Voren didn’t even try to bullshit his way out of it. No excuses, no slick defenses.

The guilt on his face was raw and real, sinking deep into him like heavy regret, weighing down every inch of that strong body she knew so well, those broad shoulders slumping just a little under the pressure of his own shame.

"You’re right," he said, voice low and rough, almost breaking on the words. "I’m sorry, Sera. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I was blinded by jealousy, by pain, by all this shit that wasn’t even your fault. I had no clue some spell had messed with your memory. Giving Daisy your blood? I also knew that was something you’d done since you were a kid, so it wasn’t a big deal. But I also, backed it because of the deal Ravyn threw in."

He held her gaze, those dark eyes burning into blue ones like he was trying to pour every ounce of truth straight into her soul, his hand twitching like he wanted to reach out and touch her but was holding himself back.

Seraphine’s heart clenched hard, a mix of hurt and something warmer twisting inside her chest. "What deal?"

Voren exhaled slowly, his breath shaky as he ran a hand through his hair. "Ravyn promised me half the Centenary pack if you gave blood to Daisy. And as an Alpha... ambition’s always been my thing." His voice dropped, thick with regret. "I’m not proud of it, baby. I feel ashamed."

A sharp ache twisted Seraphine’s chest, deep and painful. Ravyn hated her that much? He’d trade away half his pack just to drain her for the woman he loved.

The thought made her stomach turn, but when her eyes locked with Voren’s again, something warmer, deeper flooded through her, heat spreading through her veins like liquid fire.

This man. He’d waited years for her. Even after everything fell apart, he’d stayed. Raised her child without knowing the truth. goddess, the way he looked at her right now, hungry, desperate, full of love and regret, made heat bloom low in her belly, her pulse quickening at the memory of his hands on her skin, the way he activated her pheromones like she was his whole world.

Voren kept talking, unaware of the storm raging inside her, the way her body was already responding to his nearness, his scent filling the room and making her thighs press together instinctively.

"When you came back after the divorce, you weren’t really you anymore. Something in you had gone quiet. I tried so fucking hard to reach you, Sera, but every time I got close, you had this massive wall up. I couldn’t even see over it."

He shook his head, jaw tight, his eyes darkening with the pain of those memories. "I told myself you were gone. That the Sera I fell in love with had shut me out completely. So I stopped pushing on a door that wouldn’t open, even though it killed me inside every single day."

Seraphine stared at him for a long moment, her lips twitching with something between a smile and heartbreak, her eyes tracing the lines of his face, the stubble on his jaw that she suddenly wanted to feel against her neck.

"What would you have done?" she whispered, voice soft but intense, laced with all the emotions she’d been holding back. "If the man you’d loved your whole damn life looked you in the eye one day and said he swapped your baby... and had her killed?"

The words hung heavy in the air, impossible to take back, wrapping around them both like a thick, intimate fog that made the room feel smaller, hotter.

That night at the pack had nearly destroyed her, leaving scars that still ached in quiet moments. Now she knew a spell had been cast on her—witches. It had to be.

She turned the thought over and over in her mind, pressing on it like a fresh bruise, feeling the throb of betrayal and rage mix with a growing desire to lean into Voren, to let him hold her through all of it.

Voren’s voice pulled her back gently, warm and steady like an anchor. "By then, I really believed you knew and were still with him. Ravyn only told me years later, like it was nothing. Like it didn’t fucking matter."

His jaw flexed, tension rippling through his muscles. "I thought, if he doesn’t even want his own kid, why should I care? I didn’t stop to think that she was yours too."

He looked straight into her eyes, voice cracking with raw emotion that sent shivers down her spine. "I’m so sorry, Sera. I’ll help you find her. Whatever it takes. I swear on everything I am, on every night I spent missing you, and on my pack."

Seraphine kept her face steady, but inside she was trembling with a whirlwind of fear, love, and longing. She’d already found Marigold.

Her biggest fear was how Voren would react if he learned the truth—that she wasn’t his by blood.

He loved that little girl so fiercely it scared her sometimes, his devotion so deep it made her heart swell and her body ache for him even more.

Maybe it was safer this way... for now. Let her be Marigold’s legal mother.

She’d get the DNA test first. Until then, not a word, even as the secret burned inside her like a hidden flame.

The silence stretched between them, thick and intimate, charged with everything unsaid, their breaths syncing in the quiet. Then Voren moved closer, something lighter flickering across his handsome face, his eyes roaming over her body in a way that made her skin tingle.

"Also," he said, almost casually, but with that underlying growl that always turned her on, "if you want to destroy Ravyn—financially, completely, burn his whole world down, just say the word. I’ll pull every dollar I have out of Walker’s Enterprise. The whole thing collapses without me, and we both know it. I’d do it for you in a heartbeat, Sera. I’d watch it all crumble if it meant seeing you smile again."

Seraphine’s response was far from his expectation.