Julian’s POV

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, and the frigid draft from the cracked windows of the packhouse office had nothing to do with it. The tremor came from pure shock, the kind that knocked the breath from your lungs and left you gasping.

Seraphina.

Years. So many brutal, empty years I had spent clawing her memory from my skull, one agonizing fragment at a time. I could never completely erase her from my heart, but I had fought like hell to pretend she never existed.

I had tried everything.

Then she appeared, not just within our borders but standing there radiating power like some divine wolf spirit, transformed into that breathtaking, enormous white wolf.

My brain refused to accept what my eyes had witnessed. She was my destined mate. But no amount of destiny or supernatural connection could heal the jagged wound that felt like a permanent cavity carved through my ribs.

The sensation of suffocating overwhelmed me. Her scent flooded back, drowning me in memories I had buried, highlighting the stark difference between what we could have shared and the chaos my life had become.

I am this pack’s Alpha. The most powerful individual here, responsible for safeguarding every life within our territory. Yet here I sat, frozen in my battered leather chair, having a silent breakdown because of one woman. The woman who had abandoned me and left me in ruins.

The worst part? My wolf had returned.

I could sense him more vibrant and alert than he had been since she disappeared and crushed his soul. Ironically, my stubborn beast only wanted her closeness, wanted to tend to her injuries, despite the unpardonable harm she had caused us both.

I had remained here all night, hiding in my office behind the weak pretense of administrative work. The reality was I couldn’t bear the thought of returning home while she lay unconscious in the cells below. Love truly makes fools of us all, because my heart still ached for the person who had shattered it.

A knock interrupted my downward spiral.

"I expected to find you exactly like this," came a silky, irritatingly smug voice.

Roxanne’s arrival was inevitable. She always showed up when I was most vulnerable, ready to twist the knife or pursue whatever sick agenda drove her.

"Congratulations on your powers of deduction," I muttered, letting the documents I had been pretending to review fall onto my desk. I had no idea how to get rid of her quickly.

"Will you speak with me?" she asked, entering uninvited and settling into the chair across from me with practiced ease.

I pushed my chair back, creating distance, and met her gaze directly. Exhaustion weighed on me, and my tolerance had worn dangerously thin.

"Roxanne, I believe I have made myself crystal clear that I don’t justify my actions to you or anyone," I said, my tone cold and measured. "If you want to discuss your adopted sister’s return, go confront her directly. I have nothing to share about that matter."

I let the silence stretch between us.

"However, if you want to discuss my emotions or my connection with Seraphina, then I’m afraid I won’t accommodate you, because it’s not your concern."

That was probably more than I had spoken about Seraphina since she left years ago. Just voicing her name felt like tearing open an old, barely mended wound.

Roxanne arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow, her expression turning cold. "So you still desire her?"

Her presumptuous question, as if I owed her explanations, made my teeth grind together.

"Look," I said, pressing my palm against my tired eyes. "I’m exhausted. I’ve had an incredibly difficult night, and I don’t want to engage in whatever game this is today. You need to leave my office immediately."

She remained seated. Instead, she leaned forward, her voice dropping to a threatening, manipulative whisper that she probably believed sounded concerned.

"I don’t know what scheme you’re considering, Julian, but if you bring that woman back into our world, if you try to replace me, I apologize, but it will be the final time you see our daughter." Her stare was icy, calculating. "It will destroy Elena’s heart to watch you choose another woman, and I refuse to allow that. For her protection, you must make Seraphina leave."

Calculating witch.

She could threaten me, she could humiliate me, but she would never weaponize my child against me.

I rose deliberately, my chair scraping against the floor in the sudden stillness. I walked around my desk, stopping directly before the door, and pulled it open wide. The message was unmistakable: get out.

Roxanne stood to depart, collecting her fake dignity, but I wasn’t done. Something needed to be said, something I wanted burned into her memory permanently.

I slammed the door closed again, not violently enough to frighten her, but forcefully enough to make her stiffen. I turned, releasing my Alpha presence into the confined space.

"I don’t know what delusion you’re operating under, but you better retract that statement," I growled, staring into her eyes. My pupils contracted to narrow slits, my inner beast pushing toward the surface. "You will never separate me from my daughter. And I challenge you to attempt it, Roxanne. I absolutely challenge you."

The raw force of my awakened wolf, the authority of my Alpha nature struck her powerfully. Her perfect posture crumbled slightly, her head tilting just enough. She had no option but to submit, a small, involuntary surrender to my dominance, even though her pride despised it.

She shot me one final glare, resentment simmering beneath the surface, before opening the door and storming out.

As Roxanne’s presence faded, I dropped back into my chair, suddenly struggling to breathe.

My pulse hammered like thunder.

’Mine,’ a deep, resonant voice echoed through my mind.

’No, not yours. Don’t begin this,’ I silently argued with my wolf.

’Mate,’ my wolf insisted, his presence filling my consciousness with warmth and desperate euphoria. ’She has returned. She is our destined one. She belongs here.’

The joy radiating from my wolf was overwhelming, driving me to the edge of sanity. I could practically feel his tail wagging with excitement. It was maddening.

’She nearly destroyed us. We spent years shattered because of her decision! Do you believe I can simply forget because of some supernatural connection?’

’You have spent years attempting to bury your love for her. Stop deceiving yourself. We cannot lose her again.’

I couldn’t argue with him. That was the most infuriating part. Time had done nothing to diminish the love I carried for Seraphina. It remained there, a massive, glowing anchor I couldn’t sever.

Then the mate bond, which had blazed back to life when she entered our territory, hit me with emotions that weren’t my own.

Pain. Confusion. Terror.

I could sense much of what she experienced right now, lying in the detention area somewhere beneath this building. She was suffering, and feeling her anguish in my own chest made me physically sick.

How could I handle this situation? My rational mind screamed for self-protection, demanding I keep her distant to avoid being destroyed again. My wolf demanded I rush to her, claim her, and heal the wounds we both carried.

And Elena, my daughter, remained caught in the center of something she couldn’t understand.