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Chapter 3

Sera – Five Years Later

The road into Crimson Hollow hadn’t changed much. Still lined with whispering pines, still cloaked in the scent of damp moss and memories I’d tried so hard to forget.

But this time, I wasn’t the same girl who ran away crying under the moonlight. This time, I wasn't alone I had the Alpha’s moonfire secret walking beside me.

“Are we close, Mama?” James’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as he squinted his cute eyes at me, his small hand wrapped tightly around mine.

“Almost,” I said, managing a smile. “You’ll see the pack house soon.”

James looked ahead with wide, curious eyes. His curls dark and unruly bounced as he walked, and every time I looked at him, I saw his father, he took his eyes.

I swallowed the knot forming in my throat.

It had been five years since the Moonfire Festival. Five years since I’d stumbled into his chambers and he told me not to tell a soul, but now the manifestable of the secret is out, It's too late to be a screte now. 

A little boy who had his father's blue eyes and my fire.

We passed the first few pack homes, and then murmurs started almost immediately.

“That’s her…” a faint voice from afar noted. “She came back? Why did she leave in the first place?”

“Look he has a boy with her, who’s he?” 

I straightened my spine keeping my chin high, They could talk about what they wanted It's their loss and none of my business because I am not here for their approval. They should work on minding their business though for God's sake.

“Sera?”

A cold and familiar voice stopped me. It was none other than my ex Gilbert.

He stepped out from behind a cart, wearing the same arrogant smirk I remembered too well.

He looked older but maybe not wiser. His eyes swept over me before landing on James. His smirk dropped.

“And who do we have here?” he asked, voice sharp.

“None of your business, Gilbert,” I said calmly, not in the mood.

But of course, he wouldn’t back down. He stepped into my path and grabbed my arm, hard forcing me forward.

“You think you can just walk back into the Hollow after what you did? You have some nerve—”

I caught him mid-sentence before he finished with a cold and firm tone. “Let go of me.”

Gilbert leaned in, his breath sour. “You whored around and ran off, and now what? You think showing up with this kid will earn you a place again?”

I looked him dead in the eye. “Let. Go.”

James tugged at my skirt, eyes wide and scared.

I ripped my arm free and stepped between Gilbert and my son.

“I didn’t come back for you,” I said, my voice louder now. People started to gather as it was becoming a scene.

“I’m not here to fix the past. I came to claim what’s mine.”

Gilbert sneered, “Yours? What the hell could you possibly think is yours here?”

I didn’t answer him. I just looked down at James, then up over Gilbert’s shoulder.

And there he was, Alpha Aldric.

Perhaps he must have heard some noise or someone must have rushed and informed him. His eyes met mine for the first time in five years.

Then they dropped to the boy.

Everything about him froze his stride, his breath, the air around him.

James stared back, confused but curious.

Aldric’s eyes widened. He didn’t speak. Didn’t need to. I saw it the moment recognition dawned.

He knew.

The silver in his gaze flickered like lightning behind storm clouds. He took a step forward, eyes locked on James.

“Is he…” His voice cracked for the first time in all the years I’d known of him.

“Is he mine?”

I stepped in front of James, blocking the Alpha’s path.

“It depends.”

His mouth opened, then closed again.

He raised his hands to touch him as he stepped closer.

“Not so fast Alpha.” I squared my shoulders.

“Not yet.”

He blinked. “Sera—”

“If you want him in your life,” I said, cutting him off, “you need to acknowledge him. Publicly. As your son.”

“That’s not a problem—”

Then the pause.

“And me.” My voice didn’t shake, though my insides churned. “Make me Luna.”

He stared at me for a long time. His jaw tightened.

“This is not a negotiation—”

“Yes, it is.” I felt James press against the back of my legs.

“You don’t get to pick and choose what parts of your mistakes you accept. Do you want to be his father? Then claim me too. Not as some secret. Not as some regret. As Luna.”

A growl rumbled from his chest, but it wasn’t anger. It was something else. Something heavy. Conflict.

He stepped closer, and now we were eye to eye. His voice dropped to something only I could hear.

“I see. You’ve changed.”

“And You haven’t?” I replied.

James poked his head out from behind me. “Mama? Is this the man from the picture?”

Aldric flinched like he’d been hit.

“You showed him a picture?” he asked.

“He has a right to know where he comes from,” I answered.

A pause.

Then, slowly, Aldric knelt down in front of James.

The entire pack was silent now, all watching as their Alpha looked into the eyes of a little boy with the same gray stare.

“What’s your name?” Aldric asked softly.

“James,” he replied.

“James,” Aldric echoed, like the name itself was sacred.

He reached out to touch him, but I held up a hand. “Not until you do it.”

Aldric stood. The air around us crackled.

“Gather the pack,” he ordered a nearby guard without looking away from me.

“I’ll make the announcement.”

I nodded once. Then took James’s hand and turned away before my resolve could crack.

The crowd parted for us.

As we walked toward the old family cabin that had been abandoned for years, I let the strength leave my body for a second. Just a second.