When I opened my eyes, an aching hollowness struck me immediately—Caia was no longer there.
I didn't stop to think. My feet hit the ground before my mind caught up, my wolf rising within me like a storm unleashed. Every instinct I had screamed for blood. I was ready to tear down the walls of the Blood Moon Pack, to obliterate anyone who dared touch my daughter.
But Kael stood in my way.
Without hesitation, I struck him. The sound of the slap echoed between us, my trembling hand falling back to my side. My vision was clouded by tears as I stared at him with a fury only a mother could know.
"You let them take her," I hissed, my voice cracking with disbelief. "How dare you do that to your own flesh and blood?"
He barely reacted. A slow breath left his lungs as he rubbed the stinging side of his face.
"Lyra, please. Just hear me out—"
"'Hear you out?'" I interrupted, my tone rising with anguish. "You traded our child away in silence, and now you want me to listen?"
His eyes lowered. "I did it for the good of the pack. We’re at risk."
My hands clenched. "So that makes it right? What about the offer they made for Celeste's kid?"
His expression hardened. "You’re suggesting I should have handed him over instead? He’s only a child too, Lyra."
I let out a cold, disbelieving laugh that cracked in my throat. "But so is Caia. She's barely out of infancy. Or is it just easier to let go of my child because the other one belongs to her?"
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
Celeste.
She had always been the shadow between us. Kael’s childhood companion, his supposed mate-to-be—until she vanished from all our lives for five years and returned with a child no one could claim.
I was the one who picked up Kael’s broken pieces when she left. I believed he’d put her behind him.
But clearly, I was wrong.
"It’s not what you think," he muttered.
"Then explain it," I said through clenched teeth. "Tell me why you didn’t protect our daughter. Tell me why you didn’t offer her son, whose father remains a mystery."
Kael’s eyes snapped up, anger flickering in them. "You don’t speak about him like that."
My voice came out flat, drained of emotion. "You're unbelievable."
The fury simmering inside me solidified into something cold and dangerous.
"I'm going to bring Caia back."
His face twisted in alarm. "Don’t be foolish, Lyra. We have peace here. We’ve finally established a home. Don’t ruin that because of your emotions."
I stared him down, my voice frigid. "What good is a home if my child’s not in it?"
I walked away, not once looking back.
I knew where to go.
The weaponsmith lived on the outskirts, an old wolf whose hands had seen war. He didn’t ask why I came, only studied my face with knowing eyes.
“I need a sword,” I told him.
He gave one nod. “Come back at nightfall. It’ll be ready.”
I turned around and made my way through the woods, heading back toward the den to gather what I needed. I cut through the path near Celeste’s dwelling. That’s when I heard it.
Sounds drifted through the half-closed window—soft, rhythmic, unmistakable. My body tensed. I recognized the noises, the breathless moans that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
I stood frozen.
Then came the voices.
“It’s alright, everything will work out,” Celeste said, her tone syrupy and confident.
“I hope you’re right,” Kael replied.
The air left my lungs.
“My brother’s unstable,” Celeste went on, “but this mess isn’t his fault.”
“I know,” Kael answered quietly.
Celeste cooed sympathetically. “Poor Lyra. It must be devastating, losing her little girl.”
“She’ll understand,” Kael said, as if none of this mattered. “She won’t act out. She never does.”
“She always had a dramatic streak,” Celeste said with a laugh that made my stomach churn. “You saw her earlier.”
“She’s just emotional,” he replied. “She’ll move on.”
Move on?
My entire body burned with rage, my wolf clawing at my insides. How dare he? How dare they sit there and speak so casually, as if I would simply roll over and forget?
Then Celeste’s voice turned quiet, almost tender. “It’s alright. We still have our son. I’ll raise him to be just like you.”
Son.
The word hit like a dagger. Something inside me shattered.
Celeste’s child… wasn’t just hers.
He was Kael’s too.
All the pieces snapped into place—his protectiveness, his refusal to include the boy in any bargain, his constant defense. He hadn’t spared Caia to protect Celeste’s son.
He had spared his son.
He hadn’t just betrayed me tonight. He had been betraying me for years.
