This place held every tender moment Caelan and I had shared over three years. I wanted to wait here for our pup to be born.
"Seraphina, you know this. My mating ceremony cannot have a single flaw. I have to erase every trace of our past. It's the only way you and the pup will be safe."
Before the shock had even left my face, he raised his hand. The guards behind him stepped forward with torches and set the grounds ablaze.
In an instant the fire roared to life, swallowing the timber den, the boundary fence, the entire yard. The moonflowers curled black in the heat and were gone.
I clutched my belly and screamed. "No! Stop! Make them stop!"
Caelan pulled me to him and pressed my trembling body against his chest.
He held me there and let me pound my fists against him.
"Be good. When the time is right, I'll make you my recognized mate. The pup can carry the name of a legitimate heir. Everything will be the way it was before."
But Caelan, I am a daughter of the Silvercrest bloodline. The Supreme Alpha's own pup. How could I ever be your equal mate?
The den was gone. And we could never go back.