Seraphina’s POV
The world tilted sideways.
My brain couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing. Couldn’t make sense of the impossible figure standing in the shadows.
*No. No, this isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.*
But he was there. Real. Solid. Taking up space in a way that made the massive hotel suite suddenly feel suffocating.
Damien.
My husband.
The man I’d been running from for three years.
Standing between and the only exit.
"You—" The word stuck in my throat. "How did you—"
"Find you?" His voice was different. Harder. Like gravel scraped over broken glass. "Does it matter?"
Yes. No. I didn’t know.
My legs trembled. The adrenaline that had carried across the room was crashing hard. Every injury from the fight suddenly scread for attention.
But I couldn’t collapse. Not now. Not in front of him.
I took a step back. Then another. My spine hit the wall.
Trapped.
"Damien." I forced the na out. Tried to sound calm. Rational. "I can explain—"
"Explain?" He moved forward. One step. The movent was controlled. Predatory. "You’re going to explain three years? Three years of silence? Of absence? Of our children crying themselves to sleep wondering why their mother abandoned them?"
Each word was a knife between my ribs.
"I didn’t—" My voice cracked. "It wasn’t like that."
"Then what was it like?" Another step closer. "Tell , Sera. Make understand why you left. Why you chose this." He gestured at my battered face. "Why you chose to get beaten bloody by strangers instead of coming ho to your family."
The accusation in his voice made my chest cave in.
"You don’t understand—"
"You’re right. I don’t." He was close now. Too close. Near enough that I could sll him. That familiar scent that used to an safety. Ho. "I don’t understand how a mother walks away from her children. How a wife abandons her mate without so much as a fucking goodbye."
Tears burned behind my eyes.
"Do you know what Adrian said last week? He said he hates you. Said you made your choice and he’s made his. He’s eight years old, Sera. *Eight*. And he’s already given up on his mother ever coming back."
My knees buckled. I slid down the wall until I hit the floor.
"And Lily." His voice broke. Actually broke. "Lily doesn’t even rember you. She saw a woman on the street who looked like you and called her mama. Do you know what that did to ? Watching my three-year-old daughter beg a complete stranger to be her mother because she doesn’t rember having one?"
"Stop." Tears stread down my face now. Hot. Endless. "Please, Damien. Stop."
Damien stared at . His silver-blue eyes wide with sothing I couldn’t na.
I looked up through my tears.
He was right there. Inches away. His face doing sothing complicated. Anger and pain and confusion all twisted together.
I didn’t see him move.
One second he was crouched in front of . The next his hands were on .
Not gentle. Not careful.
His fingers wrapped around my wrist. Tight. Almost painful. His other hand reached up, stopping just short of my throat.
I froze. Every muscle locked. Every breath shallow.
His eyes were wild. Desperate. Like sothing had broken inside him and was trying to claw its way out.
"You think I moved on?" His voice was barely human. "You think I could move on from you? From us?"
His grip on my wrist tightened. His other hand trembled near my throat. Not touching. Not yet. But close enough that I could feel the heat of it.
The hand near my throat moved closer. His fingers brushed my skin. Light. Barely there. But the touch sent electricity through my entire body.
His other hand finally closed around my throat. Not squeezing. Not hurting. Just... holding. Possessive. Desperate. Absolutely terrifying.
"You’re mine, Sera." His eyes burned into mine. Silver-blue flas that saw straight through .
His face was inches from mine now. Close enough that I could count his eyelashes. See the gold flecks in his eyes. Feel his breath on my lips.
"So you can stop running." His voice dropped to sothing dark. Dangerous. Almost unhinged. "Because I will follow you to the ends of the earth. I will hunt you through every city, every country, every dark corner you try to hide in. There is nowhere you can go that I won’t find you."
His hand tightened slightly on my throat. Not enough to cut off air. Just enough to make his point.
"Do you understand what I’m saying?" His eyes were wild now. Completely unhinged. "You. Are. Not. Leaving. . Again."
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