Chapter 4

Seraphina POV

Descending the grand staircase of the Golden Ball, I held my head high, mustering every ounce of aristocratic elegance I possessed. The ballroom was a sea of expensive champagne, dazzling crystal chandeliers, and the suffocatingly thick scents of elite wolves. My hand rested lightly on Dominic's arm, his steady cedar and earth scent offering a small comfort to the phantom ache in my chest.

Five years ago, I could have asked my brother for help. But I was too proud, too ashamed. I had been rejected by my fated mate, cast out as an Omega with a weak wolf. Dominic had warned me not to accept that ceremony. He said Kaelen was not worthy of me. I did not listen to him. When I was driven out of the Black Moon Pack with my newborn daughter, I chose to scrape by on the margins rather than return to him in defeat and hear him say, "I told you so."

Until three months ago, when I held my feverish daughter in my arms with only a few coins left in my pocket. Only then did I finally dial the number I had been too afraid to call. Dominic did not ask why I had waited five years. He simply came.

I knew he was here. I could feel his presence in the electric hum that filled the air, but I refused to search the crowd for Kaelen Steele. That man had taken my son Liam, simply because he was the "future Alpha heir," and thrown me and my daughter out like trash. What right did he have to stand here and look at me now?

When Dominic was briefly pulled into a political conversation by an elder, I slipped away toward the marble bar to get a glass of water. I just needed a minute to breathe.

But peace was a luxury I had never been allowed.

A familiar, malicious scent drifted into my nostrils. I turned around, facing the coming confrontation head-on. I was no longer the pushover Omega I had been five years ago.

Vanessa Steele stopped before me, a venomous, false smile plastered on her face. But there was a tightness at the corner of her eyes, a slight tremor in her fingers. She was afraid. That gave me a small, cold satisfaction.

"I cannot believe a banished Omega slut has the nerve to crawl back," she hissed, her voice dripping with pure poison, but pitched low, as if she did not want to attract too much attention.

I stepped forward. The movement was so sudden that she instinctively took half a step back. "Why are you trembling, Vanessa?" My voice was eerily calm. "Is it because your brother nearly broke your neck last time, or because you finally realize that the woman standing before you now is no longer the Omega you used to bully?"

Her face flushed crimson. Anger overpowered her fear. She snatched a crystal goblet of red wine from a passing server's tray and hurled the liquid directly at me.

I did not dodge. The deep red liquid splashed violently against my silver woven gown, dripping down the bodice like fresh blood. The surrounding crowd gasped.

"Get out!" Vanessa shrieked, her voice cutting through the classical music and echoing through the air. "You do not belong here!"

But the moment the words left her mouth, a suffocating wave of winter pine and ozone swept through the room. Kaelen strode forward, but his gaze was not on Vanessa. It was fixed on me. Those obsidian eyes churned with something I could not name.

"Vanessa," Kaelen spoke, his voice low and dangerous. "Go to the car. Now."

Vanessa's face went pale. She opened her mouth, but Kaelen did not even look at her. His eyes never left mine. Vanessa bit her lip and turned to flee in disgrace as the crowd whispered among themselves.

I waited for Kaelen to speak. To mention Liam. Our son. The child he was supposed to be desperately trying to save.

But he just stood there looking at me.

Something cold settled in my chest. "You have nothing to say to me, Alpha?" My voice was calmer than I expected.

Kaelen's jaw tightened. I saw his throat bob as he swallowed, but he said nothing.

Then a low, floor-shaking growl rumbled from the side. Dominic appeared beside me, his powerful frame blocking my ruined gown from the crowd's view. His Alpha aura exploded outward, a heavy, suffocating pressure that forced nearby wolves to bow their heads.

"Kaelen Steele," Dominic's voice was like a winter blade. "You humiliated my sister five years ago. Tonight, your sister attacked her in public. You should be grateful I have not yet decided to treat this as an act of war against the Silverwood Pack."

Kaelen's gaze finally left my face and met Dominic's. The air crackled between the two Alphas.

"I have no intention of offending the Silverwood Pack," Kaelen said at last, his voice low and restrained. He turned to me, something flickering in his eyes before he suppressed it. "Seraphina. We need to talk."

Liam. Was he thinking about Liam? Or did he just want to talk about an "alliance"?

I looked at him, said nothing, then turned and took Dominic's arm. "Let's go."

Dominic gave me a reassuring nod and led me through the crowd, away from that man.

Twenty minutes later, the ruined silver gown lay discarded on the floor of a private dressing room. I stared at my pale reflection in the vanity mirror. Dominic leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, his face expressionless.

"What do you want to do?" he asked.

"He needs something from me," I said, my fingers smoothing the fabric of the备用礼服. "Otherwise, he would not have looked at me like that. He did not even look back when he threw me away five years ago."

"The Silverwood Pack's intelligence network is not just for show," Dominic said. "I can find out."

I thought of Liam. My son, whom I had not seen in five years. He had been kept by the man who threw me out like garbage. Would he even recognize me now? Did he even know I existed?

"Find out," I said, my voice steadier than I expected. "But before that, I need to see him. Not like just now, staring at each other across a crowd. I need to speak with him face to face."

Dominic frowned. "That is dangerous."

"I do not care." I stood up and smoothed my skirt. "He owes me an explanation. About Liam. About everything five years ago. I will not hide like a frightened mouse again before I get my answers."

Dominic was silent for a long moment, then finally nodded. "I will arrange guards."

"No," I said. "I am going alone."

His frown deepened. "Seraphina."

"I have been hiding for five years, brother." I looked at myself in the mirror. The pushover Omega who used to let herself be bullied was gone. "Now it is his turn to face me."

Dominic sighed but did not stop me. He knew that when I used that tone, no amount of persuasion would work.

I walked out of the dressing room, crossed the bustling Golden Ball without checking whether Kaelen was still there, and headed toward the corridor leading to the private terrace. It was quiet there. A good place to think. And a good place to wait for a man to come to me.

If he really wanted to "talk," he would come. If he did not, then I would know that he had never cared about me or our son.

He only cared about his own interests.