Chapter 6 ICY REGARD

SERAPHINA’S POV

Waking in the hospital, the memory of the attack clung to me like a second skin—the metallic taste of fear, the crushing pressure of imminent death.

I’d been on the quiet back road between the Lockwood estate and Nightfang territory, heading to pick up Daniel. Luck, it seemed, had finally run out for good. Though I knew the route, I’d somehow missed a turn, the signposts blurring into a meaningless smear through my tear-blurred vision. On pack lands, 911 was useless against a rogue. My fingers, slick with panic, fumbled for my phone. The stark, lonely truth hit me then: in a life of practiced invisibility, I had no one to call. No friends. No pack link to send a mental cry for help. My family’s numbers? Blocked. The final, silent testament to a decade of being erased.

Then my car, as if sharing my despair, choked and died, leaving me a perfect, helpless target in a metal coffin.

The rogue’s approach was a slow, predatory stalk. The shattering of the driver’s side window wasn’t just a sound—it was an explosion of violence. Glass rained down in jagged, glittering shards. A massive, furred arm swiped inward. White-hot agony seared across my forearm. My scream was raw, a desperate, solitary sound swallowed by the night.

And then… he appeared.

A black wolf of such immense size and power I’d never seen its like. He moved like a shadow given form and fury, slamming into the rogue with enough force to send both beasts tumbling away from the car. The fight was brutal, primal, and shockingly brief. The black wolf was a master of lethal efficiency. With a final, decisive twist, he ended it.

My vision, already graying at the edges from blood loss and shock, caught a glimpse of him shifting back to human form—a tall, powerfully built silhouette outlined against the car lights—before darkness swallowed me whole.

Now, the sterile brightness of the hospital room was a jarring contrast. A nurse adjusting my IV noticed my fluttering eyelids. “Oh! Look who’s decided to join us! Our ‘Cinderella’ is awake!” she chirped brightly.

I blinked, disoriented. “Cinderella?”

Another younger nurse leaned in, her eyes wide with gossipy excitement. “You had quite the knight in shining armor! Or, well, shining fur, I suppose. A gorgeous Alpha came to your rescue. Took down that rogue all by himself!”

“He’s new in town, I hear,” the first nurse added, checking my vitals. “Been making a name for himself this past month. Helped a few Omegas in tricky situations.”

“But this was different,” the second nurse whispered conspiratorially. “I was on duty when he carried you in. Cradled you like you were made of glass. I’ve never seen an Alpha look so… intense. So worried. It wasn’t just a rescue. It felt personal.”

My mind struggled to process this. A mysterious Alpha? “Did he… did he leave a name? Who is he?”

Both nurses shrugged in unison. “That’s the thing,” the first one said. “He never does. Pays any bills upfront, in cash, and disappears. A true mystery hero.”

Before I could press further, the door swung open with a soft whoosh. An older, stern-faced head nurse stood in the doorway, her presence instantly silencing the younger women. Her sharp eyes landed on me.

“Seraphina Blackthorne,” she stated, her voice devoid of the earlier chatter’s warmth. It was a cool, professional acknowledgment. “Your family is here. Now that you’re awake, they can see you.”

Family. The word sent a fresh jolt of anxiety through the pain medication fog. Which family? The one that had just watched me flee their gathering in disgrace? Or the one that had wished me gone for a decade? Or the one that always absent when I really need them?

The head nurse stepped aside, holding the door open. And I knew it was time to cut all this.

***

KIERAN’S POV

I can’t describe the cold, sharp jolt that went through me when the hospital called. Seraphina. Attacked. On the road back from the Lockwood Hotel, the very road she’d taken to collect Daniel from my parents.

The memory of her humiliation at the reception was still fresh. When her desperate, wounded eyes had found mine across the room, something primal had stirred—a flicker of protective instinct I’d long thought dead.

She was, after all, the mother of my son. She had been my wife. But intervening would have thrown gasoline on the gossip.

It would have confused everything, especially with Celeste standing beside me, gracious and perfect. The woman I was meant to be with.

I owed it to Celeste, to our future, to not create another scandal. So I’d stayed rooted, letting Celeste play the peacemaker. Her poised handling of the situation had only deepened my admiration.

By the time the reception wound down in the early hours, my focus was solely on Celeste, on the fragile new beginning we were forging. Then the phone shattered that illusion.

The news sent a shockwave through both families. Margaret and Ethan arrived at the hospital shortly after I did, their faces etched with a worry that seemed… genuine.

When the nurse mentioned the severity of the attack, the words "nearly bled out" hanging in the sterile air, Margaret broke down in quiet, shuddering sobs. Freshly widowed, she couldn't bear the thought of losing a daughter, even the one she’d kept at arm’s length. The sight twisted something unexpected in my chest.

“How is she?” My mother’s voice on the phone dragged me back to the present. “Daniel wants to know.”

I stared at the closed door of the treatment room, a strange, churning sensation in my gut. How is she? I didn’t know. I’d heard she was found covered in blood, her car wrecked, but I wasn’t the hero who’d saved her. I hadn’t even been the one to bring her here.

I was just the useless ex-husband, waiting in the hall for news that wasn’t mine to demand.

“There’s no update yet. They haven’t told us anything—”

The door opened, and Seraphina walked out.

Her right hand was in a sling, bandages poking out from under the rolled-up sleeve of the shirt. Because she didn’t have a wolf, she wouldn’t be able to speedily heal like werewolves did.

The thought of her having to nurse the pain and deal with injury like a mundane task gave me an uncomfortable, gnawing feeling.

Her head was turned inward, smiling at whoever was in the room—a doctor or nurse. “Thank you… I will… Yep.” Then she turned, and our eyes met.

My wolf stirred at the sight.

I’d always thought Seraphina had beautiful eyes—flecks of green swirling in blue, like fish in a cerulean sea. For ten long years, I had deliberately avoided looking into them too deeply. Refused to acknowledge the devotion that once shimmered in their depths.

I told myself I couldn't forget she was the woman who'd ruined my life. Couldn't surrender again to that dangerous allure and betray my love for Celeste. But now, seeing those same eyes regard me with nothing but glacial indifference, my heart clenched.

Her smile fell, it was like that sea had frozen over, and there was nothing—not even anger for failing to protect her—just icy regard.

"Seraphina!"

The moment Margaret saw her, she leapt up, rushing forward. Seraphina turned, a slight frown creasing her brow as her mother reached for her injured arm.

“Oh, darling, look at you,” Margaret’s voice trembled.

“Excuse me.” Sera took a precise step back, leaving her mother’s hand hovering in empty air. “I think you have the wrong daughter. If you’re looking for your precious—” her gaze cut past Margaret to where Ethan and Celeste stood, “—she’s right behind you.”

“Sera!” Ethan interjected, his Alpha tone heavy with disapproval. “You nearly died! We were worried!”

“Oh? When did my life or death become of any consequence to you?” Her voice was a chilling monotone. “You blocked my number. You erased me. Did you ever stop to wonder why a stranger in the woods was my only hope, and not my precious family who were mere miles away?”

Her words froze Ethan where he stood. His jaw tightened to stone, words trapped behind clenched teeth. As someone who’d known him for years, I recognized the turmoil churning beneath the surface. Ethan had never been close to Sera—not in the way he doted on Celeste—but in the moment he realized she’d nearly died because none of us were there for her, I caught the faint, raw fracture in his eyes.

And Sera—she just stood across from him, cold and still. No hysterics, no tears. Only a quiet, glacial fury burned in her gaze.

This wasn’t the Sera I knew. The woman who’d treasured our rare kindnesses like sunlight, who’d contorted herself for the barest shred of our approval.

“The doctors say I’ll live,” she continued, her gaze sliding dismissively over me. “Then again…” a cold, mirthless smile touched her lips, “...relying on any of you, I probably would have died faster.”

“Sera, watch your tongue!” The anger that ripped from me was instinctive. Perhaps it was the casual way she spoke of her own death. Perhaps it was the unfamiliar steel in her posture, the rebellion flashing in eyes that now held a depth of emotion I was afraid to name.

“Do you ever think of Daniel when you say things like that?” I bit out.

A flicker of guilt crossed her face, so swift I might have imagined it. For a heartbeat, the old, pliant Seraphina was there. Then it was gone.

“I’m going to get him now,” she said, turning toward the exit without a second glance.

“I’ll drive you—” My hand shot out, catching her uninjured wrist. Her eyes dropped to my fingers circling her arm, her brow tightening. I released her but blocked her path. “Your car is wrecked. It’s not safe for you to be alone right now.”

“Yes, Sera,” Margaret chimed in, her worry morphing into practicality. “And you’re injured. It’s hardly the time to be caring for a child. Perhaps it’s better if—”

“Is this your new ploy to take Daniel from me?”

“What?” The accusation was so absurd it stole my breath.

“It was a random attack. Nothing more. The only reason to make such a fuss,” she said, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper, “is if you have an ulterior motive.”

“Sera, what are you talking about?” Margaret gasped.

“I’ve given you what you wanted.” She shrugged, a gesture of feigned nonchalance that was more devastating than any shout. “The divorce is signed. I’ve moved out. The funeral is over. I said I hoped we wouldn’t meet again.”

My jaw ached from clenching. “Sera, that’s not—”

“Try to take Daniel from me,” she said, her eyes locking onto mine with a ferocity that was utterly alien, a promise of pure, undiluted violence, “and you’ll find out how sharp my teeth are—with or without a wolf.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, she walked out.

It felt like a silver bullet to the chest.

Seraphina was a viper. Her distance should have been a relief.

So why did the line she’d just drawn between us make me want to tear the whole damn world apart?

Celeste’s touch on my arm made me jerk. “Kieran? Are you alright?” Her fingers trembled against my sleeve. “With Father gone… I don’t feel safe. I need you.”

I forced my focus back to her—the woman I’d loved for years. My rightful Luna-to-be.

“I’m here,” I murmured, pulling her closer. “No one is going to separate us again.”

Celeste buried her face deeper into my chest, her tears dampening my shirt. Yet my traitorous gaze kept drifting to the empty doorway where Seraphina had vanished.

A restless, churning agitation took root deep in my gut.

Why?