BLOODLINE AWAKENED

The storm outside howled like the wolves that haunted my dreams. Thunder cracked, lighting up the sky in flashes that turned night to day for a split second.

I clutched the edge of the table, sweat pouring down my face as another contraction hit me like a wave crashing against a cliff. My back arching from the pain, my breathing ragged.

“They’re coming!” Mags cried, busy around the makeshift birthing room. “One more push” she reassured

She had found me, I didn't know how. I didn't really care. She had been good to me, taking care of me and preparing me for this day.

My hands were numb, my vision slowly blurred, but I could feel it. My babies. The were finally here.

I pushed, letting out a cry that tore from the depths of my soul.

A shrill cry echoed through the cabin, announcing the arrival of the first child but something about the cry was different.

Mags held the baby up, eyes wide. “It’s a boy.”

I blinked through the haze, tears almost dropping as I looked at my boy. “Lucas,” I whispered.

another wave of pain tore through me. My body shaking as I tried to take in a breath.

“The second’s on the way,” Mags said urgently. “Stay with me. Just a little push” she coaxed

Minutes passed like hours. Another push, another scream and the second baby came, wailing like her brother had.

“A girl,” Mags breathed, wrapping the infant in a blanket.

“Lily.” I said with the last bit of strength left in me.

I collapsed back against the pillow, tears running freely now, not of pain, but of love, and fear, and relief.

Two perfect little souls. Mine.

Through my exhaustion I could feel the power that flowed through them, they felt different. Special compared to normal babies.

Their eyes were, dangerous. Lucas’s a bright gold, and Lily’s a soft amber. Their cries fierce.

Mags handed the babies to me. “They’re strong,” the old woman whispered, almost in awe. “Too strong. These aren’t ordinary children, Selena.”

“I know,” I said softly, stroking Lily’s soft cheek.

She looked at me giving me a knowing look. I didn't understand it and I felt too week to pry. I hugged my babies as I felt the lights leave me.

Eric stood, eyes locked on the moon rising above his mansion. Blood still stained his hands from the traitors within his pack, from the elder who dared challenge his position.

He still needed to sort out Kyle, his minions were growing stronger by the second and there was word that he had formed an alliance with a rival pack.

He had a lot on his plate, yet he still needed to find the human. Selena.

“She’s alive,” he growled to himself, chest heaving. “I feel her.”

Behind him, Jared, stepped forward. “Alpha, the West Ridge pack has withdrawn. For now. But the council—”

“Damn the council,” Eric snarled. His golden eyes flashed with fury. “They wanted me dead the moment they found our about Selena. Cowards, that's what they are”

“You defied the Elders, Eric,” Jared said carefully. “By choosing a human, I warned you. you’ve made enemies on every side. Even within our own.”

“I don’t care,” Eric spat. “She’s mine. And you don't earn me. I am your alpha”

He said towering over Jared.

He turned toward the window, eyes burning. “And I will tear down every pack, every Elder, whi dares to come up against me ”

I barely had time to rest. Mags moved swiftly, lighting protective herbs and chanting in a language I didn’t understand. She poured salt across the windows, carved symbols into the door.

She really was strange. But it felt like she knew something.

“What are you doing?” I asked, still weak.

“They’ll come for them,” Mags whispered. “The moment their cries echoed through the trees, every beast nearby would’ve felt the power in them. They’re not just wolves, Selena. They’re born of Alpha blood. Royal blood.”

I tightened my grip on them. “Eric…”

“The father?” she cut me off.

I nodded. Fear coursing through my veins

“He’s not just any Alpha. He’s the marked one. Chosen by the Moon Goddess herself to rule the bloodline of the ancients. You were never meant to carry his children… but fate doesn’t care about rules.”

“What do you mean?” I asked trying to steady my voice. “Wolves? Moon goddess? Fate? Is this some kind of novel plot?”

“That man, Eric, he's a wolf. The face of the pack forming alliances in the human world. He's very powerful. If my findings are correct, then he's the one”

“The man I'm talking about is Eric Grey” I said, wishing it would be a different Eric.

She nodded. “He's the one”

I stepped back, holding my babies tighter.

“I didn’t ask for this,” I whispered. “I just want them safe.”

“Then you run. Again.”

I looked down at Lucas and Lily, sleeping now in my arms. “How long do I have?”

“Until moonrise tomorrow, if you’re lucky.”

Eric ran that night.

Through the trees, across the rivers that parted for his rage. He followed the bond, the flicker of warmth that tied him to her even through time and distance.

She had given birth.

He felt it.

The second his children took their first breaths, his blood had roared in his veins. A connection older than the forest itself had awakened.

He stumbled to his knees and roared, loud enough to shake the trees. Lightning cracked across the sky. His wolf surged forward, claws bursting from his hands, bones snapping as he shifted in mid-motion.

The golden-furred wolf that now stood howled to the heavens.

She was close.

I couldn't sleep. Lucas kept twitching in his sleep, his tiny brow furrowing like he was sensing something.

Lily made soft growls in her sleep, too deep for a newborn.

And my heart never stopped pounding.

Mags had gone to prepare a wagon. “It’ll be old-fashioned,” she’d said. “But it’ll get us to the next town, where the train line still runs. From there, we could disappear.”

I wasn’t so sure it would be enough. But it was something.

“Thank you” I whispered to her

She held my hand and patted it, giving me a reassuring smile.

“You aren't completely healed and you need your rest” she said as she left me

I stood by the window again, Lucas and Lily wrapped against my chest. Outside, the wind had gone still. Too still.

Then I heard it.

The howl. Long. Deep. Calling.

My body went cold.

“no” I whispered.

Mags burst into the room, pale. “They’re here.”

My knees buckled. “They found me.”

Mags said grimly. “I can smell them.”

She handed me a small blade. “Silver. Hopefully you'll never have to use it. But just in case.”

“Mags…”

“You were meant to raise these children far from this war, Selena. but if they get to them, it all changes.”

My breath shook. “You want me to run again.”

“No. This time, you choose.”

Eric approached the cabin slowly, his wolf form shrinking back to his human self. His clothes were torn, but he didn't care. her scent was here.

So were the babies.

He felt them, like embers sparking to life in his soul.

Behind him, wolves moved in the shadows.

He snarled. “Touch her, and you die.”

A dark-furred wolf emerged, Kyle “She carries your heirs, Eric. That makes them the concern of the council.”

“They’re not your concern. They’re mine. I see you have no respect for your alpha. As expected of a traitor”

“They’re not full wolves,” kyle spat. “They’re an abomination. The Elders demand they be taken”

Eric’s fists clenched.

“I will be King of the Alpha's. The supreme” Kyle sneered. “And I will not be challenged by half-breeds born of a human.”

Before Kyle could blink, Eric shifted again, pure rage radiating from his body.

The fight was short and Brutal.

Kyle never stood a chance. He escape, leaving a trail of blood as he ran

Eric stood, watching his wounded body retreating, his chest heaving. then he looked to the cabin.

To her.

I stood at the doorway, heart in my throat, as I clutched the babies to my chest.

He was there. Bloodied from the fight.

Our eyes locked.

“selena,” Eric breathed, taking a step forward.

I didn’t move.

“I came for you. For them.”

“No” I whispered. “Stay back”

“I want to keep you safe, to keep them safe”

Tears filled my eyes.

“It’s never going to be safe with you. Just let us go”

“No,” he said in a low voice. “ with me, they’ll never reach you.”

He stepped closer. “Let me protect you. Let me protect them.”

I looked down at Lucas and Lily, awake now, both staring at him like they knew him.

My voice cracked. “You would protect them?.”

“with every bone in my body” he said, assuring me. “The pack is crumbling. War is coming. But I would protect you. I swear”

I looked at him, he was terrifying, a powerful powerful creature,and then I saw it. the man beneath.

“I’m not a wolf,” I whispered.

“No,” he said. “but you're the perfect luna”

He said.

He needed her to accept him. It was the only way to get his plan in motion.

“Then swear to me, Swear that no matter what wars rise, you will never let them hurt the children.”

He dropped to his knees bowing his head. She could feel the others watching them retreat. It was like they feared seeing their powerful Alpha submit.

“I swear on my blood. On the Moon. On my soul.”

I walked closer to him and for the first time in what felt like forever, I heard myself say

“Then we face this together.”