Chapter 12

Zinnia’s POV

I stared at the words scratched into the stone.

“The boy belongs to the true blood. Come home before the full moon or we take him.”

The Frost Pack seal was pressed into the mud beside it. But Joseph was right. The handwriting was not Draven’s. Draven’s writing was sharp and controlled. This was messy and rushed.

Christiana crouched and touched the edge of the seal mark. “Someone from the pack did this. But not the Alpha.”

Joseph stood with his arms crossed. His eyes moved through the trees. “Baelor. Or someone working for him. They killed Ciro’s trackers to send a clear message. They want you scared enough to come back.”

June held my hand tight. “Mama, what does it mean?”

I kept my voice calm for him. “It means some people are still looking for us. But we are not going back.”

Joseph looked at me. “The full moon is in six days. That is their deadline.”

Christiana stood up. “We should not stay here. The ones who left this could still be close.”

We moved again. Deeper into the trees. Joseph led the way toward the old sanctuary he had talked about. The ground rose slowly into low hills. The air smelled of pine and wet earth.

After a long stretch of silence I spoke. “Why would Baelor want June? He already has Draven where he wants him.”

Joseph answered without looking back. “An Alpha’s son is leverage. If Baelor takes the boy, he can force Draven to step down or make deals. And if what Christiana said about your bloodline is true, the boy carries part of it. That makes him even more valuable.”

Christiana added, “Baelor has always wanted power. He never cared who he hurt to get it.”

I looked down at June walking beside me. His small legs were getting tired. I picked him up and carried him. He rested his head on my shoulder.

“I will not let them take him,” I said.

“We know,” Joseph answered.

We walked until the sun started to drop. The trees grew thicker. Old stone markers appeared between the roots, half buried and covered in moss. Joseph slowed down.

“We are close,” he said. “The sanctuary is just ahead. The land here confuses scent and power. It should hide us for a few days.”

The sanctuary was not a building. It was a wide circle of standing stones in a hidden hollow. Some stones were broken. Others still stood tall. The ground inside the circle felt different under my feet. Quieter. Heavier.

Christiana let out a long breath. “This place still has old power. Good.”

Joseph dropped the bag he carried. “We camp inside the circle tonight. No fire until we are sure we are alone.”

I set June down. He stayed close to my legs and looked at the stones with wide eyes.

“Are these magic stones?” he asked.

“Something like that,” I said. “They will help keep the bad people from finding us.”

Joseph and Christiana checked the area while I sat with June and gave him the last of the water and a dry biscuit from the bag. He ate slowly.

When the two of them came back, Joseph sat on a fallen stone across from me.

“We need to decide the next step,” he said. “The papers are incomplete. We cannot travel far on main roads. And now Baelor is openly threatening to take the boy.”

I met his eyes. “I am not going back to that pack.”

“I am not asking you to,” he said. “But we need a real plan. My offer still stands. You give us what you know about Baelor’s money and contacts. My pack will move against him. That takes pressure off you and the boy.”

Christiana watched me carefully. “There is another option. I can reach out to your father’s pack. Quietly. Rowan still has friends who hate the Frost Pack. They might take you in.”

I shook my head. “If I go there, I bring trouble to them. Baelor will follow. I will not put my father’s people in danger.”

June looked up at me. “Can we just stay here? With the magic stones?”

I brushed his hair back. “Only for a short time, baby.”

Joseph leaned forward. “Then we use the time. Rest tonight. Tomorrow I contact one of my people who can finish the papers without Rhea. We stay hidden until the documents are ready. After that we move farther north, out of this region completely.”

I was quiet for a while. The wind moved through the stones and made a low sound.

“What happens when the seal on my power breaks all the way?” I asked Christiana.

She looked at the tallest stone. “You will feel it. The light will come without you calling it. Your wolf will be stronger. Other wolves will sense you from a greater distance. That is why this place is important. It will blunt the signal for a while.”

Joseph added, “And when it breaks, Draven will feel it too. Even with the blocked bond. Something that strong does not stay quiet.”

I pressed a hand to my chest. The place where the mate bond used to pull was still empty and sore. “He does not deserve to feel anything from me.”

“No,” Joseph said. “He does not.”

Night came slowly. We ate the rest of the food in silence. June fell asleep against my side with his wooden wolf under his chin. I covered him with my jacket.

Christiana took the first watch outside the circle. Joseph sat near me but not too close.

After a long time he spoke in a low voice. “You are doing better than most people would.”

I looked at him. “I do not feel better. I feel like every day brings a new threat.”

“That is because it does,” he said. “But you are still standing. Still protecting him. That counts.”

I watched June’s face in the dim light. “I keep thinking about the night I left. The way he called her Mommy. The way Draven looked at me like I was nothing.”

Joseph was quiet for a moment. “Men like Draven only learn when everything is taken from them. Some never learn at all.”

“Do you think he is learning now?” I asked.

“From the reports we heard, his pack is already cracking. Baelor is pushing harder. That kind of pressure changes a man. Whether it changes him for the better is another question.”

I did not answer. I did not want to care what happened to Draven. But part of me still did, and I hated that part.

Christiana came back into the circle. “All quiet. No scents close.”

Joseph stood. “My turn. You two rest.”

He walked out into the dark. Christiana sat down near the bag and closed her eyes.

I stayed awake longer, listening to the wind in the stones and June’s soft breathing.

The message on the rock kept turning in my head.

Come home before the full moon or we take him.

Six days.

I looked down at my sleeping son and made a silent promise.

They would not take him.

Not Baelor.

Not Ciro’s hunters.

Not anyone.

I would break the rest of the seal myself if I had to.

I would burn every threat that came near us.

The old stones around us seemed to listen.

Somewhere far away, the Frost Pack was already bleeding.

And the full moon was coming.