KIERAN'S POV
"Morgana."
Her name tastes like poison on my tongue. I trusted her. Gave her access to my pack, my home, my private information. And she's been working with Marcus this entire time.
"We need to find her. Now." I'm already moving, pulling on pants that Dante's wolves brought. Every second we waste, Morgana gets further away—with information about Asher, about Luna, about our plans.
Luna clutches Asher tighter, her face pale. "She was in my home. Talking to my son. What if she—" Her voice breaks. "What if she poisoned him? Or put a tracking spell—"
"I feel fine, Mommy," Asher says, his small voice trying to be brave. "The candy tasted normal. Like chocolate."
"We need Dr. Elara," I say immediately. "She's the pack healer. If there's anything wrong with Asher, she'll find it."
"And how do we know SHE'S not working with Marcus too?" Luna demands, her eyes blazing with protective fury. "How do we know ANYONE in your pack isn't compromised?"
She's right. The realization sits like lead in my gut. Marcus was my Beta—my second-in-command, my most trusted advisor. If he could betray me, anyone could.
"Elara delivered me when I was born," I say quietly. "She held my mother's hand when she died. If there's anyone in this pack I can trust, it's her."
"That's what you thought about Marcus."
The words cut deep because they're true. I failed to see the traitor standing right beside me for years. What else have I missed?
Dante clears his throat. "While you two figure out who to trust, maybe we should focus on the immediate problem. Morgana knows about Asher. She knows he's here. That means Marcus knows. Which means—"
"They'll be coming back," Luna finishes, her voice hard. "With more rogues. More weapons. They won't stop until they have either me or Asher."
I look at my son—truly look at him for the first time. He's small for four years old, with Luna's delicate features and my stubborn jaw. His hair is silver-blonde like his mother's, but his eyes... God, his eyes are exactly like mine.
Four years. I've missed four years of his life.
And now Marcus wants to take him from me before I've even had a chance to know him.
"Over my dead body," I growl.
"That can be arranged," a new voice says from the doorway.
We all spin around. Morgana stands there, beautiful and deadly, with a dozen armed rogues behind her. She's wearing a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.
"Hello, Alpha. Miss me?"
My wolf snarls, demanding I rip her throat out. But there are too many rogues, and Asher is right here, watching with terrified eyes.
"Morgana." I keep my voice steady, controlled. "You've made a mistake. Whatever Marcus promised you—"
"Promised me?" She laughs, sharp and bitter. "Marcus didn't promise me anything. I went to HIM. Do you know why, Kieran?"
I don't answer. Just calculate distances, angles, how fast I can shift and attack.
"Because I LOVED you!" Morgana's composure cracks. "For ten years I waited. Did everything you asked. Stood by your side. Proved my loyalty a thousand times. And you never once looked at me the way you looked at HER."
She points at Luna with pure hatred.
"A wolfless nobody from a nothing pack. That's what you chose over me. And when you rejected her, I thought finally—FINALLY—you'd see me. Choose me. But you didn't. You spent five years pining for a woman you threw away, and you STILL didn't see me."
"Morgana, I never led you to believe—"
"You never SAID anything! That was the problem!" She's screaming now, years of obsession pouring out. "You were so busy being the noble Alpha, protecting everyone, sacrificing your happiness, that you never noticed the woman who actually WANTED to stand beside you!"
Luna shifts slightly, putting herself between Morgana and Asher. I see her calculating the same thing I am—how to protect our son if this turns violent.
"So you betrayed me to Marcus," I say, trying to keep Morgana talking while I figure out our options. "Gave him information about my pack, my weaknesses—"
"I gave him YOU," Morgana corrects. "Every secret. Every vulnerability. Every plan. Did you know Marcus is the one who suggested you reject Luna five years ago? He fed you all those fears about enemies targeting your mate. Manipulated you into destroying the one thing that could have made you truly happy."
The revelation hits me like a physical blow. "No. I made that choice. I—"
"You were scared and grieving and twenty-five years old. Marcus saw that and used it." Morgana's smile is cruel. "He planted the seeds, and you watered them with your own paranoia. So really, Kieran, you have no one to blame but yourself for losing her."
The mate bond flares between Luna and me—I feel her shock, her realization that Marcus has been playing the long game for years.
"And now," Morgana continues, "Marcus gets Blackwood Pack. I get the satisfaction of watching you lose everything you love. And that CHILD—" She points at Asher. "—gets to grow up knowing his father chose duty over family. Perfect justice."
"You're insane," Luna says flatly.
"I'm practical." Morgana gestures to her rogues. "Take the boy. Kill anyone who interferes."
The rogues move forward as one.
I shift instantly, my black wolf putting itself between them and Asher. Luna shifts beside me, her silver wolf blazing with protective fury. Dante's wolf—massive and scarred from a hundred fights—appears at our flank.
For the first time in a decade, Blackwood and Volkov wolves fight on the same side.
The battle is chaos. Teeth and claws and blood. I take down three rogues in seconds, my Alpha strength making me faster, stronger, deadlier than any of them.
But there are so many. Too many.
I see Luna surrounded, fighting desperately. See Dante taking wounds to protect Asher. See Cass—barely recovered from her head injury—throwing herself back into the fight with zero hesitation.
We're going to lose.
Then I hear it. A howl from outside—deep, powerful, echoing across the estate.
Dr. Elara's voice cuts through the chaos, strong and commanding despite her age. "Blackwood Pack! Your Alpha is under attack! TO ME!"
The response is immediate. Windows shatter as loyal wolves pour into the room from every direction. They don't hesitate, don't question—just attack the rogues threatening their Alpha.
Marcus didn't turn everyone. Most of my pack is still loyal.
The tide turns instantly. The rogues are outnumbered, outfought, desperate.
Morgana sees it too. "RETREAT!" she screams.
The rogues disengage and flee, leaving their dead behind. Morgana shoots me one last look of pure hatred before disappearing into the darkness.
I shift back to human, breathing hard, covered in blood and wounds that are already healing.
We won. Barely. But we won.
"Asher?" Luna's human voice is frantic. She's shifted back, naked and bleeding but not caring. "Where's Asher?"
My heart stops. In the chaos of the fight, I lost track of—
"I'm here, Mommy!"
The small voice comes from under a table. Asher crawls out, shaking but unharmed. Cass is with him, her body curled protectively around his.
"I protected him," Cass says weakly. "Like you taught me."
Luna sobs in relief, pulling Asher into her arms. I move to join them but stop.
Because I see something that changes everything.
Asher's hand is bleeding. Just a small cut, probably from broken glass. But as I watch, the wound... glows. Faint silver light pulses from it before the cut heals completely in seconds.
Healing that fast isn't normal. Not even for Alpha bloodlines.
"Luna," I say quietly. "Look at his hand."
She does. Goes completely still.
Dante sees it too. "That's True Luna healing. But he's not... he can't be..."
"He's not just my son," I say, realization crashing over me. "He's not just Luna's son. He's something more."
Dr. Elara steps forward, her ancient eyes examining Asher with wonder and fear. "A True Luna and an Alpha Prime's child. Born from a mate bond that never broke, even through rejection. I've only read about this in the oldest texts."
"What is he?" Luna asks, her voice shaking.
Elara's expression is grave. "He's a Sovereign. Born once every thousand years. When he comes of age, he'll have the power to unite or destroy every pack in existence."
The room goes deathly silent.
My four-year-old son—who still believes in bedtime stories and is afraid of the dark—is the most powerful wolf that will ever live.
And Marcus knows it.
"That's why he wants Asher," Dante says slowly. "Not just to hurt you. To use him. To control that power when it manifests."
"Over my dead body," Luna and I say simultaneously.
We look at each other. The mate bond pulses between us—stronger now, fed by our shared determination to protect our child.
"We need to leave," I say. "Tonight. Get Asher somewhere Marcus can never find him."
"Agreed," Luna says.
"I'm coming with you," Dante announces.
Both Luna and I turn to stare at him.
"Why?" I ask suspiciously. "What's in it for you?"
Dante looks at Luna, and I see something in his expression that makes my wolf snarl with jealousy. It's not possessive love or manipulative desire.
It's genuine care.
"Because I've spent four years protecting Luna and Asher," Dante says quietly. "I'm not stopping now just because you showed up. That boy calls me Uncle Dante. He trusts me. And unlike you, Blackwood, I haven't given him any reason not to."
The words sting because they're true.
Luna looks between us—her two Alphas, her mate and her husband, both wanting to protect her and Asher for very different reasons.
"Fine," she says finally. "We all go. But I'm in charge. No Alpha posturing. No dominance games. We do what's best for Asher. Agreed?"
"Agreed," I say immediately.
Dante nods.
Luna takes a breath, looking exhausted and terrified and so damn beautiful it hurts. "Then let's go. Before Marcus—"
The entire estate shudders. An explosion from somewhere below rocks the foundation.
Screams echo from the lower floors.
Dr. Elara's face goes pale. "The armory. They bombed the armory."
Which means Marcus is making his move. Now. While we're wounded and scattered.
Alarms blare. Wolves rush to defend key positions. Chaos erupts again.
And in the middle of it all, a small screen on the wall flickers to life. Marcus's face fills it—he's broadcasting to the entire pack.
"Attention, Blackwood Pack. Your Alpha is a liar. A failure. A wolf who rejected his fated mate and abandoned his own son. I challenge Kieran Blackwood for the position of Alpha. At dawn, we settle this the old way."
A formal challenge. The most sacred law in wolf culture.
If I refuse, I lose the pack without a fight.
If I accept, Marcus will do everything he can to kill me—leaving Luna and Asher unprotected.
"Don't you dare accept that challenge," Luna says, seeing the calculation in my eyes.
"I don't have a choice. Pack law—"
"Screw pack law! He'll kill you!"
"Then I die protecting my pack. That's what Alphas do."
"No." Luna grabs my face, forcing me to look at her. "No. You don't get to martyr yourself and leave me alone again. You don't get to make Asher an orphan. You don't—"
She stops. Her eyes go wide.
"What?" I demand.
"The mate bond," she whispers. "It's... oh God, Kieran, it's completing."
I feel it too. The bond that never fully broke, that's been dormant for five years, suddenly roaring to life with brutal intensity.
The rejection didn't take. Maybe it never took. Maybe the bond was just waiting for us to find our way back to each other.
And now, with our son between us and death at our door, it's happening.
"Luna, I—"
She kisses me.
After five years of separation, hate, and pain, Luna kisses me like she's drowning and I'm air.
The mate bond explodes.
Every wolf in the building feels it—a wave of power that makes them all drop to their knees in submission. The mating bond of a True Luna and an Alpha Prime completing is like a nuclear bomb of supernatural energy.
When we finally break apart, both breathing hard, I see tears streaming down Luna's face.
"I hate you," she whispers. "I hate you so much."
"I know."
"But you're my mate. And if you die tomorrow, I die with you. So you BETTER NOT LOSE."
Before I can respond, Asher tugs on my hand.
"Daddy? Are you and Mommy married now?"
I look at Luna. She looks at me.
"Yeah, little wolf," I say softly. "I think we are."
And that's when Dante drops a bomb of his own.
"Actually, you're not. Because legally, she's still married to me." He holds up his left hand, where his wedding ring glints in the firelight. "And I'm not giving her up without a fight."