Chapter 3 The Past Never Stays Buried

Elira had never been one to live in fear. Not truly. Not even after the bloodshed, not after being cast out, not after giving birth alone in a cave, clutching her newborn son to her chest while the wind howled outside like mourning wolves.

But that night, sleep eluded her.

She stood by the window of their cottage, watching the moonlight play tricks on the trees. Her senses, sharp as ever, pricked with unease. Her wolf stirred just beneath her skin-anxious, coiled, alert. Something had shifted. The world had taken a breath... and was now holding it.

She didn't know how long she stood there, arms crossed, bare feet cold against the wooden floor. But when Lior stirred in his bed, mumbling in his sleep, she turned.

"Moon wolves," he whispered, his little brow furrowed. "They're coming."

Elira's breath caught.

She padded across the room and knelt beside him, brushing back the damp curls from his forehead.

"Just a dream," she whispered. "It's just a dream, my love."

But she knew it wasn't.

Her son didn't dream like other children.

Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he saw pieces of the future. Fractured, yes-but real enough to rattle her. It was part of what made him different. What made him powerful. And dangerous.

She tucked the blanket around him tighter and whispered a prayer to the Moon Goddess. Not for protection. No-Elira had stopped begging the gods long ago.

Now, she asked only for strength.

Because if Kael had truly seen Lior-if the Bloodfang Alpha was on the move-then war wasn't far behind.

And this time, she wouldn't go quietly.

Meanwhile - Bloodfang Territory

The war room was carved from black stone and lit by torches that never seemed to flicker. It was ancient and sacred-a place where decisions were made with blood and oath.

Kael stood at the head of the obsidian table, his hands braced against it, shoulders tense. Rowan had finished his report, and silence had swallowed the room.

Finally, Kael spoke.

"How long?"

Rowan hesitated. "Judging by the boy's age... five years. Maybe just over."

Kael's jaw ticked.

Five years.

It had been five years since Elira had walked away from Bloodfang territory. Five years since their final argument, since her tear-streaked face and defiant words-"You don't get to choose the Alpha title over me, Kael. Over what we created."

He hadn't followed her.

He'd let his pride-his position-override everything else.

But he'd never believed she was carrying his child.

And now, the idea of a son-a blood heir-being raised outside his protection... it twisted something inside him. Not guilt. Kael wasn't familiar with guilt. It was a colder emotion. A sense of imbalance.

Power that belonged to him... out of reach.

"They're in Havenridge," Rowan continued. "A quiet place. No pack ties. I think she's trying to stay hidden."

"She always was clever," Kael murmured.

"You're going after them?"

Kael straightened slowly. His wolf growled beneath the surface, eager, electric.

"Send word to my Beta. We leave at dawn."

Back in Havenridge

Elira moved like a shadow through the cottage, collecting supplies into a hidden satchel. She packed sparingly-just in case.

Books. Dried herbs. A silver dagger passed down from her mother. And a lock of hair she kept from the night Lior was born.

She hadn't told him yet. Not the full truth.

He knew she was different-that she could run faster, hear further, and speak to the earth when it was silent. He knew she shifted beneath the moon, and that he would too someday.

But he didn't know who his father was.

Not truly.

She had meant to tell him someday. When he was older. When the world wasn't knocking at their door with claws and teeth.

But she was running out of time.

A knock rattled the front door. Not loud. Not threatening.

But enough to make her still.

She crossed the floor and opened it a crack.

Mae stood on the other side, pale and breathless.

"Elira," she whispered. "I just saw something... Something you need to know."

Elira stepped outside, closing the door gently behind her.

"What is it?"

Mae looked around, as if afraid the wind might overhear. "Two men in black arrived at the inn an hour ago. Strangers. Warriors. Their scent-strong, like steel and storm."

Elira's blood ran cold.

Bloodfang.

She didn't speak. She didn't have to. Mae reached into her coat and handed her a folded paper.

"I stole this from the tavern wall. One of them hung it there."

Elira unfolded it slowly.

It was a wanted poster.

No name. Just a sketch of her face, and underneath, four words:

RETURN TO BLOODFANG ALIVE.

She stared at it for a long time.

Then folded it again, tucked it into her coat, and nodded.

"Thank you, Mae."

"What are you going to do?"

Elira's eyes shimmered silver.

"Whatever it takes."

That night, while Lior slept with his rabbit clutched tight, Elira stepped into the forest behind their cottage. The air shimmered around her, thick with magic and memory.

She knelt before an ancient tree and pressed her palm against the bark.

"Mother Moon," she whispered. "I need to remember."

The tree pulsed softly beneath her hand. Her wolf stirred.

And then the memories came-rushing back like a flood.

The night she met Kael. The way his voice could silence a room. The first time they shifted together under a blood moon. His touch, his rage, his crown.

The night she walked away.

And the secret she buried deep, even from herself:

Lior was more than a child of an Alpha.

He was born under the celestial convergence-a rare bloodline known as the Moonborn.

A prophecy child.

A ruler... or a weapon.

And Kael had no idea.

Elira knelt in the clearing for a long time, her hand pressed to the ancient tree as the memories faded. Her breath misted in the cool air, and her eyes burned with unshed tears she refused to let fall.

Lior's origins were not just a secret-they were a danger. The Moonborn were whispered about in legend, feared for their power, hunted by those who wanted to control or destroy them. Elira had hoped to outrun prophecy. To raise her son in peace. But fate had a cruel way of circling back.

A twig snapped behind her.

Elira rose to her feet instantly, body tense. Her hand slid to the dagger at her belt as she turned, ready to fight.

But it was only Mae, her cheeks flushed and her shawl wrapped tightly around her.

"I shouldn't have followed," she said quickly, eyes darting around the clearing. "But I was worried. You looked... scared."

Elira sheathed the dagger and softened, just slightly.

"I'm not scared," she said quietly. "I'm done being scared."

Mae stepped closer. "Are you going to run again?"

Elira hesitated.

"No," she said finally. "Not yet. Not until I know what Kael wants. Not until I see him."

"Are you sure that's wise? You left for a reason. You-Elira, he-"

"I know what he did," Elira cut in, her voice low and steely. "But I also know what he's capable of. If Kael has found us, if he's truly here... it's only a matter of time before everything falls apart."

Mae wrapped her arms around herself. "Then what do we do?"

Elira looked up at the moon, its pale light bathing the clearing in silver.

"We prepare," she said. "We protect Lior at all costs. And if Kael thinks he can just walk back into our lives and take my son-"

Her voice broke for the first time, and her jaw clenched.

"Then he's about to learn how far a mother will go."

Elsewhere – Bloodfang Warriors' Encampment

Kael stood by the edge of the lake, his eyes fixed on the reflection of the moon above. His soldiers had already made camp in the woods just outside Havenridge, their presence concealed beneath illusion wards and silence spells.

But Kael couldn't sleep.

His thoughts tangled with memories-Elira's laugh, the flash of her silver eyes, the night she told him she was leaving. That night had haunted him for years.

She'd accused him of choosing the crown over her. And maybe she was right. He'd been raised to believe that love made an Alpha weak. That attachment was vulnerability. And yet-Elira had made him question everything.

Now, knowing there was a child-a son-he felt that same unraveling begin again.

He heard footsteps behind him, deliberate and heavy.

Rowan.

"She knows we're here," his Beta said without preamble.

Kael didn't react. "Good."

"She's already moving. Hiding things. Preparing."

Kael's lips twitched. Not quite a smile.

"She always was the smartest in the room."

Rowan hesitated. "You're not really going to take the boy by force... are you?"

Kael turned then, his eyes glowing faintly with his wolf's power.

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "I want to see him first. Talk to her."

"And if she refuses?"

Kael's silence said everything.

Rowan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "This isn't just about claiming an heir, is it? You still feel something for her."

"I never stopped."

The Next Morning - Havenridge

Lior was quiet as he chewed his breakfast, eyes too large for his small face, curls mussed from sleep. Elira sat across from him, her own plate untouched.

"Mama," he said softly, "I dreamed of him again."

Elira's fingers tightened around her mug. "Of who?"

"The man with the storm eyes."

She swallowed hard. "What happened in the dream?"

Lior looked down at his eggs, poking them with his fork.

"He was standing in fire," he whispered. "But he wasn't afraid. And he said my name. He knew it, Mama."

Elira reached across the table, her hand covering his.

"It's just a dream," she said gently.

"But it felt real."

She nodded, brushing a curl from his cheek.

"I know it did, baby."

She wanted to tell him the truth. That the man in his dreams wasn't just a phantom. That he was Kael Stormbane, the most powerful Alpha in the Northern packs. His father.

But how did you explain heartbreak to a child?

How did you say he left us, but now he wants you back?

How did you admit that maybe-deep down-you still loved him, even after all he'd done?

Her heart ached, but she forced a smile.

"Finish your breakfast," she said. "We'll take a walk later. Just us."

Lior brightened at that.

But even as he ate, Elira felt it. The pulse in the air. The tremor in the earth. The wolves were watching.

Kael was close.

In the Shadows of the Forest

Kael stood just beyond the tree line, his eyes locked on the small cottage nestled among the birches.

He could smell her. Elira.

And he could smell the boy.

His son.

The scent struck him harder than he expected-like recognition, like home. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed it. How much he needed it.

He wasn't ready.

But he stepped forward anyway.