Raven rounded on her with a vicious snarl, her fangs glinting. "Who are you calling Daddy?"
"That matchmaking scry-post was a jest! A grubby little omega runt like you could never bond with my son—not in a thousand moon cycles!"
Seren was wailing now, her whole body shaking with fear—but Kael only frowned, his expression cold and distant.
"Take your mother back to the den," he said flatly.
When I didn't move, he flicked a commanding glance at Rowan. The pack escort stepped forward immediately, reaching for my arm with reluctant hands. "Come along, my lady. Let's go—you're shaming yourself before the pack."
What?
The gathered wolves heard it. Heard my lady spoken to me as though I were a stranger. And suddenly their judgment swung toward my daughter like a pack turning on the weak.
"Moon's mercy—her own father is standing right there and she's calling some stranger 'Daddy'? The pup's already learned to chase status."
"Mother's lost her mind, daughter's a rank-climber. What a pair of rogues."
"She's got her little pup chasing dominant wolves already? What kind of she-wolf raises a pup like that?"
Seren was only five winters old, but she understood enough.
She looked up at Kael through her tears, her small hands trembling. "Daddy… are you leaving me and Mommy?"
He didn't answer. His wolf's eyes remained cold and distant, as though she were a stranger's pup.
She stared at him, biting down hard on her lip, her small face crumpling with bewildered hurt that no child should ever know.
I pulled her tight against me, wrapping my arms around her protectively, shielding her as best I could from the cruel whispers and colder stares. Then I lifted my head and met Kael's eyes with all the fury of my bloodline burning behind my gaze.
"Kael Ashvale." Each word was ice, sharp enough to cut. "Aren't you afraid of what happens when my parents find out about this?"
At the mention of my parents, Kael's composure cracked—just for a second, but I caught the flicker in his amber eyes.
He quickly suppressed the smirk tugging at his lips and lowered his voice. "They claimed they were traveling to distant territories to rest five years ago. Strange how they never returned to the pack."
"You think I haven't pieced it together?"
I didn't understand what he meant. He continued, "I've known for a long time. They weren't seeking peace—they were fleeing."