135 Chapter 135


    Damien’s POV 1


    My fingers trembled as I unfolded the paper, the sound deafening in the quiet nursery. Adrian stood beside


    me, but his voice seemed toe from underwater.


    The handwriting was definitely Sera’s-that careful script I’d fallen in love with when she used to leave me


    little notes in my office.


    *My dearest Damien,*


    *By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. Please don’t look for me. Please don’t try to bring me back. This is the


    hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but it’s the right thing. The only thing.*


    My heart stopped beating. Actually stopped. The paper shook so violently in my hands I could barely make


    out the words.


    *I love you. God, Damien, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person. You


    saved me, in every way a person can be saved. You gave me Adrian, you gave me Lily, you gave me a life I


    never dreamed I could have.*


    *But I can’t be what you need anymore.*


    “No,” I whispered, the word torn from my chest. “No, no, no.”


    “Daddy?” Adrian tugged on my sleeve. “What’s wrong? Is that from Mama?”


    I couldn’t answer him. Couldn’t speak. My eyes burned as I forced myself to keep reading.


    *The truth is, I’m not a wolf anymore. I’m not your Luna. I’m just a broken human woman who can’t protect


    her children, can’t lead beside you, can’t even attend a pack function without humiliating herself.*


    *Last night at the party, I heard them, Damien. I heard what they really think of me. Of us. Of our children.*


    My hands clenched around the paper, crumpling the edges.


    *They called Adrian and Lily “filthy half-breeds.” They said our bloodline was “tainted forever.” They looked at


    me like I was contaminating you just by standing next to you.*


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    *And the worst part is, they’re not wrong.*


    “They are fucking wrong,” I snarled, my voice echoing off the nursery walls.


    Adrian jumped, his eyes going wide. “Daddy? You said a bad word.”


    *I can’t give you what you need. I can’t give our children what they need. I’m human now, Damien. Weak.


    Ordinary. Breakable. What happens when someone threatens our pack and I can’t fight? What happens when


    our children need a mother who can protect them and all I can do is hide behind you?*


    Tears blurred my vision, making the words swim together. I blinked them away furiously.


    *I won’t be the liability that gets someone killed. I won’t be the weak link that brings down everything you’ve


    built.*


    *And our children… God, our beautiful, perfect children. They deserve better than a mother who will only


    hold them back. They deserve someone who can teach them about their wolf heritage, someone who can


    stand proud beside them when they shift for the first time, someone who won’t embarrass them at pack


    gatherings.*


    “Sera,” I breathed, my voice breaking on her name.


    *They deserve a real Luna for a mother. Not some broken human pretending to belong.*


    *I know you’ll say I’m wrong. I know you’ll try to convince me that I’m enough, that love is all that matters.


    But love isn’t enough, is it? Love doesn’t make me strong enough to protect them. Love doesn’t give me back


    my wolf. Love doesn’t change the fact that I’m a burden now instead of a partner.*


    My knees buckled. I grabbed the edge of the crib to keep from falling, the paper crumpling further in my grip.


    *I’m grateful we neverpleted the mating bond. I’m grateful you never marked me. It means you’re free,


    Damien. Free to find someone worthy of you. Someone who can stand beside you as an equal. Someone who


    can give you the support you need to lead our pack.*


    “Daddy, you’re scaring me,” Adrian whispered, his small voice cutting through my anguish.


    I looked down at him, at his worried silver-blue eyes, and felt something shatter in my chest.


    *Find someone who can be a real mother to Adrian and Lily. Someone strong. Someone whole. Someone who


    won’t spend their entire lives exining why their mother is different, why she can’t do the things other


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    135 Chapter 130


    mothers can do.*


    *Please don’t hate me for this. Please understand that I’m doing this because I love you all too much to stay


    and watch myself drag you down.*


    *Take care of our babies. Tell them I love them. Tell them I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to stay.*


    *And please, please don’t look for me. Let me go, Damien. Let me disappear so you can build the life you


    really deserve. The life our children deserve.*


    *All my love, always,*


    *Sera*


    *P.S. – I left some things for the children in the closet. Pictures, letters for when they’re older. So they’ll know


    I loved them even if I couldn’t stay.*


    The letter fell from my numb fingers, fluttering to the floor like a dying bird.


    The nursery spun around me. The walls, the ceiling, everything tilted and blurred as the full weight of her


    words crashed over me like a tsunami.


    She was gone.


    My mate, the mother of my children, the other half of my soul-gone.


    “Daddy?” Adrian’s voice seemed toe from very far away. “Where’s Mama? When is sheing home?”


    How could I answer that? How could I tell my five-year-old son that his mother had abandoned us? That she


    thought so little of herself, of us, that she’d rather disappear than fight?


    “I don’t know, buddy,” I whispered, my voicepletely broken. “I don’t know.”