I didn't think. Didn't breathe. Just ran.
The hotel corridors blurred around me as I sprinted toward the ballroom entrance, my heels clicking against marble like a countdown clock. My baby. My Finn. Four years old and too curious for his own good and somehow…impossible, but somehow… he'd sensed his father.
The mate bond wasn't the only thing I'd lied about being dead.
"Finn!" I burst through the doors, scanning the crowd frantically. Hundreds of faces. None of them his. "Finn!"
"Aurora." Kael was beside me in an instant. I hadn't even seen him move. "What's wrong?"
"My son is missing." I shoved past him. Screw pride. Screw independence. "He got out of the hotel room and Mrs. Chen said—" My voice broke. "He said he heard his daddy calling."
Kael went absolutely still. "That's impossible."
"Tell that to my four-year-old who's somewhere in this hotel!" I spun to face him. "Help me find him or get out of my way."
For half a heartbeat, I thought he'd argue. But then something shifted in his expression…the ruthless Alpha King disappeared, replaced by something almost vulnerable. Almost human.
"Logan." He didn't raise his voice, but somehow a massive man in a dark suit materialized at his side. "Evacuate the building. Find a four-year-old boy, dark hair, gold eyes. Now."
Logan, his Beta, I remembered, pulled out a phone and started barking orders. Within seconds, men in black suits were spreading through the crowd, and a calm voice over the intercom was requesting that all guests please exit in an orderly fashion.
"He's here." Kael's voice was odd. Strained. "I can feel him."
"What?"
"The bond." His hand pressed against his chest. "It's not just you anymore. There's another pull. Smaller. Newer." His eyes met mine, and for the first time since I'd known him, Kael Blackthorne looked terrified. "Our son."
I wanted to tell him he was wrong. That Finn was human, normal, nothing supernatural about him except the wolf-shaped birthmark on his shoulder blade that I told myself meant nothing. But I felt it too. A tug behind my breastbone, pulling me toward—
"The kitchen," we said simultaneously.
We ran.
The hotel kitchen was chaos, chefs and staff streaming out as security evacuated the building. We pushed through the crowd, following that invisible thread that led us deeper into the maze of stainless steel and industrial ovens.
And there, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the walk-in freezer, was my son.
"Finn!" I dropped to my knees, hands running over him frantically. Checking for injuries. For anything wrong. "Baby, are you okay? You can't just run off like that, you scared Mommy half to death—"
"I heard him, Mommy." Finn's voice was small. Confused. His golden eyes, Kael's eyes, were too bright, almost glowing in the kitchen's fluorescent lights. "I heard Daddy calling me."
My heart stopped. "Sweetie, you don't have a…"
"Hello, Finn."
I looked up. Kael stood five feet away, and I'd never seen him look the way he did in that moment. Awestruck. Like every wall he'd ever built around himself had just crumbled to dust.
"You know my name?" Finn tilted his head, curious but not afraid. Never afraid. My brave, reckless baby. "Are you the superhero from my dreams?"
"Dreams?" Kael's voice cracked. He moved closer, slowly, like Finn was a wild animal that might spook. "You dream about me?"
"Uh-huh." Finn nodded enthusiastically. "You're really big and you have a wolf and you fight bad guys. But you're always sad." He frowned. "Why are you sad, Mr. Superhero?"
Oh God. The bond. Even separated, even with Kael never knowing Finn existed, the bond had found a way. Through dreams. Through impossible four-year-old instincts.
"Finn, baby, we need to go—"
"Is he my daddy?" Finn looked at me with those too-knowing eyes. "He smells like the man in my dreams. And he smells like me."
I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything but watch as Kael dropped to his knees, bringing himself eye-level with our son.
"Yes," Kael said roughly. "I'm your father."
"Kael—" I started, but he held up a hand.
"Why don't you live with us?" Finn asked. Simple question. Devastating implications. "Don't you love Mommy?"
Kael flinched like he'd been struck. "It's... complicated."
"That's what Mommy always says." Finn sighed dramatically. "Grown-ups make everything complicated."
Despite everything, the fear, the anger, the sheer impossibility of this situation, I almost laughed. Almost.
"Finn, sweetie, we really need to go back to Mrs. Chen—"
"I don't want to." Finn's lower lip jutted out stubbornly. "I want to stay with Daddy. I've been waiting forever to meet him."
"Finn—"
"Please, Mommy?" Those golden eyes turned to me, wide and pleading. "Just for a little bit?"
I looked at Kael. Found him staring at Finn with an expression I'd never seen on his face before. Wonder. Bone-deep longing.
"One hour," I heard myself say. "Then we're leaving. Back to Moonhaven. And you—" I pointed at Kael. " stay away from us after tonight."
"Aurora—"
"One hour. Take it or leave it."
He took it.
Twenty minutes later, we were in Kael's penthouse suite. Because of course he owned the penthouse. Probably owned the whole damn hotel.
Finn was chattering away, showing Kael his favorite toy, a stuffed wolf he'd named "Mr. Fluffles" that he'd carried everywhere since he was two. Kael listened with an intensity that would've been unsettling if it wasn't so obvious he was memorizing every word, every gesture, every second with his son.
Our son.
"He looks just like you," I said quietly. We were standing in the kitchen area while Finn explored the massive living room. "Everyone in Moonhaven thinks I had a one-night stand and won't tell them who the father is."
"Why didn't you tell me?" No accusation in his voice. Just... pain. "When you found out you were pregnant, why didn't you come to me?"
I laughed bitterly. "You're joking, right? You rejected me in front of your entire pack. Told me I was a mistake. That I'd never be good enough." I turned to face him. "What exactly was I supposed to do? Show up at your mansion and say, 'Hey, remember that mate bond you publicly destroyed? Well, surprise, I'm carrying your child!'"
"Yes." His hands gripped the counter edge so hard I heard marble crack. "That's exactly what you should have done."
"So you could what? Pay me off? Make it go away?"
"So I could protect you!" His voice rose. "So I could make sure you and our child were safe, provided for—"
"I don't need your money, Kael."
"Clearly." He gestured around. "That's why you're entering bakery competitions for prize money. That's why you're working yourself to the bone running a small-town business. Because you're doing so well on your own."
"We're fine."
"You're barely surviving." He moved closer. "I saw the financial records, Aurora. Every penny you make goes to rent, food, and Finn's medical tests. The specialists you're trying to afford. The answers you're looking for about why he's different."
My blood ran cold. "You investigated me?"
"I've been investigating you for five years." No shame in his voice. No apology. "Since the night you disappeared. Since I realized I'd made the biggest mistake of my life."
"Mistake?" I stepped back. "That's what you call it? A mistake?"
"I call it the worst decision I've ever made." His eyes burned into mine. "I call it the night I destroyed the best thing that ever happened to me because I was a coward who chose duty over destiny. I call it the reason I've spent five years searching for you, terrified I'd never find you, never get the chance to—"
"Mommy! Daddy!" Finn's voice cut through the tension. "Come see!"
We found him standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows, pressing his hands against the glass. The Seattle skyline glittered below us, lights reflecting off Elliott Bay.
"It's so pretty," Finn whispered. "I can see the whole world from here."
Kael moved to stand beside him. My son and his father, silhouetted against the city lights. Same height difference I'd have with Finn when he was grown. Same broad shoulders. Same impossible presence.
"Not the whole world," Kael said softly. "But enough of it."
"Do you live here all the time?" Finn asked.
"Most of the time."
"It's really big." Finn looked around the penthouse, all twelve thousand square feet of it. "Don't you get lonely?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "Sometimes."
"You could live with us!" Finn spun around, excitement radiating off him. "We have a house and Mommy makes the best pancakes and I have a room with dinosaurs and—"
"Finn, honey, that's not—" I started.
"—and you could meet Uncle Jake and Aunt Sarah and Toby the dog and everyone!" Finn grabbed Kael's hand. Pulled. "Please? Then you wouldn't be lonely and I'd have a daddy like the other kids!"
I watched Kael's face. Watched him stare down at their joined hands, Finn's tiny one swallowed by his much larger one. Watched something crack in his expression.
"I would like that very much," he said hoarsely. "But your mother and I need to talk about—"
A phone rang. Not mine. Kael pulled his from his pocket, frowned at the screen.
"I need to take this." He looked at me. "Don't go anywhere."
"Our hour is almost up—"
"Aurora." The Alpha command in his voice made my wolf stir for the first time in five years. Made me want to submit, to obey, to… No. "Please. Five more minutes."
He disappeared into another room. I heard his voice, low and urgent. Couldn't make out the words.
"Mommy?" Finn tugged my hand. "Is Daddy gonna come live with us?"
"No, baby." I knelt down, tucked a strand of dark hair behind his ear. "Daddy has... a very important job. He lives here. We live in Moonhaven."
"But we could move here!" Finn's face lit up. "Then we could all be together!"
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?" Those golden eyes stared into mine. "You're sad all the time, Mommy. I see you crying when you think I'm asleep. Don't you want to be happy?"
God. When had my four-year-old become so perceptive?
"I am happy," I lied. "I have you. That's all I need."
"But—"
Kael burst back into the room, phone still in hand, face grim.
"We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"The kind where your presence in Seattle just became public knowledge." He pulled up something on his phone, turned it to face me. "The kind where every pack in the territory now knows the Alpha King has a secret son."
The screen showed a photo, grainy security footage from the hotel. Kael and me, standing in the ballroom. The timestamp read less than an hour ago.
But it was the headline that made my blood freeze:
ALPHA KING'S HIDDEN HEIR REVEALED: WHO IS MYSTERY WOMAN AND LOVE CHILD?
"No." The word came out barely above a whisper. "No, this can't be—"
"It's everywhere." Kael's voice was tight. "Every pack news site. Every supernatural forum. And worse—" He swiped to another image. Another headline.
RIVAL ALPHA CLAIMS KING'S HEIR FOR SHADOWFANG PACK
"What does that mean?"
Kael's eyes met mine, and I saw something there I'd never seen before.
Fear.
"It means," he said slowly, "that Marcus Shadowfang just publicly declared his intention to claim Finn as his own son. Which, according to pack law, gives him the right to challenge me for custody."
"Like hell—"
"And if he wins—" Kael's voice dropped. "—he becomes Finn's legal father. And you become his by right of conquest."
The room spun. "That's not... that can't be legal—"
"It's pack law. Ancient law." He moved closer. "Aurora, you and Finn are in danger. Serious danger. Marcus isn't the only one who'll come for him. Every Alpha with an agenda, every pack with a grudge against me, every enemy I've made in the last decade, they'll all see Finn as leverage."
"Then we'll disappear." I grabbed Finn's hand. "We'll go back to Moonhaven, I'll pack up the bakery, we'll move somewhere they'll never find us—"
"They found you in less than an hour." Kael's hand caught my arm. Gentle. Desperate. "You can run. You can hide. But they will find you. And when they do, I won't be there to protect you."
"I've been protecting him just fine for four years—"
"You've been lucky for four years." His grip tightened. "That luck just ran out."
I looked down at Finn. My baby. My whole world. Staring up at us with wide, confused eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" The words tasted like ash.
Kael took a breath. Released it slowly.
"Come home with me," he said. "To my territory. My pack lands. Let me protect you. Both of you."
"No."
"Aurora—"
"I said no!" I pulled away. "You don't get to swoop in and play hero after five years of nothing. We're leaving. Tonight. And if anyone tries to stop us—"
A crash. The penthouse door, reinforced steel, probably bulletproof, shattered inward.
Men poured through. Six. Eight. A dozen. All wearing the silver and black of Shadowfang pack.
And leading them, with a smile that made my skin crawl, was a man I'd never seen before but recognized instantly from Kael's reaction.
Marcus Shadowfang.
"Well, well," Marcus drawled. "Isn't this cozy? The King, his runaway mate, and—" His eyes found Finn. Lit up with something hungry and predatory. "—the prize everyone's been searching for."
Kael moved. Faster than should be possible. Putting himself between us and the intruders, a growl rumbling from his chest that made every window in the penthouse rattle.
"You have three seconds to leave my territory, Marcus, before I rip your throat out."
"Your territory?" Marcus laughed. "That's funny. Because according to pack law, as of—" he checked his watch, "—sixteen minutes ago, you forfeited all rights to the child when you failed to claim him within a year of birth. Which makes him unclaimed. Up for grabs." His smile widened. "And I'm grabbing."
"Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged."
I didn't see who moved first. Just knew that suddenly the penthouse exploded into violence—Kael and Marcus locked together, both of them shifting, bones cracking and reforming into something between man and wolf. The other pack members rushed forward.
"Finn!" I grabbed my son, turned to run—
And came face to face with a man I hadn't seen enter. Older. Scarred. Smiling.
"Hello, little Luna," he purred. "The Alpha wants a word with the boy."
He reached for Finn.
I didn't think. Just reacted.
My hand shot out. Connected with his chest. And something inside me…something that had been sleeping for five years, something I didn't know I had…exploded outward.
Light. Pure white, searing light that erupted from my palm and sent the man flying backward into a wall. He hit with a sickening crunch and didn't get up.
The room went silent. Everyone, Kael, Marcus, all the pack members, stared at me.
At my hand, still glowing with impossible light.
"What—" Marcus breathed. "What are you?"
I didn't know. Didn't understand. But I knew one thing:
Nobody touched my son.
"Mommy?" Finn whispered. "Your hand is pretty. Like the moon."
The moon.
Oh God.
And then Kael was there, scooping both of us into his arms, and we were moving… fast, too fast, crashing through the shattered window in a shower of glass and falling, falling, falling twenty stories down,
until we weren't falling anymore but running, Kael's wolf form carrying us through streets I didn't recognize, and Finn was laughing like this was the best adventure ever, and my hand was still glowing, and everything I thought I knew about myself, about what I was, about what was possible—
Everything had just changed.