Chapter 3 - The Past Returns

ELARA POV

I was wiping mashed carrots off the kitchen counter when the memory hit me. No warning, no build-up. Just Luna asking why she didn't have a daddy like the other pups, and suddenly I was eighteen years old again, standing in Thornwood's ceremony hall wearing a dress that didn't fit right.

The memory dragged me under before I could stop it.

I'd known something was wrong the moment I walked into that hall. The whispers had started immediately, spreading through the crowd like poison. There's the omega. What's she doing here? Why is she dressed for a mating ceremony? The pitying looks from some wolves, the disgusted sneers from others. I'd kept my head down and tried to make myself smaller, the way I always did back then.

Then Kai had walked in, and the bond had snapped into place so hard it stole my breath. Mate. Mine. The word had echoed through my entire body, through the empty space where my wolf should have been. I'd looked up at him with hope I shouldn't have allowed myself to feel. Maybe this would change things. Maybe having a fated mate meant I'd finally matter to someone.

Kai's face had gone pale when he saw me. Not with joy or recognition. With horror. Pure, undiluted horror, like he'd just found out his mate was a rotting corpse. I'd watched him look around the hall, seen him clock his mother's shocked expression, his father's barely concealed disgust. Seen him making a choice in real time.

The hope in my chest had started to curdle into dread.

He'd walked toward me, and I'd held my breath. Waited. Prayed to the Moon Goddess that maybe, just maybe, he'd be different from everyone else who'd treated me like trash my entire life.

"Elara Reed." His voice had been cold. Formal. Like he was reading from a script. "The Moon Goddess has named you as my fated mate."

I'd nodded, not trusting my voice. The bond between us had been singing, pulling me toward him. Mate. Mate. Mate.

"I can't accept this." The words had come out flat and final. "You're weak. Wolfless. An embarrassment to this pack. I won't tie myself to an omega who can't even shift properly. Who would bring nothing but shame to the Alpha bloodline."

Each word had been a knife. I'd stood there bleeding from invisible wounds while the entire pack watched. Some looked uncomfortable. Most looked relieved. His mother had actually smiled.

"Please." The word had slipped out before I could stop it. "Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry." He hadn't sounded sorry at all. "But you have to understand. I have a responsibility to this pack. To my future. I can't fulfill that responsibility with you as my Luna."

Then he'd said the words that would destroy everything.

"I, Alpha Kai Thornwood, reject you, Elara Reed."

The bond had shattered. That's the only way to describe it. Shattered like glass, every piece tearing through me on its way out. I'd grabbed my chest, certain my heart was literally breaking, that I was dying right there in front of everyone. The pain had been so intense I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but collapse to my knees and try not to scream.

But something else had broken too. Something that had been locked down deep inside me my entire life. I'd felt it rising, felt power flooding my veins like liquid fire. My wolf, Aurora, who I'd been told didn't exist. She'd been there all along, buried under years of abuse and suppression. And the rejection had set her free.

Gold light had exploded from my body. I'd felt my eyes change, felt my wolf surge to the surface with a roar that shook the walls. Power had rolled off me in waves, ancient and furious and so strong that wolves had dropped to their knees all around me. Not in respect. In instinctive submission to something bigger and more dangerous than they'd ever encountered.

Through the haze of pain and power, I'd seen Kai's face. He'd looked terrified. They all had. Good. Let them be scared. Let them realize they'd been tormenting something that could rip them apart.

Aurora had wanted blood. Wanted to tear through the pack that had treated us like nothing. But I'd held her back, used every ounce of strength I had to keep control. Because if I'd let her loose, she would have killed them all. Starting with Kai.

Instead, I'd run. Stumbled out of that ceremony hall bleeding and broken, with power crackling under my skin and my wolf howling in agony. The rejection pain had been unbearable, like my soul was being torn apart piece by piece. I'd made it to the forest before I'd collapsed, certain I was going to die right there among the trees.

I should have died. Rejection was supposed to be fatal. But Aurora had kept me alive through sheer stubborn fury. She'd refused to let Kai Thornwood kill us. Refused to give him that satisfaction.

I'd wandered for three days in the woods, half-conscious and delirious with pain. No food, no water, just endless agony and Aurora's rage keeping me moving. On the fourth day, I'd stumbled into rogue territory and collapsed at Marcus's feet.

He'd saved my life. Brought me back from the edge, helped me understand what I was. A True Alpha. The rarest bloodline in existence, thought to be extinct. My parents had hidden it somehow, suppressed my wolf to keep me safe. But the suppression had made me weak, made everyone think I was worthless. And the rejection had shattered those chains.

Two weeks later, I'd realized I was pregnant. Twins. Kai's children, growing inside me even as I recovered from him destroying our bond. I'd cried for hours, terrified and furious and completely lost. Part of me had wanted to get rid of them. They were his. The male who'd rejected me, humiliated me, left me to die. Why should I carry his children?

But they were also mine. And I'd already lost so much. I couldn't lose them too.

So I'd kept them. Built Shadow Creek Pack from nothing while pregnant and healing from trauma. Given birth alone in a rogue shelter, screaming and bleeding with only a sympathetic human nurse holding my hand. The twins had almost died. I'd almost died. But we'd survived. Built something good together.

And I'd promised myself that Kai Thornwood would never know about them. Would never get the chance to reject them the way he'd rejected me.

"Mommy?" Luna's voice pulled me back to the present. She was staring at me with those mismatched eyes, one gold and one silver. So perceptive for a three-year-old. "Why are you sad?"

I wiped at my face, surprised to find tears. "I'm not sad, baby. Just thinking."

"About our daddy?" She said it so casually, like she hadn't just dropped a bomb. "Aiden says we have a daddy somewhere. Is that true?"

My heart clenched. They were asking more questions lately, noticing that other pups had fathers while they didn't. I'd been dreading this conversation.

"You do have a father," I said carefully, pulling her into my lap. "But he's not part of our lives. He made some bad choices a long time ago."

"Did he hurt you?" Luna's small hand touched my cheek. "You smell hurt when we ask about him."

Damn empathy gifts. My daughter could read emotions like a book, which was both amazing and incredibly inconvenient.

"He did," I admitted. No point lying to her. "But that was a long time ago. And I'm okay now. We're okay."

"If he hurt you, I don't want to meet him." Luna's expression turned stubborn, pure determination on her little face. "He's a bad man."

"It's complicated, sweetheart." I kissed her forehead. "But you don't need to worry about it. You have me, and you have our pack, and that's all that matters."

She seemed satisfied with that answer, wriggling off my lap to go find her brother. I watched her go, my heart aching. They deserved better than a father who didn't know they existed. But they also deserved protection from a male who might reject them the way he'd rejected me. I couldn't risk it. Wouldn't risk it.

The mind-link from Zara hit me right as I finished cleaning the kitchen. Alpha, we have a problem at the eastern border. Someone just crossed into our territory without permission.

My blood ran cold. Who?

There was a pause. Then: Alpha Kai Thornwood.

Everything stopped. Time, breathing, thought. He wouldn't. He couldn't be that stupid. I'd told him no. Told him to stay the hell away from Shadow Creek. And he'd just crossed my border anyway, like my authority meant nothing.

Rage flooded through me, hot and fierce. Aurora snarled in my mind, ready for blood. How dare he. How dare he waltz into my territory like he had any right to be here.

I'm on my way, I told Zara. Don't let him near the packhouse. And make damn sure the twins are inside with Harper.

Already done. Zara's voice held grim satisfaction. Want us to throw him out?

No. I'll handle this myself. The words came out calm, but inside I was shaking with fury. He wants to see me so badly? Fine. He can see exactly what the omega he rejected became.

I stalked out of the packhouse, barely registering Marcus falling into step beside me. My Beta knew better than to try talking me down when I was this angry. He just kept pace, silent support while my wolf raged.

The eastern border was a ten-minute walk. I made it in five, moving fast enough that pack members scattered out of my way. Word had clearly spread. Wolves lined the path, watching with wary eyes. Everyone knew who Kai Thornwood was. Everyone knew what he'd done to me.

Zara and four of our strongest warriors had him surrounded when I arrived. Kai stood in the center, hands raised in a peaceful gesture that meant nothing. He looked terrible. Exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and a gauntness to his face that spoke of stress and sleepless nights. Good. I hoped he was suffering.

Our eyes met across the clearing, and the phantom pain of our broken bond flared in my chest. Three years later and it still hurt. Still felt like something essential was missing. I hated it. Hated that he could still affect me this way.

"Alpha Reed." He inclined his head, trying for respect. "Thank you for seeing me."

"I didn't agree to see you." My voice came out cold and controlled. "You crossed into my territory without permission. That's an act of aggression. Give me one reason I shouldn't have my wolves tear you apart right now."

Something flickered across his face. Pain, maybe. Regret. I didn't care.

"I need to talk to you," he said. "I sent a messenger but you refused. This was the only way."

"So you thought you'd just ignore my answer? Force me to deal with you?" I laughed, bitter. "That's very on-brand for you, Kai. Doing whatever you want without caring about anyone else's feelings."

He flinched. Actually flinched, like I'd hit him. "I deserve that. I deserve worse. But please, Elara. My pack is dying. I need your help."

"Your pack." I stepped closer, letting him see the power in my eyes. They'd gone gold, Aurora right at the surface. "The pack that watched you reject me and did nothing. The pack that treated me like trash for eighteen years. That pack?"

"Yes." He held my gaze. "I know what we did to you. I know it was wrong. I was wrong. And I'm sorry."

"Sorry." The word tasted like ash. "You're sorry. Three years, Kai. Three years you had to be sorry. You could have apologized any time. But you only show up now, when you need something from me. When your precious pack is in trouble and you're desperate."

"You're right." His shoulders slumped. "You're absolutely right. I should have come sooner. Should have apologized years ago. Should have done a lot of things differently. But I can't change the past. All I can do is ask for help now and hope you're more merciful than I was."

Merciful. He wanted mercy. The male who'd looked at me with disgust, who'd told his pack I was worthless, who'd left me to die in the woods. He wanted mercy.

Every instinct I had screamed to send him away. To tell him to go to hell and let his pack burn. He deserved it. They all deserved it for what they'd done to me.

But something stopped me. Maybe it was the exhaustion in his eyes. Maybe it was the memory of who I used to be, scared and desperate and begging for help that never came. Or maybe it was just the strategic part of my brain reminding me that Thornwood's fall would destabilize the region and threaten my own pack's safety.

"You have five minutes," I said. "Talk fast."

Relief flooded his expression. "Thank you. Can we speak privately?"

"Absolutely not." I crossed my arms. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of my Beta and warriors. I don't trust you, Kai. Not even a little bit."

Another flinch. But he nodded, accepting it. "Thornwood is under attack. Coordinated strikes from rogues, almost daily. We've lost fifteen families in the last month. Our borders are compromised, our resources are running out, and I can't protect them anymore."

"Sounds like a you problem."

"It is." He didn't even try to defend himself. "I'm a terrible Alpha. I've driven my pack into the ground. But they don't deserve to suffer for my failures. Please, Elara. If you won't help me, help them. The innocent wolves who had nothing to do with what happened between us."

Low blow, using the innocent pack members. He knew I'd never let children and families suffer, no matter how much I hated their Alpha.

"And what exactly do you think I can do about it?" I asked.

"You're a True Alpha." He said it quietly, like he still couldn't quite believe it. "You have power I can't match. Resources, warriors, connections. And you've built Shadow Creek into something strong in just three years. You know how to protect a pack. I clearly don't."

Marcus shifted beside me, disapproving. He didn't want me anywhere near this. Neither did Zara or the other warriors. They'd kill Kai right now if I gave the word.

Part of me wanted to give that word. Wanted to watch Kai Thornwood bleed out on my territory and finally get justice for what he'd done to me.

But I wasn't that person anymore. I'd built myself into something better than the wolves who'd hurt me. And that meant making the hard choices, even when every cell in my body screamed against it.

"I'll think about it," I said finally. "That's all you get. I'll think about it, and I'll give you my answer in three days. Until then, get the hell off my territory and don't come back unless I summon you."

"Thank you." The relief in his voice was almost pathetic. "Thank you, Elara. I know I don't deserve—"

"You're right. You don't." I cut him off. "Now leave. Before I change my mind."

He hesitated, like he wanted to say something else. His eyes searched my face, looking for something I refused to give him. Then he nodded and turned to go, flanked by Zara's warriors to make sure he actually left.

I watched him disappear into the trees, my heart pounding and my hands shaking with suppressed rage. Three years I'd spent building a life without him. Three years of healing and growing stronger. And he'd just walked back into my world like it was nothing.

"You're not actually considering this, are you?" Marcus asked quietly.

I didn't answer right away. Couldn't, because I honestly didn't know. The smart choice was helping Thornwood, protecting the region, preventing chaos that could spill into Shadow Creek. But the emotional choice, the one my traumatized eighteen-year-old self was screaming for, was to let them all burn.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But we need to call a pack meeting. This affects everyone."

Marcus nodded, though he clearly wasn't happy. None of them were. My pack would follow me into hell if I asked, but they wouldn't like this. Wouldn't understand why I'd even consider helping the male who'd destroyed me.

I wasn't sure I understood it myself.