Chapter 5

Aurenya’s POV

The night was too quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. I sat by the small fire in the cabin, washing the last of the dishes, when the first sound came. Low. Deep. A growl that rolled through the dark like thunder crawling across the sky. My blood went cold.

I knew that sound.

I dropped the plate into the water, hands shaking, and reached for the silver dagger hidden beneath the counter. Its handle was worn smooth from the times I had held it, nights when I thought they might come, nights when I told myself I was only being paranoid. But this time… this time I knew.

They were here.

The air outside shifted, heavy with the scent of wolf musk and earth. My heart slammed against my ribs as I moved toward the window. The moonlight bled through the trees, silvering the forest line. And there eyes. Dozens of them, glowing faint yellow, circling.

I whispered a prayer under my breath, though I no longer knew if the Goddess ever listened. “Not tonight. Please, not my girls.”

I ran to their room. Lyssara and Arinya were curled together, asleep, their breaths soft and even. For a moment, I only stood there, staring at their small faces, the curve of their cheeks, the rise and fall of their chests. My reason for everything. My reason for running, for hiding, for bleeding my hands raw just to survive.

Another growl shook the walls. Closer.

I clenched the dagger tighter. My voice broke as I whispered to them, “Stay here. Don’t move until I call for you.”

Arinya stirred, eyes blinking open, sharp and restless like always. “Mama….?”

“Quiet,” I hissed, kissing her forehead. “Do as I say.”

Her mouth pressed into a thin line, but she nodded. Lyssara only sighed in her sleep, curling deeper into the blanket.

I pulled the door shut, heart in my throat, and stepped into the main room.

The knocking didn’t come like a neighbor’s hand. No —“it was claws. Long, heavy, dragging down the wood. Scratching. Claiming. The sound cut through me like a blade.

I swallowed the terror and called out, “Who’s there?”

For a moment, silence. Then a voice deep, rough, steady. A voice I hadn’t heard in years but one that lived in every shadow of my memory.

“Aurenya.”

The dagger trembled in my grip. Kaelor.

I backed toward the fire, the orange glow painting the walls in trembling light. “Go away. Leave us.”

Another voice answered, this one sharp, wild, anger simmering beneath every syllable. “We’ve hunted long enough, little wolf. You don’t get to vanish.”

Rhydan.

And then the last, cold and precise, every word like steel. “Open the door, Aurenya. We will not harm you. We only want what is ours.”

Draven.

My knees almost gave out. My vision swam with old memories firelight, their hands, their voices whispering promises that had burned like honey and ash in my veins. That reckless night that changed my life. That cursed night that gave me my daughters and chained me to danger.

I sucked in a ragged breath. “You have no claim here.”

The door shook. Not from claws this time, but from fists. Kaelor’s voice cut through. “Why did you run?”

Rhydan’s snarl followed. “Why hide what belongs to us?”

My chest heaved. Rage flared through the terror, and I spat back, “Because you’re no different than Ironclaw. Power-hungry. Dangerous. You would have destroyed me. And them.”

The silence that followed was worse than the noise. I could feel them listening. Their breaths, their weight against the walls, the heat of their presence pressing in on me.

My grip on the dagger ached, but I held on as if it were the only anchor keeping me upright.

And then… a memory hit me so hard I almost doubled over.

The night after my daughters were born. Blood still staining my skin, exhaustion crushing every bone. But I looked at them, so small, their cries like thin threads in the dark. I laid my hand on their tiny chests and swore, with every shred of my broken soul, that no one would touch them. No Alpha. No pack. No curse of blood. They would be mine to protect. Mine alone.

I shook my head, tearing myself back to the present. “I’ll die before I let you take them.”

A shadow passed the window. Rhydan’s growl rumbled low. “Then you’ll die fighting me.”

But before he could say more, another sound cut through the room. The creak of a door opening behind me.

“No,” I breathed, spinning around.

Arinya stood there, chin lifted, fists clenched at her sides. My wild child. My fire. Her eyes glared at the men outside with a defiance that chilled me.

“Leave my mama alone,” she shouted, stepping into the room. “If you touch her, you’ll answer to me.”

“Arinya!” I hissed, grabbing her arm. But she shook me off, her small body trembling with anger and something else…. something older. Something wolf.

And then Lyssara appeared too, slow and dreamlike, her hair messy from sleep, her eyes half-lidded. She didn’t speak at first, just walked barefoot to the firelight. Her little hands clutched the blanket she dragged behind her.

When she finally opened her mouth, the words weren’t hers. They were too deep, too heavy, too old.

“The blood moon breaks the chains. Shadow and light will rise. Children of the lost shall open the path.”

The room froze. Even the growls outside stopped.

I stared at her, throat closing. “Lyssara…”

Kaelor’s voice came again, hoarse this time. “The prophecy.”

Rhydan cursed under his breath.

Draven’s words were almost a whisper, but I heard them clear as if he stood beside me. “The prophecy is true. She’s the one.”

My heart pounded so hard I thought it might break my ribs. My daughters stood there, fragile and fierce, caught in the gaze of three men who had once broken me and now threatened to break everything else.

I pulled them close, dagger raised, tears stinging my eyes. “You’ll never have them. Never.

But deep inside, I knew nothing would ever be the same again.