinking, and something in my expression made his shoulders sag in surrender.

"Let me carry you," he murmured. "I can get you fresh clothes before we leave."

His offer tasted like poison on my tongue. "No." The word cracked like a whip through the sterile air. "Don’t touch me." My eyes dropped to the crimson stain spreading across my hospital gown—a dark accusation painted on pale fabric. "I’m wearing this home. I want you to see it. I want everyone to witness what I’ve lost."

Julian moved closer, his hand reaching out before jerking back. "Seraphina, there’s something I have to tell you." His voice carried the weight of confession. "You didn’t kill my father."

The revelation should have mattered. It should have lifted some burden from my soul. Instead, it only deepened my anguish.

A bitter laugh tore from my throat—harsh, jagged, empty of any joy. My baby. My innocent child. Dead for nothing. "My baby died for nothing," I screamed, the words ripping through me like glass. The cruel irony twisted deeper into my wounds.

Pain flickered across his face, his eyes pleading for forgiveness I couldn’t give. "I didn’t know about the pregnancy, Seraphina. If I had known, I swear I never would have locked you away. I know it sounds like an excuse, but the pack was furious. Some wanted you executed. The dungeon was the only place I could keep you safe."

Safe. The word mocked me, dancing through my thoughts like a taunt. "The dungeon isn’t the problem, Julian!" My voice cracked under the strain. "The problem is you never listened to me! I believed I killed your father. I truly thought I was guilty. But it was never intentional. I wanted to kill Dorian—that monster deserved death. But somehow your father was there instead, bleeding on the ground."

The memory surfaced like a nightmare, fragmented and surreal. "All I knew was that someone was dead, and Dorian convinced me it was my fault. Then he vanished, disappeared like smoke while I stood there covered in blood."

Julian stepped forward, reaching for my arm. "Seraphina, I’m so sorry—"

"Don’t come near me!" I recoiled as if his touch would burn. My body jerked away instinctively. I forced myself from the bed, legs trembling but holding my weight. I would walk out of here with my own strength, even if I had to crawl. Julian followed at a distance, a silent shadow trailing behind.

The hospital corridor stretched before us, unnaturally quiet. But word had spread. Fang members lined the hallways, their faces a mixture of shock and pity. I ignored their stares, keeping my eyes fixed ahead. Each step sent fresh pain shooting through me, a reminder of what I’d lost. But I continued forward, my bloodstained gown trailing behind me like a banner of grief, a silent condemnation of their judgment.

The journey home felt endless. Every footfall was agony. Julian maintained his distance, neither speaking nor attempting to touch me. When we finally reached our front door, I stopped. I couldn’t enter like this.

Turning to face him, I spoke with dead calm, my voice stripped of everything except cold hatred. "I despise you, Julian. I can’t stand being near you." My gaze shifted to the house, to the life waiting inside. "But I have two incredible children in there." A flicker of warmth penetrated my frozen heart. "They’ll see the blood immediately. They’ll see how broken I am. It will terrify them." The thought of their innocent faces witnessing my destruction was unbearable. "I won’t subject them to that." My voice hardened again as I met his eyes. "So you’ll carry me. Shield them from seeing me like this."

This time he didn’t hesitate. He simply nodded, his expression heavy with sorrow I refused to acknowledge. He lifted me carefully, as though I might shatter at his touch. Despite my anger, my body betrayed me, accepting the comfort while my mind raged against it. Fortunately, the children were nowhere in sight. He carried me upstairs, past the living room, past the sounds of normal life, straight to my bedroom.

He set me gently on the bed’s edge. My sanctuary. My private space. But his scent lingered everywhere, making my skin crawl with revulsion. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Remove everything that belongs to you from this room," I commanded, my voice steady and final. "I don’t want your smell anywhere near me." I stared him down, daring him to object. "If you can’t manage that, I’m taking the children and leaving. We’ll disappear where you’ll never find us."

His face crumpled with pain, but I felt nothing. I wouldn’t soften. I couldn’t. "The only reason I’m staying in this house," I continued, "is because Theo deserves to know his father. It’s unfair to take that from him. And Elena still needs to see us functioning as a unit so she’ll accept me as her stepmother." My tone turned arctic. "But us? We’re nothing but co-parents and unwilling mates bound by wolf instincts. Most importantly, I’m still this pack’s Luna. Someday, my son will be Alpha, and this is his inheritance."

Deep inside, my wolf howled—a primal sound of heartbreak that threatened to tear me apart. It craved its mate, yearned for healing, for connection. But I wouldn’t surrender. I wouldn’t repeat this cycle of betrayal and hollow apologies, pretending everything could return to normal.

Not this time. Never again. I closed my eyes, sealing a promise in the depths of my shattered soul. This pattern ends now.