All Chapters of The Heir's Child: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Rushing through the woods toward our designated meeting place is easier than I expected.The ball cap shades enough of my face that I no longer feel the need to duck behind every tree. I still avoid the main trails whenever possible, but being alone in the woods isn't unusual for a werewolf. We hunt here. Train here. Think here.No one gives a lone wolf a second glance.Every step carries me farther away from everything I have ever known.I refuse to think about that.Instead, I focus on Raven.On the plan.On putting one foot in front of the other.If I allow myself to think about what I'm leaving behind, I know I'll turn around before I ever reach the edge of the territory.Eventually the trees begin to thin, revealing the narrow road where Raven promised to meet me.Right on cue, I spot her old car sitting on the shoulder with the hood raised.I can't help smiling.A young warrior from the pack is standing beside her, scratching the back of his neck while staring helplessly into th

"So, where are we going then?" I ask after a while.Raven smirks at me before holding up a coin for me to see."I thought that we would let fate decide." She says."Are you serious right now? We are going to choose where we are going based on a coin flip?" I ask incredulously."Of course. You wanted to be untraceable. This is going to be the trick. Once we get farther away we can start making our own decisions again." She tells me with that same smirk. She does have a fair point there. With Lyall knowing me as well as he does, it would be too easy for him to find me this close to the pack. I will just have to let her do her thing and hope that it works out for us."Can you promise me, no snow though?" I ask with a shudder.Personally, I have never seen snow before but I know that as a wolf, we love the sunshine. Laying in the sun is one of the most relaxing feelings ever. If I have to go somewhere cold, I do not know how well I will adapt."Hey, fate is deciding. If you have a proble

Back at the Pack House...Lyall's POV"You know her better than anyone. Where would she go?" my dad asks, breaking the heavy silence hanging over the room.I rake both hands through my hair for what has to be the hundredth time today."How am I supposed to know?" I snap."She has never wanted to leave the pack before. We've never talked about it. Not once. She has always loved it here."Or...At least I thought she did.The thought twists like a knife in my chest.Apparently I never knew Rowan as well as I believed."Apparently she wasn't happy here," my mother says quietly. "There has to be a reason she left."I let out a bitter laugh."You think I don't know that?"She reaches toward me, trying to rub my back like she did when I was little.I step away before she can touch me.Right now, comfort feels wrong.Rowan is out there somewhere.Alone.Pregnant.Probably terrified.While I'm standing here doing absolutely nothing.I continue pacing.Every few steps I stop, trying to force m

Making the decision to settle somewhere that received snow had somehow been easier than deciding where I actually wanted to live.Choosing a direction was one thing.Choosing a future was something entirely different.Every town we passed felt like it came with a thousand questions.Would it be safe?Would people accept me?Would another pack discover I was a rogue?Would my pup have friends?Would we always have to keep running?The longer I stared at maps, the more impossible the decision became.When I admitted to Raven that I wanted to stay as far away from werewolf packs as possible, she hadn't looked surprised.Not even a little.Instead, she'd simply nodded as if she had expected that answer all along.It wasn't that I hated my own kind.Far from it.I loved my pack.I loved the traditions.The celebrations beneath the full moon.Training beside my friends.Running through the forests together until dawn.Those memories would always be part of me.But I wasn't just another rogue

Once we finally looked around the little town of Salem, both of us knew almost immediately that we had found it.Home.Not forever, maybe.Nothing in my life felt permanent anymore.But for the first time since leaving my pack, I could actually picture a future.Children laughed as they rode their bikes down quiet streets. Neighbors waved from front porches. Flower boxes hung beneath nearly every window, and every person we passed seemed to know someone else by name.There wasn't a single towering building in sight.No endless traffic.No crowds.Just a peaceful little town tucked between rolling hills and thick forests.It reminded me of pack life...Only quieter.Gentler.Without the constant pressure of everyone knowing everyone's business.I found myself smiling before I even realized I was doing it."I knew that look would show up eventually," Raven said with a grin."What look?""The one where you've already started decorating the nursery in your head."Heat rushed into my cheek