Chapter 2 2

Chapter 2

I pulled Rori into my arms and wept.

How could I explain this?

The father she and Noah loved so much didn't care about them anymore.

The memorial was three days later, as was pack tradition.

I held a picture of Noah. Rori gripped my hand tightly.

Damien still hadn't shown up.

Pack members started whispering. "Where's the Alpha?" "His cub is dead. Where is he?"

Footsteps. Damien finally appeared, looking exhausted. He reeked of her. Of Clara's cloying jasmine scent. It made me want to gag.

"Seraphina..." He opened his arms.

I almost ran to him, but Rori tugged on my dress.

The warning in her eyes brought me back to my senses.

"You're here."

"Chloe's Fading Sickness flared up again. I almost lost her," he said, his voice empty of grief for our son.

A hollow voice, mine, replied, "You should have been here."

Throughout the service, Damien was distracted.

His phone kept buzzing.

Every time he glanced at it, his brow furrowed.

Finally, it rang. He answered immediately. "Clara? She has a fever again? Okay, I'll be right there."

He hung up and turned to me. "I have to go. Chloe needs me."

"Damien... can you please stay with us tonight?" I heard my own numb voice.

"Seraphina." His Alpha command slammed into me. "Get your priorities straight. Chloe's Fading Sickness could kill her. You and Rori are strong. You'll survive."

My heart went cold and still.

Chloe had Fading Soul, just like Noah did. Why didn't he care about our son?!

What right did he have to be a father?

Before I could snarl, the pack elders were already staring at him in disbelief.

"What did you just say?"

"You should understand, Seraphina," he said, his eyes cold. "Noah was weak. His fate was sealed the day he was born an Omega. At least this way, I can save one of them."

Weak.

He wasn't talking about the illness.

He was talking about Noah being an Omega.

My son was dead, and in his eyes, it was just the inevitable culling of the weak.

"I don't understand," I said, staring straight into his eyes. "I don't understand why someone else's child is more important than your own."

The mate bond trembled, warning me. I didn't care anymore.

"I, Seraphina Blackwood, in the name of the Moon Goddess... I reject you, Damien Blackwood, as my mate!"

A searing pain ripped through my soul.

It felt like my heart was being torn from my chest. My vision went black.

But at the same time, the suffocating bond was gone.

Damien stared at me in shock, then shook his head with a sneer. "Noah is dead, and you pull a stunt like this? You think a useless woman with a shattered wolf can survive without me?"