26 Chapter 26 Finding My Voice
“I’m pregnant. And I don’t think I need to tell you who the father is, do I?”
I moved closer, forcing her to stand her ground. “You always made me carry guilt, like I was responsible for all our problems. But the real truth is, Roxanne, your biological mother is why we’re in this mess. You and she are identical.”
He wasn’t just shielding me from accusations and lies. He was tearing down the entire system that had allowed my family to treat me as less than nothing for so long. He was saving me from the agony of being invisible, silenced, and completely disregarded. He was granting me a voice, a presence, a value I never knew I possessed.
Roxanne stepped into my path. “We’re not fighting. We’re just talking.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to leave?” I asked, turning deliberately to face Roxanne. She stood there looking flawless as always, every hair in place, radiating the kind of effortless beauty that drew stares. But her eyes held a sharp, calculating edge that destroyed any pretense of perfection.
The intensity overwhelmed me. I needed air, space, distance. I turned and walked
away.
Her eyes flashed with challenge, and I felt the subtle pressure of her wolf attempting to dominate mine. It wouldn’t work. Not anymore. Not today.
There was nothing left for me to say. Everything I had ever wanted to express, everything I hadn’t even understood how to voice, had just been spoken and magnified by him.
I tried to pretend it didn’t cut deep. I attempted to keep my expression neutral, but it did hurt. Every word was calculated cruelty, designed to twist the blade deeper into a wound that was already bleeding. I stood there, trapped, forced to endure her verbal assault.
A cold, knowing smile crept across Roxanne’s lips. “That has to sting, doesn’t it? Especially knowing you spent three years with him and he never laid a finger on you. But I came back and he couldn’t keep his hands off me.”
An unexpected calm settled over me, a clearness born from years of buried rage finally breaking free.
09.58
TUE
5
OOR G
|||
O
<
<
26 Chapter 26 Finding My Voice
The Solstice Fang commanded respect across territories, wielding power that made other packs tremble. But the Zenith Moon Fang dwarfed ours completely, their dominance absolute and undeniable. My father would have no option but to bend to Julian’s will.
Seraphina’s POV
“I feel nothing for you, Roxanne. Hatred requires too much energy for someone who barely registers in my thoughts.” My smile disappeared. “But I do hope things work out for you wherever you end up. Because the real world won’t worship you the way our parents always have.”
Only the claim mattered.
I was almost free, almost clear of the hallway, when her voice, eerily calm, cut through the silence behind me, freezing me in place.
I drew in a slow, steadying breath, preparing myself for the inevitable attack.
I didn’t need to look back to identify the speaker. The poison dripping from her voice was as recognizable as my own heartbeat.
“Absolutely. You had everything handed to you. The perfect childhood, devoted parents,” our parents, I thought with quiet resentment, “and for a while, even Julian. Yet somehow, none of it was ever enough. That’s why you decided to come after me with everything you had.”
The past few days had been an endless flood, one crisis crashing into another without pause, giving me no chance to make sense of anything. My mind felt like a maze with no exit, and I desperately needed to find my way out.
“You must be thrilled.”
I simply smiled. It wasn’t the first time I had heard those words, and probably wouldn’t be the last, though I hoped it would be, given her imminent departure.
Part of me wanted to forgive Julian, to let go of the pain. But it refused to fade, especially with someone like Roxanne constantly there to refresh the wounds. Still, there was one small comfort. Soon, she would be gone from my life forever.
Her sneer wavered. “You pity me?”
“I have no idea what he could possibly see in you,” she sneered, her mouth twisting with disgust. “But you’re not going to steal him from me.”
09.58
<
26 Chapter 26 Finding My Voice
+625
My mate.
These words had been trapped inside me for so long, rotting, because some part of me had always felt sorry for her. I was the only person who truly understood how much that day years ago had destroyed her world. The day I arrived with my battered suitcase, trying to connect with my biological parents who were, in her mind, her
parents.
“But this cycle stops here. It stops now.” My gaze locked onto hers, unblinking and fierce. “So if I were you, I would start packing immediately. I would say whatever goodbyes you need to say. Because if I discover you’re still here after today, believe me, I will ensure you are completely and utterly finished.”
My next words erupted with the power of years of suppressed fury. “You would both destroy anyone, sacrifice anything, just to feed your own ego. And your mother succeeded brilliantly. She turned my childhood into a nightmare. And you, Roxanne, you tried to do the same to my teenage years, and now my adult life. I wasn’t the one who stole from you. You stole from me. I am the Alpha’s biological daughter. You are not. You seem to constantly forget where you actually belong.”
Standing there in his commanding presence, towering and unshakeable, something warm bloomed in my chest. It pushed away the bitter cold that had settled there after years of being overlooked, of feeling like a ghost in my own home. This wasn’t simply about defending me against false charges. He was making me real. He was declaring my worth to everyone who had spent years pretending I didn’t exist.
Those two words rang through the air like a bell, cutting through every other sound in the room. Julian had claimed me publicly, defended me without hesitation. Everything else faded into insignificance. I stood frozen, my breath catching somewhere between my lungs and throat.
Nothing else held meaning anymore. Not the harsh words that had come before, not whatever consequences might follow. Not even the fact that he had just openly challenged my father, the Alpha of our pack, in front of everyone present.
My mate.
Our entire lives shifted that day. But that didn’t give her permission to become this
creature.
“I despise you!” She spit, her face twisted with fury. “Even if I’m not their biological daughter, they love me, and you’re just a pathetic girl without a wolf! They see you as
09.58
TUR
5
O
DIRG
|||
O
<
<
26 Chapter 26 Finding My Voice
+625
nothing but shame.”
The words stung as I spoke them. I had fought so hard to erase the image of them together from my memory, to pretend it had never happened. But it had, and I knew I had to face that crushing reality.
None of that registered in my mind.
My thoughts swirled in a chaotic storm, threatening to pull me under.
“You know something, Roxanne,” I began, my voice steady and sure. “I actually pity you.”
“I really don’t want to fight with you,” I said, trying to move around her. I had left the sitting room specifically to avoid confrontation, to escape her, but she had pursued
“I think the stealing is already done,” I replied, the words leaving a bitter taste on my tongue. “And unlike you, I didn’t have to spread my legs to accomplish it.”
Honestly, I had always wondered what Julian saw in her. Roxanne was stunning, nobody could deny that. She was also the most narcissistic, selfish, and manipulative person I had ever known.
My voice gained strength, powered by truths I had kept buried too long. “I still can’t understand what I ever did to deserve your hatred. From the moment I returned, all I wanted was to be your friend, your sister. But you always treated me like I was nothing, like you were naturally superior.”
I didn’t wait for her response. I finally walked past her, and this time, she didn’t block
my way.
09:58
TUC
5
O
DIRG
O
