147 Chapter 147


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    The darkness pressed against me like a living thing.


    I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. My heart mmed against my ribs so hard I was sure they could hear it through the walls.


    *Thump. Thump. Thump.*


    Each beat screamed his name. *Damien. Damien. Damien.*


    He was here. In this house. Looking for me.


    I pressed my hands over my mouth to muffle the sound of my breathing. My whole body shook. Every muscle locked tight with terror


    and longing and guilt that threatened to tear me apart.


    “SERA!”


    His voice boomed through the house, raw and desperate and so achingly familiar it physically hurt. “SERA, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE!”


    Oh God. Oh God, oh God, oh God.


    My knees buckled. I slid down the wall of the tiny hiding space, my back scraping against rough wood. The darkness spun around me.


    <b>*</b><b>I </b>should go to him. I should run out there and-<b>* </b>


    No. No, I couldn’t. That’s why I left. That’s why I ran.


    But hearing his voice after three weeks…


    Footsteps pounded across the floor above me. Heavy. Frantic. The whole house seemed to shake with his fury.


    “Your wife?” Margaret’s voice filtered through. High–pitched. rmed. “Young man, there’s no one here but family.”


    *I’m sorry,* I wanted to scream. *I’m so sorry I’m putting you through this.*


    More footsteps. Damien was moving through the house like a storm. I could track his path by the sound–kitchen, living room, now the


    stairs.


    *He’s going upstairs.*


    My breath came in short, sharp gasps. The small space suddenly felt impossibly smaller. The walls closing in.


    *What if he finds me? What if he doesn’t?*


    I didn’t know which possibility terrified me more,


    A door mmed open somewhere above. Then another. Then another.


    “Who’s staying here?” Damien’s voice again, sharp as broken ss,


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    I bit down on my fist to keep from making a sound. Tears streamed down my face, hot and endless.


    The floor above my head creaked. He was directly overhead now. In the guest room where I’d been sleeping.


    I could picture him standing there, taking in the space with those silver–blue eyes. Looking for any trace of me. Any proof that I’d been


    here.


    <b>*</b>He’s so close.*


    If I closed my eyes, I could almost see him. The way his jaw would be clenched. The tension in his shoulders. The desperate, wild look


    that meant his wolf was close to the surface.


    “I heard her.” His voice cracked, and something inside me shattered at the sound. “I heard a womanughing. It sounded just like her.”


    *I’m here. I’m right here. I’m so sorry.*


    “The TV,” Caleb said, his voice gentle. Patient. “We were watching someedy show. Maybe the actress sounded simr?”


    I pressed my forehead against my knees, my whole body curling in on itself. The guilt was crushing. Suffocating.


    <b>*</b>What have I done? What am I doing to him?*


    More creaking. More footsteps. He was moving around up there, searching every corner. Every shadow.


    *Don’t look here. Please don’t look here.*


    But also: *Please look here. Please find me. Please make this decision for me because I can’t-<b>* </b>


    “I can’t sleep.” Damien’s voice was barely a whisper now, but I heard it like he was right next to me. “Not until I find her. Not until I know


    she’s okay.”


    A sob caught in my throat. I stuffed my fist harder against my mouth, my teeth cutting into skin.


    “I’m sorry you’re going through this,” Margaret said, her voice thick with sympathy. “I truly am. But we can’t help you with something we


    know nothing about.”


    The lie hung in the air. I could feel it, heavy and wrong.


    More footsteps. Coming back down the stairs this time. Each step taking him further away from me.


    *No. No, don’t go. Don’t leave me here.*


    I started to move. Started to push myself up. Started to-


    *Stop<i>,</i>*


    I froze, my hand on the wall, my whole body trembling with the effort of staying still.


    *You left for a reason. Remember? You’re not good enough. You’re human now. Weak. Broken. He deserves better.*


    But hearing him so close, hearing the pain in his voice…


    “If she contacts you” Damien said, and I could hear him standing at the front door now. Right there. Right fucking there. “Please tell her


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    147 Chapter 147


    something for me.”


    *Tell me. Please. Tell me anything.*


    “What’s that?” Caleb asked.


    My heart stopped. Time stopped. Everything stopped.


    “Tell her I’m not giving up.”


    The words hit me like physical blows. Each one a knife to the chest.


    “Tell her I’ll search for her every day for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes.”


    *Don’t. Please don’t do this to me.*


    “And tell her…” His voice brokepletely. “Tell her Adrian and her baby girl needs her mother.”


    I bit down on my hand so hard I tasted blood. The sob that wanted to tear out of me was trapped behind my teeth, behind my palm,


    behind three weeks of running and hiding and pretending I was doing the right thing.


    <b>*</b>Adrian. Lily. Oh God, my babies.*


    “I’ll tell her,” Caleb said quietly. “If I see her.”


    The front door opened. Closed.


    Silence.


    I stayed frozen in the darkness, my body shaking so violently my teeth chattered. Tears poured down my face, soaking through my shirt,


    dripping onto my knees.


    *He’s gone. He’s really gone.*


    I should have felt relieved. Safe. Grateful that he hadn’t found me.


    Instead, I felt like I was dying.


    The house was so quiet now. No footsteps. No voices. Just the sound of my ragged breathing and the pounding of my traitorous heart.


    *Damien.*


    Minutes passed. Maybe hours. I couldn’t tell anymore. Time had lost all meaning in this suffocating darkness.


    Then–a soft knock on the panel.


    “Sera?<i>” </i>Caleb’s voice. Gentle, Careful. “He’s gone. You cane out now.”


    I couldn’t move. My body had locked uppletely, frozen in this small space like I’d been turned to stone.


    “Sera?” Another knock. More urgent this time. “Come on. It’s safe now.”


    The panel slid open, and light flooded in. I squinted against it, my eyes burning after so long in the dark,


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    147 Chapter 147


    Caleb crouched in the opening, his face tight with concern. Behind him, I could see Margaret hovering, wringing her hands.


    “Hey,” he said softly. “It’s over. He’s gone.”


    I tried to stand. Tried to move. But my legs wouldn’t work. They just… wouldn’t.


    “I can’t-” My voice came out as a broken whisper. “I can’t move.”


    “Okay. Okay, that’s okay.” Caleb reached in, his hands finding mine in the darkness. “Come on. Let me help you.”


    He pulled gently, and I let him drag me out of the hiding spot. My legs gave out the moment I cleared the opening, and I copsed onto


    the floor like a puppet with cut strings.


    “Oh, honey.” Margaret was beside me instantly, her arms wrapping around my shoulders. “Oh, sweetheart.”


    I couldn’t hold it in anymore. The sob that had been trapped inside me for three weeks–for three hours–for three fucking minutes since


    Damien left–it tore out of me with a force that felt like it might rip me apart.


    “I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out between sobs. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”


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