len

n, and now you want me to ble

. I tried to tell myself she was lying, tried to tell myself I had done nothing wrong

her son

the tho

h my erratic scent of winter pine and ozone. My mother, Elara, stood by the f

could even speak. "The Combining Ce

t of your mind? You would humiliate Cassondra a second time for that dis

room, forcing her to lower her chin. "Seraphina is his only hop

e, Kaelen," Elara warned, her

l fallout. As I climbed the stairs to my suite, it wasn't my mother's an

my decree arrived th

stormed in, her suffocating artificial floral perfume b

restrained rage. "You're canceling the ceremony? Because

isrespect toward our mate. My gaze turned to absolute ice. "Watch y

he spat, her chest heaving with veno

or, severing our political ties for goo

trying to focus on the border patrol reports. But the moment the heavy oak doors clicked

. She stood tall, her posture rigid and he

with cold Alpha authority. "Will you donate the marrow, or wil

e condition." She stepped closer, the severed mate-bond hu

knocked the breath from my lungs. "You are out of yo

andone

's memory slapped me across the face like a physical blow. Seraphina standing in

ument to sign while I was still bleeding on a hospital

d the word

er voice was sharp, laced with icy sarcasm. "Not going to accuse m

n growled in my mind, a

e lower than I intended. "About the do

ng absurd. "You were there, Kaelen. You put the pen

d myself she left. I told myself she abandoned Liam, abandoned me, abandoned the pack. I

at was

into her hand hours after she had given birth. I was the on

ed. My throat tightened, suffoca

ed, my voice hoarse

nwavering whisper. "Sign the custody transfer. Restore my rights as his