Chapter Three: The Cracks WidenThe days after Seraphina's return blurred into a haze of quiet suffering.Maya woke each morning before dawn, just as she always had. She tended the pack. She healed the wounded. She smiled at the elders and soothed the omegas and pretended her world wasn't crumbling around her.But the cracks were spreading.Xavier grew colder with each passing day. He stopped coming to bed at night. He claimed he was working late, buried in pack business, too exhausted to climb the stairs. Maya found him in the study most nights, slumped over the war table, Seraphina's shawl draped across the chair beside him.Her scent clung to everything. To him. To the house. To Maya's nightmares.Maya tried harder. She cooked his favorite meals,roasted venison, honeyed bread, the spiced stew he'd loved when they first mated. She left plates outside his study door. She wore the dresses he used to compliment. She brushed her hair the way he liked, soft waves cascading down her back.
Last Updated : 2026-07-24 Read more