DARIUS POV
Silas’s voice was calm. Too calm.
“The child exists.”
Nora’s head lifted from my chest so fast I felt her pulse spike.
“He’s real?”
Silas nodded. “Hidden. For now. But not for long.”
We were still at the ridge, the fire crackling low between us. Reya slept inside the tent, weak from the offering she’d made. And now this—another revelation.
Another countdown.
“Why didn’t you tell us before?” I demanded.
Silas met my gaze, that eternal calm not quite masking the storm behind his eyes. “Because revealing him too early would have killed him. And Nora.”
“What does that even mean?”
He looked at Nora now.
“He’s your son, Nora. Or… a version of what your son could be. If the First Alpha succeeds.”
NORA POV
Everything inside me stilled.
“I—I don’t have a son.”
“You don’
