Callum managed to resuscitate Ravyn but waking up did absolutely nothing to ease the crushing weight sitting heavy on his chest.
His entire world had collapsed right in front of him, and the questions kept smashing into him one after another with no mercy.
How was he supposed to rebuild the pack after everything that had just fallen apart in front of the whole gathering? How was he supposed to keep his businesses in New York running without Damon’s financial backing holding everything together the way it always had?
The thought alone made his chest tighten until even drawing a full breath felt painful and forced.
His eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Voren, the desperation clear in every line of his face. "Voren, for the sake of our friendship, please don’t do this."
Voren met his gaze with a mixture of deep disappointment and real regret that he made no effort to hide.
"For the sake of friendship?" A bitter smile crossed his face as he shook his head slowly. "I hurt Sera more times than I care to admit. I stood against her even when she was completely innocent and didn’t deserve any of it."
Voren smiled, but it was a bitter one. "You know the funny part, I did it all for you, in case you have forgotten. You chose to have your own pup killed, so how can I help with that?" His voice stayed calm, but every word landed with quiet final weight. "I’m sorry."
Ravyn clenched his fists at his sides, refusing to accept the reality closing in around him from every direction.
"Sera..." His voice trembled with raw desperation as he turned toward her. "I love you, and I’m sorry for our pup, but I’m not giving up."
Seraphine’s icy stare locked onto his desperate gaze and held it without the slightest flicker of softness. There wasn’t a single trace of emotion left in her eyes.
"Ravyn..." A humorless smile curved her lips as she spoke. "The only person who enjoys leftovers is Daisy. If I had known you’d slept with her before that Full Moon, believe me, not even the spell could’ve blinded me into marrying you."
Every sentence struck him harder than the last, cutting deeper each time.
"I stayed, overlooked your lies, and ignored your endless bullshit." She took one slow step closer, her voice growing colder with every word. "And what did you keep giving me in return? Divorce papers. You wasted seven chances."
The memories flashed through her mind one after another, every broken promise, every betrayal, every time she had talked herself into forgiving him and trying again.
"The seventh time..." she looked at him as though he were nothing more than a stranger standing in front of her. "Was the last. I truly wish you well... brother."
The word shattered what little hope Ravyn still had left clinging to him. Ravyn’s parents adopted Seraphine so she was referring to him as a brother.
Seraphine knew exactly when everything had changed between them. The seventh rejection. The moment he crowned Daisy as his Co-Luna in front of the pack.
That had been the final crack that destroyed the effect of the spell once and for all. But none of it compared to what came afterward. The moment Ravyn admitted he had ordered the death of their pup.
The moment she learned he had taken her daughter away and replaced her with Daisy’s child, stealing seven precious years she could never get back no matter how hard she tried.
That wound would never heal. There was no apology powerful enough to fix it and no punishment harsh enough to balance the scale.
That was why she wanted Ravyn to live. She wanted him to wake up every single day carrying the full weight of what he’d done and knowing there was no escape from it.
As for Daisy, death would be far too merciful for someone like her. No. Seraphine wanted her alive.
A respectful voice answered from the other end without hesitation. "Understood, Alpha Voren."
The call ended cleanly. By then Damon and Corvine had already begun clearing away the thick snow that blocked the entrance and the path leading out to the vehicles, and they weren’t working alone. Alpha Killian and Prince Jasper had stepped in right beside them without being asked.
As much as Damon and Corvine tried to tell the two leaders to leave the hard work to them, both men politely refused and kept right on shoveling.
For Alpha Killian it was the first time he had ever done something like this after stepping into the role of Alpha, and the unfamiliar effort showed in the careful way he handled the shovel.
For Prince Jasper it was the first time in his entire life he had ever cleared snow like a regular worker, yet he was surprisingly steady at it, pushing through the heavy drifts with quiet determination and a focus that made it clear he wasn’t about to quit halfway.
Voren walked straight toward them through the cold. Without saying a word, he reached for the shovel in Corvine’s hands. Corvine blinked in surprise and started to protest. "I’ve got it."
Voren simply shrugged, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "The more hands we have working, the faster it’ll get done."
Corvine frowned, still holding onto the handle. "But... you’re an Alpha." He instinctively tried to hold back the shovel, clearly uncomfortable with the idea.
Throughout his days as Ravyn’s beta, that Alpha never held a shovel, just as any other Alpha he’d known except Alpha Killian.
Voren looked at him with an amused smile that softened the moment as he looked at Alpha Killian and Prince Jasper. "And so are they." Then he turned his attention back to Corvine. "Aren’t you my Co-Alpha too?"
Corvine smiled but a thought settled in his mind. "About that..."

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