He grunted and turned back to the road.
I stepped out, boots crunching over gravel. The air smelled like pine and memory. Cold wind tangled in my hair. It was darker than I remembered. Or maybe I just forgot how shadows felt in this place.
I should've been afraid.
But fear was a luxury I'd lost years ago.
"ID?" the border guard asked, stepping out from the trees. Young. Probably a newly shifted warrior. Didn't recognize me-thank the goddess.
I handed him the fake ID.
"Alina Vex," he read. "Purpose of visit?"
"Passing through," I lied smoothly. "Got family in Eastwick. Just stopping for a night."
He studied me for a beat too long.
And then waved me in.
As I stepped past the warded line, I felt it-the familiar tug in my blood, the pull of pack magic trying to recognize me. But it couldn't.
I wasn't Aria Ryven anymore.
Not the girl they stripped of her title. Not the Luna who begged her mate to listen. Not the woman they left bleeding on the edge of their territory like trash.
They'd buried that version of me.
And now?
Now I was the ghost they never saw coming.
-
The town hadn't changed much.
Still the same stretch of crumbling roads, the same town square lined with shops that closed before sunset, the same looming packhouse perched on the hill like a kingdom above peasants.
I walked down Main Street slowly, eyes hidden beneath dark glasses, hood pulled over my hair. Every familiar face I passed twisted a little knot in my chest-but they didn't recognize me.
Not with the hair darker, cut blunt at the shoulders. Not with the sharpness I wore now like armor.
And not with the scent suppressants masking my wolf.
The pack thought I was dead.
Let them keep thinking it.
Until I was ready to let the truth destroy them.
-
I checked into the inn under the name on my ID-Alina. Paid in cash. The girl behind the counter barely looked up from her phone.
I liked it that way.
The room was small, clean, forgettable. I locked the door, then checked the window locks twice. Old habits. The kind that kept me alive.
As soon as the silence settled, the weight hit me.
Five years.
Five years since he looked me in the eye and said I wasn't his mate anymore. That I was weak. Unfit. Useless.
Five years since I watched him crown her Luna in front of the whole damn pack.
Lilith.
The golden girl with the sweet smile and poison in her voice.
He chose her.
And left me to die.
I inhaled sharply, shaking off the memories. I couldn't afford to feel anything right now. Especially not the ache in my chest. Not when I had a plan.
And a secret.
I sat on the bed and pulled out my phone. There was only one message waiting. One word.
Tomorrow.
It was from him-my ally. The one wolf who knew I was still breathing.
And the only one who had the power to help me burn it all down.
-
I didn't sleep much.
By morning, the sky outside was bruised with grey. I dressed in black jeans and a fitted jacket. Pulled on combat boots. Tied my hair back. No perfume. No makeup.
Today wasn't about looking good.
It was about war.
I walked to the edge of town just as the first whispers of sunrise touched the sky. The forest was already alive-birds calling, wind rustling through the trees. And then I felt it.
That shift in the air.
He was close.
Kael stepped out of the trees like he owned them.
He hadn't changed.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Wolf in every step. Eyes dark like storm clouds and just as dangerous.
He'd been a rogue once-hunted, feared, alone.
Now he led a rogue pack that rivaled the big Alphas.
And he was here for me.
"Nice disguise," he said, eyeing me up and down.
"You like it?"
"I liked you better when you were bleeding on my floor."
"Charming."
He smirked. "You sure you want to do this?"
I didn't answer.
I just pulled the folded papers from my jacket and handed them to him.
He read them slowly. And whistled.
"Paternity documents?" he asked.
I nodded. "I want the whole pack to know. I want him to know."
Kael folded the papers again and tucked them into his jacket. "And when he finds out?"
"I want to see his face."
Kael was quiet for a moment.
Then he said, "You're playing with fire, Aria."
"I am fire," I said coldly.
He gave a low laugh. "That's the girl I remember."
"Not a girl anymore."
"True. You're a mother now."
I looked away. "Don't say it out loud."
Kael softened. "You sure this is the way?"
I turned back to him, eyes steel. "I'm not here to ask permission. I'm here to take back what was mine."
"Then let's get to work."
-
By noon, whispers had already started.
There was a stranger in town. A she-wolf with a rogue's scent and a familiar walk. A girl who moved like a ghost from a past everyone tried to forget.
And by nightfall?
The packhouse was buzzing.
I stood outside the iron gates, watching the guards shift nervously. They didn't recognize me.
Until one did.
He stepped forward. Eyes wide. Breath caught in his throat.
"Luna...?"
The word was a whisper.
I smiled slowly. "Not anymore."
Then I shoved the envelope into his hands. "Give this to your Alpha. Tell him the past just came knocking."
The guard stared at the documents, and his face drained of color.
He looked up. "Is this... real?"
"Very."
And before he could speak again, I turned and walked away.
Let them read it.
Let them choke on the truth.
The rejected Luna was back.
And the child they thought had died with her?
He was alive.
And he was the Alpha's son.
-