Luna’s Lost Bond

~Chapter Seventeen~

Liora saw Eliot in Nyara's arms and immediately understood how to use the moment.

"You’ve had him all along." Her voice cut through the silence.

Nyara turned toward her. Liora stepped forward, face pale with practiced worry. "Eliot was with her. Everyone has been searching for him — Darian, the guards, the entire pack. We were terrified something had happened to him."

"I found him. I was bringing him back."

"Then why were you walking toward away from border with him?"

"Because that's where my house is."

Liora looked at Darian. "She had him all this time."

"I didn't know anyone was looking for him," Nyara said, jaw tight.

"You found the Alpha's son alone and decided to keep him with you?"

"I never said I was keeping him."

"Then why didn't you bring him back immediately?"

Nyara opened her mouth to answer — and Liora reached for Eliot instead. Nyara's arms tightened instinctively around him, and for one brief moment the two women stood facing each other over the boy. Then Liora pulled him free, the movement so sudden that Nyara's hands remained suspended in the empty air after he was gone.

Her chest tightened. Eliot stared at her over Liora's shoulder, his small face guarded but his eyes still on Nyara. She had only held him once before — only once — yet the weight of him had stayed with her long after he'd left her arms. He had fallen asleep against her. For the first time in years, she had held her child.

Now he was gone again.

"I was going to take him back," Nyara said quietly.

"He could have been hurt."

"He wasn't."

"That isn't the point."

"Then what is?"

"You should have informed someone."

"I can't mindlink your pack. I'm not part of this pack — I don't have access. If I had known everyone was searching, I would have brought him back immediately." Nyara looked past Liora, to Darian. "I never intended to keep him."

He hadn't spoken. His eyes stayed fixed on her, and she couldn't read what was behind them — suspicion, certainly, but something else too, something she couldn't name.

"She could have hurt him, Darian," Liora pressed.

“Enough Liora”

Liora's eyes lowered, just slightly. Nyara noticed.

Darian moved toward them, and Eliot reached for him immediately. "Papa."

Darian took him from Liora's arms. For one moment the boy's small hand stayed stretched toward Nyara before falling against his father's chest. She saw it. So did Darian — his expression shifted, just barely — and then he looked at her.

"I'll be watching you."

He turned and walked away with Eliot in his arms. The boy looked back at her over his father's shoulder, and Nyara stayed still until he disappeared from view. Only then did she lower her gaze to her own empty arms, the warmth of him already fading from her skin.

The next morning, Anaya brought Nyara to the training grounds before the rest of the warriors had gathered.

"Are you sure I'm allowed to be here?" Nyara asked. "Darian didn't give permission."

"He doesn't need to give permission for everything I do here," Anaya said, walking ahead. "He disagrees with plenty of things. Doesn't stop me."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"Wasn't meant to."

The first warriors began arriving, and the mood shifted the moment they saw Nyara. One slowed. Another stared. A third muttered something under his breath — she caught only the last word. Outsider.

Anaya heard it too. "Say it louder," she said, and the warrior looked away fast. She turned to face the rest of them. "Nyara will be training with the warriors."

The reaction was immediate — a scatter of "What?" and "She isn't even part of the pack" and "Why is she here?" — until a man near the weapons rack scoffed outright. "She'll get herself killed."

"That's why I'm training," Nyara said.

"You don't even know how to fight."

"No. But that's what I'm here to learn."

Anaya raised her voice over the murmurs. "Anyone with a problem can bring it to me." The field went quiet.

Then Sanael arrived, taking in the scene in one sweep before his eyes settled on Anaya. "Anaya what is the moon goddess’s name is happening here?"

“Why is she here?” He said while indicating to Elair like she wasn’t there

"You brought an untrained outsider onto the warriors' grounds without the Alpha’s permission?"

"Alpha Darian gave me jurisdiction over this ground and the warriors who train here, as the packs Gamma. That's the answer."

"Authority over the grounds doesn't mean you can make decisions affecting the whole pack without consulting him. She has no wolf, no experience, no understanding of how our warriors operate. You can't just put her among them and expect nothing to happen."

"Then she'll learn."

"And if someone gets hurt?"

"Then I'll deal with it."

"You've already made up your mind. Even though Darian hasn't approved it."

"If he wanted to take my authority here away, he could have said so himself."

Sanael's jaw tightened. He turned to Nyara instead. "You shouldn't be here. You don’t have the permission to."

"Leave before the Alpha gets here."

"You don't know anything about me," Nyara said, eyes hardening. "You've not even given me a chance yet you are quick to judge me."

It was the first time she'd openly refused to submit to him, and he noticed — so did Anaya. For a long moment nobody spoke. Then Sanael stepped back.

"Fine. For now." He turned and walked off.

"He's going to tell Darian," Anaya said.

"I know."

"Still want to train?"

"Yes."

Anaya smiled. "Good."

Nyara was terrible.

Sanael realized it within minutes — too slow, too stiff, reacting late to everything. When one of the warriors moved toward her, she tried to block and nearly lost her balance.

"Again," Anaya said.

She tried, and failed, and tried again. A few warriors laughed the second time she stumbled past her opponent entirely; Nyara turned on them sharply. "Again."

This time the warrior's hand caught her shoulder before she could react, and she staggered back.

"Your feet," Anaya said, calm as ever.

"What about them?"

"Wrong position."

"Then tell them where to go."

"They're not going to obey just because you order them to."

"Then they're useless." More laughter. Nyara's face burned. "Again."

She attacked this time — swung too wide — and the warrior caught her wrist and held on.

"Stop fighting the hold," he said.

"How?"

"Use your body."

She twisted; he adjusted his grip; she lost her balance and hit the ground on one knee. The laughter grew louder. Anaya stepped forward. "Enough."

"No." Nyara pushed herself upright, breathing hard. "Again."

The warrior hesitated, then moved. She reacted too late — he struck — and she caught his arm, not with technique, not with skill, just raw grip and a shove.

He flew backward and hit the ground hard.

Silence dropped over the field. Nyara stared at her own hand as the warrior groaned, and several wolves turned toward Sanael. His expression had changed completely. That hadn't been skill. It had been strength — raw, shocking strength that the weak, wolfless Elair he remembered had never possessed.

"Are you all right?" Anaya asked, crossing to her.

"I didn't mean to do that."

"I know."

Sanael's eyes stayed fixed on her. "What?" Nyara asked. He said nothing — only reached for the mindlink.

Alpha, You’re needed in the training grounds

What happened?

You’ll see when you get here

Sanael watched her lift her hands again, still staring at them like they belonged to someone else. Because she is not what we thought she was.

Darian arrived soon after. The moment he stepped onto the grounds, every conversation stopped, and the warriors straightened. Nyara turned toward him, and Anaya caught the shift in her expression — not fear. Anger.

"What is going on?" His eyes settled on Nyara.

She opened her mouth. "Anaya—"

"She's here because I brought her," Anaya cut in.

"I didn't ask you." He looked back at Nyara. "Why are you on my training grounds?"

Before she could answer, Anaya spoke again. "Im training her."

"I told you to watch her. Not train her."

Nyara's hands curled at her sides. "Why do you always bring trouble?" Darian said, and the words struck harder than they should have. She had done nothing — Anaya had invited her, she'd struggled through every failed pass without complaint, and now he stood in front of everyone speaking about her like a problem that had followed him into the room.

She stepped forward. "I—"

"Don't." His eyes stayed on Anaya. "I was speaking to her."

Heat rose through Nyara's chest. It was one thing for Darian to distrust her, to question her — it was another to humiliate her in front of every warrior on the field, as if she had no right to even answer for herself.

Anaya moved to stand beside her — not in front, beside — and kept her eyes on Darian. "Alpha, I apologize for not informing you first. But I'd like to discuss this with you privately."

"Why?"

"Because making a scene here is unnecessary."

The silence stretched. Darian looked at Nyara once more; she held his gaze and refused to lower her head. His expression went unreadable, and then he turned and walked away.

"It will be fine," Anaya said.

Nyara gave a short laugh. "Will it?"

"Yes."

"He hates that I'm here."

"He hates many things."

"That isn't comforting."

"Wasn't meant to be." Anaya glanced toward the path where Darian had disappeared, then back. "Stay here."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Her mouth curved. "There. I can be just as irritating as everyone else."

Despite herself, Nyara almost smiled. Anaya turned and followed Darian, leaving her alone as the field slowly came back to life around her — though none of the warriors looked at her quite the same way now, not after watching her send a trained wolf flying across the ground.

Nyara looked down at her own hands. She still didn't know where that strength had come from. She only knew it had first stirred the night Eliot appeared in her dream — the night something inside her had woken up.

And now, watching Darian walk away with Anaya close behind him, she felt that same unfamiliar power shift beneath her skin again.

This time, it didn't feel like strength.

It felt like something waiting.