Damien’s POV
My fingers trembled as I unfolded the paper, the sound deafening in the quiet nursery. Adrian stood beside , but his voice seed to co from underwater.
The handwriting was definitely Sera’s—that careful script I’d fallen in love with when she used to leave little notes in my office.
*My dearest Damien,*
*By the ti you read this, I’ll be gone. Please don’t look for . Please don’t try to bring back. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but it’s the right thing. The only thing.*
My heart stopped beating. Actually stopped. The paper shook so violently in my hands I could barely make out the words.
*I love you. God, Damien, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person. You saved , in every way a person can be saved. You gave Adrian, you gave Lily, you gave a life I never dread I could have.*
*But I can’t be what you need anymore.*
"No," I whispered, the word torn from my chest. "No, no, no."
"Daddy?" Adrian tugged on my sleeve. "What’s wrong? Is that from Mama?"
I couldn’t answer him. Couldn’t speak. My eyes burned as I forced myself to keep reading.
*The truth is, I’m not a wolf anymore. I’m not your Luna. I’m just a broken human woman who can’t protect her children, can’t lead beside you, can’t even attend a pack function without humiliating herself.*
*Last night at the party, I heard them, Damien. I heard what they really think of . Of us. Of our children.*
My hands clenched around the paper, crumpling the edges.
*They called Adrian and Lily "filthy half-breeds." They said our bloodline was "tainted forever." They looked at like I was contaminating you just by standing next to you.*
*And the worst part is, they’re not wrong.*
"They are fucking wrong," I snarled, my voice echoing off the nursery walls.
Adrian jumped, his eyes going wide. "Daddy? You said a bad word."
*I can’t give you what you need. I can’t give our children what they need. I’m human now, Damien. Weak. Ordinary. Breakable. What happens when soone threatens our pack and I can’t fight? What happens when our children need a mother who can protect them and all I can do is hide behind you?*
Tears blurred my vision, making the words swim together. I blinked them away furiously.
*I won’t be the liability that gets soone killed. I won’t be the weak link that brings down everything you’ve built.*
*And our children... God, our beautiful, perfect children. They deserve better than a mother who will only hold them back. They deserve soone who can teach them about their wolf heritage, soone who can stand proud beside them when they shift for the first ti, soone who won’t embarrass them at pack gatherings.*
"Sera," I breathed, my voice breaking on her na.
*They deserve a real Luna for a mother. Not so broken human pretending to belong.*
*I know you’ll say I’m wrong. I know you’ll try to convince that I’m enough, that love is all that matters. But love isn’t enough, is it? Love doesn’t make strong enough to protect them. Love doesn’t give back my wolf. Love doesn’t change the fact that I’m a burden now instead of a partner.*
My knees buckled. I grabbed the edge of the crib to keep from falling, the paper crumpling further in my grip.
*I’m grateful we never completed the mating bond. I’m grateful you never marked . It ans you’re free, Damien. Free to find soone worthy of you. Soone who can stand beside you as an equal. Soone who can give you the support you need to lead our pack.*
"Daddy, you’re scaring ," Adrian whispered, his small voice cutting through my anguish.
I looked down at him, at his worried silver-blue eyes, and felt sothing shatter in my chest.
*Find soone who can be a real mother to Adrian and Lily. Soone strong. Soone whole. Soone who won’t spend their entire lives explaining why their mother is different, why she can’t do the things other mothers can do.*
*Please don’t hate for this. Please understand that I’m doing this because I love you all too much to stay and watch myself drag you down.*
*Take care of our babies. Tell them I love them. Tell them I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to stay.*
*And please, please don’t look for . Let go, Damien. Let disappear so you can build the life you really deserve. The life our children deserve.*
*All my love, always,*
*Sera*
*P.S. - I left so things for the children in the closet. Pictures, letters for when they’re older. So they’ll know I loved them even if I couldn’t stay.*
The letter fell from my numb fingers, fluttering to the floor like a dying bird.
The nursery spun around . The walls, the ceiling, everything tilted and blurred as the full weight of her words crashed over like a tsunami.
She was gone.
My mate, the mother of my children, the other half of my soul—gone.
"Daddy?" Adrian’s voice seed to co from very far away. "Where’s Mama? When is she coming ho?"
How could I answer that? How could I tell my five-year-old son that his mother had abandoned us? That she thought so little of herself, of us, that she’d rather disappear than fight?
"I don’t know, buddy," I whispered, my voice completely broken. "I don’t know."
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