The nets were heavy with the morning's catch when I first caught his scent.

Burnt cedar and rain.

My hands froze on the rope, salt water dripping between my fingers. Two years. Two years since I'd smelled that particular combination, and my body remembered before my mind could catch up. The rope slipped through my grip as panic clawed up my throat.

"Mya." Devon's voice cut through the fog. His hand found the small of my back, warm and steady, anchoring me to the present. To this life. To safety.

I forced myself to breathe. In through my nose, out through my mouth. The Azure Tide village bustled around us—pack members hauling crates, children laughing near the water's edge, the familiar rhythm of home. But my eyes were locked on the sleek black yacht gliding toward our dock, its hull gleaming like a predator's tooth.

The Dark Moon crest stood out stark against the black paint.

"I've got you," Devon murmured, positioning himself slightly in front of me. Not enough to be obvious, but enough that I could feel the solid wall of his presence. "Your scent's changed, remember? He won't know."

Vanilla and sea salt now. Not the timid, barely-there scent of the wolfless Omega I'd been. My shift had changed everything—my scent, my strength, my future. I touched my neck where Devon's mate mark sat, a silver crescent that caught the light.

Please, Moon Goddess. Let that be enough.

The yacht docked with practiced precision. Pack members gathered for the treaty greeting, curious but cautious. The Azure Tide didn't get many visitors from the elite city packs, and everyone knew the Dark Moon Pack's reputation.

Kenneth stepped off first.

Time didn't stop. It shattered.

He looked exactly the same—tall, commanding, dressed in a charcoal suit that probably cost more than our entire fishing fleet. His dark hair was perfectly styled, his jaw sharp enough to cut. The kind of handsome that made humans stop and stare, that made wolves instinctively lower their eyes.

I'd loved him once. Thought the Moon Goddess had blessed me.

What a fool I'd been.

Sara appeared at his side, her arm threaded through his like she owned him. Maybe she did. Her blonde hair cascaded in perfect waves, her designer dress hugging curves that screamed money and status. She surveyed our village with barely concealed disdain, her nose wrinkling slightly.

Devon stepped forward, extending his hand. "Alpha Kenneth. Welcome to Azure Tide territory."

Kenneth's nostrils flared.

Everything inside me went cold.

His head snapped toward me, eyes widening. For a heartbeat, he just stared, his hand frozen halfway to Devon's. Then his pupils bled to black, his wolf rising so fast I could see the shift in his posture.

"Mya?" The word came out strangled, disbelieving.

He moved toward me, ignoring Devon completely. His hand reached out like he had the right to touch me, like two years and a murder attempt meant nothing.

Devon's growl stopped him cold.

The sound rolled through the dock, low and dangerous. Devon shifted to fully block Kenneth's path, and I felt his Alpha aura flare—not as overwhelming as Kenneth's, maybe, but backed by something Kenneth had never understood. Love. Loyalty. The kind of strength that didn't need to prove itself.

"You don't touch her," Devon said quietly.

Kenneth's eyes finally focused on him, really seeing him for the first time. They dropped to my neck, to the mate mark there, and something ugly twisted across his face.

"Come here, Mya." His voice changed, dropping into that Alpha tone that used to make my knees buckle. Command wrapped in sound, the kind of power that forced submission from lesser wolves.

I felt the pull of it, that old instinct to obey.

But something else rose up inside me—something that tasted like moonlight and ancient power. My eyes flashed, I knew they did, because I saw Kenneth's expression shift from command to shock.

Gold. My eyes flashed gold.

I didn't move. Didn't bow. Didn't submit.

Devon's growl intensified, his body coiled and ready. Around us, I felt the Azure Tide warriors shifting closer, responding to their Alpha's protective stance.

Kenneth stared at me like I was a ghost. Like I'd crawled out of the ocean he'd thrown me into and become something he couldn't control.

"You marked her." His voice was flat, dangerous. He looked at Devon with pure hatred. "You marked my—"

"She's mine," Devon cut him off. "My mate. My Luna. And you're a guest on my territory, so I suggest you remember that."

Sara's fingers dug into Kenneth's arm, her perfectly painted nails like claws. "Kenneth, darling, what's going on?"

But Kenneth wasn't listening to her. He was staring at me with an intensity that made my skin crawl, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping.

Then he smiled.

It was the cruelest thing I'd ever seen.

"You look good for a dead woman," he said, his voice carrying across the suddenly silent dock. His eyes glittered with malice and something else—something possessive and insane. "Does our son, Leo, know his mother is a whore?"

The world tilted.

Leo.

My baby. My son.

Alive.

My knees hit the dock before I realized I was falling.

Devon caught me, his arms solid and real, but everything else felt like it was dissolving. The world narrowed to those two words, repeating in my head like a prayer or a curse.

Leo. Alive.

My baby was alive.

"Get her inside," Devon's voice cut through the roaring in my ears. "Now."

He lifted me like I weighed nothing, carrying me away from Kenneth's cruel smile, from Sara's shocked face, from the pack members who'd gone silent with tension. The cabin door slammed behind us, muffling the chaos outside.

Devon set me on the couch, his hands framing my face. "Breathe, Mya. Just breathe."

But I couldn't. My chest was too tight, my lungs refusing to work. Leo. My son. The baby I'd felt growing inside me during those last terrible weeks with Kenneth, the life I'd been protecting when the ocean swallowed me whole.

I'd thought he died with me in those dark waters.

"Tell me," Devon said, his voice steady but his eyes wild. "Tell me what he's talking about."

The words came out broken. "I was pregnant. When Kenneth—when he commanded me to let go. I was three months along." My hands moved to my stomach, remembering. "I thought—the cold, the water—I thought I lost him."

Devon's face went pale. Then red. His wolf flashed in his eyes, amber bleeding to gold with rage.

"He knew?" The question came out deadly quiet.

"I don't know. Maybe. I never told him, but—" My voice cracked. "Devon, my baby is alive. Kenneth has him. He's been raising him, and I—"

"We'll get him back." Devon's hands tightened on mine. "I swear to the Moon Goddess, we'll get him back."

"How?" The word tasted like ash. "Kenneth's pack is three times our size. His territory is a fortress. If we attack—"

"Then we attack." Devon's jaw set in that stubborn line I knew so well. "I'll call in every favor, every alliance. We'll—"

A knock on the door cut him off.

Marcus's voice came through, tight with tension. "Alpha. Kenneth's demanding a private meeting with Mya. Says he'll wait one hour, then he's leaving."

Devon's growl rattled the windows. "Tell him—"

"I'll go," I said.

His head snapped toward me. "No."

"He has my son." I stood, my legs shaky but holding. "I have to hear what he wants."

The meeting happened in the treaty room, neutral ground with Marcus and Ryan standing guard. Kenneth sat across from me, his phone in his hand, his expression unreadable.

Devon stood behind me, a wall of protective fury.

Kenneth didn't waste time. He turned the phone toward me, and my heart stopped.

The video showed a small boy sitting on a bed in a room that looked more like a cell than a bedroom. White walls. No toys. No color. He had Kenneth's dark hair but my eyes—those soft brown eyes that used to look at me in the mirror.

Leo.

He looked so small. So sad.

"He's well cared for," Kenneth said, his voice casual. Like we were discussing the weather. "Fed, clothed, educated. Sara's been an excellent mother."

The lie burned. "She's not his mother."

"No." Kenneth's eyes locked on mine. "You are. And you can be again."

Hope flared, painful and desperate. "What?"

"Come back to the Dark Moon Pack. As my Pack Mistress." He said it like it was reasonable. Like it was generous. "Sara remains Luna—that's non-negotiable. But you can live in the pack house. See Leo every day. Be his mother."

Devon's growl shook the room. "You're insane."

Kenneth ignored him, his focus entirely on me. "Or refuse, and I'll send him to the Blackstone Academy. Military boarding school. He'll be trained as a warrior, far from both of us. You'll never see him again."

"You wouldn't." But I could see in his eyes that he would.

"Choose, Mya." Kenneth leaned forward. "Your son, or your pride."

Back in Devon's cabin, I couldn't stop shaking.

"Don't do this." Devon paced like a caged wolf. "We can raid them. Tonight. Catch them off guard—"

"And if Leo gets hurt in the crossfire?" I wrapped my arms around myself. "If Kenneth uses him as a shield? If—"

"Then we'll be careful. We'll plan. Mya, please." He dropped to his knees in front of me, his hands gripping mine. "Don't go back to him. Don't let him win."

"He already won." The truth tasted bitter. "The moment he told me Leo was alive, he won."

Devon's face crumpled. "I can't lose you."

"You won't." I pulled him close, breathing in his scent—pine and ocean, home and safety. "This isn't forever. I'll find a way. I'll get Leo out, and then—"

"And then what? Kenneth won't let you go. You know that."

I did know. But what choice did I have?

The yacht's engine rumbled as I stood on the dock, my small bag at my feet. Devon stood beside me, his face carved from stone, his eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Mark me," I whispered. "One more time."

His teeth found my neck, sinking into the mate mark he'd given me two years ago. The bond flared between us, bright and fierce and unbreakable. When he pulled back, his eyes were wet.

"Come back to me," he said.

"Always." I kissed him, pouring everything I couldn't say into it. "I'm not leaving you in my heart. Only in body. Only to save our son."

Kenneth waited on the yacht's deck, his expression triumphant.

I didn't look back as I boarded. Couldn't. If I saw Devon's face, I'd break. I'd run back to him and damn the consequences.

But as the yacht pulled away from the dock, I felt Devon's howl through the mate bond—a sound of pure anguish that shattered what was left of my heart.

The Dark Moon Pack house rose ahead, a glass and steel fortress.

And somewhere inside, my son was waiting.

The Dark Moon Pack house loomed above me like a monument to everything I'd lost.

Glass and steel stretched toward the sky, reflecting the city lights in cold, perfect lines. I'd forgotten how sterile it was. How lifeless. The Azure Tide village had wood and warmth, laughter echoing off stone walls. This place felt like a tomb dressed in expensive architecture.

Kenneth led me through the lobby without a word. Pack members stopped mid-conversation, their eyes tracking me with confusion that quickly turned to recognition. Whispers followed in our wake.

"Isn't that—"

"The dead Omega?"

"I thought she drowned."

Their stares felt like knives. I kept my chin up, my shoulders back. I wasn't that girl anymore. I'd died in the ocean and come back stronger.

But my hands still shook.

Sara waited in the main hall, her smile sharp as broken glass. She'd changed into a cream silk dress that probably cost more than a fishing boat, her hair swept up to show off the unmarked skin of her neck. No mate bond. Just expensive perfume trying to cover the bitterness underneath.

"Mya." She said my name like it tasted bad. "Welcome home."

Home. The word was a slap.

"Sara." I kept my voice flat.

Her smile widened. "Kenneth's told me about your... arrangement. How generous of him to let you see Leo." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. "But let's be clear about your place here. You're not Luna. You're not pack. You're a guest who's overstayed her welcome."

Kenneth's hand found the small of Sara's back, possessive. "Show her to her quarters."

Sara's eyes gleamed with victory. "Of course, darling." She turned to me, her smile all teeth. "Follow me."

She led me to the service elevator. Not the main one with its marble and mirrors. The one the Omegas used.

We descended into the basement.

The hallway smelled like bleach and old concrete. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in sickly yellow. Sara stopped at a door that looked like it belonged to a storage closet.

"Your room." She pushed it open.

A cot. A single bare bulb. Concrete walls that wept with moisture. This wasn't quarters. This was a cell.

"The upper floors are restricted," Sara said, her voice sweet as poison. "Especially the residential wing. That's where Leo lives. With his real family." She leaned in close. "If I catch you anywhere near him without permission, I'll have Kenneth send you back to that fishing village in pieces."

She left me there, her heels clicking away down the hall.

I waited until the sound faded. Then I counted to one hundred.

The ventilation system hadn't changed. I'd cleaned these ducts as an Omega, knew every twist and turn. The grate came off easily, and I pulled myself up into the narrow shaft.

My wolf stirred, lending me strength. The white fur I'd earned through pain and survival. I wouldn't shift—too risky—but I felt her there, steady and sure.

The ducts led up through the building's skeleton. I crawled past the main floors, past Kenneth's office, past the grand dining hall. The metal was cold against my palms, but I barely felt it.

Leo. I was coming for Leo.

The nursery floor was on the twentieth level. I found the grate that opened into a storage closet and dropped down silent as smoke.

The hallway beyond was carpeted in soft gray, walls painted with cheerful murals that felt wrong in this cold place. I heard a child's voice, soft and hesitant, coming from the room at the end.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

The door was cracked open. I peered through.

Leo sat on the floor, surrounded by expensive toys he wasn't playing with. He was small for his age, his shoulders hunched like he was trying to disappear. Kenneth's dark hair. My brown eyes.

My son.

I pushed the door open slowly. "Leo?"

His head snapped up. For one heartbeat, I saw recognition flash across his face—something deep and instinctive that made my wolf surge with hope.

Then fear replaced it.

He scrambled backward, his small body pressing against the wall. "Stay away from me."

The words hit like a physical blow. "Leo, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm—"

"My mommy is Luna Sara." His voice shook, but the words came out practiced. Rehearsed. "You are the bad Rogue who left me. You're not supposed to be here."

I dropped to my knees, making myself small. Non-threatening. "Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows." But his eyes darted to the door, nervous. "Luna Sara saved me from you. She's my real mommy."

Lies. All lies. But he believed them. Sara had poisoned him against me before I even had a chance.

I forced myself to breathe. To think. "Can I sit with you? Just for a minute?"

He hesitated, then nodded slowly.

I moved closer, careful not to spook him. Up close, I could see the dark circles under his eyes. The way his hands trembled slightly. Something was wrong.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked gently.

He shrugged. "I'm always tired. Luna Sara says it's normal."

It wasn't normal. I'd helped Elena treat enough pups to know that.

A tray sat on his bedside table—lunch, barely touched. I picked up the glass of juice, pretending to examine it casually. The scent hit me immediately.

Wolfsbane.

My blood went cold.

I'd learned to identify it during my time with the Azure Tide healers. The bitter, metallic smell that clung to anything it touched. And there was something else—suppressants, the kind used to keep young wolves from shifting too early.

Sara was drugging him.

Keeping him weak. Keeping his wolf buried so deep he might never find it.

Rage flooded through me, hot and vicious. My eyes flashed gold before I could stop them.

Leo gasped. "Your eyes—"

I forced them back to brown, my hands shaking with the effort of controlling my wolf. "It's okay. I'm okay."

But I wasn't okay. Nothing about this was okay.

I poured the juice into a small vial I'd tucked in my pocket, then refilled the glass with water from the bathroom. Evidence. I needed evidence.

"I have to go," I said softly. "But Leo? I'm going to come back. And I'm going to help you feel better."

He looked at me with those eyes—my eyes—confused and scared and so, so tired.

"Promise?" he whispered.

"Promise."

I left before Sara's lies could poison him further. Before my wolf could break free and tear this entire building apart.

In my basement cell, I held the vial up to the bare bulb. The liquid inside glowed faintly purple.

Proof.

Sara wasn't just keeping Leo from me. She was slowly destroying him from the inside out, terrified of the Alpha power that ran through his veins.

My hands curled into fists.

She'd made a mistake. A fatal one.

She'd given me a reason to stop playing nice.