Five Years Later, Lyla's dagger stopped a breath away from a warrior's throat.
She had hit him hard enough on the ground to send sand flying.
"Yield." She said to the warrior with her eyes flaming with fury. The warrior stared up at her, panting.
"I yield!"
"I yield!"
Lyla held his gaze for another second before
pulling the blade away.
"We go Again."
The warrior groaned "Again?"
"You dropped your guard."
"I was on the ground!"
"And you won't always be lucky enough to land
on your back the next time."
A few warriors around the training ring laughed and the man glared at them.
"You're enjoying this too much."
Lyla sheathed her dagger.
"I learned from experience."
The laughter died and for a moment, silence settled over the training grounds.
Everyone in the Shadow Pack knew Lyla's story.
The woman who had arrived five years ago half-
dead, with nothing but torn clothes and a broken
bond.The Omega who had somehow survived the Forbidden River.
The stranger, Alpha Caelum had found unconscious on the riverbank.No one knew everything about her past, and Lyla intended to keep it that way.
Five years had changed her.The frightened girl who had once begged an Alpha not to reject her was gone.Her body was lean from years of training. She had scars across her shoulder and ribs, reminders of battles she had survived.
But the greatest change wasn't what people
could see, it was what lived inside her.
Her wolf was no longer weak, no longer silent and no longer afraid.
Lyla had learned to fight, to hunt, and to command.
In the Shadow Pack, rank wasn't handed to her
because of her blood.She had earned every inch of it.A small voice suddenly shattered the tension.
"Mama!"
Lyla's entire expression softened.
She turned as a little boy came racing across the field.
Four years old with dark messy hair, silver eyes and a mischievous grin. Eyes that made Lyla's heart tighten every time she looked into them.
"Leo!" She called out as he launched himself at her.
Lyla caught him easily and lifted him into her
arms.
"I found one!"
"I found one!" he squealed.
"Found what?"
"A butterfly!"
He pointed excitedly toward the trees.
"It was HUGE. Bigger than Papa's hand!"
Lyla laughed.
"That's a very big butterfly."
"It was blue too!"
"Then we'll find it later."
Leo wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Promise?"
"I Promise."
He smiled and Lyla kissed his forehead.
For him, she had survived.
For him, she had learned to fight.
For him, she had built a life after Kieran had tried
to destroy it.
Leo shifted restlessly in her arms.
"Mama, look!"
He squeezed his eyes shut.Nothing happened.
His tiny nose wrinkled in concentration.
"Come on..."
A tiny gray wolf ear suddenly appeared through
his hair.
Leo's eyes flew open.
"I did it!"
Lyla laughed.
"You did."
He beamed with pride.
Suddenly the entire training ground went silent.
Lyla slowly turned, Alpha Caelum stood beneath an ancient oak tree.He had been watching them.
He was tall, dark-haired,and broad-shouldered.
Unlike Kieran, Caelum never needed to raise his
voice to command attention.
There was something dangerous about his
calmness.
He had found Lyla five years ago on the
riverbank.He could have left her to die but Instead, he had carried her home, gave her shelter and a name among his people.And even when he learned she was carrying a child, he never once asked who the father was.
Not until Leo's eyes began turning silver.
Caelum's gaze shifted briefly to the boy.
Then back to Lyla.
"Lyla."
Something in his voice made her smile disappear.
"What happened?"
He held up a sealed envelope with a black wax and a silver wolf stamp on it.
Lyla's stomach dropped as she stared at the seal.
She knew that seal.she hadn't seen it in five years, but she remembered it.
She also remembered the night she had crawled
through the mud, the rejection, the blood and
the threat in Kieran's voice
"What is it?" she asked.
Caelum didn't answer immediately.
He crossed the field and handed her the envelope.
"The Great Summit."
Every five years, the strongest Alphas gathered
to negotiate territory, alliances, trade, and war.
She had never attended one. She had never needed to..Until now.
"Where is it being held?"
Caelum's eyes remained on hers.
"You already know."
Lyla's fingers tightened around the envelope.
"No."
"Silver Moon Pack."
The world seemed to stop.
For five years, she had carefully built a life that
did not include Kieran.
She had taught herself not to remember his
face.Not to dream about the bond.
Not to wonder whether he regretted his decision.
She had almost succeeded.Almost.
Caelum watched her carefully. "You don't have to go." Lyla looked at him.
"We can refuse the invitation," he continued. "I'll
attend in your place."
"And Leo?"
"He stays here."
"No."
Her answer came instantly.Caelum's expression hardened.
"Lyla."
"I said No."
She looked down at Leo.
The little boy was now chasing a butterfly
through the grass, completely unaware that his
existence was the one secret capable of
destroying two packs.
Caelum lowered his voice.
"If Kieran sees him.."
"He won't."
"You don't know that."
Lyla looked back at him.
Her amber eyes burned.
"I know exactly what Kieran will do."
Caelum stepped closer.
"And what will you do when he realizes who Leo
is?"
Lyla's jaw tightened.
That was the question she had spent five years
avoiding. Because the truth was simple, She didn't know.
Kieran had rejected her.
But he had never rejected the child.
He had never even known Leo existed.
If he discovered the truth, he might try to claim
him.Or worse .He might decide Leo was a threat to his position.
Lyla closed her eyes.For five years, she had been running from the past.Perhaps it was time to stop.
She opened her eyes.
"We're going." She said
Caelum studied her.
"Are you sure?"
Lyla smiled.
But there was nothing warm about it.
"Five years ago, Kieran stood before an entire
pack and called me nothing."
She looked toward the distant mountains.
"It's time he sees what that nothing became."
Caelum's lips curved into a slow smile.
"Then we'll leave at dawn."
