SERAPHINA’S POV
The sound of the slap echoed through the room, loud and vicious, like a shot fired in close quarters.
Kieran’s face jerked to the side, the red imprint of my hand already blooming on his cheek—proof that I had indeed gotten stronger.
For a heartbeat, we both froze.
Then everything shifted.
The air pressure dropped like an anchor, and I could feel his aura crackling in the air like the moments before a lightning strike.
Kieran’s eyes darkened to near black, his wolf brushing the edges of his control like a beast too long restrained. His nostrils flared. His shoulders rose.
I stepped back instinctively—but not fast enough.
He surged forward, grabbing my wrists, and in the blink of an eye, I was pinned against the wall.
The breath fled my lungs, th
