After that, the only sound in the airfield was the increasing hum of the plane as it taxied and then took off, taking a part of my heart away with it.
I stood there a while longer till the plane became a tiny speck across the dusty blue sky.
Then I exhaled once and turned-and walked right into my mom.
“Oh, Sera,” she whispered, her arms outstretched like she was about to hug me. I took an instinctive step back-and crashed into Kieran’s chest.
The contact was a shock to my system, and I sidestepped, putting distance between me and my so-called family, who were suddenly crowding me.
“What?” I asked, my voice shaky. All I wanted now was to go home, crawl into Daniel’s bed, and cry while clutching Wolfy to me.
Her arms dropped to the side. “H-how are you?”
“Fine,” I answered curtly.
Kieran took a hesitant step forward. “Can I drive you home?”
I glanced at Celeste, noting the way she stiffened at his offer, and scoffed. “No, thanks.”
I moved around them, heading to my car.
“Sera,” my mom called out softly, and I stiffened.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.
I took a deep breath. I hadn’t been okay in a long time, but what would my mother know about that?
I opened the door and slid into my car without a word.
The drive home seemed to last forever, blanketed with eerie silence without Daniel fiddling with the radio and calling out every traffic sign he saw.
Stepping into the house was worse. It’s like the building knew that the light of my currently being taken thousands of miles away from me. life was
I didn’t even make it to Daniel’s room. I slid down the front door and clutched Wolfy to me as the first of many, many sobs wracked my body.
SERAPHINA’S POV
Some might call it pathetic-a grown woman curled up in her child’s bed, drowning in his scent like some lovesick omega.
Fuck them.
I spent the night in Daniel’s room, burrowed in his blanket, inhaling his scent, and trying not to dissolve into a messy puddle of tears.
I’d gotten a clipped text from Leona when they landed at the private island. Due to the strict communication rules that served to keep Daniel safe, we couldn’t schedule a call ahead, and I was informed that I’d hear from them when it was secure.
Part of me thought they were going a bit overboard, but I was also grateful they were going overboard. Anything to protect my baby.
I rolled out of bed, squinting against the morning sunlight streaming through the parted windows, and trudged to the bathroom, where I took a quick shower.
I didn’t want to go anywhere, but I had a follow-up appointment at the hospital, and the sooner I got the all-clear, the quicker I could return to training and get strong enough to hold my own against the bastards who wanted me dead.
I changed into a pair of jeans and a loose shirt and threw my hair up in a messy ponytail. I was hungry but felt too depressed to cook anything, so I grabbed an apple from the fridge.
I bit into it as I opened the door-and slammed right into Kieran’s chest.
“What the-” The apple slipped from my mouth and fell. “Shit!”
He moved faster than was humanly possible and caught the apple in his hand.
He held it up to me. “Here.”
I blinked up at him and made no move to take the apple from his hand. “What-” I paused, chewed the piece of fruit in my mouth, swallowed, then continued, “-the hell are you doing here?”
“You blocked me,” he answered, his tone accusatory.
I nodded. “Yeah, I did. Because normal people stop calling after the fifth time of being ignored, but you-“
I frowned, my eyes taking him in from head to toe. He was wearing the same black jeans and navy T-shirt he’d been wearing yesterday at the airport. His hair was tousled, a little flat at the back, and his under-eyes were dark.
I glanced behind him, and sure enough, his Escalade was parked beside my sedan.
I frowned at Kieran. “Any answer other than ‘no’ is fucking ridiculous, but did you sleep in your car-in front of my house?”
He shrugged, taking a bite out of my apple.
My eyes widened. “Hey!”
“I handed it to you; you didn’t take it,” he said, chewing nonchalantly.
I huffed. “I don’t have time for this, Kieran. I have a-‘
“Doctor’s appointment. I know.” He nodded towards his car. “Come on, I’ll take you.”
My eyes blinked, struggling to process this bizarre reality. Had I woken up in some alternate universe? Since when did my estranged ex-husband give so much damn about me?
First, the hospital vigil, then camping out in my driveway, and now this-playing chauffeur to my check-up?
What the hell had gotten into him?
We’d spent ten years as strangers in a marriage, and he was barely tolerating my presence. Now suddenly he wanted to act like some model co-parent? Like all those years of icy resentment and deliberate indifference never happened?
While Daniel was here, I might have cooperated for his sake. But with him away from home? I wasn’t in the mood to play house.
The last thing I needed was another deranged Celeste showing up at my doorstep, leaving me so rattled I’d make reckless choices that may cost my life. And the thought of being in an enclosed space with Kieran for any amount of time made my stomach churn with something that wasn’t hunger.
I shook my head. “Stop offering me rides. I’m capable of driving myself.”
He frowned. “Have you forgotten that there’s a target on your back?”
I gave him a sarcastic smile and tapped my chest lightly. “How could I? Besides,”-I pointed to the familiar black car parked opposite my house-“your security team has been watching me like a hawk. I don’t need you to accompany me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Sera-“
“If I wanted a hospital buddy, I’d call Lucian, okay?”
Kieran tensed, and I flinched when he squeezed the apple in his hand so tightly, the poor thing crumpled to nothing, juice trailing down his arm and dripping to the floor.
He tossed the carcass away and fixed his eyes on me, anger rippling off him in waves- anger, and…the sudden pressure in the air as his control snapped.
Even without my wolf, I felt it. That primal alpha energy rolling off him in waves, thick enough to taste. Anger. Frustration. And something else that made my human instincts scream to either run or…
I swallowed hard. Damn him.
“You’re a dick,” I muttered, brushing past him before my body could betray me further. At least he’d had the decency to nudge rather than command-though the effect was annoyingly similar.
“Pick that up,” I said, toeing the destroyed apple. “It’ll bring flies to my porch.”
I didn’t look back at his expression.
The old me-the meek, obedient wife-would never have spoken to him like that. But the woman I was now? She needed this small act of rebellion. Needed to push back, if only to prove to myself that the traitorous flutter in my chest meant nothing.
As I suspected, as soon as Kieran closed the door behind him, his spacious car suddenly felt like we were compressed into a tiny clown car, and the only air available to breathe was his own.
The hospital was about a twenty-minute drive from my house. Around minute five, I commented, “I thought you preferred the G-Wagon. Why have you been driving this one around?”
Kieran’s jaw briefly clenched. “It’s getting cleaned. Your…” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye before continuing. “Your blood stained the backseat.”
I nodded. “Right.”
There was silence for one more minute before I said, “Thank you.”
Kieran looked at me properly then, surprise blanketing his features. I cleared my throat. “The doctor said if I hadn’t gotten to the hospital as soon as I did, I might not have lived, so…thank you.”
He nodded.
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