All Chapters of FORSAKEN BY FATE : EMBRACE BY WOLVES: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

LIANA’S POVReed was exhausted.I could see it in the way his shoulders sagged, in the tight set of his jaw, in the way his fingers curled around his briefcase like he was holding onto something more than just leather and paperwork.The moment he stepped into the house, I didn’t give him a chance to argue. “Come with me,” I said, taking his hand firmly. He didn’t resist. He let me lead him up the stairs, our steps quiet against the polished wood. I could feel the tension radiating from him, thick and suffocating, but he didn’t say a word. When we reached his room, I gently took the briefcase from his hand, setting it aside. Then I turned to him, my fingers already reaching for his jacket.He exhaled heavily, but he didn’t stop me.Carefully, I slid the heavy material off his shoulders, letting it fall onto the nearby chair. Then my fingers moved to his tie, loosening the knot with slow, deliberate movements. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, but he still didn’t say anything.

SERAPHINE’S POVShe was standing right there.So close.My daughter. My child.For nineteen years, I had carried nothing but the memory of her—the weight of her absence pressed into my chest like an iron brand. I had pictured this moment a thousand times, dreamed of it on the rare nights when I allowed myself to believe she was still out there, still breathing, still alive. But now that she was standing right in front of me, I couldn’t move. My throat locked, a choked sound rising and dying before it could leave my lips. She was so much more than I had imagined. Her eyes—my Goddess, her eyes—were mine. That same deep shade of stormy gray, filled with unspoken questions and quiet strength. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders in dark waves, the way mine used to before time and grief had dulled its luster. She looked so much like me, yet there was something about her stance, something about the way she held herself, that belonged entirely to him. Eliana. I wanted to say her name,

LIANA’S POVThe cold air burned my lungs as I ran. Barefoot. Blind. Desperate. I didn’t know where I was going, and I didn’t care. My legs moved on their own, driven by the storm raging inside me. The forest swallowed me whole, its towering trees stretching into the night sky, their gnarled branches clawing at the moonlight. Shadows flickered between the trunks, but I kept running, crashing through the underbrush, my breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.I needed to get away.Away from the house. Away from Seraphine. Away from everything. My mother. My mother was alive. The words echoed in my head, looping over and over until they lost meaning, became just sounds rattling inside my skull. My mother, the woman I had never known, had just appeared—like a ghost stepping out of the past. A ghost who had left me. A ghost who had abandoned me.Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t stop. I ran faster, deeper into the night, until the distant glow of the house disappeared behind the trees.

RAIDEN’S POVThe house was too quiet. Too empty. Too wrong.I sat curled up in the corner of my bed, my hands gripping my phone so tightly my knuckles had gone white. The screen glowed in the dim room, the call screen mocking me with the same words over and over again.Voicemail. My heart pounded against my ribs as I hit redial. The line rang twice before the robotic voice cut in again.“The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the—”I didn’t wait for the beep.“Mom,” my voice cracked, raw and trembling, “please pick up. Please come back. Where are you? I—I don’t know what to do. He’s going to find out, and I—” My breath hitched as I wiped my wet cheeks with the back of my sleeve. “Please, just call me back. Please…”I ended the call and immediately redialed.Voicemail. Again.A strangled sob tore from my throat as I slumped forward, my forehead pressing against my knees.She was gone.And I was alone.The realization settled like a boulder in m

KADE’S POVI ended the call with Maddox and let the phone drop onto the desk.My fingers twitched, curling into a slow, tight fist. My other hand reached for the glass beside me, but I didn’t drink. I only stared, my reflection distorted in the dark amber liquid.Then, I looked up. Across the room, in the corner where the firelight barely reached, my beast watched me.Star.She was my baby. Her massive body was coiled, muscles tense beneath dark, jagged fur, those unnerving eyes locked onto me with their usual quiet intensity. She knew something was different. She could feel it.I exhaled, slow and measured. She had always been like this. Watching. Waiting. As if she knew every dark thought crawling through my skull. And tonight, those thoughts were particularly dark.After nineteen whole years. Nineteen. A bitter chuckle left my lips, low and humourless, but there was no amusement in it. Only disbelief.Aurora Blackwood. All these years, I had searched. I had sent men, I had sp