Seraphina’s POV
The morning sun stread through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Nightshadow Industries, casting everything in a golden glow that should have felt hopeful. Instead, as I settled into my desk chair, I found myself bracing for whatever fresh hell Anna Blackwood had planned for today.
I didn’t have to wait long.
"Good morning, bestie!" Anna’s sickeningly sweet voice cut through the peaceful morning atmosphere like nails on a chalkboard. She sauntered over to my desk in a tight red dress that looked more appropriate for a nightclub than a corporate office, her platinum blonde hair bouncing with each calculated step.
"Sleep well?" she asked, though her tone suggested she didn’t particularly care about my answer. "You look a little tired. Rough night?"
"Actually," I said, looking up from my computer screen with a smile that was all teeth and no warmth, "I had a wonderful evening. Very... therapeutic."
Anna’s perfectly plucked eyebrows drew together in confusion. "Therapeutic?"
"Oh yes," I continued cheerfully, turning my full attention to her now. "Sotis a girl just needs to work out her frustrations, you know? Get rid of so toxic influences in her life."
Sothing flickered across Anna’s face—uncertainty, maybe even a hint of fear—but she quickly masked it with her usual superior smirk. "I have no idea what you’re babbling about, Sera. Maybe you should focus on your work instead of whatever fantasy life you’re living in your head."
"Fantasy?" I laughed, the sound sharp enough to make her take a small step backward. "That’s interesting. Tell , Anna, have you talked to your dear friend Valerie lately?"
The change in Anna’s expression was instantaneous and delicious. Her fake smile faltered, replaced by sothing much more genuine.
"What’s that supposed to an?" she asked, though her voice had lost its earlier confidence.
"Nothing at all," I said innocently, returning my attention to my computer screen. "I just thought you might have heard from her. You two are such good friends, after all. I’m sure she tells you everything."
I could feel Anna’s eyes boring into , could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out what ga I was playing. After a long mont, she spun on her designer heels and stalked away, pulling out her phone as she disappeared into the break room.
From my desk, I could hear the muffled sound of her voice rising in pitch as she apparently tried calling Valerie. Once, twice, three tis. Each attempt seed to increase her frustration.
When she finally erged from the break room twenty minutes later, her perfect makeup couldn’t hide the pale undertone of her skin. Our eyes t across the office space, and for the first ti since I’d known her, Anna Blackwood looked genuinely shaken.
She didn’t co near my desk for the rest of the morning.
The peace was both welco and slightly unnerving. For years, Anna had made my life miserable with casual cruelty and calculated humiliation. To have her suddenly keeping her distance felt almost anticlimactic.
"Ayla," I said quietly to my wolf as I organized Damien’s afternoon schedule, "what exactly happened to the other night?"
My wolf stirred in my mind, her presence more solid and aware than it had ever been before. *I’m not entirely sure,* she admitted, her ntal voice thoughtful. *But sothing changed when that bitch threatened our pup. Sothing... awakened.*
"Awakened?"
*The strength, the claws, the rage—none of that was normal oga behavior. Hell, it wasn’t normal behavior for most wolves, period.* Ayla paused, and I could feel her confusion mixing with my own. *It felt like... like so part of us that had been sleeping suddenly woke up.*
I touched my fingertips absently, rembering how my nails had lengthened into deadly claws, how I’d lifted Valerie off the ground with supernatural ease. The mory should have terrified . Instead, it filled with a strange sense of rightness.
"Do you think it’s connected to my bloodline?" I asked. "To whoever my real parents were?"
*Maybe.* Ayla’s ntal voice grew quieter. *Your adoptive parents never told you anything about where you ca from, did they?*
"Nothing," I confird bitterly. "Elizabeth always said I was just so orphan they’d taken in out of the goodness of their hearts. But now..."
Now I wasn’t so sure. The Knights had taken in when I was eight years old, old enough to rember fragnts of my life before. But those mories were hazy, dreamlike, as if soone had deliberately tried to make forget.
"Seraphina?"
I looked up to find Claire standing beside my desk, her elegant face creased with concern. "Are you alright, dear? You looked like you were a million miles away.”
Before I could respond, the elevator chid and Damien stepped onto the floor. Even after everything we’d shared, everything that had been revealed between us, the sight of him still made my breath catch in my throat.
His eyes found mine imdiately, and the intensity of his gaze made my pulse quicken. There was sothing different about the way he looked at now—sothing warr, more possessive. Like I was sothing precious he’d finally claid.
"Good afternoon, ladies," he said, his voice carrying that familiar note of authority that made lesser wolves automatically step back. But when his gaze shifted to , his tone softened almost imperceptibly. "Seraphina, could I speak with you for a mont?"
I followed him into his office, hyperaware of the curious glances from other employees. The mont the door closed behind us, the atmosphere shifted, becoming charged with the sa electricity that had crackled between us in my bedroom.
"How are you feeling?" Damien asked, moving around his desk but not sitting down. Instead, he leaned against the edge, his penetrating blue eyes studying my face with careful attention.
"Better," I said honestly. "The bruises are fading, and I slept well last night." I paused, rembering the peaceful security of having him in my apartnt, the way Adrian had claid him like he belonged there. "Thank you again. For everything."
"You don’t need to thank ," Damien said, his voice rough with an emotion I couldn’t quite identify. "Taking care of you and Adrian—it’s not a favor, Seraphina. It’s what I want to do."
The words sent warmth spiraling through my chest, but before I could respond, he continued.
"Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I made a promise to soone very important, and I need to keep it."
"A promise?"
Damien’s lips curved into a smile that transford his entire face, making him look younger and almost boyish despite his commanding presence. "I promised a certain four-year-old that I would spend ti with him today. But I think his mother should co as well. "
"I’ll wait for you after work. Wear sothing comfortable."
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