Chapter 11: Network Revealed

Nyra’s POV

The safe house is tucked in the forest three miles from the summit grounds.

I arrive after midnight, using paths only those who've lived in shadows would know. The building is small, unremarkable, the kind of place wolves pass without noticing. Perfect.

Inside, twelve omegas wait.

They sit in a loose circle, some on chairs, others on the floor. Every single one watches the door like prey tracking a predator. When I enter, several flinch.

I hate that reflex. Hate what it says about what they've endured.

"Thank you for coming," I say softly, closing the door.

A woman near the window speaks first. She's maybe thirty, with tired eyes and scars on her wrists that look like shackles. "You're really her. The Moonshadow."

"I'm really her."

"You survived Shadowpine."

"I did."

"And you came back." Her voice cracks slightly. "Why?"

The question hangs in the air. Twelve pairs of eyes watch me, desperate for an answer that makes sense of their suffering.

"Because I was where you are," I say. "Broken. Rejected. Told I didn't matter. And I decided that if I survived, I'd make sure no one else had to feel that way alone."

Silence. Then a young man, barely twenty, speaks up. "The network you're building. The safe houses. The trade agreements. Is it real?"

"Yes."

"And you're doing this for omegas? For us?"

"For anyone the system discards." I move further into the room. "Omegas. Packless wolves. Anyone told they're worthless because of designation or circumstance."

A beta near the back shifts. "The alphas won't let you. They'll stop you."

"They'll try."

"Aren't you afraid?"

I consider the question. "Every day. But I'm more afraid of doing nothing."

The woman with scarred wrists stands. "I'm Elena. Ironpeak Pack. My alpha forced a bond on me three years ago. When I tried to leave, he rejected me publicly to teach me a lesson about disobedience." She touches her chest. "The rejection scarred. Internally. I can't form bonds anymore. Can't even feel my wolf properly."

My power stirs in response to her pain. "May I see?"

She hesitates, then nods.

I step closer, placing my palm over her heart. The lunar marks on my skin glow faintly as I reach for the ruins' power. It flows through me like cold moonlight, ancient and patient.

I can feel the scar immediately. A puckered, ugly thing where her bond should be. The forced connection twisted into something diseased, then severed violently. It's a wound that never healed.

"This will hurt," I warn.

"More than it already does?"

"No. Less."

I let the power flow. Silver light spreads from my palm into her chest. Elena gasps, her back arching. The other omegas lean forward, watching with wide eyes.

The scar resists at first. Bond damage is deep, woven into the soul itself. But the ruins' power is older, patient, designed to heal what alphas broke.

Slowly, the puckered tissue begins to smooth. The twisted wrongness straightens. I can feel Elena's wolf stirring, responding to the healing, finally able to reach her again after years of silence.

When I pull my hand away, Elena collapses to her knees, sobbing.

"I can feel her," she whispers. "My wolf. I can feel her again."

The room erupts in whispers.

"She healed it."

"The bond scar is gone."

"She can actually do it."

I help Elena back to her feet. She's still crying, but there's something like joy in her expression now.

"Thank you," she breathes. "I never thought—I didn't think it was possible."

"The system told you it wasn't," I say. "They lied."

The young man stands. "I want to help. Whatever you're building, I want to be part of it."

"Me too," Elena says immediately.

Others nod. Stand. The fear in their eyes is still there, but it's joined by something else now.

Hope.

"The network needs people willing to take risks," I say. "To shelter wolves fleeing bad situations. To stand against alphas who abuse their power. It's dangerous. The Council will retaliate."

"Let them," a beta says. "I've spent ten years watching my packmates suffer. I'm done being quiet."

I look around the circle. Twelve wolves. Some young, some older. All scarred in different ways. All choosing to fight back.

"Then welcome to the Moon Pact," I say. "We protect each other. We offer choice where the system offers none. And we don't bow to alphas who think power means they can destroy people."

Elena steps forward. "What do you need us to do?"

"Spread the word. Quietly. Let omegas know there's a way out if they need it. Document abuse when you can. And if you see someone in danger—"

"We get them to safety," she finishes.

"Exactly."

The meeting continues for another hour. I share locations of safe houses. Contact methods. Emergency protocols. These wolves are risking everything by joining me, and I owe them honesty about the danger.

When the meeting ends, they filter out in small groups. Careful. Cautious. But with their shoulders a little straighter than when they arrived.

Elena is the last to leave. She pauses at the door.

"The rumors say you're Alpha Draven's rejected mate," she says quietly.

The bond pulses in my chest. "They're true."

"Does he know? What you're doing?"

"He's investigating me. So yes, probably."

She studies my face. "Will he try to stop you?"

I think about the corridor. His hand almost reaching for me. The way he refused to even consider I might be lying about the Council's corruption.

"I don't know," I admit. "But I'm not stopping either way."

Elena nods and leaves.

I stand alone in the empty room, exhaustion settling over me. Healing Elena drained more power than I expected. The lunar marks on my skin have dimmed slightly.

Worth it, though. Seeing her wolf return, seeing hope replace despair—

A sound. Soft. Deliberate.

I spin toward the shadows near the back wall.

Someone steps into the dim light.

Mira Ashwood.