Chapter 2 Please, Daddy... Don't Leave Me

Seraphina's POV

Seven years had passed...

I had grown, changed, and become a woman in the eyes of everyone. But in his eyes, I was still the little girl he had found amidst the ruins.

I knew something had changed in Dominic Blackwood. He no longer looked at me the way he once did. He no longer treated me the same. Instead, he had become more hesitant, more silent-like he was trying to escape something beyond his control.

But I wasn't ready to let him go.

-

The room was dark, the dim candlelight casting flickering shadows on the stone walls. The cold seeping through the large windows had no effect on me... because I was in his arms.

As I had for years, I slept beside him, enveloped in the warmth of his powerful body, breathing in the scent of his ever-present black coat. I had thought this habit would never change-until he whispered my name, his voice low, hesitant.

"Seraphina..."

I slowly opened my eyes, lifting my head to look at him. He was awake, his silver eyes fixed on the ceiling, burdened with an unspoken weight.

"What's wrong?" I murmured sleepily, nuzzling into his neck.

I felt his body tense for a moment before he exhaled slowly, his hand trailing down my back with a hesitancy I wasn't used to.

"You've grown, Seraphina."

I froze.

"I know."

He lifted his hand, threading his fingers through my long hair, but his touch was different this time-more careful, more uncertain.

"I need to return to my wing tonight. From now on, you must sleep alone."

I shot up, my eyes gleaming in the darkness as I stared at him in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because you're no longer a child, Seraphina." His voice was quiet but firm. "You need your own space."

"But I don't want to sleep alone." I clung to him tighter, burying my face in his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of sandalwood and blood that had become a part of him.

Dominic Blackwood was my world, my only refuge...

How could he expect me to accept his distance?

"Seraphina..." He whispered my name again, but this time, his voice was firmer. "We need to stop this. It's no longer appropriate."

I slowly lifted my head, gazing at him-at the sharp, defined features sculpted by the moonlight streaming through the window.

"Do you hate me now?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, laced with a tremor I couldn't suppress.

For a fleeting moment, shock flickered in his silver eyes, but he masked it just as quickly.

"Of course not."

"Then why are you trying to push me away?"

A silence settled between us before he reached out, brushing his thumb gently over my forehead in slow, circular motions.

"Because you've grown into a woman, Seraphina," he murmured. "It's no longer acceptable for me to sleep beside you every night, to change your clothes myself..." He hesitated, his words weighing heavily on him. Then, after a brief pause, he added, "Or to walk into your bath to help you as I used to."

A strange heat rushed to my face, but I refused to let him go.

"I don't want anything to change between us," I whispered, clutching the fabric of his shirt tightly.

He exhaled slowly, as if trying to steady himself. "Seraphina, this isn't about what we want. It's about what must be done."

A dull ache formed in my chest. No, I wasn't ready for this... I wasn't ready to accept that he no longer saw me the way I wanted him to.

I clung to him tighter, lifting my gaze to his. My voice trembled with a desperate plea.

"Please, Daddy... don't leave me."

I saw it-the shift in his expression. His eyes darkened, filled with an unsettling depth, as if he were seeing something he never wanted to acknowledge.

Something inside him stirred. Something he didn't understand... or perhaps refused to.

His fingers threaded through my hair, his touch slower, more hesitant, as if he were trying to comprehend the feeling creeping into his soul.

But I didn't need his words.

I felt it.

I felt the change he was trying so hard to deny.

And I saw the battle in his eyes-the war between the man he had always been and the emotions he was beginning to feel toward me.

And for some reason... I was no longer afraid of it.

---

I never knew my bed could be this cold.

Ever since Dominic Blackwood made his decision and returned to his quarters, my bed had turned to ice. The heavy blankets did nothing to replace his absence. I wasn't used to sleeping alone. I never wanted him to leave me in the first place.

But he did.

And now, he sleeps in his room, and perhaps one day, he will accept her as his wife. After all, she is already the Luna of the pack, and Dominic will be her husband. Sooner or later, he will do what any married man is expected to do.

I told myself repeatedly that this was normal... that this was how things were supposed to be from the very beginning.

But it wasn't normal to me. It wasn't fair.

Maybe all I ever wanted was for Dominic to stay by my side, to be mine alone.

But as long as he was happy, I... I would accept it.

Even if it burned me alive.

---

In the following days, Liam started getting closer to me.

I didn't like it.

Liam had always been arrogant, controlling, ruthless in a way I never appreciated. He was nothing like Dominic Blackwood, despite being his son. He lacked his father's patience, his quiet, enigmatic presence. Instead, he was cocky, walking as if he owned the world, as if he had the right to touch anything he desired.

And that was what disturbed me the most.

I couldn't stand the way his eyes lingered on me, bold and unashamed.

I couldn't stand how he stood too close, how his touches sometimes crossed a line-playful but deliberate, as if he wasn't doing anything wrong.

No one dared to touch me.

No one except Dominic Blackwood.

But... what could I do?

In the end, I was just an orphan-a girl Dominic had taken in. And Liam was his son.

I had no right to object... right?

---

That night, everyone gathered around the grand dining table.

The atmosphere was heavier than usual. Conversations, laughter, the scent of roasted meat filling the air-none of it was enough to mask the suffocating tension creeping into the room.

As expected, Luna didn't miss the chance to glare at me, her eyes burning with hostility, as if I were an unwelcome intruder in her home.

But this time, she didn't stop at just glaring.

This time, she decided to make it official.

"Seraphina," she called my name in a voice that was soft, yet carried something ominous.

Something that made my instincts scream before she even spoke her next words.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze-only to find her smiling.

But it wasn't a real smile.

"You've grown," she said, tilting her head slightly, her tone laced with false sweetness. "Dominic told me you're a young woman now."

Why did those words send a chill down my spine?

My eyes darted instinctively to Dominic Blackwood, searching for something-anything in his expression.

But he remained still. Silent.

As if none of this mattered to him.

My fingers turned cold.

"And because we want you to always be part of our family..." Luna continued, reaching for Liam's hand beside her. "Liam has decided to take you as his fiancée."

The air was sucked from my lungs.

"And next year, once your wolf emerges, the wedding will take place."

I felt like I was dying.

Why?

Why Liam?

Why did I have to be his?

My gaze shot back to Dominic, searching, hoping for something-anything.

But all I found was silence.

He didn't object.

He didn't react.

He did nothing... as if it didn't concern him at all.

I should have refused.

I should have screamed, run away, told them I didn't want Liam, that I despised him, that he made my skin crawl every time he got too close.

But I didn't.

Because, despite everything...

If marrying Liam was the only way to stay close to Dominic Blackwood...

Then I would accept it.