Chapter 3

"Mom, I'm so happy you're back! That horrible woman was going to take me a long way from here." The small voice shook with both relief and lingering fear.

"You don't have to be scared, sweetheart," a woman replied gently, though her voice was firm. "Nobody's going to take you away from us. Your father would never let that happen."

Seraphine heard them speaking before she managed to open her eyes.

At first, she couldn't quite make sense of their conversation. The voices seemed to belong to a dream she was struggling to remember.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the warehouse's exposed wooden ceiling beams. She recognized them, but everything still looked hazy and strangely distant.

She couldn't remember anyone bringing her there.

The last thing she remembered was her legs buckling beneath her. She'd collapsed, and the test results had slipped from her hand onto the floor.

None of it made sense. Her heart beat so hard that her chest hurt. She'd become pregnant after Ravyn forced himself on her that night.

What had happened had bound them together and led to a marriage she'd wanted so badly to believe meant something.

For nine months, she'd carried her baby. She'd suffered through the pain and nausea, along with an exhaustion that never seemed to ease. She'd endured every part of it until the birth.

She remembered delivering her child and hearing a newborn cry. After that, she'd lost consciousness.

How had she ended up in this place?

As her surroundings became clearer, she found Ravyn staring down at her with open hostility.

He looked furious, and there was nothing in his expression to soften it.

"After everything, you still went near my son?" he asked coldly. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Seraphine stayed calmer than anyone might've expected. Corvine came forward and helped her into a sitting position.

She hurt all over, but she tried to ignore it. She had too many questions to spare much thought for the pain.

Daisy watched from a short distance without moving. She wore a small, satisfied smile, as though things had gone exactly the way she'd wanted.

"Ravyn, I gave birth to a boy that night," Seraphine replied quietly, trying to put her confused thoughts in order. "If Bryan isn't my son, what happened to my baby?"

He gave a brief laugh without any trace of amusement. The look he gave her became even colder.

"After what you did that night, did you really expect me to let you keep my child?" he asked slowly, taking care with every word.

She felt each word almost as sharply as a blow.

"Daisy had her baby that night too," he continued. "I dealt with the problem. Your child is gone."

She felt something inside her give way completely.

Seraphine threw herself at him before she could think. She caught him around the throat and bared her teeth as her wolf's instincts took control.

Ravyn reacted too quickly for her to hold on. He drove her backward with a vicious shove that seemed to cost him no effort.

She struck the ground hard enough to knock the breath from her. Pain spread through her body, and for a moment, she couldn't draw air into her lungs.

"You've got strength, I'll give you that," he sneered as he stood over her. "But don't forget who you're dealing with. I'm the Alpha. You mean nothing to me."

She was shaking by the time she managed to get back on her feet. When she spoke, her voice cracked. "Tell me where my son is."

For an instant, something changed in his expression. Then he looked at her as coldly as before.

"You had a daughter," he replied without pausing. "She died."

Seraphine went cold at his answer.

"That can't be true. You're lying to me."

"That's what happened," he replied without emotion. "She went missing the night she was born."

Her surroundings seemed to tip sideways, and her legs could no longer support her.

She was facing more than the loss of her child. Everything she'd believed about her life for years had been a lie.

For Bryan's sake, she'd given up everything she had. She'd even gone without the one treatment that might've kept her alive.

She'd made every sacrifice for a child who wasn't hers.

Then she realized something that hurt even more. If she'd agreed to a divorce sooner, she would've left without ever learning what had happened.

He would've let her go without telling her the truth.

When she found her voice again, she couldn't keep it steady.

"I didn't betray you," she whispered. "You were the one who forced himself on me that night."

Ravyn looked at her with such fury that she could almost believe he wanted to kill her.

"Don't lie to me," he snapped. "I've got proof you set the whole thing up. Daisy would already be Luna if you hadn't interfered. You should've remembered your place."

Seraphine shut her eyes for a moment.

At last, she accepted that nothing she said would make him hear her out.

He'd decided what he believed long ago, and the truth wouldn't change his mind.

She could've endured losing the man she loved. Finding out that he'd destroyed her child was more than she knew how to bear.

She couldn't have explained that kind of pain to anyone.

"Even if everything you're accusing me of were true, she was still your child," she muttered in a broken voice. "How can you care so little?"

Ravyn showed no sign that her words had affected him.

"That's right," he answered plainly. "That's exactly why I couldn't let her exist."

He went on without showing the slightest feeling.

"You think what happened was an accident? You still haven't figured it out, Seraphine."

For years, she'd put up with the way he treated her. He'd given her no love, and there'd been nothing warm about their life together. He hadn't even acknowledged what she'd done for him.

On six separate occasions, she'd stayed instead of accepting a divorce because she'd believed Bryan needed her.

Now she couldn't see anything left of the life she'd tried to preserve.

Daisy came closer and spoke with a sweetness that did little to hide her cruelty.

"There's no need to worry, Luna Sera." She reassured. "You can carry on looking after Bryan. You've been so good with him."

For an instant, she almost let her smirk show.

"Your baby may not have survived, but you've brought mine up so well. He's doing beautifully because of you."

She made her voice softer before adding one more thing.

"You even gave me his treatment, and I've still got it."

Daisy hadn't realized that the treatment couldn't cure him.

All it could do was keep his illness under control for a while.

If Bryan stopped receiving it, his illness would come back worse than before.

Seraphine had planned to take him with her for that very reason.

Now she couldn't bring herself to care anymore.

She grew strangely calm, though she felt empty inside.

When she lifted her head to face Ravyn, she didn't shake or look away.

"You took my child's life, and I kept yours alive," she said, speaking each word slowly. "Let the Moon Goddess decide what happens to us."

She turned her back on him.

Walking still took an effort, but she didn't hesitate.

All she wanted was to leave that place behind.

As she reached the doorway, however, she found a huge figure standing in her way.

The stranger was powerfully built and intimidating even at a glance.

The eyes fixed on her were so cold that she could find nothing human in their expression.

Anyone facing that stare would've struggled to draw a breath.

Seraphine stopped at once and couldn't make herself move.