Chapter 3

Seraphina POV

The heavy, cold parchment of the *Dissolution of Union Agreement* felt like lead in my trembling hands. The silence in the sprawling, monochromatic living room was deafening, broken only by the chaotic, agonizing hum of the frayed mate-bond.

Kain shifted on the white leather sofa. I could feel the restless pacing of his inner wolf, Rage, bleeding through our connection. Rage was furious, confused by the sudden severing of our ties, and Kain was clearly struggling to suppress him.

"Sera," Kain's voice broke the quiet, softer this time, laced with a sickening attempt at pity. "I know this is hard. But even with the union dissolved, I will always make sure you are taken care of. You will always be family to me. I'll look after you... like a sister."

*Like a sister.*

The words were a physical blow, striking harder than the rejection itself. The Moon Goddess had woven our souls together, designed us to be two halves of a whole, and he was reducing that sacred bond to a sterile, platonic obligation just to soothe his own guilt. It was the ultimate insult.

A cold, hollow laugh escaped my lips, twisting into a mocking smile that felt entirely foreign on my face. "A sister," I repeated, my voice devoid of any warmth. "Right. We can discuss the logistics of that later."

Kain frowned, a flicker of unease crossing his stoic features. He clearly hadn't expected this icy detachment. "You said you had something to tell me earlier," he pressed, his brow furrowing. "What was it?"

My hand instinctively hovered over my flat stomach. *A pup destined to be rejected by its own father.* I looked at the man sitting across from me-a man willing to defy the heavens for another woman. I would never use my child as a bargaining chip to keep a mate who didn't want me.

I swallowed the bitter ash in my throat and met his gaze with dead eyes. "It was just about the new MQ Clothing design proposals. But it doesn't matter now."

Kain stared at me for a long moment before checking his Rolex, seemingly eager to escape the heavy atmosphere he had created. "I need to change," he said, standing up and smoothing his tailored suit. "We can ride to the Blakely Group building together."

I stared at him, appalled by his ability to compartmentalize our destruction. He was tearing my soul apart, yet he expected us to commute like nothing had happened.

"No," I said, my voice turning to ice as I stood up. "Since we are dissolving the union, it's best the pack doesn't see us arriving together anymore."

Without waiting for his response, I turned on my heel. I grabbed my purse from the foyer table and walked out the heavy ebony doors, leaving him standing in the sterile hallway.

The underground garage was a cavern of polished concrete and gleaming supercars. I practically threw myself into the driver's seat of my modest sedan, slamming the door to shut out the suffocating scent of his territory.

In the cramped, quiet sanctuary of my car, my hands began to shake violently. I needed proof. I needed to kill the last, pathetic sliver of hope in my chest that maybe, just maybe, this was all a misunderstanding.

I pulled out my phone and opened Facebook. It didn't take long. Eddie Dawson, Kain's closest aristocratic friend and a notorious social climber, had just posted a new update.

It was a photo taken at the high-end pack club they frequented. Kain was in the center, looking relaxed and powerful, holding a crystal glass. And there, pressed intimately against his side, was Galilea. She looked radiant, her smile triumphant as she clung to his arm.

The caption below the photo felt like a silver blade twisting in my gut:

*Welcome back, Galilea! Our true Luna has returned! A wedding's on the way! *

*Our true Luna.*

The pack had never accepted me, a wolfless weakling, but seeing it written out so blatantly confirmed my worst fears. Kain hadn't just spent the last month on "pack business." He had been with her. They had already planned their future while I was sitting at home, waiting to tell him he was going to be a father.

The words on the screen blurred as a single, scalding tear slipped free, landing directly on Galilea's smiling face.