40 Chapter 40


    40 Chapter 40


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    The morning sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Nightshadow Industries, casting everything in a golden glow that should have felt hopeful. Instead, as I settled into my desk chair, I found myself bracing for whatever fresh hell Anna ckwood had


    nned for today.


    I didn’t have to wait long.


    “Good morning, bestie!” Anna’s sickeningly sweet voice cut through the peaceful morning atmosphere like nails on a chalkboard. She


    sauntered over to my desk in a tight red dress that looked more appropriate for a nightclub than a corporate office, her tinum blonde


    hair bouncing with each calcted step.


    “Sleep well?” she asked, though her tone suggested she didn’t particrly care about my answer. “You look a little tired. Rough night?”


    “Actually,” I said, looking up from myputer screen with a smile that was all teeth and no warmth, “I had a wonderful evening. Very…


    therapeutic.”


    Anna’s perfectly plucked eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Therapeutic?”


    “Oh yes,” I continued cheerfully, turning my full attention to her now. “Sometimes a girl just needs to work out her frustrations, you


    know? Get rid of some toxic influences in her life.”


    Something flickered across Anna’s face-uncertainty, maybe even a hint of fear-but she quickly masked it with her usual superior smirk.


    “I have no idea what you’re babbling about, Sera. Maybe you should focus on your work instead of whatever fantasy life you’re living in


    your head.”


    “Fantasy?” Iughed, the sound sharp enough to make her take a small step backward. “That’s interesting. Tell me, Anna, have you talked


    to your dear friend Valerietely?”


    The change in Anna’s expression was instantaneous and delicious. Her fake smile faltered, reced by something much more genuine.


    “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, though her voice had lost its earlier confidence.


    “Nothing at all,” I said innocently, returning my attention to myputer screen. “I just thought you might have heard from her. You two


    are such good friends, after all. I’m sure she tells you everything”


    I could feel Anna’s eyes boring into me, could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out what game I was ying. After a long moment, she spun on her designer heels and stalked away, pulling out her phone as she disappeared into the break


    room.


    From my desk, I could hear the muffled sound of her voice rising in pitch as she apparently tried calling Valerie. Once, twice, three times. Each attempt seemed to increase her frustration.


    When she finally emerged from the break room twenty minutester, her perfect makeup couldn’t hide the pale undertone of her skin. Our eyes met across the office space, and for the first time since I’d known her, Anna ckwood looked genuinely shaken.


    10.30


    40 Chapter 40


    She didn’te near my desk for the rest of the morning.


    The peace was both wee and slightly unnerving. For years, Anna had made my life miserable with casual cruelty and calcted humiliation. To have her suddenly keeping her distance felt almost anticlimactic.


    “A,” I said quietly to my wolf as I organized Damien’s afternoon schedule, “what exactly happened to me the other night?”


    My wolf stirred in my mind, her presence more solid and aware than it had ever been before. *I’m not entirely sure, she admitted, her mental voice thoughtful. *But something changed when that bitch threatened our pup. Something… awakened.*


    “Awakened?”


    *The strength, the ws, the rage-none of that was normal omega behavior. Hell, it wasn’t normal behavior for most wolves, period.* A paused, and I could feel her confusion mixing with my own. *It felt like… like some part of us that had been sleeping suddenly woke up.*


    I touched my fingertips absently, remembering how my nails had lengthened into deadly ws, how I’d lifted Valerie off the ground with supernatural ease. The memory should have terrified me. Instead, it filled me with a strange sense of rightness.


    “Do you think it’s connected to my bloodline?” I asked. “To whoever my real parents were?”


    *Maybe.* A’s mental voice grew quieter. *Your adoptive parents never told you anything about where you came from, did they?*


    “Nothing,” I confirmed bitterly. “Elizabeth always said I was just some orphan they’d taken in out of the goodness of their hearts. But


    now…”


    Now I wasn’t so sure. The Knights had taken me in when I was eight years old, old enough to remember fragments of my life before. But those memories were hazy, dreamlike, as if someone had deliberately tried to make me forget.


    “Seraphina?”


    I looked up to find ire standing beside my desk, her elegant face creased with concern. “Are you alright, dear? You looked like you were a million miles away.”


    Before I could respond, the elevator chimed and Damien stepped onto the floor. Even after everything we’d shared, everything that had been revealed between us, the sight of him still made my breath catch in my throat.


    His eyes found mine immediately, and the intensity of his gaze made my pulse quicken. There was something different about the way he looked at me now-something warmer, more possessive, Like I was something precious he’d finally imed.


    “Good afternoon,dies,” he said, his voice carrying that familiar note of authority that made lesser wolves automatically step back. But when his gaze shifted to me, his tone softened almost imperceptibly. “Seraphina, could I speak with you for a moment?”


    I followed him into his office, hyperaware of the curious nces from other employees. The moment the door closed behind us, atmosphere shifted, bing charged with the same electricity that had crackled between us in my bedroom.


    the


    “How are you feeling?” Damien asked, moving around his desk but not sitting down. Instead, he leaned against the edge, his prating blue eyes studying my face with careful attention.


    “Better,” I said honestly. “The bruises are fading, and I slept wellst night I paused, remembering the peaceful security of having him in


    10:30


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    40 Chapter 40


    my apartment, the way Adrian had imed him like he belonged there. “Thank you again. For everything”


    “You don’t need to thank me,” Damien said, his voice rough with an emotion I couldn’t quite identify. “Taking care of you and Adrian-it’s


    not a favor, Seraphina. It’s what I want to do.”


    The words sent warmth spiraling through my chest, but before I could respond, he continued.


    “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I made a promise to someone very important, and I need to keep it.”


    “A promise?”


    Damien’s lips curved into a smile that transformed his entire face, making him look younger and almost boyish despite hismanding


    presence. “I promised a certain four-year-old that I would spend time with him today. But I think his mother shoulde as well.”


    “I’ll wait for you after work. Wear somethingfortable.”


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