A few days earlier, Ravyn had received a call from Gray, the kind of call that seemed casual at first but carried far more weight than either of them acknowledged right away.

Gray didn’t just talk. He sent videos, clips from the launch of MindNest.

The lights, the crowd, the energy, the kind of success that didn’t just happen by chance but by careful planning and relentless effort. Every frame carried Seraphine’s presence, her confidence, the way everything seemed to revolve around her without her even trying to force it.

Ravyn watched, and with every second that passed, something bitter settled deeper in his chest.

"Even if we wanted to invest," he said finally, his voice low, almost rough around the edges, "she wouldn’t have allowed it. We made our choices, and this is the result."

There was no anger in his tone, just acceptance.

But Gray wasn’t ready to let it go that easily. "She was your wife," he insisted, his voice laced with disbelief. "Your ex-wife, yeah, but we all know how much she loved you. That kind of thing doesn’t just disappear overnight."

He paused briefly before adding, more pointed this time, "If you let Daisy go, there’s a chance she might take you back."

Ravyn didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he leaned back, his gaze drifting somewhere distant as Seraphine’s face, both past and present, flashed through his mind, and the contrast between them felt sharper than anything else.

The woman he had once known, and the one she had become now, weren’t the same.

"I can’t do that," he said at last, his voice quieter now, but firm in a way that left no room for doubt. "She doesn’t love me anymore."

Gray let out a small sigh, clearly unconvinced. "You’d be surprised," he muttered. "I’ve seen this happen before. Human couples go through worse, and somehow, they still find their way back to each other."

He adjusted the conversation slightly, his tone taking on a different edge. "And look at what’s happening around you. Every company tied to her is climbing fast. The Forbes rankings are practically changing overnight."

That caught Ravyn’s attention, even if he didn’t show it outwardly.

"Even with everything we’ve managed to stabilize, we’re sitting at number fifteen," Gray continued. "Your beta’s company? Number five. And your former beta’s father? Number two."

The numbers hit harder than they should have.

Ravyn swallowed, but it felt like gravel scraping down his throat, the weight of everything settling uncomfortably in his chest.

He knew exactly what those rankings meant. "If I hadn’t killed our child..." he started, his voice dropping, the words heavy with something he didn’t often allow himself to feel. "Maybe I would’ve had a chance."

The silence on the other end stretched for a moment before he added, almost as if convincing himself, "Besides... I have Bryan. And Daisy... she’s the one I chose. The one I love."

Gray didn’t push further. "Alright," he said after a pause. "Forget I mentioned it."

The call ended not long after, but the conversation lingered, refusing to settle quietly.

More than an hour later, Gray sent another message. A photo, and a single line beneath it. I’ve never seen him look at a woman like that before.

Ravyn opened it, and his gaze darkened almost instantly.

Voren.

Standing close to Seraphine.

They weren’t touching, nothing inappropriate, nothing obvious, but it was there, clear as day in the way Voren looked at her, the absence of that usual cold distance he carried around everyone else.

It was something warmer, and far more unsettling.

Ravyn stared at it longer than he should have, a flicker of jealousy rising before he forced it down, pushing it aside with practiced ease.

It’s nothing, he told himself. If anything, it works in our favor.

His fingers moved quickly as he typed out a response. We should be glad he invested. If anything happens, he can support us.

It was logical, safe, and detached. At least, that’s what he tried to believe.

❖✺❖

The day Seraphine was expected to arrive finally came, and Ravyn made sure everything was arranged exactly as Damon had suggested, securing a house for her near the pack, while Damon himself booked a hotel instead.

Everything was in place and yet, that night, she didn’t show up. Not at the pack, and not anywhere he could reach.

Damon didn’t return either.

When Ravyn tried calling, both their phones were off, the automated response repeating the same thing over and over until it began to grate against his nerves.

He told himself not to overthink it, told himself there had to be a reasonable explanation.

But when morning came and there was still no sign of them, that quiet unease began to grow into something heavier, something harder to ignore.

He was just about to head out with Bryan, already reaching for his keys, when his phone rang.

Voren.

Ravyn’s expression eased slightly as he answered, though the tension hadn’t completely left his shoulders.

"I just spoke to Corvine," Voren’s voice came through, sharp and direct. "He mentioned there’s been an issue at the pack. What’s going on?"

Ravyn didn’t bother softening the situation. "Damon left before dawn yesterday," he said, his tone tightening. "He should’ve been back by last night, but neither he nor Seraphine has shown up. Their phones are off. I’m heading out to look for them now."

The call ended shortly after.

Ravyn moved quickly, guiding Bryan into the car, his mind already running through possibilities, none of them good.

As he started the engine and drove toward the gate, something unexpected happened.

The gate opened before he even reached it, and then, a car drove in.

Damon’s car.

Ravyn’s brows pulled together immediately as he slowed down, raising a hand to signal him to stop before stepping out of his own vehicle.

Something didn’t add up.

Because the moment he caught sight of both of them, something about their expressions made his chest tighten.

They were smiling, calm, unharmed. That wasn’t what you looked like after being unreachable for an entire night.

"I’ve been calling you," Ravyn said, his voice edged now, his gaze locking onto Damon before flickering toward Seraphine, though the moment their eyes nearly met, she frowned slightly and turned her face away, breaking the connection before it could settle.

"What happened to your phone?" he pressed.

Damon glanced at him, his expression calm, almost too calm for the situation. "It’s a long story," he said, choosing his words carefully.

Ravyn’s frown deepened, suspicion settling firmly in his chest.

"Let’s go inside," Damon added, his tone steady, giving nothing away. "We’ll explain everything."