Damien’s POV
I hadn’t slept.
Couldn’t sleep. Every ti I closed my eyes, I saw that fucking letter. Her handwriting. Her words tearing through like silver bullets.
*Please don’t look for .*
*Let go.*
I sat on the edge of our bed as dawn crept through the windows, holding the letter in my hands for the hundredth ti. The paper was starting to wear soft from my grip.
She was wrong about everything. Every goddamn thing.
But she was gone.
My chest felt hollow, like soone had reached in and scooped out everything vital. Alex was silent inside my mind, which sohow made it worse. Even my wolf had gone quiet with grief.
A soft cry from the nursery made fold the letter and shove it back into my jacket pocket. Lily was awake.
I found her in her crib, tiny fists waving in the air, making those soft baby sounds that usually lted my heart. Today they just reminded that Sera wasn’t here to feed her.
"Hey, beautiful girl," I whispered, lifting her against my chest. She settled imdiately, her little hand curling around my finger.
*She deserves a real mother.*
Sera’s words echoed in my head, and I had to grip the edge of the crib to keep from putting my fist through the wall.
"Your mama is wrong about a lot of things," I told Lily softly. "But she loves you. Don’t ever doubt that."
Lily made a contented sound, her eyes drifting shut again. I stood there holding her, breathing in that sweet baby sll, trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to explain this to Adrian.
The sound of small feet in the hallway made look up. Adrian appeared in the doorway, his dark hair sticking up at impossible angles, still in his pajamas.
"Morning, Daddy," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Where’s Mama? She usually gets breakfast."
My throat closed up. "Mama had to go away for a while, buddy."
"Go away where?"
"She had so things to take care of," I said carefully. "Grown-up things. But she’ll... she’ll be back."
The lie tasted like acid.
Adrian’s face scrunched up with confusion. "But she didn’t say goodbye. Mama always says goodbye when she goes sowhere."
My heart cracked a little more. "Sotis grown-ups have to leave quickly. That doesn’t an she doesn’t love you."
"Oh." Adrian seed to accept this with the resilience only children possessed. "Can you make pancakes? Mama makes the best pancakes, but you’re okay at them too."
"Yeah, buddy. I can make pancakes."
*Just keep moving. Keep pretending everything’s normal.*
An hour later, I was in my office, staring at reports I couldn’t focus on. The numbers blurred together on the pages. My hands shook every ti I reached for my coffee.
I picked up my phone three tis to call Lucas before putting it down again. If word got out that the Alpha’s mate had abandoned him...
No. This had to stay quiet.
I scrolled through my contacts until I found the number I was looking for. Marcus picked up on the second ring.
"Alpha?"
"I need to see you in my office. Now. And bring Tyler and Jake with you."
"On our way."
Twenty minutes later, three of my most trusted warriors stood in front of my desk. All of them had served in special operations before joining the pack. All of them knew how to keep their mouths shut.
"I need you to find soone," I said without preamble. "Quietly. No questions asked. No one else can know about this mission."
Marcus nodded. "Who are we looking for?"
"Seraphina. My mate."
The silence in the room was deafening. I could see the questions in their eyes, but none of them dared ask.
"She left yesterday afternoon," I continued, my voice steady despite the chaos inside my head. "I don’t know where she went. I don’t know what she’s planning. I just need her found."
"Any leads, Alpha?" Tyler asked carefully.
"She took a bus. She wouldn’t go north into rogue territory." I paused, my jaw clenching. "And she doesn’t want to be found. So she’ll try to stay off the radar."
Jake stepped forward. "What are our orders once we locate her?"
"You don’t approach. You don’t make contact. You just find her and report back to ." My voice dropped to that dangerous tone that made lesser wolves show their necks. "And if any of this gets back to the pack, I’ll personally tear out your throats. Are we clear?"
"Crystal clear, Alpha," Marcus said imdiately.
"Good."
They filed out, leaving alone with my grief and rage.
"Fuck what you want," I growled to the empty office. "You’re my mate. The mother of my children. I’ll find you, and I’ll drag you ho, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving you wrong about every goddamn thing you wrote in that letter."
A knock on my door interrupted my spiral into fury. Emma entered with a steaming cup of coffee and that professional smile that was starting to grate on my nerves.
"Your ten o’clock eting has been moved to eleven," she said, setting the coffee on my desk.
"Fine."
She lingered, her sharp eyes taking in my appearance. I probably looked like hell. Hadn’t shaved, barely slept, clothes wrinkled from yesterday.
"You look exhausted," she said, her voice taking on a softer tone. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I’m fine."
"If you don’t mind saying, you don’t look fine." She perched on the edge of the chair across from my desk, leaning forward with what looked like genuine concern. "I have so herbal redies my grandmother used to swear by. Natural sleep aids. They might help."
"I don’t need herbal redies."
"Of course not. I just..." She paused, her expression shifting to sothing that looked uncomfortably like pity. "Is this about your human partner? I feel terrible about what happened at the engagent party. I hope she’s recovering from that embarrassing incident."
The coffee cup cracked in my grip.
"Emma," I said, my voice deadly quiet. "Get. Out."
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