TW: Mentions of domestic abuse and sexual assaultSeraphina's POVI'd nearly forgotten what William had looked like. Most of my memories had contorted him into the monster he was on the inside. The man who smiled whenever he drew blood. The same one that got a feral gleam in his eye whenever I cried.I never knew what he was thinking, which only caused me to be anxious and terrified every second of the day. William preferred that. Seeing me strung out on exhaustion because I was so scared he'd hurt me again.He always did. Just a matter of when.When I was especially nervous, he would draw it out. Move suddenly to get me to flinch and cry out in shock. Only in private. He wouldn't do it in public. Even though I doubted people would bat an eye. His image was everything.Image was power.And what he did to me was a dirty little secret between him and me. I don't think the elders even knew what happened when he came up to me in the dark. But the monster that grinned and s

Seraphina's POVThe last month felt like torture. I spent my entire nights curled up on a filthy mattress, thinking of Kit's touch. Thinking of holding my daughter again. The anger inside kept me warm. I didn't know where Kit was, but I could feel him.The tether that bound us together only got stronger the more I missed him. I wanted to tug at it, hoping he could feel it when I reached out for him. But the bond wasn't solidified. He hadn't marked me. Every time I reached for the bond, it fell through my fingers. Visible and bodiless as smoke.I just wanted to tell him that I loved him. Show him how badly I missed him.My ring hummed with power as if it was filled to the brim, about to runneth over. I reached for the magic in my blood and the ring trembled. Close.But not enough to shatter the curse. I was still bound by it. The magic seared my flesh, with nowhere for it to go. My heart ached as Annie crossed my mind. How long was her hair now? A month is a long time fo

Seraphina's POVI don't know how long I sat on that stage, my white dress stained with blood, holding Kit's body. My head throbbed from how hard I had been sobbing. I couldn't hear anything outside of the pounding of my heart. My breathing was loud in my ears.I didn't feel it when Xander stepped up onto the stage behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. No flinching. No reaction at all. My throat was choked with grief. Insurmountable pain I didn't know if I'd survive. I could feel my heart crack in my chest down the middle. William had cheated. It was obvious to me and obvious to the elders who were panicked and whispering to one another. It seemed like without an Alpha, the mind link had also shattered. There was no Alpha to anchor it.I hunched over his body, my tears running out. I prayed to the moon, to the earth, to the devils and the angels to bring Kit back. Whoever would listen. To take this pain away. To feel like a part of me wasn't splintered.My magic thru

Seraphina's POVI felt closer to Kit than I ever had. Like a direct line between our minds had been connected. I couldn't get enough of pulling on the bond. Every time I did, Kit beamed at me. I pulled on it when we got out of the shower.When he dressed me.Even when I saw the mark in the mirror. I expected a scar. Something as jagged as William's bite. But it didn't look like that at all. The scar William left me with was gone. Altogether disappeared. Now, I was left with a light, silver indention of Kit's teeth. Not bruised. Not at all painful.It felt like a mark of love.My fingers brushed it and a spear of heat shot right through me. I wasn't expecting it. Kit pulled an ill-fitting shirt over his head and raised his split eyebrow at me. "Can you…feel that?""I can," he answered, a little smile on his lips full of ardor. Distant whispers flowed through one ear and out the other. Like the buzz of a radio. It would come and go. "Why do I keep hearing buzzing?""S

Seraphina's POVWhen I saw Kit's truck pull into Rosie's driveway, I almost didn't believe it was him. We had spent so much time apart, that it felt surreal to see him again in the flesh. We spent weeks pulling on the bond whenever we thought about each other…which was all the time.He'd call me every night to say goodnight to Annika. She'd share with him her growing vocabulary and he told her he loved her. After I put her to bed, we'd talk until the early morning hours. About how Abe slept on Rosie's couch at night and spent the day reconnecting with his wife after years of being apart. How I helped Rosie care for the homestead and I somehow didn't kill any of her plants yet. I would also tell him about how much Annika loved feeding the chickens and would go so far as asking to feed the goats at Reiner Ranch.He never talked much about what was happening on the packlands, but he sounded exhausted. It was like I was his escape from all the complications of bureaucracy and clea