151 Chapter 151


    151 Chapter 151


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    “I think my mama’s around here somewhere.”


    The words hit me like lightning.


    My heart stopped. The blood in my veins turned to ice.


    Adrian stood there on the sidewalk, his small body tense with concentration, his silver–blue eyes scanning the street with an intensity


    that made my soul scream.


    “Oh God,” I whispered, my hands flying to cover my mouth. “Oh God, oh God, oh God.”


    “Sera, get down!” Caleb’s voice was sharp, urgent. “Get down right now!”


    But I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything except stare at my five–year–old son as he searched for me with senses I’d


    forgotten he possessed.


    “Sera!” Caleb grabbed my shoulder, pushing me down toward the floor. “Duck! Now!”


    I copsed forward, my forehead hitting my knees, my whole body shaking like I was having a seizure. Through the car window, I could


    still hear the nanny calling to Adrian.


    “Adrian, honey, what are you doing? We need to go home.”


    “We’re leaving,” Caleb said grimly, starting the engine. “Right now.”


    Through the rear window, I watched Adrian take another step forward, his head tilted, his whole body focused on something he couldn’t


    quite identify. The nanny was beside him now, her hand on his shoulder, trying to guide him back to the car.


    “Adrian, sweetie, there’s no one here,” she said gently.


    Then we turned the corner, and I lost sight of him.


    I copsed back into my seat, my whole body convulsing with sobs I couldn’t control. My chest felt like it was being crushed, hike


    someone was squeezing all the air out of my lungs.


    “He knew,” I gasped between sobs. “Caleb, he knew I was there.”


    “Alpha blood,” Caleb said tightly, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “He’s got enhanced senses.”


    “What if he tells Damien?” Panic wed at my throat. “What if he goes home and says-”


    “What’s he going to say? That he thought he smelled his mother near his school?” Caleb’s voice was steady, trying to calm me down.


    “Kids say stuff like that all the time. Damien might not even take it seriously.”


    But I knew better. Damien would take it seriously. Damien would tear apart every building in a five–mile radius if Adrian told him I’d been


    there.


    14.24


    <b>< </b>


    151 Chapter 151


    “I can’t do this,” I whispered, pressing my hands against my face. “I can’t keep hiding. I can’t keep running. And I can’t…”


    I couldn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t say out loud what I was thinking.


    I couldn’t stay here. Not anymore.


    The drive back to the Morrison house passed in a blur of tears and silence. Caleb kept ncing at me, his face tight with worry, but he


    didn’t try to talk. Probably figured I was too far gone for conversation.


    He was right.


    By the time we pulled into the familiar gravel driveway, I’d cried myself empty. My eyes burned. My throat was raw. My whole body felt


    like I’d been hit by a truck.


    Margaret appeared on the front porch before we’d even gotten out of the car, her face creased with concern. She took one look at me


    and immediately opened her arms.


    “Oh, honey,” she murmured, pulling me against her soft warmth. “What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”


    “I saw my son,” I whispered into her shoulder. “And he knew. He knew I was there.”


    Margaret’s arms tightened around me. Over my head, I heard her and Caleb exchange words in low voices, but I couldn’t focus on what


    they were saying. All I could think about was Adrian’s face. The way he’d stood there, so sure, so certain that his mother was nearby.


    “Come inside,” Margaret said gently, guiding me toward the house. “Let me make you some tea.”


    I let her lead me to the kitchen, let her settle me at the table, let her fuss with the kettle and tea bags because it seemed to make her feel


    better. But I wasn’t really there. I was still standing on that street corner, watching my son search for me.


    “Here, drink this,” Margaret pressed a warm mug into my hands. “It’ll help with the shock.”


    I took a sip. It tasted like nothing.


    “Talk to me, sweetheart,” Margaret said, settling into the chair beside me. “Tell me what happened.”


    So I did. I told her about seeing Adriane out of school. About how happy and normal he’d looked. About the moment he’d stopped


    and started searching for me with senses that should have been impossible for a child.


    “I can’t stay here,” I said quietly.


    The words hung in the air like a death sentence.


    Margaret’s face went very still. “What do you mean?”


    “I mean I can’t stay here anymore.” I looked up at her, saw my own pain reflected in her kind eyes. “As long as I’m anywhere near them,


    I’m going to want to see them. And if I see them…”


    I pulled my hands free, wrapping them around the warm mug. “I need to go somewhere they’ll never look. Somewherepletely


    different.”


    <


    151 Chapter 151


    “Where?” Caleb’s voice came from the doorway. He’d been listening, probably for several minutes.


    I turned to face him. “The human world. A big city. Somewhere I can disappearpletely.”


    The kitchen went dead silent. Margaret’s face crumpled with distress. Robert appeared behind Caleb, his expression grim.


    “Sera,” Caleb said carefully, moving closer. “You don’t mean that.”


    “I do mean it.” My voice was steady now, resolved. “I’ve been kidding myself, thinking I could hide here and still somehow be close to them. But today proved that’s impossible. I won’t put you all at risk anymore. I won’t put them at risk anymore.”


    “This is your home,” Margaret protested, tears starting to fall. “We’re your family now.”


    “And I love you for that.” My voice cracked. “I love all of you so much. But I can’t… I can’t do this anymore.”


    Caleb stepped forward. “Where will you go?”


    I looked around the kitchen that had be so familiar, at these people who’d given me everything without asking for anything in return. “I can get a job in an office. Rent a small apartment. Start overpletely.”


    I walked to the window, staring out at the setting sun. “I’ll leave tomorrow morning. Early, before you’re all awake. I don’t want to <i>drag </i>


    this out.”


    Behind me, I heard Margaret start to cry. Soft, heartbroken sounds that made my chest ache.


    “We won’t try to stop you,” Caleb said finally. “If this is really what you want.”


    “It’s not what I want,” I admitted. “It’s what needs to happen.”


    “Then we’ll help you,” Robert said firmly. “We’ll drive you to the bus station. Make sure you get to wherever you’re going safely.”


    I turned around, looking at these three people who’d saved me when I had nowhere else to go. “Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything. For giving me a ce to heal. For treating me like family.”


    “You are family,” Margaret said through her tears. “You’ll always be family. And if you ever change your mind, if you ever want toe


    home…”


    “This door will always be open,” Robert finished.


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