Theo ran.
The night was thick around him, the forest stretching endlessly in every direction. His paws tore into the earth, muscles coiled tight with every bound. The warriors followed, their dark forms weaving like shadows through the trees. But Theo didn’t hear them. Didn’t see them. All he could feel was the mate bond—thin, weak, unnatural. Willow was out there. Somewhere. Alive, but distant. Something was cutting through the bond, muffling it. That was the only reason he wasn’t ripping through the forest, following the connection straight to her. And that was what terrified him the most. They had done something to her. To his mate. Atlas snarled inside him, so violent, so furious, that Theo’s vision blurred with it. His wolf was on the verge of snapping free, no longer willing to be leashed by reason. He needed her. He needed her now. “Hold on, Willow,” he thought fiercely. “I’m coming.” The air was heavy with tension, the warriors silent as they ran. No one questioned their Alpha’s single-minded rage. No one dared. Luka and Darius finally caught up, shifting into their human forms as Theo slowed at the riverbank. “We’ve picked up a trail,” Luka said, panting slightly. “The scent is faint, but it’s there. They covered their tracks well, but not well enough.” Theo shifted, landing hard on two feet. He barely heard Luka’s words, his mind already piecing together a path. His skin was still hot, still itching with the absence of Willow. “They didn’t just take her and run,” Darius added. “They had a plan. A vehicle. Something unnatural is masking their scent.” Theo clenched his jaw. “How far ahead?” Luka’s expression darkened. “Hours. Maybe half a day. But we’ll gain ground.” Theo exhaled through his nose, trying to steady the raw, clawing fury inside him. His hands curled into fists, nails biting into his skin. Think, Theo. Control it. Anger wouldn’t bring her back. Strategy would. He turned, eyes blazing. “Then we run.” They moved fast. The moon was high, spilling silver light across the trees, guiding them forward. The wolves wove through the dark, their movements precise, silent. It wasn’t until Luka fell into step beside him that Theo heard his hesitant voice through the mind-link. “There’s something you need to consider, Alpha.” Theo didn’t slow. “Speak.” Luka hesitated before finally saying, “They weren’t trying to kill her. They were trying to take her alive.” Theo’s chest tightened. “I know.” “But why?” Luka pressed. “What does Willow have that they want?” Theo’s breath was sharp. He didn’t have an answer. “She’s Luna of the Onyx Pack. That alone makes her valuable.” Luka sounded like he was trying to put pieces together. “That note said she was more than she seemed. If she remembers, she’ll be unstoppable.” Theo’s body tensed. His wolf bristled. Atlas was done talking. He wanted blood. Theo shoved him back with everything he had, forcing himself to focus. He knew what Luka was implying. That there was something about Willow they didn’t know. Theo hated that idea. Because Willow was his. His mate. His Luna. He knew her. Didn’t he? A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I don’t care what they think she is.” His voice was sharp, final. “She’s mine.” Luka dipped his head in understanding. “We’ll get her back.” Theo nodded once. “Yes. We will.” And when they did— There would be no mercy. An hour into tracking, Darius stopped abruptly. Theo turned, irritation sparking. “What?” The scout was stiff, his nose in the air. Then, shifting back to human form, he crouched, running his fingers over something in the dirt. A scrap of fabric. Theo’s pulse hammered as he stepped forward. Willow’s scent. It hit him like a force, raw and unmistakable. It was faint, but it was hers. His fingers clenched around the cloth. And then— “Alpha!” Another scout came crashing through the trees. His breathing was ragged, eyes wild. Theo’s body snapped to attention. “What?” The scout held something out. A torn piece of parchment. Theo took it, unfolding it with slow, deliberate movements. The handwriting was rushed, barely legible. But the message? Clear. “The fire-haired one belongs to us now. She will forget you. And when she does, she will destroy you.” The forest was silent. Theo’s breathing slowed. And then— Atlas lost it. A vicious, gut-wrenching snarl tore from Theo’s throat, so powerful that the trees shook. His hands trembled as he crushed the paper in his fist, his mind reeling. What. The. Hell. Theo wasn’t breathing. He wasn’t thinking. All he saw was red. Atlas was too close to the surface, the wolf’s rage and desperation clawing through him. They had taken Willow. They had stolen his mate. Theo’s vision blurred at the edges. His entire body ached with the bond’s absence. Atlas snarled inside him, pacing, demanding blood. Theo let out a slow breath.Theo stood frozen, his breath coming in sharp, uneven pulls. The message burned in his mind, the words seared into his mind like a brand.“The fire-haired one belongs to us now. She will forget you. And when she does, she will destroy you.”The paper crumpled in his fist.The forest was deathly silent.His warriors watched him carefully, their bodies still, their ears perked, waiting for a reaction. Waiting for their Alpha’s next command.But Theo couldn’t speak.He couldn’t breathe.“She will forget you.”The words rattled inside his chest like a cage, tightening, constricting, pressing down until it felt like his ribs might crack under the weight of it.Atlas howled, his anguish ripping through their shared mind like a blade.No.No, she won’t. She can’t.The mate bond was faint, but it was still there.Wasn’t it?He reached for it again, stretching his mind, trying to grasp onto anything.Nothing.A hollow emptiness.Theo’s knees nearly buckled. His hands shook as he squeezed them
Theo barely felt the shift.Atlas exploded forward.But something was different.The change was instantaneous—too fast, too smooth. Even for him.There was no slow breaking of bones, no painful rearranging of his body. Just a pulse of something deep, something raw, something ancient—And then he was running.Faster than he ever had before.Luka and Darius were only a second behind him, shifting into their wolves to follow. But they were slower. Too slow.Because Theo was moving like something else entirely.He didn’t think about it.He couldn’t.His paws slammed into the earth, his breath came in ragged bursts, and Atlas was a storm of fury and agony.He didn’t know where they were going.Didn’t know where the trail would lead.It didn’t matter.They would find someone.And they would make them talk.The scent of a rogue drifted through the trees.Theo veered left without hesitation, his body a shadow in the dark.The rogue never saw him coming.One moment, he was standing there, adju
Willow sat in the cold, damp cell, her back pressed against the stone wall.The air smelled of mildew and blood—her own, she realized distantly. The cuffs around her wrists had bitten into her skin from her earlier attempts to break free. She wasn’t fighting anymore.There was nothing to fight against.Nothing was happening.Just silence.It stretched through the room, thick and suffocating, pressing in from every side.It was the kind of silence that made the world feel distant. Unreal.The kind that made her feel like she didn’t exist at all.The door creaked open.She didn’t flinch.She didn’t even look up.She already knew who it was.It was him. The one who had taken her, the one who watched her like she was a puzzle waiting to be solved.He stepped inside with the same casual confidence, his footsteps slow, deliberate.Willow could hear the faint rustle of his clothing, the controlled cadence of his breathing. He wasn’t in a rush.Because he had already won.She hated that thoug
“Selene.”The moment Willow spoke her true name, the world fractured.She was no longer in the damp, suffocating cell.She was somewhere else.Somewhere she had been before.The air was thick with smoke and ash.The sky burned in shades of gold and crimson.The ground beneath her feet—scorched. Stained red with the blood of the fallen.She stood at the center of a war.Wolves lay slaughtered around her. Some still twitched, some still clung to life, but none would survive.And yet—she felt no fear.Because this was her war.And she was born for it. She was the reason for it. A voice cut through the chaos.“Selene!”She turned—and saw herself.No.Not herself.Her mother.A woman with wild red hair and piercing green eyes, her body covered in blood and battle scars.She was beautiful. She was terrifying.And in her arms—A child.A baby with fire in her veins.The child reached out, grasping at the smoke-filled air.And suddenly—Selene remembered.She was not just a Luna.She was not
He stood in the shadows, watching.He did not pace. He did not fidget.He had waited too long for this moment to betray himself with impatience.The girl—Selene—sat motionless in her cell, her red hair falling over her face, her breathing steady, almost too steady.She was close.He could feel it.The spell had worked.The mate bond had been cut off-not broken, but sealed away, buried beneath layers of magic older than the packs themselves.Without it, she had nothing tying her to this life.Nothing but the past.And now?Now it was only a matter of time before the past consumed her.For so long, she had been lost.Buried under a false name, a false life.A Luna of the Onyx Pack. A mate. A lover. A woman who did not exist.He had watched. He had waited.He had seen the way she laughed, lived, loved.A tragedy.A waste.She was never meant for that life.She was meant for this.For war.For power.For vengeance.She had been forged in fire and blood.And now, at last, she would rememb
He watched her carefully, his expression calm.Too calm.Because he had not yet decided if he had made a mistake.Selene sat motionless, her green eyes burning into him, her wrists raw from the silver cuffs that still held her. The chains dug into her skin, biting with every movement, but she gave no indication of pain. She didn’t flinch, didn’t shift, didn’t try to pull away.And yet—she looked nothing like a prisoner.She looked like a queen waiting for her moment to strike.The dim torchlight flickered across the stone walls, casting shadows that danced in eerie patterns. The room was silent, save for the occasional drip of water from somewhere unseen. But the true silence was between them. A silence thick with unspoken words, with tension stretched so tight it was suffocating.He had expected rage.Expected her to fight, to lash out, to demand answers.But she didn’t.She just watched.And smiled.Not a pleasant smile. Not the kind that spoke of kindness or mercy.No, this was som
The bond snapped back into place like a lightning strike.It wasn’t gentle.It wasn’t slow.It was sudden, violent, all-consuming.One second, Theo was running, his mind clouded with rage and exhaustion, his body raw from the hunt.The next—It hit him.His entire world shattered.The force of it knocked the air from his lungs, his muscles locking up as if he had been struck by something unseen.His foot caught on a root.His body lurched forward.And then he fell.Hard.He hit the forest floor, shifting mid-air, his human form slamming into the dirt.He barely felt the impact.Because all he could feel was her.Willow.The mate bond that had been severed, lost, stolen from him—It was back.It was whole.And it was screaming.His warriors barely had time to react.Luka and Darius skidded to a halt behind him, dirt and leaves flying as they tried not to crash into their Alpha.“Alpha—”Theo couldn’t breathe.He dug his fingers into the ground, gasping.His vision was blurring, flicker
The night wasn’t silent anymore. Theoden could hear his own breathing, his heartbeat, the pounding of his blood in his veins. Everything was louder, sharper—alive in a way it hadn’t been in years. No. Centuries. The memories still pulsed at the edges of his mind—flashes of war, of fire, of Selene’s tears as she reached for him one last time. His past. His truth. It had all been buried. Until now. “Alpha Theo—” Luka started, but Theoden spoke first. “I remember.” His voice was low, calm. But it hit the clearing like thunder. His warriors froze. Luka’s brow furrowed. “Remember what?” Darius, still catching his breath, frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?” Theoden inhaled slowly. Then—he looked them in the eye. “My name is Theoden.” Silence. A heavy, unnatural stillness. Luka took a step back. Darius let out a breath—a disbelieving, almost stunned laugh. “No.” He shook his head, eyes flashing. “No, that’s not possible.” One of the wa
The hall burned. Stone walls that had once echoed with music and laughter now trembled beneath the roar of fire. The floor was slick with blood and ash. Screams echoed in the distance—wolves, warriors, mothers, children. But none of them reached her ears fully. Everything sounded muted. Hollow. Like the air had been sucked from the world. Selene stood in the center of the crumbling hall, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Her dress was torn, her arms streaked with soot and blood—none of it her own. Around her, the air shimmered with heat and something more. A pulse of ancient magic that vibrated in her bones. And in front of her—he stood. Aylexelen. He was not the cloaked shadow she had seen in the forest. He was younger here, though not youthful. Regal, commanding, dressed in deep indigo robes trimmed with silver. His expression was calm. Too calm. Unbothered, even as bodies fell around them. And at his feet, Theoden lay. Deathly still. His blood pooling around him. Selene’
The moon hung low, half-hidden behind drifting clouds, casting pale slivers of light across the forest clearing. The fire had long since died, leaving only the quiet crackle of cooling embers. Theoden slept with one arm draped protectively over Selene’s waist, his breathing deep, steady. Selene stirred faintly beneath the blankets. Her mind drifted between sleep and waking, her body warm beside his. But then— The pain struck. It was sudden. Violent. Blinding. Her eyes flew open, but she couldn’t move. Her chest heaved, her limbs trembling beneath the weight of something she couldn’t see. Every breath was a razor. Every heartbeat sent waves of agony through her body. “Nova?” she screamed into her mind, but Nova didn’t answer. The connection was static—muted. Blocked. Selene’s throat worked, but no sound came out. Her voice had vanished, locked away with the rest of her strength. And then she saw him. Aylexelen. Standing just feet away. One hand extended toward her, glowing wi
The morning came with silence. No birdsong. No wind. Just the soft sound of the stream and the low crackle of coals in the fire pit. Selene stirred first, sitting up slowly. Theoden was already awake, leaning against a nearby rock, his arms crossed and gaze fixed on the woods beyond the clearing.“He’s gone,” he said without looking at her.Selene blinked the sleep from her eyes. “What?”“Aylexelen,” he clarified. “He left sometime during the night. No word. No sound. Just gone.”Selene’s heart stuttered. “Nova?”“I didn’t feel him leave,” the wolf said, her voice taut with unease. “It’s like he vanished.”Selene rose to her feet, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. “He hasn’t done that before.”Theoden shook his head. “No.”They packed up camp quickly, neither speaking much. The absence of Aylexelen was louder than his presence had ever been. Every sound in the forest made Selene tense. Every gust of wind set Atlas growling low inside Theoden’s mind.“He’s hiding something,” Atl
Aylexelen led them through a narrow gorge at the edge of the mountain range. The rock walls rose on either side, casting deep shadows across the forest path. The sky was overcast now, the light dim and pale, as though the world itself was withholding warmth.Selene trailed behind Aylexelen, her steps slow, deliberate. She could feel Nova pacing within her, a constant thrum of tension between her ribs.“He’s watching,” Nova murmured.Selene didn’t have to ask who. She’d seen the way Aylexelen’s eyes lingered too long, not with desire—but with calculation. Like he was measuring her for something.She glanced ahead. “Where are we going?”Aylexelen didn’t turn around. “There’s something I want you to see. Something that may help you understand your power.”Theoden moved up beside her, his voice low. “He mentions your power too often. I don’t like it.”She nodded. “And he never tells us what we’re walking into.”“That’s because he’s not walking into anything,” Atlas growled inside Theoden’
Selene watched the way Aylexelen moved through the forest. Always silent. Always just out of reach. He was neither rushed nor relaxed—simply… present. Like the woods belonged to him. Or maybe he belonged to them. She wasn’t sure which was worse.They walked without speaking for some time, weaving through thick pines and silent stone ridges. The silence wasn’t comforting. It was calculating.Nova stirred. “He doesn’t breathe the same air we do.”Selene didn’t answer right away. “You mean that literally or—““Both,” Nova said. “He feels like a wound the world never healed.”Selene’s throat tightened. “There’s something wrong with him,” she murmured through the mindlink. Theoden glanced at her from a few paces ahead, then slowed to fall in beside her. “Atlas said the same.”Selene looked up. “What did he say?”Theoden’s jaw tensed. “That when Aylexelen is near, the earth quiets. Like even the wild things know not to make a sound.”Aylexelen, as if sensing their thoughts, stopped beside
The morning light filtered through the canopy, soft and golden, but there was no warmth to it. The forest remained still, as if caught in a breath it couldn’t quite release. Selene sat on a fallen tree, her eyes fixed on the embers of their dying fire, her thoughts elsewhere.Nova stirred quietly in the back of her mind, not speaking. Just watching. Selene could feel her unease like a current beneath her skin, constant and restless.“You’re quiet,” Selene finally said.“Because I don’t trust him,” Nova replied. Her voice wasn’t sharp or angry—just deeply unsettled. “There’s something hollow in him, Selene. Something missing. Hollow. It’s not just a name.”Selene glanced toward the edge of the trees where Aylexelen stood, unmoving. He didn’t pace or fidget. He simply waited, like the forest itself. Still. Silent. Unreadable.“Do you think he’s lying?” she asked.Nova didn’t hesitate. “Not with his words. But he’s hiding something. His truth is only part of the story.”Selene swallowed
The morning mist clung to the trees, soft and low, as if the forest itself was reluctant to wake. Selene stood near the marked tree, her fingers hovering just above the freshly carved name. The bark was still raw. Still wet. Someone had been here, not hours ago, but minutes.Theoden stood behind her, tense and silent. His eyes were fixed on the woods beyond the tree line, his body wound tight with something more than suspicion. He didn’t like being watched. He liked being toyed with even less.“He’s close,” Selene murmured, not turning around.“I know.” His voice was low and hard. “He wants us to see this. Wants us to follow.”“Atlas?”“He’s waiting,” the wolf growled. “He’s playing a game and thinks he’s already won it.”Nova stirred in Selene’s mind, sharper than usual. “He knows we’re watching for him. And he doesn’t care.”Selene exhaled, the morning air cool against her skin. “Then let’s stop pretending we don’t see him.”She stepped away from the tree, her power stirring faintly
The trees thickened the deeper they walked, towering evergreens standing like ancient sentinels in the fading light. Each step was deliberate, each breath slow. Theoden walked just ahead of Selene, his eyes scanning the path, his senses stretched far beyond what was visible. Every shift of wind, every creak of branch, every rustle in the underbrush was filtered through the instinct that had kept him alive for centuries—even if he hadn’t known it until recently.“You feel that?” Atlas stirred in his mind, his voice low, wary.Theoden gave the faintest nod. “Yeah. It’s too quiet.”Selene walked beside him now, close enough that her shoulder brushed his. Her expression was unreadable, but Theoden could feel the tension in her limbs, the way her fingers twitched ever so slightly. She was listening too.“Nova?” she asked softly, eyes on the trees.“Something’s not right,” Nova murmured. “It’s like the forest is holding its breath.”Theoden turned his head slightly toward Selene. “We’re not
Theoden felt it in his bones.The power inside him was no longer just a whisper of something ancient—it was awake. Selene lay across from him in the dim light of the cabin, her green eyes bright, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. The air around them pulsed with energy that had been sealed away for centuries. But now, there was no holding it back. And as the power inside him grew, so did hers. Selene shuddered, pressing a hand against her chest. “I feel… different.”Theoden stepped closer, his blue eyes searching hers. “Because you are.”Selene swallowed. “What is this? What are we?”Theoden lifted his hand, and without meaning to, fire flickered between his fingers. It wasn’t normal fire—it was gold, burning with the weight of something more than magic. And Selene—light shimmered over her skin, glowing softly, as if the power inside her had finally decided to take shape. Theoden clenched his jaw. “We’re what we were always meant to be.”But now they knew the truth—t