Return to the Alpha’s Den

The gates of Silver Crest rose like black sentinels against the dawn. Cold stone. Silent guards. The kind of silence that watched, not welcomed. Aria’s fingers tightened around the reins as they rode closer. Every hoofbeat echoed with ghosts she thought she’d buried long ago.

The air here still smelled the same — pine, earth, and iron. It was the scent of her past. The scent of betrayal.

Kael rode beside her, expression unreadable. His men flanked them, armored in silver and discipline. None dared speak. The Alpha’s presence alone kept the air heavy and still. When the massive gates creaked open, the crowd that had gathered outside fell into stunned whispers.

“Is that her?” one voice hissed.

“The rogue he rejected?”

“And the child—”

Kael’s glare silenced the last whisper. But it was too late. The words hung between them like knives.

Aria held Liam close as they passed through the courtyard. Eyes followed their every move — shock, curiosity, disdain. Each stare felt like a burn against her skin. She could feel the echo of that night six years ago — the circle of wolves, Kael’s cold voice cutting through her soul as he rejected her before them all.

She had walked away then, shattered. And now, here she was again, walking the same stones with his child at her side.

Liam’s small hand slipped into hers. “Mama,” he whispered, “why are they staring?”

“Because they don’t understand,” she murmured, forcing a smile. “Stay close, my love.”

Kael led them through the hall of stone and firelight. Silver banners lined the walls, each one embroidered with the crest of his lineage — the wolf of Silver Crest howling beneath a crescent moon. At the far end waited Corin, his Beta, and several elders. Their faces shifted between confusion and unease as Kael entered.

“Alpha,” Corin greeted carefully. His gaze flicked to Aria, disbelief hardening into tension. “We received word you were returning, but… this, we did not expect.”

Kael’s tone left no space for question. “She and the boy are under my protection. No one will touch them.”

Corin hesitated. “The council will demand an explanation. The laws—”

Kael’s voice turned sharp as steel. “The laws bend to the Alpha, not the other way around.”

Silence followed. The elders looked away. Aria said nothing, but she saw it — the danger he carried even among his own. Whatever had changed in him since she left, power had carved it deep into his soul.

He turned to her. “You’ll stay in the east wing. It’s the safest place for now.”

Aria lifted her chin. “I didn’t come here to hide.”

“You came here to survive,” he said quietly. “Until I find out who sent those assassins, you’ll do as I say.”

Her jaw clenched, but she said nothing. There was no winning against him in this hall. He gestured to a maid. “Show her to the Luna chambers.”

The maid froze. “The Luna chambers, Alpha?”

Kael’s eyes cut to her. “You heard me.”

Whispers rippled through the elders. Aria felt them all — judgment, curiosity, fear. The title of Luna still haunted this place like a ghost. But she followed the maid without looking back.

The corridors stretched long and cold, lit by torches that flickered like watchful eyes. Every corner seemed to breathe memories — laughter that wasn’t hers, pitying glances, and the moment she had been cast out.

When they reached the chamber, Aria stopped. The room was beautiful — wide windows, silk curtains, silver embroidery — but it was also a wound reopened. The scent of roses lingered faintly, mocking her.

“You can rest here,” the maid said softly. “The Alpha will send for you when he’s ready.”

Aria only nodded. When the door shut, silence flooded in.

Liam climbed onto the bed, peering through the window to the training grounds below. Warriors sparred in the pale morning light, their shouts echoing faintly. “Mama,” he said, “are we safe here?”

She brushed his hair gently. “For now, my love.”

He hesitated. “Is he really my father?”

The question struck deep. She had told him stories — of courage, of strength — but never the truth. Not like this.

“Yes,” she whispered. “He is.”

Liam frowned, thoughtful. “He looks sad.”

Aria turned to the window. Kael stood alone in the courtyard below, watching his men. The sunlight touched his face, and for the first time she saw what her son saw — the loneliness in his stance, the weight of something that never left him.

When night fell, Kael returned. The fire in her chamber burned low, shadows dancing across the floor. Liam was asleep, curled beneath the blanket. Aria sat by the window, lost in the silence between them.

He entered without knocking.

“You could have knocked,” she said without turning.

“This was my room once,” he replied. “I need no permission.”

Her eyes hardened. “You lost that right the night you rejected me.”

His breath caught, and for a moment, the Alpha was gone — only the man remained. “I did what I had to do.”

“You humiliated me. You tore apart the bond the Goddess herself gave us.”

Kael stepped closer, voice low, raw. “Because if I hadn’t, you would have died.”

Aria froze. “What?”

He looked at her — no arrogance, no defense, only pain. “The elders discovered what you were. The last descendant of the Moon Priestess. They feared your bloodline — feared that if our bond was completed, your power would rise beyond control. They planned to kill you before the ceremony. Rejecting you was the only way to save you.”

Her heart hammered. “You expect me to believe that?”

“I wish it were a lie,” he said. “But that night, they were waiting. My rejection stopped the ceremony. It gave you the chance to escape alive.”

The fire cracked softly between them. Aria stared at him, torn between fury and disbelief. “You should have told me. I would have stood beside you.”

“You would have died beside me,” he said, voice breaking. “I couldn’t let that happen.”

Silence swallowed the room. For the first time, she saw the weight behind his eyes — not pride, but guilt that had festered for years.

Finally, he spoke again. “Rest tonight. Tomorrow, you’ll know everything — the truth about the council, and why the Bloodfangs are hunting you.”

He turned to leave, but paused at the door. The firelight flickered across his face, softening the hard lines etched there. “Aria… I never stopped protecting you.”

Then he was gone.

Aria sat for a long time, staring at the empty doorway. The truth had torn through her carefully built walls. Everything she had believed for six years was no longer certain.

Outside, the wind howled through Silver Crest like a warning. She glanced at her sleeping son, her heartbeat steadying with quiet resolve.

She was no longer the frightened girl who once fled these walls. She was a mother, a healer, and the last daughter of the Moon. And if darkness was coming again, she would not run this time.

She would rise.