Chapter 10
**Kael's POV**
Kael stood at the border of Blackwood territory, and for the first time in his life, felt truly small.
The mountains rose like ancient sentinels on every side. The tree line was patrolled by wolves whose auras alone made his Beta take an involuntary step back.
It had taken him two months. Two months of denied requests, blocked channels, and unanswered messages. No one would let him within fifty miles of the Blackwood compound.
So he'd come in person. Alone — against Ronan's furious protests.
"I'm not leaving until I see her," Kael stated to the border guards. Ten of them. All Betas whose power rivaled most Alphas he'd met.
The lead guard didn't even blink. "You have no appointment. No invitation. Turn around."
"Tell Sera—" He caught himself. "Tell *Seraphina* that Kael Voss is here. She'll—"
"The Princess does not receive uninvited guests."
*Princess.* The word hit like a slap.
Three years. Three years she'd lived with him, slept in his bed, folded his shirts — and she'd been a *princess* the entire time. The heir to the most powerful pack alive.
He'd told her to be softer. More obedient. *Less.*
He'd told a Blackwood to be *less.*
"Please." The word tore from him like broken glass. "I just need five minutes."
The guards didn't move.
Then — a shift in the air. A pressure that made every wolf present lower their head instinctively.
She appeared at the top of the ridge.
And Kael's world stopped.
Sera — *Seraphina* — stood silhouetted against the winter sky. Her dark hair caught the wind. She wore black, tailored and elegant. A silver crescent pendant hung at her throat.
And she was pregnant. Visibly, unmistakably pregnant.
His pups.
*His pups were inside her.*
The sight nearly drove him to his knees.
But it was her eyes that destroyed him.
Grey. Cold. Looking at him the way she might look at a stranger — polite, distant, utterly indifferent.
"Sera." His voice cracked.
"Alpha Voss." She didn't come closer. Her voice carried down clearly, steady and composed. "You're trespassing."
"I—" He stepped forward. The guards tensed. "Sera, *please.* I know what I did. I know you heard me that night. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry—"
"You'll address me as Princess Blackwood." No warmth. No anger. Just... nothing. "And you have thirty seconds before my guards remove you."
"Those are my pups." His voice broke. "Our pups. You can't just—"
"Can't?" A flicker of something — not warmth, but heat. Dangerous heat. "You lost the right to claim anything of mine the night you called me boring and flew to another woman."
"It was a mistake—"
"Fifteen seconds."
"SERA!" He was begging now. Actually begging, with no shame, no pride. "I love you. I've always loved you. I was blind and stupid and cruel, but I love—"
"Time's up."
She turned her back on him.
The guards moved in. Kael didn't fight them — couldn't, because his legs had given out.
On his knees in the snow, watching her walk away, Kael realized something that made his wolf howl in anguish:
She wasn't angry.
She wasn't hurt.
She was *done.*
And that was worse than hatred.
---
Kael stood at the border of Blackwood territory, and for the first time in his life, felt truly small.
The mountains rose like ancient sentinels on every side. The tree line was patrolled by wolves whose auras alone made his Beta take an involuntary step back.
It had taken him two months. Two months of denied requests, blocked channels, and unanswered messages. No one would let him within fifty miles of the Blackwood compound.
So he'd come in person. Alone — against Ronan's furious protests.
"I'm not leaving until I see her," Kael stated to the border guards. Ten of them. All Betas whose power rivaled most Alphas he'd met.
The lead guard didn't even blink. "You have no appointment. No invitation. Turn around."
"Tell Sera—" He caught himself. "Tell *Seraphina* that Kael Voss is here. She'll—"
"The Princess does not receive uninvited guests."
*Princess.* The word hit like a slap.
Three years. Three years she'd lived with him, slept in his bed, folded his shirts — and she'd been a *princess* the entire time. The heir to the most powerful pack alive.
He'd told her to be softer. More obedient. *Less.*
He'd told a Blackwood to be *less.*
"Please." The word tore from him like broken glass. "I just need five minutes."
The guards didn't move.
Then — a shift in the air. A pressure that made every wolf present lower their head instinctively.
She appeared at the top of the ridge.
And Kael's world stopped.
Sera — *Seraphina* — stood silhouetted against the winter sky. Her dark hair caught the wind. She wore black, tailored and elegant. A silver crescent pendant hung at her throat.
And she was pregnant. Visibly, unmistakably pregnant.
His pups.
*His pups were inside her.*
The sight nearly drove him to his knees.
But it was her eyes that destroyed him.
Grey. Cold. Looking at him the way she might look at a stranger — polite, distant, utterly indifferent.
"Sera." His voice cracked.
"Alpha Voss." She didn't come closer. Her voice carried down clearly, steady and composed. "You're trespassing."
"I—" He stepped forward. The guards tensed. "Sera, *please.* I know what I did. I know you heard me that night. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry—"
"You'll address me as Princess Blackwood." No warmth. No anger. Just... nothing. "And you have thirty seconds before my guards remove you."
"Those are my pups." His voice broke. "Our pups. You can't just—"
"Can't?" A flicker of something — not warmth, but heat. Dangerous heat. "You lost the right to claim anything of mine the night you called me boring and flew to another woman."
"It was a mistake—"
"Fifteen seconds."
"SERA!" He was begging now. Actually begging, with no shame, no pride. "I love you. I've always loved you. I was blind and stupid and cruel, but I love—"
"Time's up."
She turned her back on him.
The guards moved in. Kael didn't fight them — couldn't, because his legs had given out.
On his knees in the snow, watching her walk away, Kael realized something that made his wolf howl in anguish:
She wasn't angry.
She wasn't hurt.
She was *done.*
And that was worse than hatred.
---