Chapter 158

No, Mom, I want to stay here!
The corner of Seraphine’s lips lifted slowly, a knowing expression settling across her face as she leaned back, already certain of what Damon was about to say before he even got the words out. “Let me guess, it came back negative, right?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, followed by Damon’s voice tightening with surprise. “You already knew?”

A soft, almost amused breath left her as she let her gaze drift toward the window, her tone calm but edged with quiet certainty. “Not exactly. I took an educated guess. After everything I’ve seen and everything I know about Daisy, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots, but I still needed confirmation before I moved forward.”

Damon exhaled slowly, the weight of the revelation settling in. “Well, now you have it. So what happens next?” he asked, his voice sharpening slightly as he reminded her, “You said you’d tell me your plan once the results came in.”

Seraphine’s expression hardened just a fraction, the softness fading as something colder replaced it. “Now that it’s confirmed, Bryan lives. That part is non-negotiable. As for Ravyn…” she trailed off briefly, a faint, humorless smile stretching her lips. “I’ll wait and see how he handles the truth. Imagine destroying your own child for someone else’s lie, someone else’s child.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment before Damon spoke again, his tone carrying a mix of resignation and grim satisfaction. “I wouldn’t want to be in his position right now, not even for a second. And Daisy…” he scoffed lightly, “I don’t feel sorry for either of them. They walked straight into this. Whatever comes next is on them.”

“Exactly,” Seraphine replied without hesitation, her voice steady and controlled. “Just get me everything I asked for. Once that’s done, you can go back to running your company because things on my end are starting to pile up faster than I expected.”

Another brief silence followed, heavier this time, before Damon spoke again, sounding slightly distracted. “I was actually about to call Ravyn before you picked up. There’s been another incident. Someone’s been hospitalized after a chemical attack.”

Seraphine’s brows drew together instantly, her thoughts snapping back to the past, to the nightmare that had once left her unable to move, trapped in her own body. If this was the same compound, then she already knew how this would end. “Do you have any details on how it happened?”

“Not yet,” Damon admitted. “I’m still looking into it, and if it turns out to be bigger than I can handle, I might have to loop Ravyn in.” He hesitated for a second before adding, “Do you mind keeping Bryan with you for a while?”

Her answer came immediately, firm and absolute. “No. That’s not happening. I don’t have the time or the patience to play caretaker right now.” Her tone left no room for negotiation, and beneath that refusal was something deeper, something she refused to put into words.

Being around Bryan for too long stirred memories she wasn’t ready to face, not when she still had her own child to find. “I’ll have the serum ready in a few days,” she continued, shifting the focus back to something practical.

She already had the formula mapped out in her head. The only thing missing were a few rare components, and those were things Ravyn would have to secure himself. She wasn’t about to make that easy for him.

A knock on the door pulled her attention away from the call, and without turning, she spoke. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Corvine stepped inside, his expression alert as his eyes moved between her and the phone. “Sera, what’s the next step? Are we going to see Voren now? What happens with Bryan?”

Seraphine ended the call and slipped her phone aside before answering, her tone casual but purposeful. “I’ll give Bryan one more IV dose before he leaves. After that, everything else can be taken orally. Ravyn can handle the rest once he takes him back.”

What she hadn’t prepared for was the resistance that followed.

After making breakfast and setting everything up, she expected Bryan to leave quietly, maybe even reluctantly, but not like this.

“No, Mom, I want to stay here!” Bryan cried, his small hands clutching at her as his voice broke, filled with panic and desperation.

Seraphine froze for half a second, the word hitting harder than she expected, before she gently but firmly shook her head, creating distance between them.

Keeping him close would only reopen wounds she was trying to keep sealed. “I made extra pancakes for you,” she said, keeping her tone light even as something tightened in her chest. “And you know I’m hardly ever home. Life in the city isn’t like the pack. I can’t just stay in one place all the time.”

Bryan’s shoulders slumped, his eyes searching hers as if hoping for something to hold on to. “Will I see you again?”

This time, her answer came softer, steadier. “Yes. I’m working on a new serum for you, and the first dose has to be administered through an IV, so we’ll definitely see each other again.”

That seemed to ease him, even if only a little. “Okay,” he murmured, the tension in him loosening just enough.

Seraphine walked him out to the gate, making sure he had everything he needed. He was clean, dressed in fresh clothes, and looked far better than when he had first arrived. When Ravyn saw him, relief spread across his face almost instantly.

“Bryan, you look so much better,” Ravyn said, pulling him into an embrace without hesitation.

As Seraphine watched them, a quiet, unsettling thought crossed her mind. What would he do when he finally learned the truth? When he realized that the child he was holding so tightly wasn’t his at all?

Pushing that thought aside for now, she waited until Bryan settled into the car before calling Ravyn over, her expression unreadable.

“Ravyn,” she began, her tone measured, “before I work on the new serum for Bryan, there are a few conditions.”

He went still immediately, the ease from moments ago vanishing as tension took its place. Interacting with Seraphine after the divorce had become something he approached with caution every single time. When he spoke, there was a noticeable drop in his pride, replaced by something closer to restraint. Humility, perhaps. “What conditions?”