I turned to leave, each step heavier than the last. My chest felt hollow, my mind swirling with despair, but I didn’t let the tears fall. Not here. Not in front of him. But then, her voice cut through the air like a dagger, venomous and deliberate.
“Leaving already?” Talia sneered, her words laced with mockery. “What a weakling. Like mother, like son. Not surprised the poor child couldn’t even survive.”
I froze.
The air around me thickened, my wolf clawing to the surface. My hands trembled, fists tightening as her words replayed in my head. My Kael. My precious boy. She dared—dared—to insult him.
Before I realized it, I had shifted. My wolf surged forward, her fury uncontrollable. Fur bristled along my spine, and my growl rumbled through the room, low and menacing—a warning.
Chaos erupted. Warriors darted forward, forming a barrier between Talia and me, their voices a cacophony of desperate pleas.
“Seraphine, stop!”
“Sera, don’t do this!”
Talia stumbled back, her smirk faltering, but her arrogance hadn’t completely vanished. She crossed her arms and scoffed, though her trembling hands betrayed her. “See? You’re nothing but a feral beast. No wonder Lucian can’t stand you.”
My wolf lunged, and the warriors surged to hold me back. Snarls tore from my throat as I fought against their grip, every instinct screaming to silence her for good.
“Enough!” Lucian’s command boomed through the chaos, his Alpha tone silencing the room. The warriors immediately released me, stepping back. My wolf hesitated, her rage momentarily subdued.
I shifted back, my body trembling with suppressed fury. My nails remained elongated, my breath ragged. I turned to Lucian, my voice low and trembling with a mix of anger and heartbreak.
“She insulted our son,” I said, each word cutting through the silence. “Our son, Lucian. And you let her?”
Lucian’s expression was unreadable, his cold eyes piercing into mine. “You’re making a scene,” he said, his tone devoid of empathy. “This behavior is beneath you.”
“Beneath me?” I repeated, my voice rising despite the lump forming in my throat. “You really think defending our child is beneath me? You’re standing there, protecting her—someone who has never cared about this family—and you call me the problem?”