Chapter 14 : Shadows of the moon

Afnan's POV 

Dawn crept softly over the forest, pale and cold, like it was afraid to wake the dead.

Mist clung to my hair, heavy and damp, as I trudged through the undergrowth. The twins slept against my chest, wrapped in a rough sling I’d made from an old cloak, their tiny breaths warming my skin. Every step burned through my legs, every heartbeat echoed with exhaustion, but stopping wasn’t an option. The forest didn’t forgive stillness.

Ancient roots rose like serpents from the ground, moss-draped and silent witnesses to my flight. The air smelled of pine, wet earth, and danger an old, restless magic that didn’t belong to any pack. Somewhere in the distance, something moved slowly, deliberately, and alive.

I’d been walking north since the night I ran. Following the streams, sleeping in hollows, surviving on berries and the crust of bread I’d stolen before the fires started. My body ached in places I didn’t know could hurt. My wolf, too, was weary, her strength dimmed by fear and guilt.

Guilt.

That word followed me like a shadow.

Every step away from Bloodstone felt like betrayal. But every breath my children took reminded me why I’d done it.

Delph’s face haunted me with every dawn, the way he’d stood amidst smoke and ruin, torn between his pack and me. His rejection two years ago had nearly broken me, but I understood it now. Being Alpha meant sacrifice, and I had been the cost he couldn’t afford. Until I came back. Until the Elders decided my return was the spark that would burn his world down.

And so I ran again. This time, not for myself.

I brushed a curl of dark hair from my daughter’s cheek. She stirred, murmuring softly before sinking back into sleep. Her brother’s tiny fingers clutched the edge of my tunic. Their presence was both my weakness and my strength, my reason to keep breathing through the ache.

The mist thickened as I crossed a fallen log. Birds had stopped singing. The silence pressed close, like the forest itself was holding its breath.

Then I heard it

A howl.

Distant, but clear enough to freeze my blood.

Another followed. Then another, faint but unmistakable. The Council’s trackers, or worse, rogues drawn by the scent of blood.

“Not now,” I whispered, scanning the shadows.

The old instincts returned things I’d learned before I ever met Delph. I crushed a handful of mint leaves and wild garlic between my palms, smearing the scent along my cloak to mask my trail. Then I waded into a shallow river, stepping carefully to let the water swallow my scent entirely.

Drifting mist kissed the surface like breath on glass. I wove between stones and roots, the cold biting at my skin. When I reached the opposite bank, another howl split the air, closer now. Too close.

My heart raced.

I found a fallen tree, its roots twisted high enough to form a small shelter. I tucked the twins inside, wrapped them in my cloak, and whispered, “Stay quiet, my loves. Just for a little while.”

Their eyes fluttered open, two pairs of storm-gray, like their father’s. They didn’t cry. They never did when they felt my fear.

I turned away before I could change my mind and crept through the trees, crouched low. The forest hummed with unseen life. Shadows shifted between trunks. I couldn’t tell if it was imagination or pursuit.

Minutes, or maybe hours, passed. The howls faded. The silence returned.

When I was sure it was safe, I returned to the fallen tree. The twins were still there, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the world’s cruelty. Relief nearly brought me to my knees.

By twilight, I found a stream glimmering beneath the dying light. I knelt to drink, the water sharp and cold against my tongue. My reflection wavered, a stranger’s face staring back, hollow-eyed and fierce. I barely recognized her.

Then something moved across the stream.

I froze.

A shadow detached itself from the trees. A tall woman in a tattered cloak stepped into view, her silver eyes catching the fading light.

She didn’t bare her teeth. She didn’t move to attack. Instead, she said my name. Softly.

“Afnan.”

The sound hit me like a memory. I rose slowly, my pulse quickening. “Who are you?”

The woman pulled back her hood. Her hair was streaked with gray though her face looked no older than thirty. “Lyra,” she said. “I served under your mate’s father once, before the Blood War ended. I’ve been beyond the borders since then.”

My wolf stirred at the name. Delph’s father, the legend who’d built Bloodstone’s strength before it fell to the Elders’ politics.

“What do you want?” I asked warily.

Lyra smiled faintly. “To help you, if you’ll let me. I’ve been following the Elders’ movements. I know where they’re headed, and where they think you’ll go.”

Her voice carried no deceit that I could scent, only weariness and something like sorrow. Still, I didn’t lower my guard.

“Moonfall Valley,” I said slowly. “That’s where I’m headed.”

Her expression tightened. “Then you’re walking into danger. Moonfall isn’t safe anymore. Rogues haunt it, and the Council has spies watching every crossing.”

I frowned. “Then why follow me?”

“Because safety isn’t a place,” she said quietly. “It’s the company you keep when danger finds you.”

Her words sank deep, stirring something in me that had been silent too long, hope. Fragile and foolish, but still alive.

The twins stirred behind me. Lyra’s gaze softened when she saw them. “Delph’s?”

I hesitated, then nodded.

“They have his eyes,” she murmured.

I didn’t reply. My throat ached with unshed emotion. The twins reached toward her, tiny fingers curling in curiosity. To my surprise, Lyra crouched and let them touch her hand. They giggled, light and unafraid.

Something in my chest unclenched.

“Come,” she said finally. “If we move through the night, we can reach the ridge by dawn. You’ll be harder to track there.”

I studied her. Everything about her felt too convenient, too sudden. But my instincts,both human and wolf, told me she wasn’t lying. And if she’d truly served Delph’s father… Maybe this was the Moon’s way of sending me a sign.

“Alright,” I said at last. “We travel together.”

Lyra nodded once, and for the first time in days, I didn’t feel entirely alone.

The forest darkened as we moved. The moon rose, a pale, perfect circle, spilling silver across the canopy. Shadows stretched like long fingers between the trees. The world felt suspended, balanced between fear and faith.

I glanced back once. Far beyond the horizon, the faintest orange glow still marked Bloodstone’s ruins. My heart twisted.

The bond pulsed weakly in my chest, a thread of warmth through the cold. Delph. He was alive. I could feel it.

I pressed a kiss to the twins’ foreheads and whispered, “Stay alive, Alpha. Find me if you can.”

Then I turned away, stepping into the silver light. Lyra walked beside me, silent but steady. The twins slept, their dreams soft against my heart.

And for the first time since the fire, I let myself believe that maybe running wasn’t just escape…

Maybe it was the beginning of something new.