CHAPTER5
1152 Words
Zirah's POV
"Mama! Mama, watch this!"
Aurelian's voice rang across the training grounds like a bell. Bright and clear and so full of life that it made my chest ache in the best way.
He was sprinting toward me with mud on his knees and leaves tangled in his dark hair. His arms were stretched wide like he was trying to hug the whole world at once.
I knelt just in time to catch him. He crashed into me with all the force a six year old boy could carry and nearly sent us both tumbling into the grass.
"Easy, little moon." I laughed and brushed the dirt from his cheek. "You are going to flatten your poor mama one of these days."
"No I won't. Papa says I have to be gentle with you because you are precious."
My heart squeezed.
Six years.
Six years since Kylan found me bleeding in the rain. Since he swore a blood oath to me and my unborn child. Since my baby stirred in my womb and accepted a man who was not his blood father.
Six years of peace. Of safety. Of learning what it felt like to be valued.
"What did Uncle Kade teach you today?" I asked, tapping his nose.
Aurelian's eyes lit up. They were blue. Deep and piercing. The same shade as...
I pushed the thought away before it could take root.
"He taught me to track by scent." Aurelian dropped to all fours and sniffed the ground dramatically. "I can smell where the deer went this morning. And I can smell Papa too. He is in the forge."
"You have a good nose, sweetheart."
"The best nose," he corrected. Then he crawled back into my lap and curled against me the way he used to when he was small enough to carry with one arm.
"Mama?"
"Yes, my love?"
"Am I really going to be Alpha one day?"
I stroked his hair. He had been asking this more often lately. The other pups were whispering. Asking why his eyes were different. Why his scent didn't match his father's.
"You are," I said softly. "You were born under the blood moon. The Goddess herself marked you."
"But I don't look like Papa."
My hand stilled.
"You look like you. And that is more than enough. Your papa loves you more than anything in this world. You know that."
He nodded. But the doubt stayed in his eyes like a shadow that wouldn't lift.
"There's my boy."
Aurelian's face split into the biggest smile I had ever seen. He launched himself out of my lap and into Kylan's arms. Kylan caught him mid air and swung him around until his laughter echoed off the mountain walls.
"Papa, did you finish the sword?"
"I did. But it is not for you yet."
"I'm ready now."
"You are ready to keep practicing with the wooden ones." Kylan set him down and ruffled his hair. "Patience is part of strength, Aurelian. Remember that."
He pouted but nodded.
Kylan's gaze found mine and the softness in his eyes still made my stomach flutter after all this time. He crossed to me and took my hand. His thumb traced my knuckles slowly.
"You are tired," he murmured.
"I am fine."
"Zirah."
I sighed. He always knew. One look and he could read me like an open page.
"Maybe a little tired," I admitted.
"Go inside. I will bring him in after drills."
I hesitated. Watching Aurelian run back toward the training dummies with his wooden sword raised high. Growing so fast. Too fast.
"He has been asking questions again," I said quietly. "About why he looks different."
Kylan's jaw tightened but his voice stayed gentle. "He is ours. That is the only answer that matters."
His hand slid to my waist and pulled me close. Six years and he had kept every promise. Never touched me without permission. Never raised his voice. Never made me feel small.
I wanted him. I had wanted him for longer than I was willing to admit.
His eyes dropped to my lips for just a moment. Then he stepped back. Always patient. Always waiting for me to be ready.
The snarling started before either of us could speak.
It came from the front gates. Loud. Aggressive. The kind of sound that made every wolf within earshot bare their teeth on instinct.
Kylan was running before I could grab his arm. I followed. My legs carried me faster than they should have because my body already knew something my mind hadn't caught up to yet.
We reached the gates and I froze.
A man was crouching in front of my son. Holding Aurelian's chin between his fingers. Tilting his face upward. Studying his eyes with an expression that made my blood turn to ice.
Lucien.
Beside him stood Maren. One hand resting on her swollen belly. The other gripping a leather satchel. Behind them, Dorian and a dozen Sinclair wolves in formation.
Kylan's claws extended instantly.
"Aurelian. Step away from that man. Now."
My son looked confused. His eyes darting between the stranger holding his face and the father he had known his whole life.
"Kade." My voice came out barely above a whisper. "Take him inside. Please."
Kade appeared from behind us and reached for Aurelian's hand.
"Mom, who is that man? He smells loud. Too loud."
"Inside, baby. Now. Papa and I will be right there."
Lucien released Aurelian's chin slowly. His eyes followed my son until Kade pulled him through the gate and out of sight. Then those eyes lifted to me.
Six years had changed him. His jaw was sharper. His shoulders broader. But the arrogance was still there. Sitting in the curve of his mouth like it had never left.
Then he did something I never expected.
He dropped to his knees.
Every wolf behind him followed. Dorian. The guards. Even Maren, lowering herself carefully with one hand on her stomach.
"Zirah. Please." His voice cracked on my name. "Let me save our son."
The air left my lungs.
"Save him from what?"
Lucien reached into the satchel and pulled out a scroll. Old parchment sealed with the mark of the Elder Council. The highest authority in the werewolf world.
"The Elders received a vision," he said. "Under the triple moons. Blood. A child gasping for air. A crown splitting in half."
Kylan stepped forward until his shadow swallowed Lucien whole.
"Get to the point, nephew."
Lucien looked up at him. Then back at me. His eyes were red rimmed and hollow in a way I had never seen before.
"Aurelian's bloodline is tearing itself apart. Competing claims. Conflicting imprints. The Elders say if the heir is not verified before the next Blood Moon..."
He stopped. Swallowed. Forced the words out like they were cutting his throat on the way up.
"Zirah, our son is dying."
- Writer
