Ara’s POV
For a moment, she stood frozen, her expression cracking. Then— like a storm unchained— she moved. Before anyone could react, her claws were around my throat, yanking me against her body.
“Take one step, and she dies,” she hissed, her nails digging into my skin.
“Ara!” Damon’s voice boomed as Ryan surged beneath his skin, his aura flaring. “Let her go.”
I struggled to breathe, my hands clawing at her wrist.
“I raised you, Damon,” Seraphina spat. “Why do you always have to go against me?”
“Mother, please—calm down and talk to us,” Sailas pleaded, clearly shaken. He looked just as lost as the rest of us.
Seraphina’s voice trembled with years of buried resentment. “I fought so hard… but in the end, I still lose to you, Celestine. You, always in the
