Chapter 8
Kieran
I called her again.
Once.
Twice.
nus
Three times.
The call cut to voicemail before the fourth ring could even finish, her voice sliding through the speaker.
“Hey, you’ve reached Serena. Leave a message.”
I ended the call without speaking.
Four unanswered calls. I placed my phone face down on the kitchen counter and stared at it, waiting for it to buzz out of guilt alone.
Nothing.
She was being ridiculous.
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Running off in the dead of night. Burning her clothes in the fire pit like some dramatic farewell ritual. Refusing to answer my calls like I’d committed some unforgivable crime. Serena had always been emotional, quick to react, prone to theatrics when she felt hurt-but this was too much.
I’d given her space for her to calm down, to realize she’d jumped to conclusions, to come back ready to put the past behind her.
Except she hadn’t folded as usual.
She hadn’t come back.
And she wasn’t answering her phone.
I leaned against the marble counter and drummed my fingers against the cold surface, irritation crawling under my skin.
My wolf paced inside me, restless and sharp-edged, scraping at my nerves like claws against bone. He’d been like this since I’d opened our bedroom closet and found it half-empty.
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“She’s fine,” I muttered under my breath, more to myself
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than to him. “She’s just throwing a tantrum.”
He didn’t believe me.
The front door opened.
I straightened, already preparing myself to demand an update from Mark. Instead, three people walked into my
kitchen.
Mark. Jenna. And my mother.
My jaw tightened.
“What is this?” I asked, my gaze snapping to Mark. “I asked you to find my wife. Not arrange a family
intervention.”
Mark grimaced. “I thought they might’ve heard from her.”
“And have they?”
Silence.
The answer was written all over their faces.
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“Then why are they here?”
Jenna folded her arms across her chest.
My mother didn’t wait for an invitation. She walked past Jenna and sat at the kitchen table.
“We’ve been looking for her,” my mother said. “All morning. She’s not at any of her usual places. She’s not with friends. She’s not answering anyone.”
“I know.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “Do you? Because you don’t look particularly worried about your wife disappearing.’
“I’m handling it.”
She repeated the words slowly. “Handling it.”
There was the sound of disapproval in her voice. “Your wife is gone, Kieran. The Luna of Crimson Pack vanished without a word, and you’re standing here looking
irritated instead of afraid.”
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“What would you have me do?” I snapped. “Send out a
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search party? Call the council? She left on her own. She packed. She burned her things. She’s not missing-she’s hiding.”
“From you,” Jenna cut in sharply. “And I don’t blame her.”
I didn’t look at my sister. Engaging her when she was like this only made things worse.
“Serena is emotional,” I said evenly. “She saw something out of context, made assumptions, and now she’s punishing me. This is how she reacts. She’ll cool off. She always does.”
My mother stared at me for a long moment.
Then she shook her head.
“I don’t know how I raised someone so empty.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away from her and her theatrics. When things weren’t going away, she turned in that direction, attempting to make one feel the guilt they weren’t expected to.
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“Oh please.”
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She stood. “That girl loved you without reservation. She gave you her loyalty, her body, everything. She made herself small to fit into your life. And you couldn’t even give her respect.”
“I gave her everything.”
“You gave her things,” she snapped. “Houses. Jewelry. Titles. You never gave her yourself.”
I had no answer that wouldn’t make this uglier.
Jenna stepped forward, her eyes bright and furious. “I hope she leaves you. I hope she finds someone who actually sees her and never looks back.”
She turned and walked out without another word.
My mother followed, pausing at the door.
“Fix this,” she said quietly. “Before you lose her for good.”
Then they were gone.
Mark lingered near the counter, hands clasped behind his
back.
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“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought them here.”
I exhaled slowly, rubbing my temples. “No. You shouldn’t have.”
He hesitated. “What’s the plan?”
I’d been asking myself the same question for three days.
Serena was stubborn, but she wasn’t reckless. She wouldn’t disappear forever. Her entire life was here—her parents, her friends, her role as Luna.
Her mother.
“Her mother’s still in the hospital,” I said slowly.
Mark nodded. “St. Michael’s. She’s being discharged
soon.”
“Serena won’t abandon her,” I said. “No matter how
angry she is at me.”
His head nodded repeatedly with understanding.
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“Go to the hospital,” I continued. “Wait there. The moment she shows up, you tell me.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“She will.”
A few days passed and there had been no news from her or from Mark but that did not matter. She would show up, she can stay away for a while but not for long.
Then Sophie called.
“Kieran?” Her voice was strained. “I’m sorry to call. I know things are… complicated.”
I stepped away from my desk. “What’s wrong?”
““It’s Ethan. His fever came back. They want to run more
tests. I’m at St. Michael’s.”
“I’ll be there,” I said.
After I hung up, I called Mark.
“Yes,” he said immediately. “She arrived an hour ago.
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She’s with her mother.”
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I knew it. This was just a front, she was never actually going to run away. She could never leave her parents alone, knowing her mother was still in the hospital.
Sophie was waiting in the pediatric wing when I arrived,
exhaustion etched into her face.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“How’s the boy?”
“They’re being careful.” She walked beside me toward the elevators. “Is Serena okay? I heard she wasn’t feeling well.”
“She’s fine,” I said.
The elevator chimed.
The doors opened.
And Serena was standing right there.
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