Seraphina’s POV
I woke up to the sll of coffee and bacon.
For one perfect, stupid mont, I forgot where I was. Forgot what I’d done. My hand reached across the couch for Adrian, the way it always did in the mornings when he’d crawl into bed with .
Empty space.
Reality crashed back in. The Morrison’s living room. Three hundred miles from my babies.
From my family.
*Forr family,* I corrected myself, sitting up and wiping my face. *They’re better off without you.*
But the thought felt hollow. Wrong. Like trying to convince myself the sky was green instead of blue.
"Good morning, sweetheart!" Margaret’s voice floated in from the kitchen, bright and warm. "Coffee’s ready! Co eat before it gets cold!"
I pulled on yesterday’s clothes and padded into the kitchen, where Margaret was flipping pancakes with the sa easy efficiency she probably brought to everything in her life. Robert sat at the table reading a newspaper, reading glasses perched on his nose.
"Morning," I managed, my voice rough from crying.
"Sit, sit!" Margaret gestured to the empty chair with her spatula. "You look like you didn’t sleep at all. Here, drink this." She pressed a mug of coffee into my hands before I could protest.
Caleb appeared in the doorway, hair damp from a shower, looking disgustingly well-rested. "Morning. You sleep okay?"
"Fine," I lied.
His eyes said he knew better, but he just grabbed his own coffee and settled across from .
Margaret loaded my plate with pancakes, bacon, eggs—enough food to feed three people. "Eat up. You need your strength."
I picked at the food, managing a few bites to be polite. Everything tasted like cardboard. Like guilt.
"Sera?" Caleb’s voice pulled back. "Where’d you go just now?"
"Nowhere," I said quickly. "Sorry. Just tired."
Margaret and Robert exchanged one of those parent looks—the kind that said they were having an entire conversation without words.
"Seraphina," Robert said gently, setting down his paper. "We want you to know that you’re welco to stay here as long as you need."
"Oh, I couldn’t—" I started.
"Yes, you could," Margaret interrupted firmly. "You absolutely could. In fact, we insist."
I shook my head. "You’ve already done so much. I was thinking... maybe I could find work in the city? There must be human businesses that need—"
"Absolutely not." Margaret planted her hands on her hips. "You think we’re going to let you wander off alone into so city where you don’t know anyone? Where anything could happen to you?"
"I’m not a child—"
"No, you’re family." Robert’s quiet voice sohow carried more weight than any shout. "And family doesn’t abandon each other."
The words hit like a slap. Family doesn’t abandon each other.
Unlike what I’d just done.
"I don’t want to impose," I whispered.
"You’re not imposing," Caleb said. "Actually, I could use the help."
I looked up at him. "Help with what?"
"The repair shop." He leaned back in his chair, casual as anything. "Business has been picking up. I could use an extra pair of hands."
"Caleb, I don’t know anything about cars—"
"You don’t need to. I need soone to handle the front desk, answer phones, manage appointnts, deal with custors." He grinned. "You know, all that organized, professional stuff you’re actually good at."
Margaret bead. "That’s a wonderful idea! And you’d be right here, safe, with people who care about you."
"I can’t pay you much," Caleb admitted. "But it’s steady work, and you’d have a place to stay. Free room and board."
"I don’t want charity—"
"It’s not charity if you’re working for it," Robert pointed out.
I stared down at my untouched pancakes, my mind spinning. Stay here? Work at a small-town repair shop? It was so far from the life I’d built in Silver Moon Harbor. So far from who I used to be.
But then again, I wasn’t that person anymore, was I?
"I don’t know," I said finally. "I was thinking... maybe it would be better if I just disappeared completely. Went sowhere no one knows . Started over fresh."
"Running away doesn’t work," Caleb said quietly. "Trust . I tried it after high school. Went to the city, thought I could outrun everything I was feeling. Lasted six months before I ca crawling back ho."
"It’s different—"
"Is it?" His brown eyes held mine. "You think disappearing into so human city is going to make you forget your kids? Make you stop missing your mate?"
"At least here," Margaret said softly, "you’d have people who care about you. People who can help you figure out what you really want."
"And," Caleb added, "I promise—absolutely swear—that I won’t tell anyone where you are. Not unless you want to."
I looked up sharply. "You an that?"
"Of course I an it." He looked almost offended. "If you want to hide from the whole world, that’s your choice. I won’t betray that trust. None of us will."
Robert nodded. "You have our word, Seraphina. Whatever you need, whatever you decide—we support you."
My throat went tight. "I’m a ss," I whispered. "I left my children. I abandoned my mate. What kind of person does that?"
"A person who’s hurting," Margaret said, moving around the table to pull into a hug. "A person who needs ti to heal."
I looked around the table at these three people who barely knew , who had no reason to care, who were offering everything without asking for anything in return.
*They’re better than you deserve,* my guilty conscience whispered.
"Okay," I heard myself say. "Okay. I’ll stay. For a little while, at least."
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