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Home / Werewolf Short Story / Four Years Later They Came Crawling Back / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Four Years Later They Came Crawling Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

11 Chapters

Chapter 1

I never thought the first one I’d see after four years would be Kian. My blood. My brother.“Look over there! That’s the envoy from the Northern Alliance! What an entrance!”The spice vendor grabbed my arm. She pointed to a heavily armored convoy at the end of the market. “I heard he’s here to negotiate with our Alpha. Did you see the welcome ceremony? It was live-streamed! My god, every she-wolf who’s seen him has a crush on him!”I looked down, packing the last of my homemade herbal salves into my bag. My voice was flat. “Didn’t see it. And I don’t know any envoy.”The vendor’s eyes widened. “How could you not! It’s Kian! Do you live under a rock?”I just smiled and didn’t explain.I took my daughter Lily’s small hand. “Come on, baby. Let’s go get your favorite strawberry cake.”We hadn’t gone far when a familiar voice cut through the air.“Cora!”The wolf inside me flinched.“Mommy, I think someone’s calling you,” four-year-old Lily said, her fingers tightening around mine.“He’s g

Chapter 2

I looked at Kian’s red-rimmed eyes. What a joke.Was he feeling sorry for me? No.He was just scared.Scared that the “fake princess” who was supposed to be dead had crawled back. Scared I would threaten his precious Morgana’s position as Luna.I coldly pulled my hand back, hiding the grotesque scar inside my sleeve again.I didn’t owe him an explanation.And I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that someone had traded their life for mine.I wasn't that coddled princess anymore. I wasn't proud. I was a survivor.Seeing my silence, Kian grew agitated.“Say something! You’ve been hiding in the Southern Alliance all this time?” He gritted his teeth, his voice turning vicious again. “Did you catch that wolf plague down here and have it fry your wolf and your brain? Running to a borderland like this… if you get cornered and torn to shreds by rogues, you’ll have deserved it!”“Cora Cade!”Just then, the spice vendor from earlier passed by.She waved at me warmly.Then she looked from Kian

Chapter 3

In the middle of the night, Lily started convulsing violently.It was “Moon Phase Fever,” the deadliest illness for werewolf cubs.Her little body was burning up, hot enough to scorch.I was out of my mind with fear. I wrapped her in a blanket, rushed her to the Southern Alliance’s most basic clinic, and didn’t dare close my eyes all night.The fever finally broke at dawn.I carried a listless Lily on my back and pushed open the door to a pharmacy.It was the only place to buy the rare “Moonpetal Herb.”I had just paid when another hand snatched the paper bag off the counter.The man’s index finger wore an Alpha signet ring.The familiar scent locked me in place.My head snapped up. My heart stopped.Sterling.“Ster—”Before I could finish, the memory of the altar judgment flashed in my mind.Four years ago, it was his Alpha command that made every pack allied with the Crescent Moon shun me.I had dragged my ruined right hand across the wilderness, nearly starving to death.My wolf sou

Chapter 4

I stared at Sterling in disbelief.Bring me home?Back to the Crescent Moon pack? The pack he personally banished me from, where he let everyone trample all over me?I couldn't understand what madness had seized this arrogant Alpha.And I especially couldn’t understand why he had to follow me, shamelessly squeezing into my shabby apartment in this border town slum.I tucked a fever-free Lily into the bed in my tiny bedroom.Walking out into the narrow living room, I saw Sterling sitting on my old sofa. He looked completely out of place in the dilapidated surroundings. A wave of anxiety and panic washed over me.I only had cheap tap water.No special, energy-infused spring water that was good for a wolf’s soul.I gritted my teeth, washed the single apple I had been saving for Lily, and placed it on a chipped plate.“Alpha, this is all I have.” I kept my head down, not daring to look at him.Sterling didn’t take it.His gaze was fixed on my right wrist.The sleeve had slipped down as I h

Chapter 5

The darkness faded.I smelled a cool, clean fragrance.Soft, silvery moonlight filled a small courtyard where white moonpetal flowers were blooming in the breeze.A broad-shouldered man was crouched by the flowers, carefully picking the petals.He heard my footsteps and turned.His face was a roadmap of terrifying claw marks. But in the dim light, his eyes were gentle.“You’re awake? Slept all the way till dusk,” he teased, one thick eyebrow raised.“Jax…” I whispered, tears suddenly streaming down my face.This was four years ago… a dream…Back then, I had left the Crescent Moon pack with nowhere to go.Dragging my ruined hand, pregnant, I had collapsed in the borderland wilds of the Southern Alliance.Jax found me.I’ll never forget that awkward morning.I stood before this huge, intimidating man, twisting the hem of my tattered clothes, begging him.“I’m pregnant, I can’t do heavy labor… Could you please just let me stay for a while? I can cook, I can clean…”Jax listened, then burs

Chapter 6

I didn't want the dream to end. I savored the gentle look in Jax’s eyes.But reality violently dragged me from my sleep.The sound of a fierce, suppressed argument pierced my ears.“You found Cora, so why the hell did you hide it from me! What gives you the right!” That was Blake’s voice. Still so familiar, even after four years.Then Kian’s voice, sharp. “The right? Blake, you think too highly of yourself. You chose another she-wolf at your own mating ceremony. You have no right to question anyone.”“She’s my MATE! We have a cub together! This is a blood bond witnessed by the Moon Goddess! No one can change that!” Blake roared.I had to laugh. My mate?The mate who chose another woman when I needed him most?“Shut up, Blake.” Sterling’s command cut through the noise. “You are Morgana’s mate now. You should act like it. Cora is Silver Moon. Her business is our business. Stay out of it, outsider.”A member of the Silver Moon pack?Sterling, you were the one who banished me.“Outsider? S

Chapter 7

I slowly opened my eyes.Blake was just sitting there, staring at me.His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked exhausted and haggard. A storm of pain and regret churned in their depths.Was he hurting for me?My wolf cried out. A sad, stupid reminder of how much I once loved him.I could never forget that night, four years ago.My wrist was a mess of agonizing pain from the wolf-toxin.But everyone else was busy comforting Morgana, the one who “accidentally” spilled the vial and was pretending to have a mental breakdown.My adoptive brother Sterling, my own brother Kian—they both blamed me for being careless and pitied her for feeling guilty.Only Blake, my fated mate, stayed by my side.He held my cold hand and promised, over and over, that he would always be there.That no matter what happened to me, he would never leave.And in that moment, I believed him.I foolishly thought that even if the whole world abandoned me, I would still have him.But later that night, the pain was too inte

Chapter 8

Blake gently took my hand.“I was blind back then. I was an idiot! I misunderstood you… It was Morgana. She orchestrated everything. I shouldn’t have doubted you. And I never should have… chosen her.”He pressed my hand tightly to his tear-filled eyes.“Cora, please. Give me another chance. We'll go back. We'll have our mating ceremony. I’ll announce to every wolf that you are my Luna, my only fated mate. I’ll give Lily a proper family, the most noble status!”He spoke with such passion.As if he were the tragic hero, betrayed for four years, who had finally found his true love.I just looked at him. And then I laughed.“Blake,” I said, pulling my hand away and shattering his illusion, “your political alliance with Morgana is falling apart, so now you’re crawling back to me, the ‘backup’ you threw away. Isn’t that right?”His face went pale.“How can you think that of me? I admit, Morgana and I have had… issues, but that’s not why I came back for you! I love you! We have a mate bond wi

Chapter 9

My words didn’t make them back off.Instead, they wormed their way into my and Lily’s quiet life in even more frantic ways.They must have dug into my past. They must have found out about Jax. And then they started trying to be him. It was clumsy. Laughable.Kian used his “envoy inspection tour” as an excuse to show up every few days.He announced to the whole town that he was my brother and sent over piles of rare energy crystals from the north.He even tried to carve a lopsided wolf totem for Lily, just like Jax used to.Sterling was more direct. He sent a squad of Silver Moon guards and tried to force me to move into a lavish castle.And Blake? He just rented the building next to mine and watched my every move.I ignored it all.I sent back Kian’s crystals, told Sterling to recall his guards, and kept my curtains drawn tight to block out Blake’s suffocating gaze.If it weren’t for Lily’s fourth birthday party, I would have been long gone.That day, I baked her a blueberry cake and h

Chapter 10

I stayed in the bedroom for a long time. I held Lily, humming a lullaby until she cried herself to sleep.I carefully tucked her in and went back to the living room.It was a wreck.My friends had all wisely left. Only the four people who had turned my life upside down remained.Morgana’s hair was a mess and her makeup was streaked with tears. She sat slumped on the sofa, looking pathetic.But the hatred burning in her eyes was more intense than ever.The moment she saw me, she jumped up.“You vicious fake! You still have the nerve to show your face!” she cursed.“Morgana, stop it. Let’s go.” Sterling and Blake tried to pull her away, one on each side, but she violently shook them off.“Don’t touch me!” she screamed, turning and throwing herself at Kian, sobbing. “Kian! Are you going to side with her too? Have you forgotten who grew up with you, who was always there for you? It was me!”Kian turned his head, avoiding her tear-stained face."I remember one night," Kian said, his voice l

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