27 Chapter 27
Seraphina’s POV 1
For five years, my adoptive parents had vanished from my lifepletely-no calls, no letters. It was as if I’d never existed in their world,
which was exactly what they’d wanted when they threw me out.
The phone kept ringing. I let it go to voicemail, but immediately another call came in from a different number. Then another. My phone
buzzed with a text message, then another, the notifications piling up faster than I could dismiss them. 1
*Answer the phone, you little bitch.*
*I know where you work.*
*Nightshadow Industries. Don’t make mee there.*
My blood turned to ice. She was using different phones, probably borrowed from neighbors or friends, making sure I couldn’t just block
her number. And now she was threatening to show up at my workce. I couldn’t let Elizabeth Knight storm into Nightshadow
Industries and cause a scene.
The phone rang again. This time, I answered.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
“Don’t you ‘hello Elizabeth’ me, you ungrateful little bitch!” Her voice exploded through the speaker with such venom that I had to hold
the phone away from my ear. “Where the hell have you been for five years? Do you have any idea what you put us through? Disappearing
like somemon criminal, embarrassing our family name!”
The familiar torrent of abuse washed over me like acid rain. Same Elizabeth, same vicious tongue, sameplete inability to take
responsibility for her own cruelty.
“I’ve been building a life for myself and my son,” I said quietly, proud of how steady my voice sounded despite the way my hands were
trembling. “What do you want, Elizabeth? We haven’t spoken in five years. I assumed that meant you were done pretending to care about
my existence.”
But a harshugh that sounded like breaking ss. “Trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be calling you at all. But you need toe
home. This weekend. There are… arrangements to be made.”
“Arrangements?” I repeated, my voice rising slightly. “Elizabeth, I’m noting back to Whispering Valley. Ever. I have a life here, a job,
responsibilities-”
“You have responsibilities to this family!” she shrieked, her voice reaching that familiar pitch that had preceded so many of
my childhood
punishments. “After everything we did for you, after taking in an unwanted omega orphan and raising you like our own daughter, you
Owe us!”
“I don’t owe you anything,” I said firmly, surprising myself with the steel in my voice. “You made it very clear five years ago that I wasn’t
your daughter and never had been. You chose Valerie. You got exactly what you wanted-me gone, out of your life forever. So whatever
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this is about, find someone else to help you.”
I was about to hang up when Elizabeth’s voice changed, dropping to something low and dangerous that made my wolf pace uneasily.
“I know about your job at Nightshadow Industries, Elizabeth continued, her tone taking on a calcted quality that made my skin crawl. “I know about your little apartment in the Riverside district. Most importantly, I know about your son.”
My breath caught in my throat. “What did you just say?”
“Adrian Knight. Four years old. Attends Silver Moon Harbor Elementary. Such a sweet little boy, from what I hear. It would be such a
shame if something were to happen to him.”
The phone slipped from my suddenly nerveless fingers, ttering onto my desk with a sound that seemed to echo through the empty
office. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except stare at the device as Elizabeth’s voice continued to
pour out threats in that same calm, conversational tone.
I grabbed the phone back up, my hands shaking so badly I could barely keep hold of it.
“If you go anywhere near my son-” I started, but Elizabeth cut me off with augh that chilled me to the bone.
“You’ll what? Oh, darling, I think you’re forgetting exactly who you’re dealing with here.” Her voice was soft now, almost gentle, which
somehow made it ten times more terrifying. “I’m the respected wife of a pack elder. You’re an unwed omega mother with a bastard child.
Who do you think they’ll believe if something unfortunate were to happen?”
My chest felt like it was being crushed in a vise, making it difficult to draw breath.
“Come home this weekend. Friday evening.” Elizabeth’s voice was brisk now, businesslike, as if we were discussing dinner ns rather
than threats against my child. “And Seraphina? If you even think about running, if you consider taking that little bastard and
disappearing… well, let’s just say I have friends in many ces. There’s nowhere you could hide that I wouldn’t find you.”
The line went dead, leaving me staring at my phone inplete silence. The office around me felt surreal, like I was looking at
everything through thick ss. The familiar sounds of the building-air conditioning, distant conversations, the hum of electronics-all
seemed muffled and far away.
I knew Elizabeth Knight better than that. She’d raised me, after all, taught me exactly how far she was willing to go to get what she
wanted. The woman who’d been capable of throwing out a pregnant eighteen-year-old with nothing but the clothes on her back was
definitely capable of far worse things. 1
I’d spent the entire week in a state of barely controlled anxiety, jumping every time my phone rang, checking on Adrian obsessively,
barely sleeping.
The drive to Whispering Valley felt both endless and far too short. Every mile that passed on the familiar country roads brought back memories I’d spent five years trying to forget.
By the time I pulled into the gravel driveway of the Knight house, my hands were shaking and my wolf was pacing frantically in my mind.
The house looked exactly the same-small, neat, perfectly maintained on the outside while hiding rot within its walls.
But something was different. Instead of the cold reception I’d expected, Elizabeth was waiting on the front porch, her arms open in what appeared to be a weing gesture. She was dressed in her Sunday best-a pale blue dress that brought out her eyes, her hair perfectly
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styled, her makeup applied with careful precision.
“Seraphina!” she called out, her voice warm and bright. “Oh, darling, look at you! You look wonderful!”
She swept down the porch steps and pulled me into what felt like a genuine hug, her arms wrapping around me with surprising strength.
“Come in,e in!” she said, looping her arm through mine and guiding me up the porch steps. “I’ve missed you so much, sweetheart.
We have so much to catch up on!”
The inside of the house was exactly as I remembered. But sitting in Victor’s old recliner was a man I’d never seen before, and the sight of
him made my skin crawl immediately.
He was probably in his fifties, with thinning gray hair slicked back with too much pomade and a soft, doughy body that spoke of a
lifetime of excess. His pale blue eyes moved over me with an assessment that felt physical, taking in every curve and line of my body with
the kind of hungry evaluation that made my wolf bare her teeth in
my mind.
“Seraphina,” Elizabeth said, her voice taking on that bright, hostess-like quality she used when she was performing for an audience, “I’d
like you to meet Harold. Harold, this is my daughter Seraphina.”
Harold heaved himself out of the chair with obvious effort, his eyes never leaving my face as he extended a pudgy hand that looked like it
hadn’t seen honest work in decades.
“So this is the famous Seraphina,” he said, his voice oily and warm in a way that made my flesh crawl. “Elizabeth has told me so much
about you. What a lovely young woman you’ve grown into.”
I didn’t take his offered hand, stepping back instinctively as every rm bell in my head started ringing at maximum volume.
“I’m sorry,” I said, looking between Harold and Elizabeth with growing confusion and dread. “I don’t understand. Who is this man,
why am I here?”
and
Elizabeth’s smile never wavered, but something cold and calcting flickered in her eyes. “Sit down, darling. We have wonderful news to
share with you.”
When I remained standing, Harold’s smile widened, showing teeth that were too white and too perfect to be natural.
“Your mother and I have been discussing your… situation,” he said, settling back into the chair with a grunt. “A young woman in your
position-unmarried, with a child-well, it can’t be easy. But I’m a generous man, and I don’t mind taking on another man’s
responsibilities.”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach as understanding crashed over me like a tidal wave.
“Harold has very kindly offered to marry you,” Elizabeth said, pping her hands together as if she’d just announced the most wonderful
news in the world. “Isn’t that marvelous? Despite your… past mistakes, despite having that little bastard, he’s willing to give you
respectability and a proper home.”