Seraphina’s POV
The cramped space buzzed with unspoken tension, like the mont right before lightning strikes, following the confession I had just shared.
The door hinges groaned softly as it swung open.
My pulse hamred against my ribs. Julian. Even his na in my thoughts made my skin prickle with electricity. Did he catch my words? Had he been listening when I whispered that devastating truth to my mother monts ago? The burden I had vowed would remain buried forever? The reality that would reshape everything ahead?
I froze, watching the entrance. His silhouette filled the fra, backlit by the corridor’s weak glow. He appeared completely composed. No fury etched across his features, no suspicious glare. Just that familiar head tilt as he surveyed us.
Even with everything hanging in the balance, I couldn’t control my body’s response to him being near.
"Seraphina," he spoke, that deep rumble seeming to vibrate through my bones. "I wasn’t expecting company."
My parents startled at his voice. Especially Mom. Her complexion went ashen as she pressed her palm against her chest, as if blocking a physical blow. I could practically watch her thoughts scrambling, desperate to erase what I had revealed.
"Julian, sweetheart," she stamred, her tone climbing too high in fake cheerfulness. "Such a pleasant surprise! We were just catching up."
Julian’s attention flicked to briefly. That fleeting glance carried a weight of emotions I couldn’t decode. Amusent? Interest? Sothing darker? The uncertainty made my pulse quicken.
Dad, ever the diplomat, rose and extended his palm. "Julian. Always good to see you."
"Likewise, Alpha Maxwell," Julian responded, their handshake solid and asured. "I had no idea you were visiting."
Mom forced a trembling smile. "We couldn’t wait another mont once we learned our daughter had returned," she fabricated smoothly.
I offered a demure, innocent expression. The irony wasn’t lost on . My parents perford this delicate dance, pretending ignorance about the bombshell I had dropped, while I savored every second. Each strained pause, each manufactured grin, each calculated phrase proved that my revelation hung heavy over us all.
I relished knowing they couldn’t bear the reality that I held the power to shatter their daughter’s flawless existence in an instant.
"You should have called ahead and I would have arranged transportation from the airport," Julian added, addressing Mom directly.
Mom’s shoulders dropped with visible relief. "That’s thoughtful, but unnecessary. We’re hoping to visit Roxanne. Is she around?"
Julian’s mouth quirked upward slightly. "She’s at the house. You’re welco to head over now."
"Wonderful!" Mom exclaid, practically bouncing with eagerness to escape the suffocating atmosphere. Dad nodded vigorously, equally ready to flee.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed Julian wasn’t joining them, because Mom pressed further about his plans. I suspected she wanted to separate him from , terrified I might reveal that he has a son. Her worry was pointless though, since I had guarded that secret for six years with no plans to break now.
Julian clearly disliked being questioned because he simply stared at her without responding.
Her breath hitched and she averted her gaze imdiately, her throat flushing crimson. "Right. Of course."
The door clicked shut, trapping Julian and in the suddenly silent space.
I expected interrogation. Demands for explanations. Instead, he moved toward with deliberate slowness. My lungs forgot how to function. The atmosphere that had crackled with my parents’ anxiety now humd with sothing entirely different. Sothing magnetic and dangerous.
His fingers found my jaw, tilting my face upward. Those intense eyes locked onto mine. Then he did sothing that sent my stomach into freefall. He dipped his head and drew in my scent along the curve of my throat with predatory grace.
My eyelids fluttered closed. Sensation crashed over in waves, terror mingling with anticipation. If his touch had awakened every nerve before he marked , this was exponentially more overwhelming.
My core throbbed with desperate need.
"I am furious," he murmured against my skin, his voice gravelly and raw. "Absolutely livid."
Words abandoned . My limbs felt weighted yet electric. Every inch of sparked with his proximity.
"Yet," he continued, drawing back enough to capture my gaze. Those dark depths were fathomless and unreadable. "I cannot resist you. I crave seeing you. Touching you. Being near you."
The terrifying truth was that I mirrored his hunger. This pull was inescapable. The yearning blazing in his stare matched the hollow ache in my chest. He had wounded deeply, but in this mont, I needed him to heal what his very presence had torn apart.
The mate bond twisted everything into knots because I despised him as fiercely as I adored him.
I belonged nowhere else yet couldn’t survive without him either.
"I ached for you," he breathed, the words caressing my soul. "Why did you have to shatter , Seraphina?"
A strangled sound escaped my throat. "I never wanted to."
The space between us grew thick with unspoken truths, with our tangled history and murky tomorrow. He leaned closer, his warmth ghosting across my cheek, those eyes searching mine desperately.
Just as the mont balanced on the edge of sothing irreversible, a tiny, innocent voice drifted from the corridor.
"Daddy?"
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