SERAPHINA'S POV

"Seraphina!"

I jolted awake in bed, hearing my name from the urgency in my mother's voice on the phone. Her voice trembled through the phone, sharp and brittle.

"Mom?" My throat was raw. She hadn't reached out in ten years—not unless it was the worst kind of news.

"Your father—" Her breath hitched, then broke. "He's been attacked."

My stomach clenched. Ice-cold fear gripped me.

"What?!"

"Oh, Sera, he's barely clinging to life!" my mother sobbed brokenly.

I immediately threw the covers off me and jumped out of bed.

"Send me the hospital address," I said in a shaky voice. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I tried not to make too much noise as I rushed down the stairs so I wouldn't wake my son, Daniel. The light underneath my husband, Kieran's, office told me he was still up. As Alpha of the pack, he always had too much to handle.

And if I were honest with myself—too much resentment toward me.

A decade-old mistake had bound us together. A mistake he'd never forgiven.

So, I didn't plan to bother him.

By the time I slid into the driver's seat, tears streaked down my face.

My father had always been invincible. Unshakable. The giant of my heart, even if he'd never wanted me as his daughter.

Even if he'd hated me. But I never imagined he could be taken from me like this—

I slammed my foot on the accelerator.

When I reached the hospital, my mother and brother sat like shadows outside the operating room. My chest tightened. Would the giant really fall?

I hesitated. I couldn't bring myself to step closer. Not when their disgust had exiled me long ago. After that night ten years ago, they'd erased me. To the world, they had only one daughter now—Celeste.

Should I even be here?

It had been ten years since we last spoke. Even after Daniel was born, all communication with the family had gone through Kieran. My father had made it clear—he never wanted to see my face again.

Would he really want to see me now?

What if he didn't? What if his resentment hadn't faded?

I hesitated, my pulse pounding in my ears—until the sharp swish of the operating room doors cut through my thoughts. The doctor walked out, pulling gloves off his fingers.

"Doctor!" I rushed forward before I could stop myself, my voice shaking. "How is my father?"

The grim expression on his face said it all. "I'm sorry. We did all we could... but his injuries were far too severe."

I pressed a hand to my mouth, choking back the sob clawing up my throat.

"Is he... gone?" Ethan, my brother, barely glanced at me before addressing the doctor, his voice rough.

"Not yet." The man shook his head slowly. "But he won't last the night. He's been asking for his daughter."

I took an instinctive step forward—then froze.

His daughter.

It couldn't be me. After ten years of indifference and resentment, the daughter my dying father wanted to see would never be me.

Ethan's laugh was ice. "Ten years, and our family is still paying for your mistakes!"

I turned to face him, tears streaking my cheeks. A decade since I'd last stood this close—since he'd looked at me. Time had sharpened him into a true Alpha: broader shoulders, harder jaw, a dominance that rolled off him in waves.

But the hatred in his eyes?

That hadn't changed.

My heart gave a vicious twist, like claws raking flesh.

"Because of you," he snarled at me, "Celeste moved away. Because of you, she can't be here. Because of you, Dad will die with his last wish unfulfilled."