The room felt suffocating as tension swirled like a storm, thick and inescapable.
Talia stood smugly before me, her words still hanging in the air like poison. “I just said the truth. Kael needs strength, not a mother who loses her head over every little thing.”
My vision blurred with tears and rage, the weight of her condescension breaking something deep within me. Before I could think, my hand flew up and connected with her cheek. The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the den, freezing everyone in place.
Talia gasped, her hand flying to her reddening cheek. “Did you just—”
“Yes, I did,” I spat, my voice trembling with unbridled fury. “And I’ll do it again if you dare speak about my son like you know anything!”
Lucian was on his feet in an instant, his eyes blazing with anger. His wolf rippled beneath the surface, evident in the hard set of his jaw and the growl in his voice. “How dare you, Seraphina?”
I turned to him, chest heaving, expecting—hoping—for him to finally stand beside me, to defend us. But his next words shattered me.
“How dare you lay a hand on your sister?”