MOONLIGHT REDEMPTION

Chapter Three: Blood and Bonds

Trees lashed along Lila’s windshield, Silver Hollow roads mist-shrouded a lethal maze as she stomped the accelerator. The black SUV glared in her rearview, amber-eyed driver unforgiving.

Her pulse thundered, Mira’s frantic words whirling in her head: They’re stalking the twins! Aria and Finn were at risk, and time dragged like an eternity.

Beside her, Caleb’s alpha energy throbbed, his jaw tight and teeth pale as he pinned himself against the dashboard.

“Hello, Lila,” he snarled, his voice rough and harsh over the sound of the engine. “Tell me who is seeking your children. And why?”

“I don’t know!” She growled, yanking the sled out of the way of a broken limb. It was all but a lie—Damien Voss’s kill-cold stare and amber eyes from the previous night announced his pack—but she could not tell Caleb that, not when he was already accusatory of the twins’ involvement with him.

The mate bond, the cold strand binding her to him, seared with his own proximity, blurring her priorities. She hated it. Hated him.

The SUV grazed their bumper once more, jiggling the car. Lila swore In her breath, her fingers locked around the wheel. “Hold on!” she yelled, cutting across onto a thin side street. The tires screamed, spewing gravel every which way as branches closed in. The SUV kept pace, its engine a growl.

Caleb moved restlessly in his seat, his gaze slicing towards their attacker. “They’re packed,” he said in a low tone. “Not ours. Thorn pack, perhaps. Damien’s wolves.”

Lila’s stomach churned. Mara’s mention of Damien’s spies burned through her brain, combined with the elder’s not-told-to-her secret: Aria and Finn’s moon magic, born of omega-alpha blood, would not only be capable of altering pack hierarchies—or destroying them.

Damien wanted that for himself.

She regarded Caleb, his hazel eyes burning, and knew she could not escape this alone. Not when her twins were at stake.

“Fine,” she growled out through clenched teeth. “You want to assist? Get them off our back.”

Caleb didn’t wait. He rolled down the window, his muscles tightening as his alpha power churned out. “Keep going,” he growled, then leaned out, a low thrum in his chest.

Lila sensed the air ripple, his command pouring over the bond, and for an instant she was out under the moon, his vow ringing in her mind before he annihilated her. She shook the memory off, kept her gaze on the road.

The SUV veered when Caleb's snarl connected, his growl imbued with alpha authority. The driver stumbled, but briefly. A figure leaned out the passenger window, amber eyes aglow, and hurled something—a metal spike that pierced Lila’s back tire.

The car shuddered, skidding toward a ditch.

“Lila!” Caleb shouted, grabbing at the wheel to hold them steady. She struggled for control, her wolf sensibilities crying out, and managed to bring them to a stop against the edge of the trees. The SUV slammed to a halt beside them, doors flying open as three wolves in human form sprang out, their eyes burning with fury.

Lila’s pulse raced. She couldn’t fight them alone, not with Caleb, not without risking the twins. “Stay here,” she said, shoving the door open, but Caleb was already out, his body coiled for battle.

“Like hell,” he growled, stepping in front of her. “You’re not facing them alone.”

The lead wolf, a burly man with a scar across his cheek, smirked. “Hand over the kids, omega. Damien’s got plans for them.”

Lila’s blood ran cold. They knew. She bared her teeth, her omega claws extending. “Touch my kids, and you’re dead.”

The wolves attacked, and pandemonium broke out. Caleb sprinted forward, his alpha power overwhelming as he grabbed the scarred wolf, his fists moving too fast to see. Lila sidestepped a second attacker, her training with Mira in control. She blocked a swipe and caught the wolf’s arm, drawing her claws down it, the blood running. The third wolf weaved around, making for the car, but Lila leaped in front of him, her mother’s instincts superior to any alpha’s.

Back off!” she growled, her voice taking on an unearthly quality, as if the moon herself had spoken.

The wolf froze, his eyes going wide, and Lila felt a thrum in her chest—her omega powers, lying dormant all these years, stirring. But the moment was lost, and the wolf advanced. Caleb caught him, slamming him into a tree with a revolting crunch.

The wounded wolf recovered, nipping Caleb’s back, but Lila was quicker. She brought him down, claws sank into his shoulder. “Where are my children?” she snarled, rage shaking her voice.

He laughed, foam of blood in his mouth. “Too late, omega. Damien’s already got them in sight.”.

Caleb pulled the wolf up, his own eyes aglow. “Where is Voss?” he bellowed, but the wolf only smiled and went limp, a bitter smell of cyanide capsule emanating from his lips. The other two dropped too, one unconscious, the other moaning. Lila’s hopes were gone. They’d learn nothing here.

“We have to go to Mira’s,” she said, running towards the car. The tire was flat, but she didn’t mind. She’d walk if she had to. Caleb walked behind, his face grim.

“Lila,” he said as they arrived, his voice softer now. “Those children… they’re mine, aren’t they?”