LOGINKharl POV“Celeste?”The name left my lips slowly, but the moment I said it—Something shifted.Not in front of me.Not in the garden.But inside my head.A memory I hadn’t touched in years stirred, faint at first, like something buried too deep to reach easily. I frowned slightly, leaning back against the bench as I tried to grasp it.“I…” I started, then stopped.Ryder didn’t interrupt.He didn’t push.He just watched me.And that gave the memory space to rise.“I was young,” I said finally. “Four… maybe.”Ryder nodded once.“That sounds about right.”The garden faded from my awareness.And slowly—I was no longer sitting beside him.I was there.A child again.⸻The pack had never looked that bright before.Everything felt bigger when you were small, but that day—it had been more than that. The halls were decorated, the air filled with voices and laughter, people moving around with excitement that even I could feel without fully understanding.“Stay close,” my mother had said, her
Kharl POVThe moment Celeste told us to leave, I didn’t argue.For once, I knew pushing further would only make things worse.Ryan and I stepped out into the hallway in silence, the tension between us still heavy but no longer explosive. Neither of us spoke. There was nothing left to say in that moment that wouldn’t lead us right back to where we had just been.We went in opposite directions without even acknowledging it.That alone said enough.I kept walking until the noise of the hospital faded behind me. The air changed the moment I stepped outside. It was quieter here. Cooler. The faint scent of trees and earth replaced the sterile sharpness of the clinic.I didn’t stop until I reached the garden.It was well-kept. Orderly. Peaceful in a way that felt almost out of place compared to everything that was happening inside me.I dropped onto the nearest bench, leaning forward slightly, my elbows resting on my knees as I stared at the ground.Everything was a mess.Not just complicate
Ryan POVI had been listening long before I stepped in.Not because I wanted to interfere immediately, but because I needed to understand exactly where this was going. There are moments when stepping in too early makes things worse, and moments when waiting too long does the same. What I heard between them was not just an argument. It was five years of silence breaking all at once. Pain, guilt, anger, and something else buried underneath it that neither of them was ready to face yet.But then Kharl said it.He wanted to take the children back to Blood Moon.That was the moment I stopped standing back.I stepped forward fully into the room, no hesitation this time. My presence wasn’t quiet. It wasn’t subtle. I let my aura rise just enough to be felt, not as a threat, but as a warning. A reminder of where he was and whose ground he was standing on.“Enough,” I said.Both of them turned.Celeste looked relieved for half a second before her expression tightened again. Kharl looked at me w
Kharl POVThe call had barely ended before the room changed.Not because anyone moved.Not because anyone spoke.But because something in me had already settled into place, something I could no longer ignore now that I had seen them, now that Blaze had looked at me with his own eyes and asked who I was.They were mine.All three of them.And whatever else had happened between Celeste and me, whatever damage I had done, whatever years had been lost, that truth remained.I turned back toward the room fully, my gaze moving from Blaze in the bed to the door where the twins still stood half inside, half outside, unsure whether they were supposed to stay or leave.Celeste was watching me closely. Ryan too. The air was already tense, already sharpened by everything that had happened in the last hour, but I no longer had the patience to move around the truth carefully.I had spent five years absent from my children’s lives without even knowing it. I had nearly arrived too late to save Blaze.
Kharl POV“Who are you?”The question hung in the air longer than it should have.Blaze’s voice was weak, barely above a whisper, but it carried through the room with a weight that made everything else feel still. Even the steady beeping of the machines seemed quieter, as if the world itself was waiting for an answer.I didn’t move immediately.For the first time since I stepped into that room, I hesitated.Not because I didn’t know what to say.But because I didn’t know how to say it.How do you answer that question when you have already failed the role you are supposed to claim?How do you look at a child—your child—and say I am your father when you were never there to be one?My feet felt heavier than they should have as I took a slow step forward.Then another.Each movement felt deliberate, careful, like I was approaching something fragile that could break if I came too close too quickly.Blaze’s eyes stayed on me.Curious.Confused.Searching.He didn’t know me.Of course he did
Lydia POVSoft music played in the background. The kind that floated through the hall like nothing in the world was wrong.I sat comfortably, a glass of wine in my hand, letting the rich taste settle on my tongue as I leaned back in my chair. Around me, everything looked exactly as it should. Servants moved quietly, the fire burned steadily, and the night felt… calm.Too calm and quiet.But I didn’t mind.Not tonight.Tonight, I was waiting.Waiting for the news that would finally set everything in place.Kharl should have been dead by now.The thought brought a small smile to my lips as I took another sip of wine.It was necessary.That was what I kept telling myself.It wasn’t cruelty.It wasn’t madness.It was survival. If he had forgotten about that witch and loved me as he is supposed too then that wouldn’t have been his fate.If he had reached Golden Sky, everything would have been destroyed. The truth would have come out, and with it, my position, my title, my life as I knew it
Kharl’s POVKharl did not confront Elder Morwen.Not yet.Open defiance would only strengthen the Seer’s hold. Morwen thrived on resistance. On being seen as the immovable pillar between chaos and order. If Kharl challenged him openly, the pack would fracture along belief lines, not loyalty. And be
Kharl’s POVThe former healer did not want to see him.That alone told Kharl everything.The woman lived on the far edge of Blood Moon territory now, tucked away in a modest stone house that smelled of dried herbs and old smoke. She had retired quietly three years earlier, citing age and failing ha
Celeste POVGolden Sky Pack had never looked more alive.Lanterns hung from trees like captured stars, their warm glow reflecting off laughing faces and polished stone. Music drifted through the air, drums and strings blending into a rhythm that felt ancient and comforting. Tables overflowed with f
The fear didn’t arrive loudly.It crept in quietly, slipping past reason and strength and all the careful lessons Ryan had drilled into me. It settled in my chest like a cold memory waking up after years of sleep. Someone was watching my children. Someone was asking questions. Someone was tracing b







