I scoffed. “Do you need a dictionary?” I asked.
“What?”
“Because you clearly need to be reminded of the meaning of ‘divorced.’ Nothing concerning me is your business anymore, Kieran.”
He hadn’t cared about anything pertaining to me over the decade we were married. How dare he attempt to show an interest now?
His dark eyes flashed. “I may not be your husband anymore,” he snarled, “but I will always be the father of your son, and you can’t be bringing strange men into my son’s home when-“
“Oh, but it’s okay to go around flaunting your rekindled relationship with Celeste in front of Daniel?” I didn’t know why I was so pissed. It wasn’t like Lucian had actually slept over, or I’d done anything wrong. But that was the thing-either way, it was not Kieran’s business. Not anymore.
“You’re a lot of things, Kieran, but I didn’t realize you were a hypocrite.”
His eyebrows furrowed so deeply, they almost merged into one. “Excuse me?”
I pointed to the door. “There! You’re excused.”
Kieran let out an incredulous scoff. “I don’t know what has gotten into you lately, but this isn’t you, Seraphina.”
I let out a sharp bark of laughter. “And how am I?” I asked. “How am I, Kieran? Because I can assure you, you don’t fucking know me. You never did. In fact, I think this is the longest fucking conversation we’ve ever had.”
Kieran took a step forward. “I-“
“Mom? Dad?”
Kieran and I turned to see Daniel at the foot of the stairs, rubbing his eyes.
“Baby!” I gasped, sidestepping Kieran to go to him.
His curls were sticking around every which way, and I gently ran a hand through them. “Did we wake you?”
He shook his head. “Your phone alarm, for school.”
I glanced at the clock-seven a.m.
“Right.”
Daniel looked over my shoulder and gave Kieran a toothy grin. “Hi, Dad.”
I stiffened slightly when Kieran stepped toward us, suddenly smiling brightly. “Morning, Champ.”
He waved a book I hadn’t noticed in his hand earlier. “You forgot this in my office last time you did homework. Figured you needed it for school.”
Daniel reached out and took it. “Thanks, Dad.” Then he sniffed once and turned to me, his eyes widening in delight. “Are you making pancakes?”
I nodded.
Daniel bounced on the balls of his feet. “Can Dad come to breakfast?” He turned to Kieran. “Dad, can you come to breakfast?”
Absolutely fucking not. “Danny, I’m sure your father-“
“Would love to,” Kieran said.
Our eyes met over Daniel’s head, and something crackled in the air between us, volatile and precarious. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I suddenly didn’t have an appetite.
SERAPHINA’S POV
The coldness wasn’t unfamiliar.
But there was an underlying tension that was new-tight, uncomfortable.
Still, I plastered a smile on my face when Daniel asked me to pass the syrup and kept it on when Kieran asked me to pass the butter. I clamped my mouth shut as father and son conversed animatedly.
I would always be grateful that whatever animosity Kieran carried for me never spilled over to our son. So even if he never loved me, I could rest assured that he loved Daniel.
I couldn’t remember the last time we’d had breakfast together, and doing it now, after we were divorced, was not only ironic but just plain ridiculous.
Although I would admit-to myself only-that watching Kieran devour the pancakes and eggs I’d made with gusto slightly appeased the anger and irritation I felt earlier.
When breakfast was over, Daniel rushed upstairs to get ready for school, rebuffing my offers for help. “I’m nine!” he called over his shoulder as he went. “I don’t need my mommy to dress me.”
I might have laughed if Daniel’s refusal of my offer didn’t mean I was stuck stewing in the tension between Kieran and me.
I cleared my throat and stood, reaching for Daniel’s empty plate. Kieran moved too, faster than I, and grabbed it.
I shot him a questioning glare.
“You shouldn’t be doing dishes with your injured arm,” he said, taking my plate out of my grip before I could protest.
I raised an eyebrow, watching Kieran move to the sink, wondering what the hell had gotten into him.
This was the man who’d never enjoyed a meal I cooked. Who’d never spared a thought for who cleaned up afterward.
The only conversations he’d ever initiated were curt notifications about when he’d be taking Daniel to family gatherings-ones I was never invited to.
I’d grown accustomed to his indifference. To being a ghost in my own home.
Yet now, after our divorce, here he stood in my kitchen, scrubbing dishes like our earlier argument had never happened?
The kitchen bled into the dining space, one smooth line from marble island to wooden table, and I sank back into my chair, watching Kieran’s back as his hands moved in the sink, making quick work through soapy water.
It was a surreal sight. A version of him I’d never seen.
The muscles beneath his t-shirt shifted and rippled as he moved, and I couldn’t help but stare. At four inches over six feet, he towered over almost everything and everyone, and his body was covered with taut muscles, chiseled to perfection-a living monument to Alpha perfection.
I’d dreamed of this once. A normal domestic scene: wife cooking, husband cleaning, maybe me slipping arms around his waist, and he’d turn, landing a kiss-
When I heard Daniel bounding down the stairs again, I averted my gaze, feeling my cheeks burn like I’d been caught doing something bad.
Kieran wasn’t mine to look at anymore-not that he’d ever really been in the first place.
“I’m ready,” Daniel announced, shouldering his Pok?mon backpack.
I smiled at him and stood up from my seat. “Come o-“
“I’ll take him to school.”
A large puff of frustration left my mouth in the form of air as I turned to Kieran. “I’m perfectly capable of driving my son to school,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady and calm.
“I know,” he said. “But you should be resting, not overexerting yourself.”
I blinked. Since when did he care? For ten years, Kieran had barely acknowledged my existence-now suddenly, he was all up in my business?
“Dad’s right,” Daniel piped up, coming to me. He wrapped an arm around my waist, and I automatically rested my chin on his head. “Go get some more rest, Mom.”
I exhaled. “Fine.”
I looked at Kieran and forced out a “Thank you.”
He nodded once.
After they left, I took a shower, painkillers, and then crawled into bed. But sleep wouldn’t come. My mind kept averting to my eventful morning-until Kieran’s infuriatingly considerate behavior hijacked my thoughts again.
Stop. I shook my head sharply, gaze landing on Lucian’s parting gift.
The contact card lay on the side table-an invitation.
I grabbed my phone and typed into the search bar: Out of the Shadows.
The first result was a website, and when I clicked on it, I was bombarded with a slew of information. My curiosity was piqued as I read through. Founded ten years ago, OTS had rapidly grown into something of a haven for werewolves like me-wolfless, weak, outcasts.
There were pictures, a virtual facility tour, and testimonials from wolves who had benefited from the organization’s generosity.
Something ballooned up in me as I drank in all the information-hope. A sense of purpose I hadn’t felt in forever.
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