SERAPHINA’S POV

"Seraphina!"

I jolted awake in bed, hearing my name from the urgency in my mother’s voice on the phone. Her voice trembled through the phone, sharp and brittle.

"Mom?" My throat was raw. She hadn’t reached out in ten years—not unless it was the worst kind of news.

"Your father—" Her breath hitched, then broke. "He's been attacked."

My stomach clenched. Ice-cold fear gripped me.

"What?!"

“Oh, Sera, he’s barely clinging to life!” my mother sobbed brokenly.

I immediately threw the covers off me and jumped out of bed.

“Send me the hospital address,” I said in a shaky voice. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I tried not to make too much noise as I rushed down the stairs so I wouldn’t wake my son, Daniel. The light underneath my husband, Kieran’s, office told me he was still up. As Alpha of the pack, he always had too much to handle.

And if I were honest with myself—too much resentment toward me.

A decade-old mistake had bound us together. A mistake he’d never forgiven.

So, I didn’t plan to bother him.

By the time I slid into the driver’s seat, tears streaked down my face.

My father had always been invincible. Unshakable. The giant of my heart, even if he’d never wanted me as his daughter.

Even if he’d hated me. But I never imagined he could be taken from me like this—

I slammed my foot on the accelerator.

When I reached the hospital, my mother and brother sat like shadows outside the operating room. My chest tightened. Would the giant really fall?

I hesitated. I couldn’t bring myself to step closer. Not when their disgust had exiled me long ago. After that night ten years ago, they’d erased me. To the world, they had only one daughter now—Celestine.

I shouldn’t have come. For a wild second, I considered turning back. I couldn’t face their hatred again.

Just then, the glass doors of the OR opened, and a doctor walked out, pulling gloves off his fingers.

"Doctor!" I rushed forward before I could stop myself, my voice shaking. "How is my father?"

The grim expression on his face said it all. “I’m sorry. We did all we could...but his injuries were far too severe.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth, choking back the sob clawing up my throat.

"Is he… gone?" Ethan barely glanced at me before addressing the doctor, his voice rough.

"Not yet." The man shook his head slowly. "But he won’t last the night. He’s been asking for his daughter."

I took an instinctive step forward—then froze.

His daughter.

It couldn’t be me. After ten years of indifference and resentment, the daughter my dying father wanted to see would never be me.

Ethan’s laugh was a blade of ice. "Ten years, and our family is still paying for your mistakes!"

I turned to face him, tears streaking my cheeks, but this time, I didn’t bow my head in shame. I straightened my spine and met his glare head-on.

“Because of you,” he snarled at me, “Celeste moved away. Because of you, she can’t be here. Because of you, Dad will die with his last wish unfulfilled.”

"Yes, it’s always my fault." My bitter laugh carried decades worth of suffering. "No matter what happened, you've all been so quick to condemn me. No one cared about the truth—or how I feel!"

Tears burst forth and for a short while, my accusation made Ethan stiffen. But soon his voice turned harsh again, "Your feelings? You stole your sister’s fiancé, and you dare talk about feelings?"

My nails bit into my palms as the old wound tore open.

Ten years ago, at the Blood Moon Hunt, I’d just turned twenty—the age when every werewolf finds their mate. After a lifetime of being overlooked, I’d longed for that bond more than anything.

As a child, I’d foolishly dreamed it might be Kieran. But then he fell for Celeste—perfect, radiant Celeste, the darling of the entire Frostbane Pack—and I learned my place soon enough.

What was I? The Alpha’s defective daughter, the one who couldn’t even shift. Nothing.

Then fate twisted the knife.

Drunk on moonberry wine, I’d somehow stumbled into a hotel suite, and woke up naked—next to Kieran.

The cruelest part? Celeste had burst in at dawn, giddy to surprise him with breakfast in bed. It was said they were going to get engaged after the Hunt.

And everyone saw us.

Kieran didn't even glance my way. Just gathered Celeste in his arms and walked out, leaving me there in those ruined sheets.

Nobody cared about me. All I ever got was scorn and ridicule. The whole pack would've been happier if I'd vanished into thin air—anything to soothe their precious princess's wounded pride.

I'd hidden away, planning to disappear entirely... until the morning sickness started. Until the doctor told my father I was pregnant.

That was the only reason Kieran married me. He was an honorable man, an Alpha who would never desert his heir.

Yet it tore my family apart.

My parents and brother hated me for breaking Celeste’s heart. Kieran’s pack, NightFang, loathed me because I was not the Luna they wanted. And Celeste was so enraged, she moved abroad.

"You ruined everything!" Ethan's accusing voice cut through my thoughts. The venom in his glare cut deep. Undiluted after a decade.

Blood may have made us siblings, but Ethan had never once treated me as his sister. He loathed me for driving away the only sister he cherished.

But was it truly all my fault? I may be weak and ordinary, but never so vile as to deliberately seduce my sister's lover. Yet they never cared. They just needed someone to blame.

"See?" My hands trembled, but my voice grew steadier. "My voice never mattered. My existence never mattered. So tell me, Mom—" I turned to face her, throat constricted. "If you never wanted me, why did you give birth to me?"

"How dare you speak to Mom like that?!" Ethan roared. "You think marrying Kieran made you Luna? That was meant for Celeste!"

"Ethan!" Mother finally spoke, her voice weary. "Enough. Let’s not spend your father’s last moments fighting.”

She couldn't even look at me as she said, "Go see your father." Her gaze darted away like the sight of me pained her. Ethan shot me one last venomous glare before slumping into a chair.

Steeling myself, I pushed open the door.

The fear nearly choked me—fear of seeing that familiar disappointment in his eyes one last time. But when I saw him lying there, the man I'd spent my life both fearing and longing to please...

Gone was the towering figure of my nightmares. The father who'd once seemed invincible now lay motionless, his chest swathed in bandages, his face ashen. The eyes that had always burned with contempt when they looked at me... now held nothing at all.

Tears streamed down my face. Why did this hurt so much?

This man—this giant who'd hated me from the moment I presented as a wolfless. Who'd looked at Celeste with pride and me with shame.

Especially on that night ten years ago. I could still hear his voice, raw with fury: "I regret ever bringing you into this world!"

And his hateful curse: "If I have my way, you'll never know a moment's happiness!"

He'd had his way.

His curse had poisoned every moment of my life, while my "honorable" husband turned our marriage into a gilded cage with his endless silence and contempt.

I should have hated them all—this family, this fate.

But when my father's fingers twitched weakly on the sheets, my traitorous heart lurched. Before I could think, I was at his side, clutching his ice-cold hand.

"Dad?" My voice trembled with something dangerously close to hope.

His pale lips parted slightly, as if struggling to form words.

But before he could speak—

BEEEP—!

The heart monitor screamed. The line on the screen flattened.

"NO!" The cry tore from my throat. He couldn’t leave—not like this. Not before I saw forgiveness in his eyes. Not before we could unravel the knots binding our hearts.

The door burst open. Ethan and Mother shoved me aside, sending me crashing to the floor.

"He's gone…" Mother collapsed against Ethan, her body wracked with violent sobs. "My mate… my Alpha…!"

Ethan’s grief choked him silently—until his gaze locked onto me. His wolf was on the surface, teeth bared. I didn’t doubt for a second he’d rip my throat out. Until Mother caught his arm.

"You viper," he hissed. "Whatever scrap of happiness you’ve clung to—I’ll tear it from you."

A hollow laugh echoed in my mind. Happiness? When did I have that? His threats meant nothing.

As they gathered around my father’s body, I stood apart, my soul hollowed out, tears streaming unchecked down my face.

The doctor entered, murmuring to my mother, "Luna, we must prepare Alpha Edward’s remains."

I followed numbly—only for Kieran’s voice to slice through the haze.

"My deepest condolences, Margaret," he clasped my mother’s hands, every inch the dutiful son-in-law. "Rest assured, I’ll assist Ethan in handling everything."

Not a glance my way.

"What exactly happened?" he asked as he turned to Ethan. "How could Edward get attacked?"

Ethan's jaw clenched. "Routine border patrol. But the bastard rogues came in numbers we've never seen—armed with silver-tipped weapons." His throat worked as he fought for control. "It was an ambush. Father never stood a chance."

My mother's renewed sobs filled the corridor. Kieran gripped Ethan's shoulder—that masculine gesture of solidarity that excluded me completely.

"The rogues will pay for this," he vowed.

I hovered at the periphery, an outsider in my own family's tragedy.

The three of them—Mother, Ethan, and Kieran—stood united in their grief, an unbreakable circle I couldnt penetrate.

"I've sent for Celeste," Ethan added suddenly. "She should be arriving soon."

"Oh, my poor girl!" Mother wept into her hands. "To miss her father's final moments..."

My gaze flew to Kieran's face before I could stop myself.

Our eyes met.

His expression remained impassive—cold, assessing, utterly devoid of warmth.

That single heartbeat of connection crushed my chest like an iron weight.

One terrible certainty crystallized in my mind: I'm about to lose my second family.

But beneath the despair, a feral determination ignited. They could destroy me all over again—but no one takes my son. No one.