“Seraphine killed my mate.” Sera clarified her statement to avoid any confusion. They had the same enemy. "She poisoned her, which eventually led to her death." She lowered her voice in memory and sadness, "A very slow and painful death."
The words landed as a blade dropped on stone.
Sienna reached for her mother’s hand and held it, fingers tightening. Sera didn’t look down, but she let herself be held.
Across the South Dakota feed, Luca went utterly still.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” he said quietly.
The word mother rippled through the circle.
Talia flinched—not in pain, but in reflex—before she mastered it. Titles mattered. Lines mattered. Sera was Luca’s mother-in-law by bond, yes—but more than that, as much a grandmother to the child Sienna carried as Talia herself.
Lucian’s hand clo
