Welcome To MoonCrest

Reya’s POV 

As soon as we crossed the border into Nightfall’s territory, my wolf stirred in my chest. Her anger and frustration at being here seeped into my bones that it was even hard for me to tell where hers ended and mine began. 

My guts twisted and my heart began an erratic beat in my chest. The place was still the same as how it was when I left five years ago. There were a few new buildings but that was all. Nothing else seemed to have changed. 

‘Well, something has definitely changed,’ Ciara said inside me. ‘You have changed, Reya. You are no longer the girl you used to be and you have people who love, respect and adore you. Take Lycan Xander for example.’

I almost chocked on air at her words, my face turning beet red. “What do you mean Lycan Xander adores me?’ I sputtered. “He’s simply being our leader, the same way he is with everyone else.”

If she could roll her eyes at me, I knew she was going to do that. ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the preferential treatments he gives you. He doesn’t treat you the same way he treats everybody.’

I shrugged. “He just favors my kids, that’s all.” I sighed. “And I’ve been lying to him about my identity for the past five years? What will I do when he finds out I was once mated to Lycan Tristan for two years?”

I shook my head, my heart tightening in my chest. “He has been nothing but good to me and this is how I repay his kindness… by lying in his face for five whole years.”

‘You didn’t lie,’ Ciara reasoned. ‘Technically, you just buried your past behind you and chose not to talk about it with anyone. You did what you needed to do to move on, and if he loves you, he'll understand.’

I rolled my eyes. Where was she getting this delusional thought from? “Ciara, Lycan Xander doesn’t love me. He’s just the Lycan King who cares for all of his subjects. No, leave me alone so I can focus on the games and return home as soon as possible.”

The kids were rousing from their sleep and I turned towards them. “Pearl?” I called out, the corners of my lips lifting up in the smile I only reserved for my bundles of joy.

“Yes, mama?” she answered, rubbing her sleepy eyes. “Are we there yet?”

“Almost, baby,” I cooed. “But before then, do you remember our agreement before we left home?”

She nodded. “Yes, mama. You want Luis to keep his mask on whenever we have to step out.”

Luis popped one eye open and turned away from us, sighing groggily. “I’ll wear the mask if that makes you happy, mama.”

Jessi smiled at me, hugging the two kids close to her chest. “Don’t bother about them and just focus on the games, I’ll make sure I look after them.”

I returned her smile, turning back around in my seat. I hated that I was lying to Jessi again about why I needed Luis to keep his mask on. I had told her that most of the contestants might want to cripple me using my children.

If they found out I had any.

The real issue was that anyone could take one look at Lycan Tristan and my son when they were in close proximity and see the resemblance. That was if people weren’t putting two and two together already.

I shuddered as I thought about Lycan Xander. Did he already notice and wasn’t saying anything about it? The resemblance between both of them was uncanny. My son was a split image of Lycan Tristan, except that he was younger. 

‘Don’t beat yourself up about it,’ Ciara advised. ‘You’re protecting your children and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. You know what Lycan Tristan will do the moment he realizes the children are his?’

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “He’ll look for every means possible to take them from me.”

If I was standing, my knees would have given out under me and I wouldn’t have been a heap of mess on the ground. I was thankful that I was sitting right now and my back was to Jessi and the kids, so they all couldn’t see the look of horror on my face. 

As I prove to me that I could trust him, Luis pulled out the mask I had given him and slipped it on. “How do I look, mama?”

I cringed, forcing a smile on my face. “As handsome as ever,” I lied. Goddess, I was doing a lot of that these days. What kind of an example was I setting for my kids?

‘The one that will do anything to protect family.’ Ciara answered. It was baffling how she always had an answer for everything. 

I smiled at Luis again. “I promise, I’ll make it up to you when we get back home alright? But the mask has to stay on at all times and you have to be with either Jessi, Lycan Xander or me. No one else. Alright?”

Both my babies nodded. 

Despite going over things with them, worry and anxiety still clawed in my chest. The car came to a halt in front of Lycan Tristan’s pack house. The same pack house which I lived in – survived in – for two years. 

Memories of all the gloomy days I spent inside there came rushing to the surface of my mind, overwhelming me for a minute. 

I didn’t even know the kids were already out of the car till Jessi tapped my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. She gave me a concerned look, her brow shooting up to her hairline.

“Are you coming?”

I forced a smile on my face. “Give me a minute,” I answered. 

Nodding, she got out first, jogging to catch up with the kids who were running towards Lycan Xander. I heaved a sigh, gulping down a lungful of breath to calm my nerves but that didn’t work. I mean, what if Lycan Tristan set this whole thing up to complete the one thing he couldn’t achieve five years ago?

I was sure that seeing me alive and healthy must have spooked him. 

What if he wanted to use this opportunity to finish me off? It was what Chloe would want. The fact that I was alive was a threat to their relationship and with me gone… nothing would stand in their way of love.

I scoffed at the thought. 

‘He’ll be dead before he or anyone else lays a hand on you,’ Ciara promised, warming my chest. 

Swallowing, I opened the car and stepped out, breathing in the air that had felt so familiar five years ago. 

I assumed Lycan Tristan had arrived before us, maybe a day earlier, because he stepped out of the pack house with a smile on his face and Chloe dangling off one of his arms. As always, she looked beautiful, elegant and graceful. 

Just like the last time I saw her five years ago. 

She smiled softly as she walked towards us. “Welcome to Moon Crest –” her face fell her jaw hit the floor when her eyes fell on me. She stumbled back, blood drying from her face and leaving her with an ashen parlor.

“Reya?” she checked out, blinking rapidly as if she could hardly believe that I was really standing in front of her. “Y-you – what are you doing here?”

I smirked at her. With the way she was reacting, I had to assume Lycan Tristan didn’t tell her he met me at the games or that he manipulated the whole thing so that I would be here.