Maya’s POV
The entire day felt like walking through thick fog. I moved like a shadow through the small house, folding Jayden’s clothes into a small bag, packing his toothbrush and soap, rolling up his favorite blanket. My hands trembled every time I touched something that belonged to him, my chest aching with each tiny shirt I folded.
We’re doing the right thing, my wolf whispered, her tail brushing comfortingly against me. We have to protect him.
“I know,” I whispered back. “But where will we go? What if she finds us again?”
My wolf growled low in her chest. Then we keep running. We keep fighting. Until our last breath.
Jayden sat on the floor near me, humming softly as he lined up his toy cars in a perfect row. He hadn’t stopped smiling since morning, thinking we were going to see Luna. Every time he asked when we would leave,
Conan’s POVI wasn't waking to war for the first time, no screw, no scours pounding on the door and no alarm. No scream splitting through the stillness. Just my family.The sunlight was creeping gently across the floor while the scent of the food Maya was cooking didn't stop rafting from the kitchen.Peace.I could hear Maya's voice humming low. She was cooking, I heard the occasional burst of scolding. I stretched up and sat up.I dressed up lazily, the compound felt different as I stepped out into the hall. Alive and softer.Jayden’s voice drifted from the main room. Him and Henry were cautious and were talking like kids who just met themselves.Jayden wasn't laughing yet neither was he running, I felt that was all that matters.I saw how bright his eyes were with excitement as he ran towards me. “Dad!" His voice rang.He ran towards me and I crouched down, caught his arms the way I usually do before all of this happened. My boy, just a boy again.“You smell like smoke dad,” he said
Maya’s POVThe morning sunlight crept through the curtains, it was golden, touching the edge of the bed where Conan lay.The sheet tangled and his hand stretched over to my side, his face finally at rest. There was no fire outside, no cries in the night and no echoing for the first time in days.Just real, living silence but it doesn't mean clarity.The scent of pine and dew filled the air as I sat close to the window with my knees and legs pulled to my chest and my chin resting on my knees.The thought of Ashira again.She was in the room, just next to ours. My daughter. Still hard to believe I have a daughter.I didn't say that so loud.Just then someone knocked on the door, I didn't ask who it was. I opened it slowly and to my surprise it was Ashira, she stood with a puffy eyes, from lack of sleep and crying. She looks just like the girl she never got to be as I saw her looking younger in daylight.Her voice was barely audible when she finally spoke. “Hi," “You can call me mom." I
Maya’s POVAshira has the same eyes as mine.That thought kept lingering as I looked at her. The confusion, the rage, the heartbeat, it wasn't obviously the face of someone trying to be a villain but of one trying to find their truth. The burnt of the fire was still at my back but I didn't care, what matters was that Jayden was in my arms. Alive and breathing.And for Ashira she saved us.“She's not my sister." His words echoed like a glass that cracked.I held him tighter. “You are free from her now," I kissed his hair and felt his soft heartbeat against mine. My wolf stirred inside me. It was heavy with emotions.“You should talk to him, to understand, I don't think he does." “Hes just a child so I don't blame him if he doesn't understand." I replied in my head. " You know she protected him, she bled for him. He should know now because I'd he doesn't know now, he will never know.” I placed a gentle hand on Jayden's shoulder, “Stay close to Arlen and give me a moment." Jayden c
Conan’s POVWith a deafening rumble, the ground cracked.A jagged line was running like lightning between me and samira, glowing faint blue. Dust exploded beneath our feet and it was as if the vale was groaning under the weight of what stood between us. The limbs of trees twisted between us though reacting to the shift in power.Samira didn't flinch at all.There was a signal which I didn't fully recognize. She raised her hand slightly then a shadow behind her began to move.More of them.Figures emerged.Something worse, not guards this time.Some creatures with blurred faces, hollow eyes and mouths were wide and grinning, their movement swift and silent.“They don't look real." I growled through my teeth." They can still kill.” Raven muttered from beside me, with his blade drawn.Ashira eyes twitched between me and samira. I noticed something was cracking, her breathing was uneven, I felt and and was sure Maya does also.She wasn't under Samira's hold anymore.Ashira’s voice turne
Maya’s POVThe moment we crossed into the vale of Shadow, the air changed.It was cold and thick. Breathing in fog laced with fear. Every breath was clung to my lung like a curse.There was also something wrong with the trees.Hunched things, twisted with bark that pulsed like veins. Their branches reached inward, not up, just as if they wanted to touch us and were listening.Conan led us as we moved silently. While Arlen and Ryka watched the flanks, with their obsidian blades. If I speak to anyone I might scream so I didn’t.“The vale remembers pain, don't look too long at anything, if you stare at it for too long, it will wear your face." Ruben whispered." What type of sorcery is this?” I muttered."An ancient one. It wraps time and bends thought.” Riven said.We increased our pace this time around.Tree branches cracked behind us.We froze as soon as Conan raised his hand.But nothing moved.But I felt something waiting and watching.I felt the stir of my wolf under my skin. Raxo
Conan’s POVI felt the room was crumbling around me.Jonathan's voice still echoed. Broken and hollow.“She's also our child, I guess. It's a girl.” Maya's hands were still trembling, she had slapped Jonathan and she was frozen after that.She was unraveling, there was no way I could blame her for that. But still there was no way I could allow chaos to rip the little grip we had left. Jonathan was still there. “You're guessing?" I growled, “you can't be guessing about something like this, Jonathan." The way Jonathan looked at me, with a resigned sadness made me angry. A sadness he always carried when he's around Maya. He looked at me straight in the eyes, not with fear. “I didn't want to believe what I saw but it was so clear, I saw it with my eyes, she had the same aura Jayden has, same eyes and looked exactly like him." "And you think that alone is what makes her your child? And you should know Jayden isn't yours, I don't think he was ever yours.” Maya snapped.“You can't jus