Chapter 479: Boundary

Chapter 479: Seraphina

"We need to talk," Kai says.

I look at him curiously. He never asks to talk. Kai is not the talking kind at all.

"Um... sure," I say.

"In private," he says.

I glance around the room. Marcus is with Ethan. Theron is somewhere. We are alone in the kitchen, but Kai wants more privacy than this.

"Okay," I say.

I follow him out of the kitchen, to my room. Once I walk in, he shuts the door behind me.

What is this about? I have never seen Kai so serious. He is always serious and brooding, but today feels different.

"What is this about?"

He looks at me. His dark eyes are steady. His jaw is tight. He is... nervous. Seeing him like this is also making me uncomfortable.

He does not speak.

"Kai?" I ask nervously.

He takes a deep breath.

"I have something to tell you," he says.

I wait for him to speak, but seconds pass and he does not say a thing.

"Kai, you are scaring me."

He looks at me.

"I have a son," he says.

I feel the world stop.

"What?"

"A son," he repeats.

"What do you mean? A son?" I ask, thinking I have misheard. I am sure I have misheard.

"I have a pup," he says.

I stare at him.

"A pup," I repeat.

"Yes."

I look at him, waiting for him to say he is just kidding, that this is a lie, something, anything.

"No," I say.

It is all I can say.

This is impossible. Kai could not have betrayed me. My Kai? No way.This is a nightmare. Caused by my paranoia after Rylan left. Yes. That is it. A nightmare.

I pinch my arm.

I do not wake up.

I pinch it harder.

I still do not wake up.

"Seraphina," Kai says.

I look at him,waiting for him to tell me otherwise.

He does not.

"How could you do this to me, Kai?" I ask him.

He looks at me. His dark eyes,the ones I love so much feel so unfamiliar to me now. They are full of something I cannot name. Guilt?Pain? Sorrow?

"I did not mean for it to happen," he says.

"You did not mean for it to happen?" My voice rises. "You did not mean to sleep with another wolf? You did not mean to have a pup with her?"

He flinches.

"Seraphina—"

"Do not." I hold up a hand. "Do not say my name. Do not try to explain. Do not try to make this better."

My knees feel weak. I fall onto the bed and sit down.My emotions are a mess.

I stare at him. My mate. My Kai.

The quiet one. The brooding one. The one who never spoke but always stayed.He is my rock. The steady one. The solid one. The safe one. I did not expect this betrayal from Kai of all people.

Shockingly, I have no tears in my eyes right now. I feel numb of sorts.

I do not know what to feel. I do not know what to think. I do not know what to do.

Kai is still standing there. He has not moved. He has not spoken. He is just standing there watching me.I should scream. I should cry. I should throw something at him. I should tell him to get out and never come back.

But I do not.

I just sit here.

"Say something," I whisper.

He looks at me.

"What do you want me to say?" he asks.

"I do not know." My voice cracks. "Anything. Everything. Tell me it is not true. Tell me it is a mistake. Tell me you love me. Tell me you will stay."

He is quiet.

"Do you love her?" I ask him.

"No!" Kai immediately says.

"I love you, my mate. You are my mate." He walks forward and takes my hands in his. I look at our joined hands.

"You are the only woman for me."

I look at our joined hands, then look at him.

"Is it because I could not give you a pup?" I ask him.

"No, no, no." He says and kneels in front of me.

"It was a mistake, just once," Kai says.

He once came across a wolf in heat, and just from that moment she got pregnant. And I want to laugh at the cruelty because for years, months, I have been trying and I have never had a pup again. Yet twice, other wolves give my mates pups.

Something is clearly wrong with me.

"Okay," I say.

Kai looks up at me, confused.

"Okay?" he repeats.

"Yes. Okay." I look at him. "I cannot lose another mate."

He looks at me his eyes, widening in surprise.

"You—you are not angry?" he asks.

"I am furious," I say. "I am hurt. I am betrayed. I am devastated."

He flinches.

"But I cannot lose another mate," I repeat. "Rylan is gone. I cannot lose you too."

I do not think I would handle the mate bond being broken a third time. I do not think I will survive. I am not letting him go. Ever.

"I will try to believe you, because you said it was a mistake. But from that mistake, you have a pup, and nothing can be changed about that," I say.

He nods.

"So here is what is going to happen." My voice is steady. "You will be in your son’s life. You will be his father. But you will not leave me."

He squeezes my hands.

"I do not wish to," he says.

"I am your mate, Kai. I do not know about her, but she is just the mother of your pup. I expect you to keep that boundary."

"I will," he says.

"You will not spend the night with her."

"I will not."

"You will not touch her."

"I will not."

"You will not kiss her."

"I will not."

"You will not love her."

He hesitates.

Just for a moment.

Just long enough for me to see.

"I will not," he says.