Earlier that night, when Ravyn had asked to speak with Voren, the two of them had walked far away from the roaring bonfire and the loud, buzzing crowd until they reached a much quieter section of the pack grounds.

The music and laughter faded into a distant hum in the background.

Only then did Voren stop and turn to face him, his voice sounding calm on the surface even though he was barely holding back a storm of anger inside.

Every single time Ravyn looked at Seraphine, it took every ounce of control Voren had not to lose it completely.

Ravyn pressed his lips together tightly before finally speaking. "Voren... I have to be honest with you." He lowered his eyes for a moment. "I wanted to thank you for making Sera delete those videos but now, I wish you hadn’t."

A confused look crossed Voren’s face. "I don’t understand."

The truth was, he hadn’t even wanted to get involved with the videos in the first place. The only reason he had done it was because Seraphine wanted everything handled exactly that way.

Ravyn glanced around carefully to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. "I mean..." His voice dropped lower. "Those videos would have made it easy for me to call off the coronation."

Voren’s blood instantly boiled over. Now he understood exactly what this was about.

Ravyn still wanted those recordings played in front of everyone so he could derail the whole coronation. That pathetic fantasy was never going to happen.

Even so, Voren kept his face completely unreadable. "So you’d rather have everyone keep those videos?" His eyes locked hard onto Ravyn’s. "You don’t mind humiliating the mother of your son in front of every Alpha and Luna?"

His words grew colder and sharper. "Did you even think about Bryan? Have you thought about how he’ll feel when he grows up knowing the entire pack watched his mother’s worst moments?"

The color slowly drained from Ravyn’s face. His shoulders slumped heavily as he closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his forehead. Bryan. He had completely forgotten about his own son in all of this.

The guilt slammed into him so hard that it stole every argument right out of his mouth.

When he finally looked back at Voren, his expression was filled with deep, genuine regret. "I’m starting to have second thoughts," he whispered, his voice barely rising above the quiet night air. "Daisy can’t be Luna." He shook his head slowly. "She doesn’t have what it takes."

His eyes filled with desperate hope. "I want to ask Sera to take the position back." His breathing grew uneven. "I can—"

He never got the chance to finish.

Footsteps interrupted him. By the time he looked up, Voren was already walking away, his broad back getting farther away with every determined step.

Voren’s fists stayed clenched tight at his sides. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to turn around, to tell Ravyn the truth—that Seraphine was already his wife, that Ravyn had lost every right to even think about asking for her back, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

Seraphine had spent months preparing her revenge, and it was already past midnight. In just a few hours, every piece of her carefully planned payback would start unfolding.

Voren refused to ruin that moment for her. Walking away was the only thing stopping him from completely exploding.

"Voren!" Ravyn hurried after him, his voice echoing down the quiet path. "Voren!"

Voren never looked back. He didn’t slow down for a second. He just kept walking.

Ravyn was about to break into a run after him when another voice stopped him cold. "Rav."

Daisy rushed over, slightly out of breath. "I’m really sorry... for everything." She searched his face anxiously. "If you want to call off the coronation—"

Before she could finish, Ravyn walked right past her without even sparing her a single glance. Daisy stood frozen in place, her hand slowly dropping to her side as she watched him disappear into the distance.

Ravyn’s mind was a complete mess. Was it already too late to get Seraphine back? Should he call off the coronation? Part of him desperately wanted to. But then Bryan’s little face appeared in his mind.

Bryan was his only son, and no matter what, Daisy was still Bryan’s mother. He felt completely trapped between crushing responsibility and overwhelming regret.

Meanwhile, Daisy had chased after him for her own reasons. She didn’t want the coronation anymore either.

Deep down, she still clung to the belief that the Blood Moon Festival would reveal Alpha Voren as her destined mate.

Far away from the celebration, back at the hotel where Voren and Seraphine were staying, the room had grown quiet again.

Seraphine locked her gaze with Voren, lost in thought after hearing everything that had gone down between him and Ravyn. She looked into his eyes with quiet, steely determination.

"V..." Her gaze turned pleading. "I know this has been really hard on you." Her voice softened. "But please..." She squeezed his hand gently. "Give me until the revelations are over." Her voice turned pleading. "After everything is exposed, you can announce our marriage."

Relief washed across Voren’s face in an instant. That was all he needed to hear.

As long as he could finally tell the world the truth after Seraphine finished her revenge, he was more than willing to wait a little longer.

Every Alpha, Luna, and pack member would still be gathered for the event. The timing would be absolutely perfect.

A gentle smile appeared on his face as he leaned forward and captured her lips in a tender, loving kiss. She kissed him back for a few warm seconds before slowly pulling away.

"There’s something I wanted to ask," she said softly.

Voren brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "What is it?"

"Have you heard from Bloodfang lately?"

The question caught him off guard. He frowned thoughtfully. Come to think of it... Bloodfang had barely spoken all day. "Honestly..." He looked puzzled. "He’s been unusually quiet today."

Seraphine nodded slowly. "Marsha told me something." She rested a hand protectively on her stomach. "She said both she and Bloodfang have been pouring all their strength into protecting our dangerous unborn pup." Her eyes searched Voren’s face. "They’re exhausted."

Voren’s brows pulled together immediately. His gaze dropped to her stomach before returning to her eyes. "Dangerous pup?"