I scooped him up into my arms, noting how light he felt -too light, like he hadn’t been eating enough lately. He immediately wrapped his small arms around my neck and buried his face against my shoulder, his little body shaking with exhaustion and relief.
“It’s okay,” I murmured, one hand stroking his tangled curls as I stood. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
“Marcus,” I called to my beta, who was standing guard at the edge of the clearing with the other pack members. “We’re heading back immediately. Increase patrols in this sector and put out an alert -someone dumped a child in rogue territory.”
The drive back toward civilization was tense, every shadow between the trees potentially hiding threats that could endanger the precious cargo in my arms. Adrian had fallen asleep within minutes of getting into the jeep, his small body finally relaxing now that he was safe and warm.
By the time we reached the city limits, Adrian was stirring, blinking up at me with sleepy confusion that quickly gave way to shy curiosity.
“Mr. Damien?” he said softly, his voice still thick with sleep as he rubbed his eyes with small fists. “Are we going to find Mommy now?”
“We’re going to call her right now,” I assured him, though my attempts to reach Sera had gone straight to voicemail every single time. Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering her phone when her son was missing? The possibilities that ran through my mind made my blood run cold.
“Can you tell me a story?” Adrian asked suddenly, settling more comfortably against my chest as if he belonged there. “I like stories about wolves.”
So I found myself telling him tales as we drove through the early evening traffic -stories of brave wolves protecting their families, of adventures in moonlit forests, of pack bonds that could never be broken. Adrian listened with rapt attention, occasionally interrupting with questions.
“Do all wolves have special eyes like yours?” he asked at one point, studying my face with the intense concentration only children could manage.
“Some do,” I replied carefully, “It runs in certain families.”
“I have special eyes too,” Adrian announced proudly, his earlier trauma temporarily forgotten in the excitement of sharing this important information. “Mommy says they’re beautiful, like gemstones. And sometimes they look different in the moonlight, like they’re glowing.”
“That sounds very special indeed.”
“Mommy has pretty eyes too, but they’re green like emeralds,” Adrian continued. “She says I got my eyes from my daddy, whoever he is. Do you think my daddy has eyes like mine?”
“I think,” I said carefully, my voice rougher than intended, “that your daddy would be very proud to have a son with such beautiful eyes.”
Adrian beamed at the compliment, then settled back against my chest with a contented sigh. “I hope I meet him someday. I want to ask him lots of questions.”
By the time Marcus pulled up to the Nightshadow Industries building, Adrian was telling me about his favorite subject in school and demonstrating how well he could tie his shoes.
“Can I see where Mommy works?” Adrian asked as we rode the elevator to the executive floor, his small hands pressed against the glass walls as he watched the city lights spread out beneath us.
“Of course,” I said, carrying him down the marble corridor toward my office. “She has a very important job here. She helps me with everything.”
I pulled out my phone and tried Sera’s number again, my heart sinking as it went straight to voicemail once more. Her voice echoed through the speaker, professional and warm: *You’ve reached Seraphina Knight. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.*
“Sera,” I said after the beep, trying to keep my voice calm for Adrian’s sake, “it’s Damien. Adrian is safe -he’s with me. Please call back immediately. There’s been a situation that needs your urgent attention.”
Seraphina’s POV
The drive back to Silver Moon Harbor felt like racing through a nightmare where the road kept stretching longer with each mile, no matter how hard I pressed the accelerator. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles had gone white, and I could taste copper in my mouth from where I’d bitten my lip hard enough to draw blood.
My phone had gone completely black after that final call with Ophelia, the screen cracked and unresponsive no matter how frantically I pressed the power button. Now it was nothing but a useless piece of plastic and metal, cutting me off from any updates about Adrian’s situation.
“Please,” I whispered to any god who might be listening, pressing the dead phone against my chest like a talisman. “Please let him be safe. I’ll do anything. Just let my baby be okay.”
The moment I reached the school parking lot, I was out of the car and running toward the building on legs that felt like jelly. My high heels clicked frantically against the asphalt as I raced toward the main entrance, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs I thought it might burst.
The front doors were locked -of course they were locked, school had ended hours ago. I pounded on the glass with both fists, not caring that I probably looked like a madwoman, until a janitor finally appeared from somewhere in the depths of the building.
“Ma’am, school’s been closed for -“
“My son!” I gasped, pressing my face against the glass. “Someone took my son! I need to speak with his teacher, with anyone who was here, please!”
The janitor’s expression softened as he took in my obvious distress. He unlocked the door and stepped aside to let me in. “What’s your boy’s name? I can try calling Mrs. Henderson at home.”
“Adrian Knight,” I said, my voice breaking on his name. “He’s in Mrs. Henderson’s class. Someone picked him up who wasn’t supposed to.”
Mrs. Henderson arrived within twenty minutes. She found me sitting in the hallway outside her classroom, my head in my hands as I tried to keep breathing through the panic attacks that kept washing over me in waves.
“Seraphina? Oh dear, what’s happened?”
I looked up at her through eyes that felt swollen from crying. “Someone took Adrian. You let someone take my son.”
Her face went pale. “The woman said she was his aunt. She had identification -her last name was Knight, same as yours. She said you’d had an emergency at work and had asked her to pick him up.”
“What did she look like?” I managed to ask, though I already suspected I knew the answer.
“Blonde hair, maybe late twenties? Well-dressed, very polite. She seemed to know details about you and Adrian…” Mrs. Henderson trailed off, guilt flooding her features as understanding dawned. “Oh God. Oh, Seraphina, I’m so sorry. I thought she was legitimate.”
Valerie. Of course it was Valerie.
“Mrs. Henderson,” I said urgently, turning to the teacher who was still standing nearby with guilt written across her kind face. “I need to borrow your phone. Mine was damaged, and I need to call someone who might know where Adrian is.”
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely manage to remove my SIM card from the broken device and insert it into Mrs. Henderson’s phone.
The moment the phone connected to the network, I dialed Valerie’s number from memory. My blood turned to ice as the phone began to ring, each tone echoing in the empty hallway like a countdown to disaster.
She answered on the second ring.
“Where is my son?” I didn’t bother with greetings or pleasantries. “Valerie, I swear to God, if you’ve hurt him -“
“Oh, hello there, sister dear!” Valerie’s voice bubbled through the speaker with sickening cheerfulness, like she was calling to chat about the weather instead of committing kidnapping. “My, my, you sound upset. Is something wrong?”
“Where. Is. My. Son.” Each word came out sharp as broken glass.
“Adrian? Oh, he’s fine. Probably.” Her laugh was light and musical. “I really couldn’t say for certain, though.”
I had to grip the edge of a nearby desk to keep from collapsing as the implications of her words hit me like physical blows. “You left him somewhere? Valerie, he’s four years old! Where did you take him?”
“Now, now, no need to get hysterical,” Valerie said. “I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually. Children usually do, don’t they? Well, most of them anyway.”
“I’ll kill you,” I whispered, my voice carrying every ounce of maternal fury I possessed. “I will tear your throat out with my bare hands and watch you bleed to death if anything happens to him.”
“Such violence! Really, Sera, motherhood hasn’t improved your temper at all.” Valerie’s voice was positively dripping with false concern. “But don’t worry -I might be willing to tell you where I left the little darling. For a price, of course.”
“What do you want?” The words tasted like ash in my mouth.
“Marriage, of course. Harold is quite generous -he’s even willing to raise that little bastard as his own.”
“I already told you no,” I said, my voice growing stronger with each word. “I’m not marrying anyone, especially not that disgusting pig.”
“Oh, but you are,” Valerie said. “Because if you don’t show up at the Knight house within two hours, ready to apologize and accept Harold’s generous proposal, well… let’s just say little Adrian might have a very lonely night in the big, scary forest.”
The phone went dead, leaving me staring at the screen in complete silence. For a moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything except sit there as the full horror of the situation crashed over me.
Adrian was alone in the wilderness somewhere, probably terrified and calling for me. And the only way to get him back was to sacrifice myself to Harold’s disgusting hands.
I was fumbling for my car keys when I heard the sharp click of heels against marble floors. I looked up to see a familiar figure approaching through the school’s main entrance, and my blood turned to absolute ice.
Valerie stepped through the doorway like she owned the place, her blonde hair perfectly styled and her designer outfit immaculate despite the late hour.
“Hello there, sister,” she purred, stopping just close enough that I could smell her expensive perfume mixed with something else. “You look absolutely terrible. Really, Sera, you should take better care of yourself.”
Seraphina’s POV
My hands curled into fists at my sides as rage built in my chest like molten lava. “Where is my son, Valerie?”
“Oh, Adrian?” She examined her perfectly manicured nails with theatrical indifference. “I’m sure he’s around somewhere. Children are so adventurous at that age, aren’t they? Always wandering off, getting into places they shouldn’t.”
The casual cruelty in her voice made something snap inside me. I lunged forward, my hands reaching for her throat, but Valerie was ready for me. Her fist connected with my cheek with enough force to send me stumbling backward into the wall, stars exploding across my vision.
“Now, now,” she said conversationally, shaking out her hand as if hitting me had been nothing more than swatting a fly. “Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. You know what Mother wants. Just come home, marry Harold like a good little omega, and I’ll tell you exactly where to find your precious bastard.”
“Never,” I spat, tasting blood on my lip.
Valerie’s laugh was like breaking glass. “Oh, but you will. Because the alternative is so much worse.” She moved closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that somehow made it ten times more terrifying. “Do you know what happens to little boys lost in the forest, Sera? The border territories are crawling with rogues these days. Hungry, desperate wolves who wouldn’t hesitate to tear apart anything weak and helpless they happened to find.”
She grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back with vicious force, making my scalp burn with pain. “Your little boy is somewhere in rogue territory right now, Sera. Probably scared, probably crying for his mommy. And every minute you waste here arguing with me is another minute he’s alone out there with the monsters.”
“Let go of me!” I tried to wrench free, but her grip was like iron.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she hissed in my ear, her breath hot against my skin. “You’re going to come with me right now. You’re going to drive to Mother’s house, get on your knees, and beg Harold’s forgiveness for your earlier tantrum. You’re going to marry him tonight, right there in Mother’s living room, and you’re going to be grateful for the opportunity.”
The images her words conjured made me physically sick. “You win,” I whispered. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just tell me where he is.”
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