THE ALPHA’S SHADOW

The thing about running is that eventually, you gotta stop. Either because you hit a wall, or your legs give out, or—like in our case—you run straight into the one person you’ve been trying to avoid.

And by “one person,” I mean Roman Vale.

Let me back up.

After laying low in Janie’s place for two straight days, eating expired canned ravioli and sleeping in shifts, it was clear the walls were closing in. Janie’s wards were strong, yeah, but even magic gets tiring. Lira was getting twitchy, and I was starting to feel like a sitting duck. I needed info, and more importantly—I needed a damn plan.

So I reached out to Roman.

Bad idea? Maybe.

Necessary? Absolutely.

Roman was a name most wolves in Viremont didn’t say out loud. Not unless they wanted to lose teeth. He used to run with the Silver Ash Pack back in the day. Before he broke off. Before he got “exiled,” which was code for “chose not to bow to Kael’s crap and got hunted for it.”

He’d been off the grid for a while, living in that blurry space between outlaw and legend. Some said he was dead. Others swore he ran a rogue den in the marshlands past Eastridge.

Me? I knew better. Roman Vale didn’t die easy.

I sent a message through an old channel—one only the real wolves used. A glyph etched into a tree behind the West Yard train station. If Roman was still out there, he’d feel the signal. And if he didn’t show?

Well… then we were really screwed.

We didn’t have to wait long.

It was just after midnight when a knock hit the back door of Janie’s shop. Not loud. Not urgent. Just… solid. Confidence. Like whoever it was already knew we’d open.

I pulled the curtain aside and my stomach dropped.

There he was.

Six-foot-something of pure trouble. Lean, broad-shouldered, scars across one eyebrow. Black coat, boots caked with marsh mud, and eyes like burnt copper. Roman Vale looked like he hadn’t aged a day since the last time I saw him—and somehow, he looked ten times more dangerous.

“Took you long enough,” I said, opening the door.

He smirked. “You’re still breathing. That’s something.”

I stepped aside. Lira was frozen on the couch, eyes wide.

Roman’s gaze flicked to her, then to the pouch in my hand.

“So,” he said, voice low, “this is the Luna.”

Lira sat up, defensive. “I’m not anyone’s Luna anymore.”

Roman tilted his head. “We’ll see.”

We sat at the table, the three of us, with Janie hovering in the corner like a nosy bat. Roman didn’t say much at first. Just listened. Let me do the talking. I laid it out—how the pendant ended up with me, how Lira claimed Kael’s circle tried to wipe her out, how Milo had vanished without a trace.

He didn’t flinch. Not once.

When I finally stopped talking, he leaned back in his chair, ran a hand over his jaw, and said, “It’s worse than I thought.”

“What do you mean?” Lira asked.

Roman looked at her, his expression unreadable.

“Kael doesn’t just want power,” he said. “He wants a blood empire.”

I blinked. “What now?”

“He’s been recruiting alphas from smaller packs. Absorbing them. Taking their bloodlines through forced bonds and arranged mates. Quietly. Under the radar. You know how he keeps getting stronger every year? It’s not training—it’s theft.”

Lira’s mouth fell open.

“I was supposed to be the first of those bonds,” she whispered.

Roman nodded. “You were a political move. But you left. So he turned to others.”

I swore under my breath.

“If Kael absorbs enough pureblood lines,” Roman continued, “he’ll be unstoppable. No one will be able to challenge him. Not legally. Not magically.”

Lira looked sick. “So what do we do?”

Roman glanced at me. Then, slowly, he said: “We build a case. Get allies. Expose him. Use that pendant to prove you’re alive, and that he broke the Luna Code.”

I frowned. “You think the Council would care?”

“They might,” he said, “if we give them no choice.”

We left the safehouse at dawn.

Roman led us through the marshland backroads in an old black truck that smelled like smoke and old coffee. I rode shotgun. Lira curled up in the backseat, bundled in a jacket way too big for her.

The silence was thick for a while. Then Roman broke it.

“You trust her?” he asked, nodding toward Lira in the mirror.

I shrugged. “She’s got scared eyes. People who fake being scared never quite get that right.”

He nodded slowly.

“And you?” I asked.

Roman didn’t answer right away.

“She reminds me of someone,” he said. “Someone who didn’t survive.”

That shut me up.

We drove for miles until the road turned to gravel and then to mud. Finally, Roman pulled off into a clearing and cut the engine.

“This,” he said, pointing ahead, “is where we find the first name on our list.”

“Who?” I asked.

He smiled grimly.

“Alpha Grayson. And if he’s still the bastard I remember, we’ll need backup.”

We weren’t even halfway across the clearing before wolves started to circle.

Big ones. Gray fur, thick muscles, yellow eyes. Silent. Watching.

I stepped closer to Lira.

Roman raised both hands. “We’re here to talk.”

One of the wolves shifted mid-step. Bones cracked, fur receded, and in a flash, a tall man stood in its place—completely naked and very, very not amused.

“Roman Vale,” he growled. “Still alive, huh?”

“Disappointed?” Roman said coolly.

Grayson crossed his arms. “Depends, Are you bringing me trouble or business?”

“A bit of both.”

Grayson’s gaze shifted to Lira. His nose twitched. Then his eyes widened.

“You brought a Luna?”

“Former Luna,” Lira said, holding his stare.

Grayson whistled low. “Kael’s gonna crap a brick when he hears about this.”

Roman grinned. “That’s the idea.”

We spent the night in Grayson’s camp. His pack was rough—half of them rogue-born, the other half defectors from other packs. They didn’t trust easy, but they respected Roman. Mostly.

Lira stayed close to me. The further we got from Silver Ash territory, the more jittery she seemed. Like her bones were remembering things she hadn’t told us yet.

That night, around the fire, she finally spoke up.

“He wasn’t always like that,” she said softly. “Kael. When we first met… he was gentle. Smart. Charming, even.”

I didn’t say anything. Just let her talk.

“But something changed. After the coronation... After he started spending time with the blood mages. He started talking about legacy, Purity. He said our pups would be the future of the packs.”

Roman’s head snapped toward her. “He said that?”

She nodded. “Over and over.”

Roman stood abruptly. “That means he hasn’t stopped. He’s still trying.”

“Trying what?” I asked.

“Trying to create a child strong enough to become High Alpha over all of us.”

The fire cracked between us.

And suddenly, everything felt so much bigger.