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Chapter 2

Author: Selene Blackwood
Caden hung up.

Eighth time. Eighth failure.

A grim, bloodstained smile tugged at my lips. I slumped against the wall, feeling the warmth drain from my body along with my life.

My wolf—usually a restless, living presence in my chest—was silent now.

I turned my eyes toward the staircase. Quiet. Mira was either still asleep… or, more likely, curled beneath her blankets, shaking, too afraid to make a sound.

The thought cut deeper than the wound in my throat.

My little wolf pup, scared and alone, and I couldn’t even lift a hand to comfort her.

What would happen to her after I was gone?

Left here… with that monster?

My phone buzzed against the blood-slick floor.

With immense effort, I forced my fading vision to focus.

A call from Seraphina.

“Hey, Elena. It’s my twenty-third birthday party. The whole family’s here with me. So, you know, nobody’s really in the mood for your dramas.”

“I just don’t get it. You lost. Why can’t you just accept it and fade away?”

A bitter taste filled my mouth. I hadn’t been fighting. Not for years.

I was just trying to keep my daughter alive.

A desperate, final surge of adrenaline shot through me. I fumbled for the receiver, pressing it to my ear.

I was going to beg the person I hated most in this world.

“Seraphina…” My voice was a ragged, wet gasp. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have… tried to compete with you. I’ll slap myself—hard, as many times as you want. Please… come get my daughter. Please.”

Slapping me was her favorite game. Slapping myself… was a first.

The words tore out of me, taking with them the last shreds of my pride.

“Wait, what?” Seraphina’s reply was stunned, then slowly turned delighted. “Are you serious? You’ll actually slap yourself? Do it, then! Let me hear it!”

My hand shook violently as I lifted it.

Then—

Slap.

The sound was sharp in the silent room.

Pain exploded across my cheek.

Slap. Slap. Slap.

Each strike echoed, loud and humiliating, as I forced myself to keep going.

My vision blurred. My face burned, swelling under my own blows.

“I’ll… I’ll do anything…” I choked. “Please… just take my daughter. Please…”

Another slap. And another.

Until my ears rang and my cheek felt numb beneath the heat.

Seraphina’s laughter burst through the speaker. Bright. Delighted. Cruel.

“You actually did it? Oh, this is priceless. Seven years, Elena. And you finally break.”

Yes. I broke.

“Come… take Mira…” I whispered, my words slurring together as my mind began to drift.

Seraphina’s tone changed instantly—sharp as a blade.

“Elena? I thought you said ‘your daughter’? Still trying to sneak your way back home, aren’t you? Still wanting what’s mine?”

I tried to speak again.

Mira. Please…

No sound came out. My throat only produced a wet, broken rasp.

“Cat got your tongue, Elena?” Seraphina mocked lightly. “Or did I finally hit the truth?”

In the background, my father’s deep, commanding voice cut in.

“That’s enough, Elena. Drop the attention-seeking act.”

“I have a meeting with the Volkov Alphas in a fortnight.”

“I’ll see you then.”

A fortnight.

After all these years… He was finally coming.

Too late.

My vision dimmed further, the world slipping away piece by piece.

I’m sorry, Mira. Mama couldn’t escape this cage.

If there are spirits…

If there is anything beyond this…

I’ll watch over you.
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