His Broken Luna

Chapter 3: Return to the Pack

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The road back to the pack was both familiar and foreign.

I drove through the winding mountain paths with white-knuckled hands, my heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped bird. The old truck Margie had helped me buy rattled with every bump, its engine groaning as it climbed the steep terrain. In the back seat, Aria lay curled beneath a thin blanket, her small face pale and glistening with sweat.

She was getting worse.

The fever had raged for five days now. The human doctors had done everything they could, but nothing worked. They had no explanation, no diagnosis, no hope to offer. And as I watched my daughter slipping away before my eyes, I had felt the truth deep in my bones.

This wasn't a human illness.

This was something else.

Something that only the Alpha bloodline could heal.

I swallowed hard and glanced at the rearview mirror, my gaze lingering on Aria's sleeping form. Her breathing was shallow, each inhale a soft wheeze that made my chest tighten with fear.

"Hold on, baby," I whispered. "Mama's going to fix this. I promise."

The truck jolted over another pothole, and Aria stirred slightly but didn't wake. I forced my eyes back to the road and pressed on.

---

The pack's territory was exactly as I remembered it.

Tall iron gates guarded the entrance, their dark metal gleaming in the afternoon sun. The symbol of the pack—a crescent moon with a wolf's head in the center—was etched into the gate, a constant reminder of the world I had escaped five years ago.

A world I had never thought I would return to.

Two guards stood on either side of the gate, their muscular forms blocking the path. As my truck approached, their eyes narrowed with suspicion. They probably didn't recognize me at first. I had changed so much since they last saw me. My hair was shorter now, my body leaner from years of hard work, and the softness in my face had been replaced by something harder.

But when I rolled down the window and met their gaze, I saw the shock ripple through them.

"L-Luna Layla?" one of them stammered.

I almost corrected him.

I wasn't their Luna anymore.

But I didn't have time for titles or explanations. Not when my daughter was dying in the back seat.

"I need to speak to Alpha Kade," I said, my voice steady despite the turmoil inside me. "Now."

The guards exchanged worried glances.

"Alpha Kade is in a meeting—"

"I don't care," I cut him off. "Tell him Layla is here. Tell him it's urgent."

The guard hesitated for only a moment before nodding and reaching for his radio. I watched as he spoke into it, his words too muffled for me to hear. Then he turned back to me.

"You can enter. But the Alpha will meet you at the packhouse entrance."

I nodded and pressed my foot on the gas.

---

The drive through the territory felt like walking through a ghost.

Everywhere I looked, memories haunted me.

The training grounds where Kade and I used to spar, laughing as we tumbled in the dirt. The garden where he had first told me he loved me, his voice soft and earnest. The small cottage on the edge of the woods where we had dreamed of raising our children.

It had all been a lie.

Or maybe it hadn't. Maybe he had loved me once. Maybe the Moon Goddess had truly blessed us. But it didn't matter anymore. The past was dead, buried beneath years of pain and betrayal.

I forced myself to focus on the present.

Aria needed me.

And I would do whatever it took to save her.

When I finally reached the packhouse, I parked the truck and sat there for a long moment, gathering my courage. The building loomed before me, just as grand and intimidating as I remembered. Stone walls, tall windows, and a heavy wooden door that had once felt like home.

Now it felt like a cage.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the truck.

The air was thick with the scent of pine and earth, and beneath it all, I caught something that made my heart lurch.

Him.

Kade.

His scent hit me like a wave, flooding my senses and stirring my wolf from her slumber. She whimpered softly, a mix of longing and pain. We had tried so hard to forget him, to bury every memory in the deepest part of our soul. But his presence was a reminder that some bonds never truly break.

I forced my wolf down and opened the back door of the truck.

"Come on, sweetheart," I murmured, carefully lifting Aria into my arms. She was light as a feather, her small body burning with fever. "We're here."

She stirred and blinked up at me with glazed eyes. "Mama?"

"Shh, it's okay. Just rest."

I wrapped the blanket tighter around her and turned toward the packhouse.

That's when I saw him.

Kade stood in the open doorway, his massive frame blocking the light from inside. He looked older than I remembered, with faint lines around his eyes and a shadow of stubble along his jaw. His dark hair was longer, falling messily across his forehead, and his grey eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my chest tighten.

"Layla."

The sound of his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

I had imagined this moment a thousand times. I had rehearsed what I would say, how I would act, how I would look him in the eye without falling apart. But now that he was standing in front of me, all those rehearsals felt meaningless.

"Kade," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

His gaze dropped to Aria, and I saw confusion flicker across his face. "Who is that?"

I held his stare and answered without hesitation. "My daughter."

The words hung in the air between us like a challenge.

His eyes widened. "You have a child?"

"Yes."

Something shifted in his expression. Something I couldn't quite read. Surprise? Hurt? Jealousy? It disappeared too quickly for me to tell.

"Why are you here, Layla?" he asked, his voice guarded.

I took a step closer, still holding Aria tightly. "Because my daughter is dying, and you're the only one who can save her."

---

He led us inside without another word.

The packhouse was just as I remembered it—grand and elegant, with high ceilings and polished floors. But it felt different now. Colder. Emptier. The warmth I had once felt here was gone, replaced by a hollow silence that made my skin crawl.

Kade brought us to a private sitting room and gestured for me to lay Aria on the sofa. I did so carefully, brushing her damp hair away from her face. She was still burning up, her small body trembling under the blanket.

"Tell me what's going on," Kade said, his voice low and controlled.

I took a deep breath. "She's been sick for almost a week. The human doctors don't know what's wrong. They say her body is shutting down, but they can't figure out why."

"And you think I can help?"

I met his gaze. "I think this isn't a human illness. I think it's something tied to the bloodline."

His brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

I hesitated.

This was the moment I had been dreading. The moment I would have to confess the truth I had kept hidden for five years. But there was no turning back now. Aria's life depended on it.

"Because," I said slowly, "she's your daughter, Kade."

The room went deathly still.

Kade stared at me, his face unreadable. The air between us crackled with tension, heavy and suffocating. I could feel my wolf shrinking back, bracing for the storm that was about to come.

"What did you just say?"

I lifted my chin, refusing to show weakness. "Aria is your daughter. I was pregnant when you rejected me. I never told you because I knew you would choose your new mate and I couldn't bear the thought of you taking my child away from me."

His hands clenched at his sides. "Five years," he said, his voice shaking with barely contained emotion. "You kept my child from me for five years?"

"I kept her safe," I shot back, my voice rising. "You made your choice that night, Kade. You chose Selene. You chose a stranger over me. What was I supposed to do? Beg you to love me? Raise our child while you played house with your new Luna?"

He flinched as if I had struck him.

For a long, agonizing moment, neither of us spoke.

Then, slowly, he turned and walked toward the window, his back to me.

"You should have told me," he said quietly.

"Would it have changed anything?"

He didn't answer.

And that silence told me everything I needed to know.

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### End of Chapter 3

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