The Bond That Burns

Back To The Pack

Chapter Two

The city skyline shimmered in the evening light, a wash of gold and silver reflecting off towering glass buildings.

Cameron sat behind his broad mahogany desk, a wall of windows stretching behind him and offering a commanding view of the empire he had built.

Files were stacked neatly on the polished surface, his laptop half-open, though he hadn’t touched it for the past hour.

His gaze lingered on the city lights flickering awake as dusk fell, but his thoughts were elsewhere, heavy, restless.

The door opened without a knock and only one man dared to do that.

“Marcus,” Cameron said without turning, his voice calm, though his jaw tightened at the interruption..

“I thought I told you I needed no disturbances for the rest of the evening.”

Marcus stepped inside, tall, broad-shouldered, his expression grim.

He closed the door quietly and crossed the office with steady strides. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important, Cameron.”

And at his words Cameron finally turned his chair, his piercing gray eyes locking onto Marcus’s face. He studied him for a moment, then leaned back in his seat.

“Important?” His tone was laced with cold detachment. “Is it another business deal? Another merger? Or are you here to remind me—again—that I should ‘visit home’? Because if it’s that, I’m warning you now… don’t start.”

Marcus exhaled, running a hand through his dark hair. “You’ve been gone from Moon Pack for years, Cam. Don’t you ever think of going back? Even if it is just once?”

And immediately he said that Cameron’s gaze hardened instantly. “Don’t say that,” he said sharply, his voice cutting through the air. “Don’t even bring Moon Pack into this office.”

“Cameron—”

“I mean it, Marcus.” Cameron’s tone deepened, heavy with anger buried too long.

“After what they did to me… after how they treated me… you really think I’d step foot in that place again?”

His hand curled into a fist on the desk. “I built this life away from them.

Away from their lies, and their betrayal so there is nothing for me there.”

Marcus stood silently for a moment, watching the raw pain flicker beneath Cameron’s composed surface.

Then he spoke carefully, each word deliberate.

“Your father is sick, Cam.”

And immediately the room fell deathly still.

Cameron’s head lifted slowly, his brows knitting together. “What did you just say?”he asked,

As Marcus’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Your father. Alpha Alderic, he’s… he’s been sick for some time now.”

Cameron rose from his chair so suddenly it screeched against the polished floor.

His voice thundered through the office. “Sick? And you’re telling me this now?”

Marcus held his ground, though the fury radiating off Cameron was nearly suffocating.

“I only just found out myself because your sister called me last night and she said he’s been ill for over two years.”

“Two years?” Cameron’s voice broke, disbelieving, almost wounded. “Two years, Marcus? And no one thought I should know?”

He slammed his fist onto the desk, the sharp crack echoing across the room.

“Why am I just hearing this from you? Why didn’t she tell me?”

Marcus’s gaze dropped for the first time. “She said she couldn’t.

That… that maybe you wouldn’t come back and that it was better if you didn’t know.”

Cameron’s chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.

He pressed a hand against the desk to steady himself, though his knuckles were white from clenching.

“So she just decided for me? She chose to keep this from me? My own sister?”

“I’m sorry, Cam,” Marcus said softly. “I thought you deserved to know, even if it’s late.”

Silence pressed in on them, heavy, suffocating. Cameron turned away, his hands braced against the desk as he stared at the city skyline beyond the glass.

His reflection glared back at him, his jaw tight, eyes dark with a storm he couldn’t contain.

Finally, he straightened, his voice low but firm. “Prepare the car.”

And Marcus blinked at his words. “The car, what for he asked?”

“We’re going back,” Cameron said, already moving around the desk, snatching his coat from the stand.

“Pack whatever I’ll need for the trip. We return tonight.”

“Cameron—”

“I said tonight, Marcus!” Cameron snapped, his voice fierce, commanding. “I won’t waste another second. Not if my father has been sick for two damn years without me knowing.”

Marcus hesitated only a moment before nodding. “I’ll have everything ready.”

******************************

The journey back to Moon Pack stretched through winding country roads under a dark velvet sky.

The city lights had long disappeared behind them, replaced by the wild expanse of forest and rolling hills.

Cameron sat in the back of the sleek black car, silent, his gaze fixed on the shadows rushing past the window.

His mind was a battlefield of memories—some sweet, most bitter.

Beside him, Marcus stole glances, but he knew better than to speak.

As Cameron’s silence was louder than words.

When they finally reached the border gate of Moon Pack, Cameron’s chest tightened despite himself.

The towering wooden structures, carved with the ancient symbols of their kind, loomed like ghosts of the past.

Memories clawed at him—memories of betrayal, of the night everything changed but he forced them down, his face a mask of steel.

The car rolled to a stop before the Half-House, the seat of the Pack’s leadership.

Cameron stepped out, his polished shoes sinking into the earth he had once sworn never to touch again.

The scent of pine and earth hit him, raw and familiar.

And Children’s laughter rang out.

Cameron’s brows furrowed as his gaze swept across the courtyard.

A small group of children chased one another around the Alpha's-House, their voices bright, and unburdened.

And also right in front of the grand steps sat a little boy, building something out of stones and twigs.

Cameron’s voice was low, incredulous. “When did the Alpha's-House turn into a playground?” he questioned obviously annoyed

As Marcus glanced at the children, then back at him. “Well times have changed.” he replied

And before Cameron could reply, a woman emerged from the side path, a pack member carrying a basket of herbs.

And she froze when she saw him, her eyes widening in disbelief.

“Fo—Forgive me,” she stammered, her hands trembling as the basket nearly slipped. “

As she bowed deeply, her voice almost breathless.

“I must inform the Alpha and the Luna immediately of your arrival—”

“No,” Cameron interrupted sharply, his tone brooking no argument. “There’s no need for announcements i will see my father myself.”

And the woman straightened slowly, her eyes shining as though she fought a smile.

Then she lowered her head again in respect, murmuring, “As you wish, Alpha.”

Cameron turned toward the House steps, his chest heavy with a thousand emotions he couldn’t name.

His hand flexed at his side, his strides steady.

Then, a small voice stopped him with a question he would never have expected,

“Are you… my father?”

And Cameron froze.

As he turned slowly, his eyes falling on the little boy with dark curls and wide, innocent eyes staring up at him.

The child had left his playthings and now stood only a few steps away, his small hands clenched nervously at his sides.

Cameron’s heart skipped a beat, confusion and shock rippling through him like a blade to the chest.

The boy looked up at him again, his voice softer but no less certain before asking again, "Are you my father?”