The Girl Who Came Back
Three years ago, I left Blackwood Pack with nothing but a broken heart and one promise.
I would never return.
Tonight, I broke that promise.
Rain hammered against the windows of the black SUV as I stared through the glass at the enormous gates ahead.
BLACKWOOD PACK.
The silver letters were exactly where I remembered them.
So was the pain.
“Are you sure?” my driver asked.
I looked down at the envelope resting on my lap.
Inside was a single invitation.
THE ALPHA SUCCESSION CEREMONY.
My name wasn’t supposed to be on it.
Yet there it was.
Liana Vale.
I folded the invitation.
“Drive in.”
The gates opened.
The moment the SUV crossed the boundary, something inside me changed.
The air felt heavier.
Familiar.
Dangerous.
My wolf stirred for the first time in months.
He’s here.
I clenched my jaw.
“I know.”
The SUV stopped in front of the pack house.
Hundreds of people stood outside.
Music filled the courtyard. Torches burned along the stone path. Everyone was dressed for the ceremony.
Nobody noticed me at first.
Then I stepped out.
Silence spread through the crowd.
One person whispered my name.
Another gasped.
And suddenly, everyone remembered.
The weak girl.
The rejected girl.
The girl who had been humiliated in front of the entire pack.
Three years ago, Alpha Kael Blackwood had stood before these same people and rejected me.
I could still remember his words.
“You are not worthy of standing beside me.”
I had cried that night.
I wouldn’t cry tonight.
I adjusted my coat and walked toward the entrance.
Then the crowd parted.
And there he was.
Kael.
Three years had changed him.
He stood at the top of the marble staircase wearing the ceremonial black uniform of the Alpha.
Everyone bowed.
Everyone except me.
His eyes found mine.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then his expression changed.
Shock.
Recognition.
Something I couldn’t identify.
“Liana?”
His voice was lower than I remembered.
I smiled politely.
“Alpha Kael.”
A murmur swept through the crowd.
He descended the stairs.
“You came back.”
“I was invited.”
“I didn’t invite you.”
“I know.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Then why are you here?”
I stepped closer.
“To watch you become Alpha.”
His jaw tightened.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“That’s interesting.”
I pulled the invitation from my pocket.
“Because whoever sent this seemed to disagree.”
His gaze dropped to the paper.
For the first time, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Before he could say anything, a voice interrupted us.
“Alpha.”
An elderly councilman hurried toward Kael.
“There has been a development.”
Kael turned.
“What?”
The councilman looked at me.
His face went pale.
“The council received the results.”
Kael’s expression hardened.
“Results of what?”
The old man swallowed.
“The bloodline examination.”
My heart stopped.
Kael looked at him sharply.
“You said the examination was scheduled for tomorrow.”
“It was.”
“Then why do you have the results now?”
The councilman didn’t answer.
He looked at me.
Then at Kael.
And whispered:
“Because we tested someone else.”
Everyone went silent.
Kael’s eyes slowly returned to mine.
“Who?”
The councilman opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, a scream came from inside the pack house.
Everyone turned.
A young guard came running down the stairs.
“Alpha!”
“What happened?”
“The ceremony hall—”
He stopped when he saw me.
His face became terrified.
“She’s here.”
Kael stepped toward him.
“Who?”
The guard pointed directly at me.
“Her.”
My stomach twisted.
Kael’s expression changed.
“What did you find?”
The guard’s voice shook.
“The old records.”
Kael went completely still.
“What records?”
“The ones about the missing Luna.”
Nobody moved.
The guard continued.
“They were hidden beneath the ceremony hall.”
Kael looked at me.
“And?”
The guard swallowed.
“They contain a photograph.”
He reached into his jacket and pulled out an old, damaged picture.
Then he handed it to Kael.
Kael looked down.
His face drained of color.
I couldn’t see the photograph from where I stood.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Kael?”
Slowly, he lifted his eyes toward me.
“You need to leave.”
I laughed quietly.
“After coming all this way?”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
He stepped closer.
His voice dropped.
“Your mother didn’t abandon you.”
My smile disappeared.
Everyone knew my mother had disappeared when I was a child.
Kael looked at the photograph again.
“She was murdered.”
The courtyard erupted in whispers.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“She was.”
“No.”
“And whoever killed her…”
His eyes locked with mine.
“…was a member of this pack.”
My hands went cold.
Then the councilman suddenly shouted.
“Alpha!”
Everyone turned.
The massive doors behind us had opened.
A woman stood in the doorway.
She was old, elegant, and terrifyingly calm.
Kael’s face went pale.
I recognized her immediately.
The woman who had stood beside him the night he rejected me.
His mother.
But she was supposed to be dead.
She looked directly at me.
Then smiled.
“Hello, Liana.”
My heart stopped.
Kael stepped between us.
“Mother…”
She ignored him.
Her eyes remained fixed on mine.
Then she said the words that shattered everything I believed about my past.
“You shouldn’t have come back, because your mother left you a secret—and I know exactly where it is.”
