Sera's POV
The suitcase hit the floor with a thud that made my assistant Maya jump.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Maya asked for the tenth time. She paced back and forth across my bedroom, wringing her hands. "Sera, going back to Shadowpine Pack is dangerous. What if Darius tries to take Kai?"
I folded another shirt and placed it carefully in the suitcase. "Then he'll have to go through me first."
"That's what I'm afraid of!" Maya stopped pacing and grabbed my shoulders. "You're strong, but he's an Alpha. He has an entire pack behind him. What do you have?"
I met her eyes steadily. "I have something he'll never understand. I have a reason to fight."
Maya's grip loosened. We'd been friends since I fled Shadowpine three years ago, seven months pregnant and terrified. She'd found me crying in a bus station and took me home without asking questions. She was the closest thing to family I had now.
"I just don't want you to get hurt again," she whispered.
"I won't." I pulled away gently and continued packing. "I'm not that scared girl anymore. I'm a mother. And Darius has no idea what's coming for him."
A soft cry came from the nursery next door. Kai was awake.
I left Maya with the suitcase and hurried to my son. He stood in his crib, his little hands gripping the rail. When he saw me, his face lit up with the most beautiful smile.
"Mama!" He reached for me.
My heart melted like it did every single time. I scooped him up and held him close, breathing in his baby scent. He was everything good in my life. Everything worth fighting for.
"Hey, my little warrior," I murmured against his soft hair. "Ready for an adventure?"
Kai babbled happily and grabbed my nose. He had no idea we were going back to the place that nearly destroyed me. The place where his father didn't even know he existed.
Would Darius recognize himself in Kai's features? Would he see his own grey eyes staring back at him? Would he care?
I pushed those thoughts away. It didn't matter. I wasn't going back for Darius. I was going back because Luna Margaret had sent me a letter last week. A letter that changed everything.
Sera, you must come home. Darius is dying. The pack is falling apart. Only you can save them. I know it's not fair to ask, but please. We need you.
At first, I'd burned the letter. Darius dying? Good. He deserved it after what he did to me. Let his precious Vivian save him.
But then Maya found me crying that night.
"What if Kai asks about his father someday?" she'd asked gently. "What will you tell him? That you let him die when you could have helped?"
She was right. I hated that she was right.
So here I was, packing to return to my nightmare.
"Sera?" Maya appeared in the doorway. "There's someone here to see you."
"Who?" I wasn't expecting visitors.
Maya's face was pale. "He says his name is Beta Thomas. From Shadowpine Pack."
My blood ran cold. I clutched Kai tighter. "How did he find me?"
"I don't know, but he's waiting downstairs. He says it's urgent."
I handed Kai to Maya. "Take him to your room. Lock the door. Don't come out until I say it's safe."
"Sera—"
"Now, Maya!"
She ran with Kai while I went downstairs, my heart pounding. Beta Thomas stood in my living room, looking uncomfortable. He'd aged since I last saw him—more grey in his hair, deeper lines around his eyes.
"Luna Sera," he said, bowing his head slightly.
"Don't call me that. I'm not your Luna." I crossed my arms. "How did you find me?"
"Luna Margaret told me where you were. She said you'd received her letter." He stepped forward. "Please, you have to come back. Alpha Darius is getting worse every day."
"And that's my problem because...?"
"Because you're his mate!" Thomas's voice cracked with desperation. "The pack bond is killing him. When you left, it broke something inside him. He's been slowly dying for three years."
Good, I wanted to say. But the words stuck in my throat.
"He has Vivian," I said instead. "His true mate. Let her heal him."
Thomas shook his head. "That's the thing. We were all wrong. Vivian isn't his true mate. She never was."
The world stopped spinning.
"What?"
"Vivian lied. She used dark magic to fake the mate bond. We only discovered the truth six months ago when a visiting shaman exposed her." Thomas's eyes were pleading now. "You're his true mate, Sera. You always were. And he's dying because you're not there."
My legs felt weak. I sat down heavily on the couch. "That's impossible. I never felt a mate bond with him."
"Because he was blocking it. Using the same magic Vivian gave him. He thought..." Thomas hesitated. "He thought if you didn't feel the bond, you'd be able to leave easier when the three years were up. He was trying to protect you from pain."
My head spun. Nothing made sense. Darius was my true mate? After everything he'd done, everything he'd said?
"Where's Vivian now?" I asked quietly.
"In prison. She's awaiting trial for use of dark magic and fraud." Thomas knelt in front of me. "Please, Luna. Come home. Save him. Save us all."
Before I could answer, Maya screamed upstairs.
I ran faster than I'd ever run in my life. Maya's door was open, hanging off its hinges.
The room was empty.
Maya lay unconscious on the floor.
And Kai was gone.
On the wall, written in red lipstick, was a message:
Come to Shadowpine alone, or you'll never see your son again. -