Chapter 4 Bloodlines and Shadows

The past doesn't knock-it breaks the door down. And when it comes for Kael, it's not alone.

The moon was high when the knock came.

Kael woke in an instant, his senses sharpening like blades. For a second, he thought it was a dream-until the knock came again, harder this time, followed by a low growl that wasn't entirely human.

He grabbed the dagger from beneath his pillow, slid silently from bed, and crossed the floor in three strides. Aria stirred behind him, but he held a hand out, motioning for silence. She blinked sleep from her eyes, nodding once. They both knew something was wrong.

When he opened the door, a bloodied scout collapsed into his arms.

"Alpha..." the man rasped, chest heaving. "We found them. South ridge... two miles from the border."

Kael's jaw tightened. "Who?"

The scout looked up with fear in his eyes. "Rogues. Not just strays. Organized. Marked with the blood sigil."

Aria's breath caught. Kael's heart dropped into a slow, icy beat.

The blood sigil hadn't been seen in over a decade.

Not since the massacre at Redfang Valley.

Not since Kael's mother disappeared.

The war council gathered before sunrise.

Kael stood at the head of the long table in the war hall, shoulders squared, eyes unreadable. Aria sat beside him-by his choice, not tradition-and Selene leaned against a nearby pillar, arms crossed, scanning each face in the room.

Thorne, the former Alpha, paced near the hearth. "If it's truly them," he said slowly, "then we're not facing a rogue pack. We're facing the return of the Bloodborne."

Murmurs rippled through the room. Old wolves went still. The younger ones glanced at each other in confusion.

Kael spoke, voice quiet but firm. "They used the sigil. Scarlet paint. Crescent moon dripping blood. Same as the attack in Redfang."

"Could be a copycat," one warrior offered. "To scare us."

"They left more than paint," Kael said. "They left the scout's brother. Disemboweled. Still breathing when our team arrived."

The room fell silent.

Aria felt bile rise in her throat. She wasn't a warrior. She hadn't seen war. But she knew cruelty when she heard it.

"We'll double patrols," Thorne said. "Secure the borders. Fortify the southern wall."

"No," Kael said sharply.

Thorne turned, brow raised. "Excuse me?"

Kael met his father's eyes. "This isn't about the pack. It's about me."

Thorne stared for a long moment. Then, finally, he nodded. "So. She's back."

Kael's silence was answer enough.

Aria glanced between them. "Who is she?"

Thorne didn't speak. Kael did.

"My mother."

After the council dispersed, Kael didn't speak for a long time. He sat alone in the training yard beneath a weathered oak tree, dagger turning slowly in his fingers. Aria found him there, her presence soft but steady.

"You should rest," he said without looking up.

"So should you," she countered.

He didn't argue.

Aria crouched beside him, brushing her fingers through the grass. "She's with them, isn't she?"

Kael nodded. "I didn't want to believe it. But the sigil confirms it."

"I thought she disappeared."

"She did," he said quietly. "Ten years ago, during the uprising. She told my father she couldn't be Luna. That the role was a cage. That we were a cage."

He swallowed hard.

"Then she vanished. We assumed she'd run. Started over somewhere far. But now... I think she found something worse than freedom."

Aria put a hand on his arm. "You think she's leading them?"

He met her gaze. "No. I know she is."

Later that evening, Aria stood in the pack library, pulling scrolls from dusty shelves. Selene joined her, holding a lantern and looking mildly annoyed.

"You really believe digging through ancient war records is going to help?" Selene asked.

"I believe everything means something," Aria replied. "Kael's mother... she wasn't just any Luna. She was born into the Crescent Line."

Selene frowned. "The royal bloodline? I thought that was a myth."

"It's not. And if she's leading the Bloodborne, it means they're not just trying to raid us. They're trying to reclaim territory."

Selene's expression darkened. "Reclaim it... as what? A kingdom?"

"A throne," Aria whispered. "One soaked in blood."

They pored over records for hours. Old prophecies. Bloodline maps. Battle strategies from the Redfang uprising. As dawn crept into the sky, Aria found it-an account written by a captured Bloodborne warrior.

"The Queen rises where blood falls. She will return beneath a crimson moon, and with her, the line of the crescent shall reign in flame."

Selene read over her shoulder, then muttered, "Well, that's not ominous at all."

Aria closed the scroll slowly. "They're not just coming for Kael. They're coming for control."

Kael stood at the southern edge of the territory that evening, the wind tugging at his cloak, the trees eerily still. He could feel it in the air-an old presence, ancient and bitter.

Behind him, warriors waited silently.

Aria stepped up beside him, hair braided back, bow slung across her back. "You okay?"

He didn't lie. "No."

"Good. Because you shouldn't be."

He looked at her. "You don't have to be here."

"Yes, I do. I'm your mate."

Something soft flickered behind his eyes, and for a brief moment, the Alpha mask slipped.

"She gave me life," he said, eyes scanning the dark. "But I'll end hers if I have to."

Aria didn't flinch.

"She already ended herself," she whispered. "You're just finishing the story."

He looked at her then, truly looked, and for the first time in years, he felt something close to peace. Or maybe it was purpose.

A howl shattered the night.

Kael turned, muscles tensing. "They're here."

The trees moved.

And the shadows came alive.