THANE'S POV I didn’t say a word the whole way back.Not even when Tyla tried to hold my hand. Not even when the warriors fell silent as we passed. Not even when the native healer’s hut door close to my pack's border opened and the stench of herbs hit my nose.My mother's body lay wrapped in a pale cloth soaked with blood.There was no life left in her but I couldn’t bring myself to look away.She was still my mother.And she wasn’t supposed to die…not like that.“I need to clean her up.” the healer said gently. “Prepare her for the burial rites.”“No,” I said.She looked at me in confusion. “Alpha… it’s tradition…”“I said no!” My voice echoed through the room like a crack of thunder.Everyone froze.I turned to the others.“No one touches her..no one burns her…no one digs a grave!!! She’s not going underground like some forgotten pack member…she’s the Luna of this pack…she’s my mother.”Tyla stepped forward. “Thane..she deserves peace..”“She deserves justice!” I snapped, my wo
TYLA'S POV The scream sliced through the night like a dagger as my heart stopped.I turned around, eyes scanning the clearing, but ma'am Sherleen was no longer there.“Ma’am Sherleen?!” I called out, my voice trembling.Nothing.Not even the sound of her footsteps. Only the wind and the faint growls of retreating wolves echoing in the distance.She was gone.“No…no…no..no…this can’t be happening,” I whispered.Thane stood beside me, blood dripping down his arm, eyes still glowing gold. I could tell the moment he realized it too.“She’s not here…” he muttered, his voice low and dangerous.“Someone took her,” I said, backing away slowly. “I smelled it…It wasn’t Hyperion… It was…something else….someone else.”Thane clenched his jaw, his fists curling into tight balls. “They timed it perfectly…while we were distracted.”We had won the fight..but lost something greater.Ma'am Sherleen.The woman who raised Thane with everything she had… was gone again and not just gone but taken.“Wher
THANE'S POV The second Hyperion’s claws connected with my chest, I felt the wind knocked out of me. The impact threw me halfway across the clearing as I crashed against a tree, bark cracking under my weight.Pain exploded through my ribs, but I was already back on my feet.The scent of his magic…it wasn’t just a wolf anymore… It was tainted, mixed with something darker. The stench of death and decay hung around him like armor.“Stand down, Hyperion!” I barked, eyes glowing gold. “This ends now.” I said as he laughed. “You still talk like you're the one in control.”I charged.This time, I didn’t hold back.My claws slashed through the space between us, and I felt them sink into his shoulder. He snarled, but it didn’t slow him down…his arm came down like a hammer, knocking me to the side again.He moved faster than any Alpha I’d fought.Stronger.Not just because he was older but because of what he’d become.I could feel the darkness pulsing in his veins.But I wasn’t that scared
SHERLEEN'S POV I thought I was dreaming.I felt warm hands on my face, soft voices, and something pulling me back from the fog. I tried to speak, but my tongue felt heavy, like it didn’t belong in my mouth anymore.Then I heard it.“Tyla?”Her voice trembled as her hands cupped my face, warm against my frozen skin.I opened my eyes, blinking hard against the moonlight that poured down from above the trees.She was really there.So was Thane.My son.The pain in my body reminded me I wasn’t dreaming. I was still tied to the cursed tree…every part of me ached…my wrists were cut open, my legs weak, and my throat dry from hours, maybe days, of screaming for help that never came.Until now.“You came.” I whispered.My voice barely made a sound.“I always will.” Thane said, and the sound of his voice broke something inside me. He didn’t sound angry…he didn’t sound confused…just… soft.He cut the ropes holding me as my body slumped into his arms like a sack of bones.And I cried.I wasn’
TYLA'S POV The moon was high when we left the pack.The cold air bit at my skin as we rode into the night, but I didn’t care.All I could think about was ma'am Sherleen.She had been kind to me even when Thane couldn’t look at me properly, she saw me. She welcomed me like a daughter, and now she is gone and I could see the rage in Thane’s eyes burning hotter by the minute.He hadn’t said a word since we left the pack...Not one.I rode beside him in silence, trying to calm my own racing heart.Behind us, a group of ten warriors followed…Rico, and a few others. They were the best trackers in the pack..if anyone could follow the faint trail, it was them.We were heading south towards the thickest part of the woods. The scout who brought the news said there were fresh tracks and signs of a carriage but now, after hours of riding, the forest seemed to grow darker and heavier around us.Thane suddenly slowed down.Rico, who was a few steps ahead, raised a fist to signal a stop.I felt a
THANE'S POV “What the fuck do you mean by my Mother is gone??!!" "I’m sorry Alpha, but... your mother... She’s missing.”I froze and for a minute I tried to process what he was saying.“What?”“She hasn’t been seen since early this morning…Her room is empty and one of the maids said she saw her leaving through the back entrance.”I turned slowly to face him.“Are you saying she left the pack grounds?”“It looks that way, Alpha.”Without saying another word, I pushed past him and ran down the hallway without sparing Tyla a glance.The warriors searched the entire pack house, then the training grounds, thenthe garden.Nothing.Her scent led out of the house and toward the woods, but it disappeared near the stream like she just vanished into thin air.“She didn’t even leave a note,” Rico said beside me.“She wouldn’t just walk away like that,” I said through clenched teeth. “Not after what she told me.”“Do you think someone took her?”I didn’t answer.Because I already had a feeling
SHERLEEN'S POV Hours before telling Thane the truth about Hyperion being his Father, I sat in silence long after the Chief Elder left.He said something else to me before leaving."Honestly Sherleen, If Thane does not know the truth soon there will be consequences from the bond he shares with Tyla..it's better he knows now and deals with it and with his Tyrant of a Father."Consequences.I already lived with consequences every day. Every time I looked into Thane’s eyes and saw his father’s strength…not the man who raised him, but the one who destroyed me.Hyperion…my brother-in-law, my nightmare…my sin. The bond between a mother and child is supposed to be sacred but mine was built on secrets… Lies. Fear.I didn’t mean for it to happen but the truth didn’t care what I wanted. And now, it was hunting me like a wolf.The door creaked open.I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.His scent always made my stomach turn.Alpha Hyperion.“You shouldn’t be here,” I said quietly, k
TYLA'S POV My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.I didn’t know what I expected when I left Thane’s room. Maybe he would call me back...maybe he would realize I wasn’t his enemy..but he didn’t. He just let me walk away… again.I walked fast, trying to calm myself. The halls of the pack house felt colder than usual and emptier too. Even the portraits on the walls seemed to stare at me like they knew something I didn’t.I went back to my old room and when I reached, I locked the door behind me. My heart was still racing, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the fight or… something else.“Lyra?” I called out to my wolf. “Are you there?”She was silent.“Lyra, please. Talk to me.”Still nothing.My stomach twisted.I sat on the bed and placed a hand over my chest. I could feel the bond between Thane and me….it was still there but it felt… faint. Like something had pulled it tight and was now slowly cutting it thread by thread.I didn’t want to cry, but my eyes burned anyway. I wiped them q
THANE'S POVThe room felt like it was closing in on me.Tyla had stormed out a minute ago, her scent still lingering like smoke after a fire soft, dangerous, unforgettable. My chest rose and fell with every breath, but no amount of air could cool the fire boiling in my veins.She was right and that infuriated me even more.I slammed my fist into the wall, ignoring the crack across the stone. No one controlled me in my own territory…no one…Not my so-called uncle, not Tyla, and certainly not my mother who had been whispering in corners since Hyperion arrived.They all knew something and I was done being left in the dark.A knock came at the door. Rico, again."Enter," I snapped.He stepped in carefully, avoiding eye contact. "Alpha… your mother has requested an audience with you..She's in her Chamber."I scoffed. "Of course she is.""Should I tell her you're unavailable?"I clenched my jaw, then shook my head. "No. I'll go."Because I needed answers and I was done playing the obed