The Moons Heir Awakened

Nate and I were in the middle of conversation about brining Eleanor back to the pack house where she belongs , when I felt it , something alive .

“ she’s awakening “ Elenor said quietly her gaze fixed to the flames or the fire “ I can feel the magic shifting , it’s begun “

I nodded , though unease twisted deep in my stomach

“ when the mate bond stirs after so many years …. It doesn’t ask for permission”

I frowned “ what do you mea—“

A shock ripped through me , hot , bright, alive , my body went rigid , the pendant flared in my hand burning so fiercely I dropped it to the floor , my wolf surging , clawing to the surface .

“ Kael — “

Her voice

Not Elenor’s , hers

It wasn’t words — it was feeling: pain, confusion, fear. A pulse of energy so raw it nearly drove me to my knees. My chest tightened, the mate bond snapping awake like a live wire between us.

“Ayla,” I breathed.

“What is it?” Eleanor asked sharply, standing.

I couldn’t answer — couldn’t think. Every nerve in my body burned. My heart thundered. The air tasted like her — wild rain and moonlight.

And then I heard her voice again, faint and broken, echoing inside my head.

Kael…

My wolf snarled inside me, half-mad with the sound of her name.

“She’s in pain,” I managed through clenched teeth. “She’s calling out to me.”

Eleanor’s face paled. “Then the bond has awakened fully. She’s found her wolf.”

My chest heaved as the pain in the bond spiked again — sharp, unbearable. I could feel her heartbeat hammering, her breath catching, the sound of her tears through the bond that linked us.

I didn’t wait for more. My wolf tore through the surface, and for the first time in years, I didn’t fight it. My bones cracked, reshaped, fur bursting through skin as the silver glow of the moon spilled through the trees.

Nate cursed behind me, shouting something I didn’t hear. The world blurred into speed and sound and scent — the forest alive beneath my paws.

And through it all, her voice guided me.

Kael… please…

The bond thrummed like lightning between us distance burning away with every stride.

no power in this world or the next could keep me from the woman who carried my soul in hers.

The night howled around me. The forest bent to the call of something ancient and divine.

And far ahead, beneath the same moon, I felt her heartbeat steady weak, but alive.

I ran faster.

The Moon’s Heir had awakened.

The run was a blur forest, road, shadow, moonlight all the same streak of motion.

Every stride burned, every breath tore through my lungs, but the pull inside me was relentless. It wasn’t just instinct it was her.

Her pain. Her fear. Her call.

“Hold on,” I growled into the wind, not sure if I was speaking to her or to myself.

The city lights rose ahead, the smell of smoke and concrete replacing pine. My wolf snarled, uneasy — he hated human places, hated the noise and scent of steel — but the bond didn’t waver. It burned through every distraction until all I could feel was her.

Nate’s voice came through the pack link, distant “. Kael, slow down”

I cut him off. Stay with Eleanor. Don’t follow me.

The pull tightened like a leash around my ribs. My wolf lunged forward, faster, stronger. The world became a tunnel of sound and heartbeat.

Then I felt it a sharp pulse through the bond that nearly threw me off my feet.

Pain. Raw, searing pain.

And then her voice.

Kael.

The sound of my name weak, but real broke something inside me. My wolf roared in answer, and before I even realized what I was doing, I shifted back mid-run, bones snapping, skin tearing. I didn’t stop to dress. I didn’t need to.

I ran.

Her scent hit me halfway up the street rain, smoke, and moonlight. It curled around me, thick and intoxicating. The windows of a nearby building flickered like lightning was trapped inside.

Ayla,” I breathed, following it.

The door to her apartment was locked. I didn’t care. One shove and it splintered, crashing open.

The room was chaos glass scattered, lights shattered, the air charged with power. The scent of magic was everywhere, ancient and wild.

And in the center of it she was there.