95 Chapter 95
95 Chapter 95
Seraphina’s POV 1
Damien stepped onto the bedroom balcony to take Lucas’s call, his voice dropping to the low, serious tone he
used for pack business. Through the open French doors, I could hear fragments of their conversation-words
like plete silence” and “too quiet”.
Adrian had curled up beside me on the bed, his small body warm against my side as he continued his one-
sided conversation with my belly. His innocent chatter about teaching the baby to y ser and showing
them his favorite books created a peaceful backdrop that felt almost surreal given the tension I could sense
radiating from Damien.
“And when you’re born,” Adrian was saying seriously to my stomach, “I’m gonna make sure nobody is ever
mean to you. Not ever. Because that’s what big brothers do.”
My heart clenched at his words, remembering all too clearly what it felt like to grow up without that kind of
protection. “You’re going to be an amazing big brother, sweetheart.”
“Mommy?” Adrian looked up at me with those perceptive silver-blue eyes. “Why does Daddy look worried
when he talks on the phone? Is something bad happening?”
I smoothed his dark curls, marveling at how quickly children picked up on adult emotions. “Daddy has to
make sure everyone in our pack is safe. Sometimes that means he has to think aboutplicated things.”
“Like keeping the bad wolves away?”
The simplicity of his question made me pause. How much did a four-year-old need to know about the dangers that constantly threatened our world? “Something like that, yes.”
Damien’s conversation seemed to be winding down, his responses bing shorter and more clipped. When
he finally ended the call and rejoined us in the bedroom, his expression was carefully neutral in the way that
meant he was trying not to worry me.
“Everything okay?” I asked, though I could already sense through our mate bond that whatever Lucas had told him wasn’t good news.
Damien sat on the edge of the bed, his hand automatically reaching out to rest on my ankle through the soft
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nket. “The border situation is… strange.”
“Strange how?”
He nced at Adrian, who was still lying against my side but was now listening with the focused attention
that meant he was filing away every word forter analysis.
“Adrian, buddy,” Damien said gently, “why don’t you go see if you can find that new coloring book Aunt
Ophelia brought you? The one with the dinosaurs?”
“But I want to hear about the bad wolves,” Adrian protested, his lower lip pushing out in the beginnings of a
pout.
“This is grown-up talk,” I said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “And besides, didn’t you want to color a
T-Rex for the baby? You could put it on the refrigerator so they’ll see it when they’re big enough.”
Adrian’s face lit up at this suggestion. “Oh! That’s a really good idea! Maybe I should color lots of pictures so
the baby has decorations everywhere!” He scrambled off the bed with renewed purpose. “I’m gonna make this
house the most colorful house ever!”
We waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall before Damien spoke again, his voice dropping to
the quiet tone reserved for sensitive pack business.
“Eighteen days,” he said without preamble. “Eighteen days since thest confirmed rogue sighting anywhere
along our borders.”
I frowned, shifting to sit up straighter against the pillows. “That should be good news, shouldn’t it? Maybe
our trap worked better than we thought.”
“That’s what I hoped initially,” Damien said, running his hand through his hair in the gesture I’d learned meant
he was working through aplex problem. “But rogues don’t just disappear, Sera. They regroup, they find
new territory, theye back stronger. This kind ofplete silence… it’s not natural.”
“What does Lucas think?”
“That we’re looking at the calm before the storm.” Damien’s silver-blue eyes met mine, and I could see the
worry he was trying to hide. “The captured rogues we interrogated before they… died… they mentioned
someone organizing them. A Luna figure with ns,”
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The memory of that horrible interrogation room made me shudder. “You think she’s nning something
bigger.”
“I think she’s regrouping after we demolished her previous strategy. The question is what she’s nning
next.” He paused, his thumb tracing circles on my ankle. “There are civilian poptions near the border
zones. Small towns, farmingmunities, ces that would be vulnerable if the rogues decided to change
tactics.”
I could see where this was heading, and my stomach clenched with something that had nothing to do with
morning sickness. “You’re going out there.”
“I need to assess the situation personally. Maybe coordinate evacuations for the most vulnerable
could hear the reluctance. “I don’t like leaving you, especially not now, but-”
“Then I’ming with you.”
The words were out of my mouth before I’d consciously decided to say them, driven by an instinct I didn’t
fully understand. The idea of Damien heading into potentially dangerous territory while I stayed safely at
home made every alpha instinct I possessed scream in protest.
“Absolutely not.” Damien’s response was immediate and definitive, his alpha dominance ring briefly before
he controlled it. “Sera, you’re pregnant. You can barely keep breakfast down, and you want to go into a
potentialbat zone?”
I bristled at his tone, my own newly awakened alpha nature rising to meet his challenge. “I’m pregnant, not
helpless. And if there’s an ambush waiting, don’t you think having someone with healing abilities might be
useful?”
“What I think,” Damien said, his voice growing dangerously quiet, “is that I’m not risking both you and our
unborn child on a reconnaissance mission. Sera, I can’t focus on the mission if I’m worried about protecting
you.”
The admission hit me harder than anymand could have. I could see the conflict in his silver-blue eyes.
“How long?” I asked quietly, epting that I wasn’t going to win this argument.
“Two days, maybe three at most. Lucas will stay here to coordinatemunications, and I’ll have full backup
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teams.” Damien lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. “I promise I’m not taking any unnecessary risks.”