len
n, and now you want me to ble
. I tried to tell myself she was lying, tried to tell myself I had done nothing wrong
her son
the tho
h my erratic scent of winter pine and ozone. My mother, Elara, stood by the f
could even speak. "The Combining Ce
t of your mind? You would humiliate Cassondra a second time for that dis
room, forcing her to lower her chin. "Seraphina is his only hop
e, Kaelen," Elara warned, her
l fallout. As I climbed the stairs to my suite, it wasn't my mother's an
my decree arrived th
stormed in, her suffocating artificial floral perfume b
restrained rage. "You're canceling the ceremony? Because
isrespect toward our mate. My gaze turned to absolute ice. "Watch y
he spat, her chest heaving with veno
or, severing our political ties for goo
trying to focus on the border patrol reports. But the moment the heavy oak doors clicked
. She stood tall, her posture rigid and he
with cold Alpha authority. "Will you donate the marrow, or wil
e condition." She stepped closer, the severed mate-bond hu
knocked the breath from my lungs. "You are out of yo
andone
's memory slapped me across the face like a physical blow. Seraphina standing in
ument to sign while I was still bleeding on a hospital
d the word
er voice was sharp, laced with icy sarcasm. "Not going to accuse m
n growled in my mind, a
e lower than I intended. "About the do
ng absurd. "You were there, Kaelen. You put the pen
d myself she left. I told myself she abandoned Liam, abandoned me, abandoned the pack. I
at was
into her hand hours after she had given birth. I was the on
ed. My throat tightened, suffoca
ed, my voice hoarse
nwavering whisper. "Sign the custody transfer. Restore my rights as his
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