Seraphina POV

The single tear sat heavily on the glowing screen, magnifying Galilea’s triumphant smile. *Our true Luna.* The words from Eddie’s post echoed in the cramped confines of my car, a vicious chant that sent fresh, agonizing tremors through our frayed mate-bond.

I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. If I had a wolf, I would have shattered Kain’s mind with a deafening, furious roar through the mind-link. But I was wolfless. I was trapped in a deafening silence, unable to project my agony, forced to swallow the betrayal whole.

A soft tap on the driver’s side window made me flinch.

I hastily wiped my face and lowered the glass an inch. Mark, the elderly Omega who had driven for the Blakely family for decades, stood in the dim garage light. His shoulders were hunched, and his eyes were swimming with a gentle, devastating pity.

"Luna," Mark asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Are you alright?"

That single word—*Luna*—felt like a slap. The pity in his eyes confirmed what I already knew: the pack staff knew. They all knew Kain had brought his true love back, while I was left in the dark.

"I'm fine, Mark," I choked out, the lie tasting like ash. I rolled the window up, threw the car into drive, and sped out of the suffocating underground cavern. I needed to work. I needed the sterile, emotionless sanctuary of the Blakely Group.

Hours later, the towering glass walls of my office offered no comfort. I stared blankly at the MQ Clothing proposals on my monitor, forcing my trembling fingers to forward the urgent files to Kain’s executive system.

My phone buzzed on the desk.

It wasn't a mind-link. It was a text message. The cold, human method of communication felt like a deliberate wall built between us.

*Kain: I have urgent Pack business with the Silvermoon delegation tonight. Don't wait up.*

My chest tightened, the frayed bond giving a pathetic, sharp tug. *Silvermoon delegation.* Galilea’s pack. He wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. He was spending the evening with her.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. I wanted to scream, to demand the truth, to tell him about the tiny life growing inside me. Instead, I typed a single word.

*Sera: Ok.*

Less than a minute later, the screen lit up again.

*Kain: The gift I brought back for you is in my luggage. Get it yourself when you get home.*

Bile rose in my throat. A gift. A pathetic, obligatory trinket to pacify the woman he was discarding. He was sleeping with his ex, dissolving our union, and he thought a souvenir would ease his conscience? I could feel a strange, restless agitation bleeding through the bond—Kain’s wolf, Rage, pacing uncomfortably—but I shut it out.

*Sera: Fine.*

I threw the phone into my purse. I couldn't breathe in this building anymore.

By the time I reached the executive underground parking lot, the space was practically deserted, echoing with the hum of ventilation fans. I just wanted to get to my car, drive to my old private apartment, and pretend this day had never happened.

I was halfway to my sedan when the VIP elevator chimed. The polished steel doors slid open.

I froze behind a concrete pillar, my breath catching in my throat.

Kain stepped out. He was wearing the crisp white suit I had laid out for him this morning. But it wasn't the suit that made my blood run cold. It was the tie. The deep crimson silk tie I had bought him just yesterday—a secret, hopeful celebration of the pup I was carrying.

Clinging to his arm, practically molded to his side, was Galilea.

Even from a distance, the heavy, cloying scent of tuberose hit my nose, suffocating and territorial. She laughed at something he said, playfully tugging at his arm.

I waited for Kain to pull away, to maintain his usual stoic, untouchable Alpha demeanor. But he didn't. Instead, he looked down at her, and a soft, indulgent smile touched his lips—a smile I had spent years trying to earn, a smile I thought he was incapable of giving.

He was wearing the symbol of our unborn child while escorting the woman who was replacing me.

I stood paralyzed in the shadows, the cold concrete seeping into my bones as the last, fragile pieces of my world quietly turned to dust.

Seraphina POV

I sat in the freezing car, a pathetic voyeur to my own destruction. Through the windshield, the harsh fluorescent lights of the parking garage illuminated them perfectly.

Galilea said something, her lips curving into a playful pout. In response, Kain’s stoic expression melted. He reached out, his large, calloused hand—the same hand that had gripped my waist in the dark—gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His fingertips lingered on her cheek, a caress so tender it stole the breath from my lungs.

That tiny, intimate gesture was more lethal than any lie. For years, I had convinced myself that Kain’s coldness was just his nature. He was an Alpha; he didn't know how to be soft. But watching him look at Galilea, the brutal truth crashed over me: he wasn't incapable of gentleness. His gentleness just never belonged to me.

The frayed mate-bond inside my chest shrieked, a phantom pain twisting like a silver dagger carving out my soul. If I had a wolf, I would have unleashed a devastating, furious roar through the mind-link, demanding he feel my agony. But I was wolfless. I was trapped in a suffocating silence, forced to endure this invisible execution alone.

I waited until his taillights disappeared into the night before I finally started my engine.

I didn't go back to the Alpha estate. I couldn't stomach the thought of breathing the same air as them. Instead, I drove to my old private apartment—a small, quiet sanctuary I had kept since before the marriage. It smelled of vanilla and my old design books, a stark contrast to the suffocating tuberose that now haunted my life.

I had barely kicked off my heels when the doorbell rang.

I opened the door, and my heart gave a pathetic, traitorous leap. Kain stood in the hallway, his massive frame dwarfing my doorway. But before I could even process his presence, the aggressive, cloying scent of Galilea’s tuberose wafted off his suit, suffocating my senses.

I waited for an explanation. An apology. Anything.

Instead, his jaw tightened, and he looked at me with the detached calculation of a CEO closing a merger. "I came to tell you that I’ve instructed my Beta, Kylan, to handle the asset division for the dissolution of our union. You will be adequately compensated."

The words hit me like physical blows. I stood frozen, the blood draining from my face.

"Of course," Kain added, his voice dropping an octave, "as a member of the Blackwood Pack, you will always remain under my protection."

A severance package. He was giving me a severance package. In a matter of seconds, he had demoted me from his Fated Mate to a pack asset that needed to be managed and paid off. The last fragile ember of hope I had for our bond was extinguished by his business-like cruelty.

I swallowed the bile in my throat, along with the secret of the tiny life growing inside me. I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just gave him a single, hollow nod.

Kain’s brow furrowed deeply. A strange, restless energy radiated from him—his inner wolf, Rage, pacing and clawing at the surface, clearly agitated by the agonizing silence of our bond. He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but ultimately, he just turned on his heel and walked away.

The door clicked shut, sealing my fate.

The next morning, I forced myself into the sterile sanctuary of my office at the Blakely Group. Work was the only thing keeping me tethered to sanity. I was buried in MQ Clothing fabric swatches when my assistant burst through the door, her face pale.

"Luna," she gasped, "Cathie, Darlene Ortiz's agent, is on the encrypted pack comms. She’s furious. She demanded to speak with you immediately."

My stomach dropped. Darlene was our lead brand ambassador. I took a deep breath and pressed the blinking red button on my console.

"Ms. Reeves," Cathie’s voice hissed through the speaker, dripping with venom. "I need an explanation right now. Is the Blackwood Pack unilaterally tearing up our alliance? Or does your Alpha actually believe that replacing my client with his ex-girlfriend is an acceptable business practice?"

I stared at the speaker, the world tilting on its axis. Galilea. They had replaced Darlene with Galilea.

Seraphina POV

"Ms. Reeves?" Cathie’s voice snapped like a whip through the encrypted comms, dragging me back to the nightmare of my reality.

I gripped the edge of my desk, my knuckles turning white. "Cathie, I swear to you, MQ Clothing has not authorized any changes to Darlene's contract. I had no knowledge of this."

"Then you better get your PR Director on a leash," Cathie spat, her tone dripping with disgust. "Evelyn Garrett personally informed us of the termination. If the Blackwood Pack thinks they can humiliate my client to make room for your Alpha's ex-girlfriend, you can expect a formal dispute."

The line went dead.

I sat in the sterile silence of my office, a wave of nausea washing over me. Evelyn Garrett. Of course. I was supposed to be the future Luna, yet I was completely blind to a major pack business decision. Kain’s cruel severance package from last night was already taking effect. My authority was bleeding out, and the vultures were circling.

I didn't wait for my assistant. I marched straight out of my office and headed down to the PR department.

I shoved Evelyn’s office door open without knocking. The aggressive, cloying scent of her heavy rose perfume hit me like a physical wall. Outside in the corridor, several pack employees paused, their eyes darting toward the open doorway.

Evelyn was leaning back in her plush leather chair, casually scrolling through her phone. She was a high-born she-wolf, and for three years, she had made no secret of her disdain for my wolfless existence.

"Evelyn," I demanded, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "Why did you terminate Darlene Ortiz?"

She didn't even flinch. She slowly lowered her phone, a smug, condescending smirk playing on her lips. "It was the Alpha's decision, Seraphina. He believes Princess Galilea's image aligns much better with our Pack's elevated status."

"You bypassed me," I said, stepping closer to her desk. "I am the head of this brand."

Evelyn let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Are you? Let's face reality. You were just a placeholder. Now that the true Luna has returned, Kain is finally done playing house with a wolfless charity case."

Her words sliced through the frayed remnants of my mate-bond, but I refused to let her see me bleed. "This is a business matter, Evelyn. You breached a contract with a powerful allied pack."

"I secured a better one," she countered, standing up to use her height advantage. Her eyes flashed with a hint of her inner wolf's gold. "You have no power here. The only reason you're even breathing our air is because the former Alpha took pity on your pathetic, wolfless father."

My blood ran cold. "Don't talk about my father."

"Why not?" Evelyn sneered, stepping around her desk, her voice rising so the onlookers in the hallway could hear. "Connor Reeves died a worthless death. He was a weak, pathetic human-equivalent who left behind an equally useless daughter. Your father died a miserable death because he had a shameless—"

*Smack.*

The sound of my palm striking her cheek echoed like a gunshot.

The murmurs from the hallway instantly died. The entire floor went dead silent.

Evelyn’s head snapped to the side. For a split second, genuine shock widened her eyes. But as she slowly touched her reddened skin, a twisted, triumphant smile crept onto her lips. She had wanted this. She had wanted me to break.

"Look at this," Evelyn hissed, her eyes welling with fake tears as she looked toward the open door. "Is this our future Luna? Throwing a tantrum and attacking pack members like a feral rogue? Your father would be disgusted by what a shameless bitch you've—"

Blind, white-hot fury consumed me. I raised my hand to strike her again, putting every ounce of my strength into it.

But my hand never landed.

Fingers like bands of iron clamped around my wrist mid-air, halting my momentum so violently it sent a jolt of pain up my arm.

The temperature in the room plummeted to freezing. The overwhelming scent of pine after a storm and cold steel flooded my senses, suffocating the rose perfume entirely. A crushing, terrifying Alpha aura filled the space, so heavy it made my knees buckle.

I looked up, my breath catching in my throat, straight into Kain's furious, ice-cold eyes.