Chapter 7: Little Wolves Strike Back
847 Words
The war council convened at dawn in whispered voices behind the altar, but this wasn't just strategy—it was wolf blood awakening.
Leo crouched between his siblings, his violet eyes bright with the kind of mischief that made Nova's heart skip. But she could see it now—the way he tilted his head when listening, just like Ethan did. The way Ares's little hands clenched into fists when he was thinking hard. Luna's empathic abilities were growing stronger by the hour.
Her suppressant crash was triggering their dormant wolf genes.
"Mommy looks really sick," Leo whispered, clutching his tablet like a security blanket. "And the scary King man won't let us leave."
"I don't like him," Ares declared, crossing his tiny arms. "He makes Mommy sad."
"He's not all bad," Luna said softly, her gift picking up emotions like a radio tuning into different stations. "He's... confused. And hurt. Like when I broke my favorite toy."
Nova's heart clenched. Even at four, Luna could sense the mate bond's pull.
"We need to help Mommy," Leo said with the serious tone he used when building his elaborate block towers. "But we gotta be really, really careful."
"Like ninjas?" Ares perked up hopefully.
"Better than ninjas. Like... like smart wolves."
---
Twenty minutes later, chaos erupted—but not the kind Nova expected.
The children had somehow managed to hack into the hospital's PA system using Leo's tablet and a maintenance port they'd found behind the vending machine. Instead of calling for backup or staging an elaborate escape, they'd done something far more devastating to Ethan's composure.
They'd started singing.
"🎵 *Twinkle, twinkle, little star, wonder where our Daddy are...* 🎵"
The innocent melody echoed through every speaker in the building, but the lyrics made Ethan freeze in the doorway like he'd been struck by lightning.
"🎵 *Mommy says he's far away, but we think he's here today...* 🎵"
"Oh goddess," Nova breathed, watching Ethan's face cycle through shock, pain, and something that looked dangerously close to hope.
"🎵 *We've been good, we've been strong, waiting for him oh so long...* 🎵"
"Did they just—" Dr. Martinez started.
"Weaponize nursery rhymes? Yes." Nova couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. "They're definitely my children."
The singing stopped, replaced by Leo's voice crackling through the speakers: "Um, Mr. King Sir? We're sorry we called you scary. Mommy taught us not to be mean to people, even if they make her cry."
Ethan's composure finally cracked. He sank into the chair beside Nova's bed, his head in his hands.
"Luna says you're not really mean," Ares's voice chimed in. "Just sad. Like really, really sad. Do you want to share our cookies? Cookies make everything better."
"We saved you the chocolate chip ones," Luna added sweetly. "They're the best kind."
---
The room fell silent except for Ethan's ragged breathing and the steady beep of Nova's monitors.
"Five years," he whispered, his voice broken. "Five years I've been searching for you, and you were raising our children alone."
"They're not—" Nova started, then stopped. The lie wouldn't come. Not with her wolf stirring, not with the mate bond singing in her veins, and definitely not with three pairs of violet eyes watching through the door crack.
"The night you left," Ethan continued, "I tore apart half the pack lands looking for you. I thought... I thought you were dead."
"I had to protect them." Nova's voice was barely a whisper. "My gift—what I can do—there are people who would use them to get to me. Who would hurt them to control me."
"What people?" The Alpha King was back, dangerous and protective. "Give me names, Nova. I'll end this."
Before she could answer, alarms began blaring throughout the hospital. But these weren't emergency alarms—they were security alerts.
Dr. Martinez burst through the door, his face pale. "We have a problem. Someone just tried to breach the pediatric ward. Security cameras caught a woman with blonde hair asking about 'the King's bastards.'"
Nova's blood turned to ice. "Seraphina."
"Who the hell is Seraphina?" Ethan demanded.
"Your ex-fiancée," Nova said bitterly. "The one who made it very clear five years ago that I was just a temporary distraction before you settled down with someone 'appropriate' for an Alpha King."
Ethan's face went white. "Nova, I never—"
"She had photos, Ethan. Of you two together. Wedding venue bookings. A ring." The old pain flared fresh and sharp. "She said you were just amusing yourself with the pack doctor's daughter before doing your duty."
"That manipulative—" Ethan's growl shook the windows. "I broke that engagement the night I met you. She's been trying to claw her way back into power ever since."
"Well, now she knows about the children." Nova struggled to sit up, maternal instinct overriding everything else. "And if she's here—"
The lights flickered once, then went out completely.
In the darkness, three small voices called out in perfect unison:
"Mommy? The bad lady's coming."
- Writer
