PRESENT DAY
Lyra sat in the parking lot of the rest stop and looked at her phone.
Twenty miles behind her was the safe house. Marcus slept in the back seat and watched over Kai. The mountains looked gold and pink at dawn.
Blackwood country was up ahead.
It also came with the plan that would either save Kai or kill everyone.
She opened a message that was encrypted. Not sure.
Five years since she'd spoken to anyone linked to the Blackwood Pack. It's been five years of not being seen or remembered by them.
Now she was about to announce herself.
Her finger hovered over the call button.
For Kai, she told herself. Everything for Kai.
She pressed dial.
It rang three times before a smooth, cultured voice replied.
"Well, well. This is unexpected."
"Silas." Lyra kept her tone bland. "It's been a while."
"Five years. Give or take." She could hear the smile in Silas Grant's voice. "Though I've been following your work, Lyra. The Shadow Wolf. Quite impressive."
Her blood went cold. "You know who I am?"
"I'm the Blackwood Pack lawyer. I know everything that happens in these areas." Papers rustled in the background. "Forty-seven approved contracts. Never failed. Never caught. You've built quite a name."
"If you know who I am, you know I'm exiled. Calling you is suicide."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps I've been waiting for you to call." His tone changed, became calculating. "What do you need?"
Straight to business. That was Silas—always three moves ahead.
"A meeting with the Alpha. Face to face."
Silence. Then: "That's bold. Suicidal, as you said. Ronan would be within his rights to kill you on sight."
"He won't kill me before I say what I came to say."
"And what did you come to say?"
"That's between me and him."
More quiet. Lyra could nearly hear Silas thinking, calculating angles, weighing benefits.
"What's in it for me?" he finally asked.
"I'm offering my skills. Security advice. I've heard reports the pack has been having... problems."
"We have security handled."
"Do you? Because I heard about the hack last month. Someone got past your defenses and stole pack records." Lyra let the information hang. She'd heard no such thing, but Silas's sharp intake of breath told her the guess was accurate.
"How did you—"
"I know things. It's my job." She pressed her edge. "I can measure your vulnerabilities. Strengthen weak points. For a fee, of course."
"The Alpha will never agree to let you on pack lands."
"Then don't tell him it's me. I'll come under an alias. Morgan Steele, security expert. You suggested me. By the time he figures out who I really am, I'll have already given my message."
Silas laughed. "Devious. I like it. But Lyra—if this goes wrong, I had nothing to do with it."
"Understood."
"And when it inevitably blows up in your face, you owe me a favor."
"Deal."
"I'll set it up. But not tomorrow—day after. Give me time to arrange things properly. You'll need to come prepared with a good cover story."
"I'll be ready."
She ended the call and quickly powered down the phone, pulling the battery.
Marcus stirred in the passenger seat. "That sounded ominous."
"It worked. Meeting's set for two days from now."
"Two days? Kai might not have two days."
Lyra looked at her son sleeping in the back, black lines creeping up his small arms.
"Then we make him have two days." Her jaw set. "And I use the time to prepare properly. No mistakes. No exposure until I'm ready."
The safe house was exactly where she'd left it three years ago—a small shack hidden deep in the woods, far from any pack territory.
She'd bought it under a false name, stocked it with everything she might need for a return to Blackwood lands.
Weapons. Tactical gear. False names. Surveillance tools.
And disguises.
Lyra stood in front of the bathroom mirror, studying her image.
Five years had changed her. She was leaner now. Harder. Scars marked her face from dozens of fights. Her eyes had lost their warmth, replaced with something cold and calculating.
But the bone structure was the same. The shape of her face. Someone who'd known her might still recognize her.
She opened the cabinet and pulled out color contacts—turning her brown eyes blue. Makeup to subtly change the shape of her nose, her cheekbones. A wig that turned her hair from dark brown to honey blonde.
When she was finished, a stranger stared back.
Professional. Cold. Expensive suit. Every inch the high-priced security expert.
Morgan Steele. No link to the broken omega exiled five years ago.
"Unrecognizable," Marcus said from the doorway. "Even I barely know you."
"Good. That's the point." She adjusted the suit jacket, checking the secret weapons. Knives in her boots. Small gun at the small of her back. Garrote wire in her watch.
Not enough to fight off an entire pack.
But enough to send a message if needed.
Kai appeared beside Marcus, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked at Lyra and tilted his head.
"You look pretty, Mama. But different."
"I have to, baby. Just for a little while." She knelt to his level. "Just to keep us safe."
"Are we going to see my father?"
The question cut through her chest. "Soon. Very soon."
"The shadows say he's been waiting for us. They say he's sad."
"The shadows talk too much."
"Do they?" Kai's eyes—too old for five years—studied her face. "Or do you not listen enough?"
Lyra had no answer for that.
She kissed his face. "Rest, baby. Save your strength. We'll need it."
The next two days passed in careful planning.
Lyra practiced her Morgan Steele persona until it felt like a second skin. Memorized fake details. Created a believable backstory.
She studied maps of Blackwood land, memorizing layouts, identifying possible escape routes.
Marcus drilled her on pack rules, testing her knowledge.
And Kai... Kai grew worse.
The black lines spread to his chest. His coughs became more frequent. Sometimes he spoke in tongues that shouldn't exist.
Time was running out.
On the second morning, Lyra's fake phone buzzed.
A text from Silas: Tomorrow. Noon. Come alone. Morgan Steele only. No shocks.
She stared at the message.
No shocks.
But she was planning the biggest surprise of all.
Because tomorrow, she wouldn't come alone.
Tomorrow, she'd bring Kai.
The boy Ronan never knew existed.
Her insurance. Her power.
And possibly, her only chance at saving his life.
Marcus found her looking at the phone. "What's wrong?"
"Silas says come alone."
"And you're planning to bring Kai anyway."
"Yes."
"That's dangerous. If they feel what he is—"
"They'll sense something wrong but won't be able to name it. I've been masking his smell. He'll seem human. Harmless." Lyra's eyes hardened. "And by the time they figure it out, I'll have what I need."
"Or you'll both be dead."
"Then you'll take the information I've gathered and find another way." She gave him a folder. "Everything I've learned about the Vault. Locations. Protocols. If I don't make it back, use it."
Marcus took the folder, jaw tight. "I hate this plan."
"Me too. But it's all we have."
That night, Lyra couldn't sleep.
She stood at the window, watching shadows dance in the moonlight.
Tomorrow, she'd walk back into the place that destroyed her.
Tomorrow, she'd face the man who refused her.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
Kai padded up beside her, small and fragile in his jammies.
"Can't sleep either?" she asked.
"The shadows are excited. They say tomorrow is important."
"Do they say if we'll succeed?"
"They say..." Kai frowned, concentrating. "They say the future has many roads. Some lead to light. Some lead to dark. And one leads to something new."
"Which path are we on?"
"The one we choose." He took her hand. "Mama, are you scared?"
Lyra looked down at her son—her wonder, her curse, her entire world.
"Terrified," she revealed. "But I'm doing it anyway."
"That's what brave means, right? Being scared but doing it anyway?"
"Yes, baby. That's exactly what it means."
They stood together in the darkness, watching shadows dance.
Tomorrow would bring solutions.
Tomorrow would bring conflict.
Tomorrow, the Shadow Wolf would step into enemy land.
And nothing would ever be the same.
Morning came too quickly.
Lyra dressed carefully. The Morgan Steele mask felt like armor now. Wig. Contacts. Makeup. Suit.
A stranger in the mirror.
She helped Kai dress—nice clothes, freshly washed. She combed his hair, hiding the similarities to Ronan as much as possible.
Not that it would matter once they saw his eyes.
Marcus watched from the doorway, worried.
"Last chance to change your mind."
"No changing. Only forward." Lyra picked up her bag. "If we're not back by sunset—"
"I know the protocol."
She knelt in front of Kai. "Remember what we talked about?"
"Stay close. Stay quiet. Let you do the talking." He paused. "And if you say 'red bird,' I run to the car no matter what."
"Good boy." She hugged him tight, breathing in his smell. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Mama."
They walked to the car together.
Lyra's hands were steady on the wheel, but her heart raced.
This was it.
The plan she'd built over two days of planning.
Walk in as Morgan Steele. Establish trust. Then, at the right moment, show Kai.
Use the pain. Use the advantage.
Get access to the Vault.
Save her son.
Simple. Impossible.
Necessary.
The Blackwood house rose ahead like a fortress.
Lyra pulled into the parking area, hands holding the wheel.
"Ready?" she asked Kai.
"Ready."
They stepped out together.
And walked toward the door.
Toward the unknown.
Toward whatever came next.
The guards watched them approach, eyes tracking, evaluating.
Lyra held her head high.
Morgan Steele, security consultant, arriving with a family problem.
Nothing suspicious.
Nothing wrong.
Just a working woman and a child.
Shadows flickered at the edges of her view.
The house doors opened.
And Lyra Reed—the Shadow Wolf, the rejected omega, the desperate mother—stepped into enemy territory with her son at her side.
The real game was about to begin.