Kieran's POV
I smelled the moonfire scent from three miles away.
My hands tightened on my motorbike handlebars as I rode through the forest toward Shadowpine Territory. After five years of exile, I'd sworn I'd never come back. But some things were more important than old grudges.
Like keeping an innocent girl from getting ruined by my cousin's stupidity.
The smell grew stronger as I got closer to the pack borders. Pure moonfire genetics, awakened and strong. I'd only read about it in the oldest healing books, but there was no mistaking that sweet, wild fragrance that could drive Alphas to madness.
Darius had no idea what he was dealing with. He thought this was just attraction, just his wolf wanting a pretty omega. He didn't understand that moonfire ties were different. Dangerous. The kind of connection that could shatter minds and destroy packs if treated wrong.
I parked my bike in the deep forest and shifted to my sandy-brown wolf form. Being back on Shadowpine land felt like walking on broken glass, but I needed to see what was happening with my own eyes.
The pack house glowed with lights even at midnight. Emergency meeting, from the looks of it. I could hear rising voices, catch glimpses of worried faces through the windows. Something had the leadership worried.
But that wasn't where I needed to be.
I followed the moonfire trail to a small house on the pack's edge. Even from fifty yards away, I could feel the pull of it. Not the same desperate hunger that would be eating at Darius, but something gentler. A healer's desire to protect and nurture.
Through the woods, I watched my cousin pace on the girl's front porch like a caged wolf. His usually perfect control was nowhere to be seen. Every few seconds, he'd stop and breathe deeply, then force himself to start walking again.
He's fighting it, I realized. But he's losing.
That's when I caught the other smells. Multiple werewolves had been here lately, but not pack members. Rogues. And something else that made my healing instincts scream warnings – something that smelled like death and old magic.
I circled wider, reading the signs that others would miss. Tracks going to and from the cottage. Claw marks on trees that were too deep, too wide to be from normal dogs. And carved into the biggest pine, symbols that made my blood run cold.
Ancient game marks. The kind used by creatures that weren't quite werewolf anymore.
Darius, you fool, I thought. You have no idea what you've brought down on her.
My cousin finally went inside the house. Through the window, I could see him talking to a small figure – the girl, wrapped in a pale robe. Even from a distance, I could see how young she looked. How open.
She had no idea that every magical creature with enough knowledge would come hunting for her now. Moonfire genetics weren't just rare – they were the key to power that most werewolves only heard about in tales.
And Darius, for all his strength, was too blinded by the tie to see the bigger picture.
I was about to move closer when new smells hit the wind. Multiple threats coming fast. My healing magic flared to life automatically, searching for oncoming danger.
Three massive forms crashed through the cottage's front door.
My cousin's roar of rage rang through the forest as he shifted to protect the girl. I started running toward the house, but stopped when I realized what I was seeing.
These weren't normal rogues. They were something much worse – werewolves who'd been twisted by dark magic until they were barely recognizable. Their eyes glowed red instead of yellow, and their claws gleamed silver in the moonlight.
Cursed ones. I'd read about them in forbidden books, but never thought I'd see them in person.
Darius fought like a demon, his massive black wolf tearing into the creatures with desperate rage. But there were three of them, and they were stronger than regular wolves. He was getting stressed.
That's when everything changed.
A pulse of pure power exploded from inside the cottage. Not Alpha dominance or wolf strength, but something totally different. Healing power, but amplified beyond anything I'd ever felt.
The girl – Sera – was somehow channeling moonfire energy through fear and desperation. The burst of power sent the cursed ones flying backward, their red eyes burning with pain.
But using that much untrained power would kill her.
I shifted to human form and ran toward the house, pulling on clothes as I moved. My own healing abilities reached out automatically, trying to stabilize Sera's chaotic energy before it burned her out completely.
The moment my magic touched hers, something impossible happened.
A soul bond snapped into place between us.
Not the frantic, hungry pull of a mate bond, but something deeper. Something that recognized her pain and wanted to fix it. Something that saw her promise and wanted to protect it.
I stumbled, shocked by the intensity of the link. Soul bonds were thought to be impossible between omegas and non-Alphas. The texts all said only Alphas could form true supernatural links.
But the bond was there, real and strong and totally unexpected.
Through the cottage window, I could see Sera collapse as her magic drained itself. Darius, back in human form, caught her before she hit the floor. The cursed ones were fleeing, but they'd be back. Creatures like that didn't give up easy.
I should have revealed myself then. Should have offered to help, talked about the soul bond, warned them about what was coming.
Instead, I stayed hidden and watched my cousin hold the girl like she was the most valuable thing in the world.
Because I was starting to understand something that would change everything.
Darius wasn't the only Blackthorne who was going to fall for Sera Nightfall.
The soul bond hummed between us even from a distance, and I could feel her exhaustion, her confusion, her desperate hope that maybe she really was important to someone.
She was special. But not in the way she thought.
Moonfire omegas didn't just draw one mate. According to the oldest legends, they were meant for something much more complicated. Something that could heal ancient wounds or destroy everything, dependent on how it was handled.
As I watched Darius carry Sera to her bedroom, I made a choice that would change all our lives.
I wasn't going to let my cousin destroy her the way our family destroyed everything else it touched. Even if it meant staying in exile, even if it meant hiding in the dark, I was going to protect Sera Nightfall.
Even if it meant saving her from Darius himself.
My phone buzzed with a text message: The refugee has returned. How interesting. Some ties are stronger than banishment. Watch yourself, cousin. Not everyone wants the girl to survive her waking.
I looked around the empty forest, but saw no one. Whoever was sending these texts had been watching all of us for longer than any of us realized.
Another text appeared: The Ravencrest girl knows more than she's saying. The real hunt starts tomorrow night.
My blood went cold. If Celeste was connected with whatever had sent those cursed ones after Sera, then Darius was walking into a trap he couldn't see.
And the girl I was already bound to was caught right in the middle of it.
From inside the house, I heard Sera's soft voice: "Promise me you'll come back tomorrow night?"
And Darius's reply, rough with emotion: "I promise. I can't stay away anymore."
Tomorrow night, I thought grimly. When the real hunt starts.
I started my motorcycle and rode deeper into the bush, already planning how to protect them both from dangers they didn't even know existed.
Behind me, something howled in the distance. But this time, I howled back.
The exile had returned, and I wasn't the same broken Beta who'd been cast out five years ago.
I was a healer with a soul bond to protect.
And I would burn down anyone who tried to hurt her.