5

When the Past Comes Riding In

Rhea's POV

The sound of engines hit me first. Not just a few bikes. Dozens. The deep, threatening rumble that made the ground shake and sent every instinct I had screaming danger.

I dropped the wrench I'd been holding and ran for the clubhouse. "Jax! Inside, now!"

My son looked up from where he'd been playing with toy cars in the yard. "But Mom.."

"Now!" The command in my voice made him move, scrambling toward the door.

Around me, the Steel Serpents were already mobilizing. Rook burst out of the clubhouse, gun in hand, his face grim as he assessed the situation.

"North entrance," someone shouted. "At least thirty bikes."

Thirty. My blood turned to ice.

The Grim Howl patch. The message is carved in metal. I'd known they were coming, but I'd hoped for more time. More time to run, to hide, to protect my son.

"Get the civilians inside," Rook ordered, his eyes finding mine. "Rhea, take Jax to the safe room."

But I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Because the bikes were getting closer, and my wolf was losing her mind inside my head.

She felt him. After five years of silence, the mate bond suddenly roared to life like someone had set it on fire. Pain and longing and fury all twisted together until I thought I might collapse from the force of it.

"Rhea!" Rook grabbed my arm. "You need to go."

"He's here," I whispered. "Kael's here."

The bikes rounded the corner in perfect formation, black and chrome and menacing. At the front, riding the biggest machine, was a man I both knew and didn't know.

Kael Draven had always been dangerous. Alpha power wrapped in muscle and arrogance. But this version was something else entirely. Harder. Colder. His leather cut bore the Grim Howl president patch, and the wolves riding with him moved like a trained army.

He stopped his bike twenty feet from where we stood. His pack fanned out behind him, engines still running, ready for violence.

Those amber eyes found mine across the distance. Everything else disappeared. Five years. Five years of running, hiding, surviving. Five years of convincing myself I was over him, that the bond meant nothing, that I'd moved on.

All lies.

The connection between us snapped back into place so violently that I gasped. Memories flooded through me. His hands on my skin. His voice in my ear. The way he used to hold me like I was everything.

The way he'd thrown me away like I was nothing.

"Rhea Blackthorne." His voice carried across the yard, deeper than I remembered. "It's been a long time."

Rook stepped in front of me, his gun raised. "You're trespassing on Steel Serpent territory. Turn around and leave, or this ends badly for everyone."

Kael didn't even look at him. His eyes stayed locked on me. "I'm not here for you, human. I'm here for what's mine."

"I'm not yours." The words came out stronger than I felt. "I haven't been yours for five years."

"The bond says different." He swung off his bike, moving with that predatory grace that used to make my heart race. "I can feel it. You feel it too."

I did. God help me, I did. The mate bond pulsed between us, trying to drag me toward him. My wolf whined, confused by the conflicting emotions of want and hate.

"The bond is broken," I said. "You made sure of that when you chose Selene."

Something flickered across his face. Regret? Pain? It was gone too fast to tell.

"That was a mistake."

"A mistake?" The laugh that escaped me was bitter. "You replaced me. Humiliated me. Declared me a traitor. And now you show up here calling it a mistake?"

"Rhea, let me explain.."

"No." I stepped around Rook, facing Kael directly. Fear and rage burned through me in equal measure. "You don't get to explain. You don't get to ride in here and demand anything from me."

"I'm not demanding." His eyes flashed gold. "I'm claiming what belongs to me. My mate. My son."

The world tilted.

He knew about Jax.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I started, but Kael cut me off.

"Don't lie to me. I've seen him. I know what he is." His voice dropped lower, dangerous. "You were pregnant when you ran. Pregnant with my child, and you never told me."

"You never gave me the chance!" The words exploded out of me. "You were too busy celebrating your new heir with your new Luna!"

"That child isn't.." He stopped himself, jaw clenched. "It doesn't matter. What matters is the boy. Jax. He's mine, and he belongs with his pack."

"He belongs with me." I was shaking now, adrenaline and terror flooding my system. "And we're not going anywhere with you."

Behind me, I heard the clubhouse door open. No. Please, no.

"Mom?"

Jax's small voice cut through the tension like a knife. I turned to see him standing in the doorway, confusion and fear on his face.

"Baby, go back inside," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. But his eyes had found Kael. And something in him recognized something in the alpha.

The bond. The blood connection between father and son.

"Who is he?" Jax asked, taking a step forward.

"Nobody. Just go.."

"I'm your father." Kael's voice was rough with emotion I'd never heard from him before. "Jax. My name is Kael, and I'm your father."

"No." I moved between them, blocking Kael's view. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to walk into his life after five years and.."

The bond flared again, so intense it brought me to my knees. Kael felt it too. I saw him stagger, his hand going to his chest. And Jax, caught in the middle of our connection, started to shift.

"Jax, no!" I tried to reach him, but it was too late.

His body convulsed. Claws erupted from his hands. His eyes flashed pure gold as his wolf tried to break free, triggered by the overwhelming emotions flooding through the bond we all shared.

Everyone saw it. The Steel Serpents. The Grim Howl wolves. Everyone. The secret I'd protected for five years was exposed in seconds.

Rook moved fast, pulling Jax back and helping him control the shift before it completed. "Breathe, kid. Focus. Remember what your mom taught you."

Kael's wolves started to move forward, but he held up a hand, stopping them. His eyes were fixed on Jax, on our son fighting to stay human.

"He's powerful," Kael said softly. "Even for his age. He'll make a strong alpha someday."

"He's not joining your pack." I stood on shaking legs, putting myself between Kael and my child. "We're not your family. Not anymore."

"You'll always be my family." Kael took a step closer, and twenty guns cocked in response from the Serpents. He ignored them all. "The bond proves it. Our son proves it. You can run, Rhea. You can hide. But you'll always be mine."

"She's under Steel Serpent protection." Rook stepped forward, his voice hard. "Which means you go through all of us to get to her."

For the first time, Kael looked at him. Really looked at him. And I saw the moment he understood what Rook felt for me. The air turned electric with violence.

"You love her." It wasn't a question. Kael's voice dropped to a lethal growl. "You think you can take my mate?"

"She's not your mate anymore." Rook stood his ground. "She's free. And she chose us."

"She chose wrong."

Something in Kael snapped. I felt it through the bond, felt his control shatter like glass.

His body began to shift. Not the partial shift Jax had done. A full transformation, right there in the middle of human territory.

His wolves followed suit, their bodies breaking and reforming into massive predators. The Steel Serpents raised their weapons, but guns wouldn't stop a pack of enraged wolves.

"Kael, stop!" I screamed, but he was beyond hearing.

The massive black wolf that had been Kael threw back his head and howled. A sound of rage and pain and promised violence.

Then he shifted back, standing naked and furious in front of everyone, his eyes burning with alpha power.

"If I can't have my family back," he said, his voice carrying the weight of an alpha command that made every wolf present, including my son, flinch.

"I'll burn this world down."