Chapter 10

Zinnia’s POV

The truck rolled along the wet road for almost two hours. June slept against my side with his head on my arm. The wooden wolf stayed in his hand the whole time.

Christiana sat in the front and watched the mirrors. Joseph drove without talking much. The silence felt heavy.

When the small town came into view I sat up straighter. It looked quiet. A few shops. An old gas station. Houses with peeling paint.

Joseph turned down a side street and stopped behind a two-story building that had a sign for sewing repairs.

“This is the place,” he said. “The woman who makes papers lives upstairs. Her name is Rhea. She does not like questions.”

We got out. The air smelled like wet concrete and coffee. I carried June. He woke up and looked around with sleepy eyes.

Christiana knocked on a side door in a special way. Three short knocks, then two. After a minute the door opened.

A woman in her fifties stood there. Gray hair pulled back. Sharp eyes. She looked at each of us and then stepped aside.

“Inside. Quick.”

We climbed narrow stairs to a small apartment. The living room was full of boxes and stacks of paper. A sewing machine sat by the window.

Rhea locked the door and turned to Christiana. “You bring trouble.”

“I bring payment,” Christiana answered. She pulled a small envelope from her jacket and handed it over.

Rhea counted the money, then looked at me and June. “Mother and son. New names?”

“Yes,” I said.

“It will take four hours. Maybe five. You stay here until it is done. No going outside.”

Joseph nodded. “We understand.”

Rhea pointed to a back room. “Boy can rest there. The rest of you sit and wait.”

I took June into the small room. There was a couch and a blanket. He lay down but did not close his eyes.

“Mama, who is that lady?”

“Someone who is going to help us get new papers. So we can be safe.”

He held his toy tighter. “I do not like all this moving.”

“I know. It will get better.”

I stayed with him until he finally drifted off again. Then I went back to the main room.

Joseph and Christiana sat at a small table. Rhea worked at a desk with a computer and special paper.

I sat down across from Joseph. “How long can we really stay ahead of them?”

“As long as we keep moving and do not make mistakes,” he said.

Christiana looked at me for a long moment. Then she spoke in a low voice.

“There is something I have not told you yet. Something your mother made me swear to keep until the right time.”

Joseph glanced at her. “Christiana—”

“She needs to know,” Christiana said. “Especially now.”

My hands went cold. “What is it?”

Christiana leaned forward. “The block on the mate bond was not the only thing I did. Your mother asked me to place a second seal. On you.”

I stared at her. “What kind of seal?”

“On your full power. The healing you use now is only a small part of what you can do. The silver light, the strength in your wolf… there is more. Much more. Your bloodline is older than the Frost Pack. Older than most packs in this region.”

Joseph’s face changed. He looked surprised too.

Christiana continued. “Your mother’s family carried an ancient gift from the Moon Goddess. Not just healing. Something that can calm broken bonds, or break them completely. Something that can steady an unstable Alpha… or destroy one. She sealed most of it when you were a child because she saw what would happen if Draven’s family ever learned the truth.”

My mouth felt dry. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because the seal is already cracking,” she said. “It started the night you shifted fully in the forest. Every time you use your power it breaks a little more. Soon it will open completely. When that happens, every strong wolf near you will feel it. Including Draven.”

Joseph rubbed his jaw. “That explains why those hunters found us so fast. Someone is already sensing her.”

I stood up and walked to the window. My heart beat hard in my chest. “So I am even more valuable than I thought. Or more dangerous.”

“Both,” Christiana said quietly.

Rhea looked up from her desk. “Keep your voices down. Walls are thin.”

I turned back to Christiana. “Does Draven know any of this?”

“No. Your mother made sure of that. But Baelor has been digging into old records. I think he suspects something. That is why he wanted you broken and gone. A strong Luna with your bloodline would have made Draven almost impossible to challenge.”

Joseph spoke slowly. “If Baelor finds out the seal is breaking, he will come for her harder. Or try to take the boy and use him as leverage.”

I felt sick. I sat back down. “Is June in danger because of my blood?”

Christiana’s eyes softened. “He carries some of it. Not as strong as you. But yes. He will need protection as he gets older.”

The room went quiet except for the sound of Rhea’s printer.

I put my face in my hands for a moment. Then I looked up.

“Is there more? Any other secrets you are still holding?”

Christiana and Joseph exchanged a look.

Joseph was the one who answered. “One more. The hunters who attacked the cabin… I know the scent of the group that hires them. They work for a man named Ciro. He buys and sells information about rare wolves. If he knows about you, he will not stop.”

“And how do you know that?” I asked.

Joseph’s voice dropped. “Because my father has used Ciro before. Years ago. I recognized the chemical smell they use to cover their tracks.”

Anger rose in my chest again. “So your family is connected to the people hunting me right now?”

“I did not know they would come after you,” Joseph said. “I swear it. But yes. The connection is there.”

I stood up so fast the chair almost fell. “Every time I start to think I can trust you, something new comes out.”

“I am telling you now,” he said. “I could have kept it quiet.”

“You should have told me the moment you recognized the scent.”

Christiana raised a hand. “Enough. Both of you. We have bigger problems than blame.”

Rhea spoke without turning around. “Papers will be ready in one hour. After that you leave. I do not want your trouble staying here.”

I walked into the back room and sat beside June. He was still asleep. I watched his small chest rise and fall.

Ancient bloodline.

A seal that was breaking.

Hunters who bought rare wolves.

Joseph’s family tied to the same people.

I felt like the ground kept opening under my feet every time I took a step.

Joseph appeared in the doorway. He did not come closer.

“I will keep you alive,” he said quietly. “Even if you hate me for every secret. That is a promise.”

I did not answer him.

Outside, a car door slammed. Then another.

Christiana’s voice came sharp from the main room.

“Rhea. Did you tell anyone we were coming?”

Rhea’s face went pale. “No.”

Joseph moved to the window and looked down at the street.

His whole body went still.

“Three cars,” he said. “And that is Ciro’s second in command getting out of the first one.”

He turned to me and said, “They found us again.”