Isha POV
The moment I stepped out of the car, I knew something was wrong.
The Crescent Moon Pack looked almost exactly as I remembered it.
The enormous stone entrance.
The familiar gardens.
The tall silver gates.
The mountains surrounding the territory.
But there was something different.
The warriors were everywhere.
More than I had ever seen before.
Some stood along the road while others watched the forest beyond the borders.
My eyes narrowed.
"What happened here?"
My father's old Beta assistant, who had come to collect me from the airport, hesitated.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Luna."
I stiffened.
"Don't call me that."
He immediately lowered his head.
"Sorry, Isha."
I looked toward the forest.
There was an uncomfortable heaviness in the air.
Pia suddenly became restless inside me.
Something is here.
"What?"
Vamp scent.
My heart stopped for a moment.
Vamps.
The very creatures I had heard about before leaving the pack.
I hadn't expected to encounter them again.
Before I could ask anything else, the doors of the pack house opened.
My mother-in-law, Luna Divya, stepped outside.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
"Isha..."
She rushed toward me and pulled me into her arms.
I froze.
I hadn't expected that.
She held me tightly.
"You came back."
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I came for my father."
She nodded quickly.
"I know."
Her voice broke.
"He has been waiting for you."
I pulled away.
"How is he?"
"He's weak. But he has been asking for you every day."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Take me to him."
She nodded.
But before we could move, a strange silence fell over the courtyard.
Everyone had stopped talking.
I slowly turned.
And my heart stopped.
Kabir.
He stood at the top of the stone staircase.
Four years.
Four years since I had seen him.
He looked different.
Older.
Harder.
More powerful.
His black hair was shorter than I remembered, and his shoulders seemed broader beneath his dark Alpha coat.
But his eyes...
Those deep blue eyes were exactly the same.
The eyes that had once looked at me with arrogance.
The eyes that had watched me walk away.
Now they were staring at me as if he had just seen a ghost.
Neither of us spoke.
The entire courtyard seemed to disappear.
I couldn't hear the warriors.
I couldn't hear Luna Divya.
I couldn't even hear my own thoughts.
Only my heartbeat.
Pia suddenly became frantic.
Mate.
I clenched my fists.
"Be quiet."
Kabir slowly descended the stairs.
One step.
Then another.
His eyes never left mine.
He stopped several feet away.
"Isha."
Hearing my name in his voice after four years sent an unexpected ache through my chest.
I forced myself to remain calm.
"Alpha Kabir."
His jaw tightened.
Not Kabir.
Not my husband.
Just Alpha Kabir.
A strange sadness flashed across his face.
Then it disappeared.
"I heard you were coming."
"I didn't know I needed your permission."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"You don't."
"Good."
An uncomfortable silence followed.
Luna Divya looked between us nervously.
"You should both—"
"No."
Kabir interrupted.
His voice was unusually firm.
Everyone looked at him.
He stared at me.
"You should go see your father."
I frowned.
"I was planning to."
"Good."
He turned away.
Then suddenly stopped.
His head lifted.
His expression changed.
I noticed it immediately.
His wolf had sensed something.
Kabir looked toward the forest.
So did the other elders.
A cold wind passed through the courtyard.
Then came a distant howl.
Not a wolf.
Something darker.
Something unnatural.
The warriors immediately reached for their weapons.
My skin prickled.
Kabir turned toward the elders.
"Get her inside."
I stared at him.
"What?"
He looked directly at me.
"I said get inside."
I scoffed.
"You don't give me orders anymore."
His expression hardened.
"This isn't about our marriage."
"Then what is it about?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the forest again.
I followed his gaze.
For the briefest moment, I saw two red eyes between the trees.
Then they vanished.
My heart raced.
Kabir stepped closer.
"Did you see that?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
His face became pale.
Not frightened.
Worried.
For me.
He immediately turned toward Ryan.
"Double the guards around the house."
Ryan nodded.
"And no one leaves the territory tonight."
I looked at Kabir.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
"Kabir."
His eyes met mine.
There was something in them that I couldn't understand.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
"Just stay inside tonight."
I crossed my arms.
"You've been ignoring me since I arrived, and suddenly you're concerned about where I go?"
His jaw clenched.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
He stepped closer.
His voice dropped.
"I can't."
"Why?"
His eyes briefly moved toward the elders.
Then back to me.
"Because there are things you don't know."
My stomach tightened.
"What things?"
He shook his head.
"Not here."
I stared at him.
"What are you hiding?"
For a moment, Kabir said nothing.
Then his eyes moved toward my neck.
More specifically, toward the place where my old mate mark had once been.
His expression changed.
Almost like he had seen something he wasn't supposed to see.
I instinctively covered my neck.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You were staring."
"I said nothing."
He turned away.
But I noticed his hands were clenched.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Kabir POV
She was back.
I had spent four years imagining this moment.
Sometimes I imagined myself running toward her.
Sometimes I imagined apologizing.
Sometimes I imagined falling to my knees and begging her forgiveness.
But I had never imagined this.
Because the moment I saw her, I knew.
The signs were unmistakable.
The way the vampires were circling our borders.
The way the moon energy had intensified.
The strange reaction of my wolf.
And now her return.
It couldn't be a coincidence.
I looked at her again.
She had changed.
She was stronger.
More confident.
The frightened eighteen-year-old girl I had once dismissed as a weak Omega was gone.
But there was something else.
Something I couldn't explain.
My father had been right to ask about the Moon Heir.
The priest's words from four years ago returned to my mind.
A special marking.
It glows under the moon.
The vampires will be drawn toward its power.
My eyes moved toward Isha.
I couldn't let anyone know.
Not yet.
If the council discovered what I suspected, they would turn her into a political weapon.
And if the vampires discovered the truth...
They wouldn't stop until they had her.
I had spent the last year studying ancient scriptures.
I had found fragments of information about the Moon Heir.
Enough to know one thing.
The Moon Heir wasn't simply powerful.
She was the source of a power that could change the balance between every supernatural species in the world.
And if Isha really was the Moon Heir...
Then bringing her back to Crescent Moon had placed a target on her.
I had to protect her.
Even if she hated me.
Even if she never forgave me.
Even if protecting her meant hiding the truth from her.
"Isha."
She turned.
"What?"
I wanted to tell her everything.
Instead, I said the only thing I could.
"Stay away from the forest."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
Her expression immediately hardened.
"You haven't changed."
I looked away.
If only she knew.
I had changed more than she could ever imagine.
I wasn't trying to control her.
I was trying to keep her alive.
And the vampires were getting closer.
Much closer.
From somewhere beyond the trees came another low growl.
My wolf stirred violently.
Protect her.
I clenched my fists.
"I will."
But I didn't say it aloud.
Because Isha was standing only a few feet away.
And she didn't know that the greatest danger surrounding her wasn't the vampires.
It was the secret I was desperately trying to keep from the entire world.