Sage Winters loved three Alphas in silence, until the Blood Moon changed everything. One forbidden night. One reckless mistake. By morning, she was blocked, rejected, and erased from their lives.

Then she discovered the impossible: she was pregnant with their triplets.

With nothing left, Sage vanished from the werewolf world, determined her children would never know rejection. Five years later, she’s returned as Dr. Sage Winters, the only person who can save the dying Silver Crest pack.

The problem?

The three Alphas who abandoned her are back.

And the children at her side are unmistakably theirs.

This time, Sage holds the power and forgiveness won’t come easy.

1. The Morning After

The morning light filtering through the curtains felt like broken glass against my skin.

I opened my eyes slowly, every muscle in my body aching with a sweet exhaustion I’d never experienced before. The Blood Moon Festival. Last night had been…

My breath caught as the memories flooded back.

Kieran’s hands on my face, his usually cold gray eyes burning with something that looked dangerously like devotion. Asher’s whispered promises against my neck, words I’d dreamed of hearing for six years. Dominic’s fierce protectiveness as he held me like I was something precious, something worth keeping.

The mate bond.

Real. Undeniable. Ours.

I reached across the bed, searching for the warmth of their bodies, but my hand met only cold sheets.

“Kieran?” My voice came out rough, uncertain. The massive bedroom in the Alpha’s private quarters was silent except for my own breathing.

“Asher? Dominic?”

Nothing.

I sat up, clutching the silk sheet to my chest, and that was when I saw it.

A single piece of cream-colored paper lay on the pillow beside me, the Silver Crest pack seal pressed into red wax at the bottom.

My hands shook as I picked it up.

Sage Winters,

In accordance with pack law and for the good of Silver Crest, we formally reject the mate bond revealed during the Blood Moon Festival. This rejection is effective immediately and is irrevocable.

Do not attempt to contact us regarding this matter. What happened last night was a mistake that will not be repeated.

Kieran Modric, Alpha Prime

Asher Killian, Second Alpha

Dominic Stone, Third Alpha

The paper slipped from my fingers and drifted to the floor.

For a long moment, I simply sat there, my mind refusing to process the words I’d just read. This had to be a mistake. A cruel joke.

Last night, Kieran had looked at me like I was his entire world. Asher had traced the mate mark on my collarbone with trembling fingers, his voice breaking as he said he’d waited years for this. Dominic had buried his face in my hair and whispered that he’d never let me go.

But they were gone.

And the only thing they’d left behind was a rejection letter.

I forced myself to stand, ignoring the way my legs threatened to buckle. My clothes from last night were folded neatly on a chair. Someone had taken the time to do that but not to face me with this rejection in person. The thoughtfulness of it somehow made everything worse.

I dressed mechanically, my movements wooden and disconnected. The mate mark on my collarbone burned with every breath, a physical reminder of what I’d gained and lost in the space of one night. In the mirror, I looked exactly like what I was: a low-ranking wolf who’d been foolish enough to believe she could have something meant for someone better.

The walk through the pack house was a blur of shame. A few early risers glanced at me, their expressions ranging from pity to satisfaction. Word had clearly spread. Of course it had, nothing stayed secret in Silver Crest, especially not when it involved the Alphas.

I made it to my small quarters on the lower level before the first sob broke free.

Six years.

I’d been in love with them for six years, carefully hiding my feelings because I knew my place. I was Sage Winters, daughter of a deceased Beta who’d died in disgrace, barely clinging to my position in the pack through sheer determination and the goodwill of the few who remembered my father before his fall.

Kieran was the Alpha Prime, ruthless and brilliant, descended from one of the founding families. Asher came from a line of pack strategists, his political acumen legendary. Dominic’s family had produced the pack’s fiercest warriors for generations.

And me?

I was nobody.

I’d accepted that. Built a life around that acceptance. Content to be their friend, grateful for whatever scraps of affection they threw my way.

Then the Blood Moon came, and the ancient magic didn’t care about rank or worthiness. It only cared about truth.

We were mates. The four of us, bound together in a way that happened maybe once in a century. A true triad bond, rare and powerful and right in a way that made my soul sing.

For one perfect night, I’d let myself believe.

2. The Weight of Truth

The nausea hit me three weeks later.

I stared at the three positive pregnancy tests lined up on my bathroom counter like tiny bombs waiting to explode. This wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible. Rejected mate bonds didn’t result in pregnancy, the severed connection prevented it, or so every piece of werewolf biology I’d ever learned claimed.

But my body didn’t care about should or shouldn’t.

The evidence was undeniable, confirmed by the pack doctor I’d visited under a false pretense, claiming I wanted to update my medical records. Dr. Reeves had congratulated me with a knowing look that made my skin crawl, asking carefully neutral questions about the father that I’d deflected with practiced ease.

Triplets.

I was carrying triplets.

Three babies from three Alphas who’d rejected me without explanation, who avoided me like I carried a plague, who’d made it devastatingly clear that the Blood Moon had been an aberration they wanted nothing to do with.

I pressed my hands to my still-flat stomach, terror and wonder warring in my chest. I had no idea how to do this alone, no idea if I even could. My position in the pack was already tenuous. An unmated omega with illegitimate Alpha children would be lucky to keep her housing, let alone her dignity.

But as I stood there, something fierce and protective unfurled in my chest.

These babies hadn’t asked to be created in the middle of a supernatural disaster. They were innocent. And they were mine.

I would figure it out.

I had to.

The decision to tell the Alphas took another week of agonizing deliberation. Part of me wanted to disappear without a word, to spare myself the humiliation of their rejection a second time. But they deserved to know, didn’t they? And maybe…maybe…this would change things. Maybe the reality of children would break through whatever wall they’d constructed between us.

I was so, so naive.

I found them in Kieran’s office, the three of them bent over territorial maps, their heads close together in the way that had once made me feel included and now only emphasized my exclusion. They looked up when I entered, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

“Sage.”

Kieran’s voice was flat, his gray eyes cold as winter steel.

“You were told not to contact us regarding the bond matter.”

“This isn’t about the bond,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. “At least, not directly.”

Asher straightened, his amber eyes sharp with that calculating intelligence I’d once found attractive and now found terrifying.

“Then what is it about? We’re in the middle of something important.”

Dominic said nothing, but his jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, his dark gaze fixed somewhere over my left shoulder.

I forced myself to say the words.

“I’m pregnant.”

The silence that followed was crushing.

Kieran recovered first, his expression shifting from cold to something almost dangerous.

“That’s not possible.”

“Apparently it is.” I wrapped my arms around my middle, hating how defensive I sounded. “I’m eight weeks along. With triplets.”

“Triplets.”

Asher’s voice was carefully neutral, but I could see the calculation happening behind his eyes—the rapid assessment of implications and consequences. “How very convenient.”

The words hit like a physical blow.

“Convenient?”

“You’re claiming they’re ours,” Kieran said, not a question but an accusation. “Despite the rejection.”

“I’m not claiming anything. I’m stating a fact.” My voice rose despite my best efforts to stay calm. “I haven’t been with anyone else. I’ve barely left my quarters since—since that night.”

“Sage.”

Dominic finally spoke, and the false gentleness in his voice was somehow worse than Kieran’s ice or Asher’s calculation. “You need to think carefully about what you’re saying. The rejection severed our biological connection. Any pregnancy now couldn’t possibly be related to the Blood Moon.”

“I’m not confused!” The words came out sharper than I intended, edged with desperation. “Dr. Reeves confirmed it. Eight weeks. That’s exactly when the Blood Moon…”

“Dr. Reeves confirmed a pregnancy,” Asher interrupted smoothly. “That’s all. The timing is coincidental.”

I stared at them, watching the wall they’d constructed become impenetrable. Kieran leaned back in his chair, his expression carved from ice.

“I suggest you identify the actual father, Sage. Making false claims against pack Alphas is a serious offense that could result in your expulsion from Silver Crest.”

The casual cruelty of it stole my breath.

These were the men I’d loved for six years. And they were looking at me like I was a stranger. Worse, like I was a threat.

“I’m not making false claims,” I said quietly, hearing the break in my own voice. “I’m telling you the truth. These babies are yours.”

“Then you’ll have no objection to a paternity test,” Asher suggested, a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “When it comes back negative, this unfortunate misunderstanding can be put to rest.”

I looked at Dominic, desperate for some sign of the man who’d whispered promises against my skin during the Blood Moon. But he’d turned away completely now, his massive shoulders tense, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“Dom, please,” I whispered. “You know me. You know I wouldn’t lie about this.”

For just a moment, something flickered in his expression, pain, longing, regret.

Then it was gone, replaced by the same stone wall the others wore.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” he said, his voice rough, “but it’s not going to work. Those children aren’t mine. They aren’t ours. Find their real father and leave us alone.”

The finality in his voice shattered something inside me.

“Fine.”

The word came out hollow. “I’ll leave you alone. All of you.”

I turned and walked out of that office with what remained of my dignity, even as I felt their eyes burning into my back.

I didn’t let myself cry until I was back in my quarters, door locked, alone with the devastating truth:

I was going to have three Alpha babies and their fathers wanted nothing to do with any of us.

That night, I began researching how to leave the pack.

3. The Breaking Point

The Silver Crest pack library was housed in the oldest part of the compound, a stone building that smelled of aged paper and secrets. At three in the morning, it was deserted, exactly what I needed.

I’d spent the last two weeks gathering information carefully, asking questions that seemed innocent, researching pack law with the excuse that I was helping the pack administrator update records. What I’d learned had turned my blood to ice.

Unmated omegas who left the pack needed Alpha approval. Pregnant omegas needed approval from both the Alphas and the pack elders. And omegas carrying disputed Alpha children could be held indefinitely pending paternity confirmation and investigation.

I was trapped.

The realization sent me into a spiral of panic I’d barely managed to contain. I couldn’t raise three Alpha children alone in Silver Crest not with the fathers denying their existence. The pack would mark them as illegitimate before they’d even drawn their first breath. And me? I’d be the omega who’d tried to trap Alphas with false pregnancy claims, forever labeled desperate and delusional.

But there had to be a way out. There always was. You just had to know where to look.

I was deep in a dusty volume of pack migration law when I heard footsteps.

My heart lurched as I looked up, expecting a guard or worse, one of the Alphas.

Instead, I found Marcus Webb, the pack’s head archivist and one of my father’s oldest friends.

“Sage.”

His weathered face was kind but concerned. “It’s late for research.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” I tried to smile and failed. “You know how it is.”

“I do.” He moved closer, his eyes dropping to the book in front of me. “I also know pack migration law when I see it. That’s not light reading for insomnia.”

My throat tightened.

Marcus had been there when my father died, had helped me navigate the aftermath when half the pack wanted me exiled for my father’s supposed crimes. I trusted him as much as I trusted anyone in this pack.

“I need to leave,” I whispered. “I need to leave Silver Crest and I need to do it without Alpha approval.”

His expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his eyes.

“That’s a dangerous thing to say, child. And nearly impossible to do.”

“There has to be an exception. A loophole.” I heard the desperation in my voice and hated it. “Marcus, please. I can’t stay here.”

He was quiet for a long moment, studying my face with eyes that had seen too much. Then he sighed and pulled out a chair, sitting across from me.

“How far along are you?”

I nearly dropped the book.

“How did you…”

“I’ve been alive a long time, Sage. I recognize the signs.” His voice was gentle. “And I heard the rumors about the Blood Moon Festival. About you and the Alphas.”

Tears burned behind my eyes.

“Ten weeks. Triplets. And they’re denying everything.”

Marcus’s expression hardened in a way I’d never seen before.

“Of course they are.”

Something in his tone made me look up sharply.

“What do you mean?”

He seemed to struggle with something, then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is getting you somewhere safe.”

He stood and moved to a locked cabinet in the corner, retrieving a leather-bound book that looked older than the building itself.

“There is one exception to the migration laws. It was designed for emergency situations for pack members fleeing immediate danger to their life or well-being.”

“But I’m not in physical danger…”

“Psychological danger qualifies.” He opened the book, pointing to a specific passage. “Specifically, if remaining in the pack would cause severe mental or emotional harm that threatens the member’s life or the life of their unborn children.”

His eyes met mine.

“Are you in psychological danger, Sage?”

I thought about the panic attacks that woke me at night, the way my hands shook every time I saw the Alphas from a distance, the nightmares of being trapped in Silver Crest forever while my children were taken from me or marked as illegitimate.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Then I’ll file the emergency migration request tonight. You’ll have seventy-two hours once it’s approved.” He closed the book carefully. “After that, the pack will have legal grounds to retrieve you if they choose. You need to be far away and well-hidden by then.”

“I don’t know where to go.” The admission made me feel sick. “I don’t have family outside the pack. No connections.”

“There are rumors,” Marcus said quietly, “of a place for wolves who fall through the cracks of pack law. A sanctuary run by someone who understands what it’s like to be cast aside by the system. I don’t know where it is but I know someone who might.”

He pulled out a pen and paper, writing quickly.

“Contact this person. Tell them Marcus Webb sent you. They’ll help you disappear.”

I stared at the name and phone number, my hands trembling.

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because your father would have.” His expression softened. “And because what’s being done to you…what was done to you…is unconscionable. You and those babies deserve better than this, Sage. Better than them.”

Three days later, the emergency migration was approved with surprising speed.

Marcus told me he’d called in every favor he had, argued my case before the pack elders with a passion that had shocked them into agreement.

I had seventy-two hours.

I used every minute.

The contact Marcus gave me led to a woman named Elena who asked only two questions: Are you in danger? and Can you be ready in forty-eight hours? When I said yes to both, she gave me instructions that seemed impossible, destroy my phone, burn anything with my scent, sever all connections to my previous life, meet a car at a specific location at midnight on the third day.

I packed only what I could carry. Sold everything else for cash that couldn’t be traced. I wrote letters to the few people who’d been kind to me, thanking them without explaining where I was going or why.

At 11:45 p.m. on my last night in Silver Crest, I walked out of the pack house with a single backpack and my father’s pocket watch, the only thing of value I’d kept.

No one tried to stop me. Why would they? I was just the delusional omega who’d finally accepted reality and was leaving quietly.

The car Elena promised was waiting at the territorial border, a nondescript sedan with tinted windows. The driver didn’t speak, didn’t ask questions. They simply drove.

I watched Silver Crest disappear in the rearview mirror, one hand pressed to my stomach where three impossible children grew.

I didn’t let myself look back. Didn’t let myself wonder if any of them would notice I was gone.

I had no idea where I was going. No plan beyond survival.

But I was free.

And freedom, I was learning, was worth any price.

4. Building Tomorrow

Four and a half years later, I stood in what had once been an abandoned warehouse and was now the nerve center of the Sanctuary’s operation, watching my empire of survivors thrive.

“Dr. Winters, we have three new arrivals from the Cascade pack,” Jennifer called from her workstation, fingers flying across multiple keyboards. “Two teenage siblings and an elderly beta. They’ll need full processing, probably medical attention. The Alpha there has a reputation for…”

“I know his reputation.” I cut her off, already pulling up the files on my tablet. “Get Dr. Martinez on standby and run complete background checks. I want to make sure they weren’t followed.”

“Already running.”

Jennifer was one of my first recruits, a brilliant tech specialist who’d fled her pack after they’d tried to force her into a mating with her abuser. Now she ran our digital security with ruthless efficiency, ensuring that no one who came to the Sanctuary could ever be tracked back to their origin.

I moved to the window overlooking the main floor. Three stories below, wolves from a dozen different packs mingled freely eating, talking, laughing. Some attended the therapy sessions we offered. Others worked in the various legitimate businesses we’d established to make the Sanctuary self-sufficient. We had a bakery, a tech consulting firm, a construction company. All of it run by wolves who’d been thrown away by the pack system.

Forty-three residents currently. Each one a life saved. Each one a middle finger to the pack laws that had tried to destroy them.

My tablet buzzed with an alert. Northern sector perimeter breach, false alarm. Just a deer. But it was the third one this week. Jennifer noticed my frown.

“The sensors are getting too sensitive,” she said. “Or something’s testing our defenses. I can’t tell which yet.”

A chill ran down my spine, but I pushed it away.

“Run diagnostics. If something’s probing us, I want to know.”

“Mama!”

The cry was accompanied by the thundering of small feet, and I turned just in time to catch Emma as she launched herself at my legs. At four and a half, my daughter was a force of nature, all wild dark curls and storm-gray eyes that were so much like Kieran’s it sometimes stole my breath.

“Easy, little wolf.” I scooped her up, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Where are your brothers?”

“Liam’s in the library being boring, and Noah’s trying to convince Javier to teach him knife throwing again.” Emma’s expression was pure exasperation, so much older than her years. “Can you tell Noah that four and a half is too young for weapons training?”

“I’ll talk to him.” I smiled despite myself.

Noah had inherited Dominic’s protectiveness and his need to be useful, to protect everyone around him. At four and a half, he already positioned himself as the Sanctuary’s helper, wanting to take care of everyone. It would have been endearing if it didn’t break my heart every time I saw it.

Liam, quiet and thoughtful, with Asher’s amber eyes and that same calculating intelligence, preferred books and strategy games to physical activity. He was already reading at a second-grade level, already asking questions about pack politics and law that I had to carefully navigate.

And Emma fierce, independent Emma, with Kieran’s eyes and his commanding presence even at four years old, was the leader of their little pack, just like her biological father led his.

They were everything. My reason for surviving. My reason for building this place.

“Mama, you have the thinking face,” Emma said, touching my cheek with small fingers. “Are you worried about something?”

Too perceptive. All three of them were too perceptive, probably a side effect of being born from a mate bond that should never have resulted in children.

“Just work stuff, sweetheart. Nothing for you to worry about.” I set her down gently. “Go check on your brothers. We’ll have dinner in an hour.”

She scampered off with boundless energy, and I turned back to Jennifer.

“Status on the Cascade transfers?”

“Clean. No tracking signatures, no pack bonds that might be monitored. Elena’s crew did excellent work getting them out.” She pulled up their profiles on the main screen. “Two siblings, ages fourteen and sixteen, who witnessed their parents’ execution for speaking against pack law. And one seventy-two-year-old beta whose Alpha wanted to ‘retire’ her when she could no longer perform physical labor.”

The casual cruelty of pack law never stopped infuriating me.

“Get them settled in the east wing. Make sure they understand they’re safe here. That no one can touch them.”

“Will do.” Jennifer hesitated, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. “Dr. Winters, there’s something else. We got a message through the secured channels. Someone’s asking about you specifically.”

My blood went cold.

“What kind of someone?”

“They didn’t identify themselves, but the message came through with an Alpha signature. High-level, possibly Continental Council.” She pulled up the encrypted text on a separate monitor. “They’re asking for the Sanctuary director by name. They said they need to speak with you about a mate bond crisis affecting multiple packs. They’re offering full diplomatic immunity and substantial compensation for consultation.”

“Delete it.” The words came out harsher than I intended. “We don’t work with pack leadership. You know that’s our first rule.”

“I know, but…” Jennifer bit her lip, clearly wrestling with something. “Dr. Winters, they mentioned Silver Crest specifically. They said the crisis started there and it’s spreading fast. Over forty bonded pairs have severed in the last three months, and they have no idea how to stop it.”

Silver Crest.

The name alone made my chest tight, made the mate mark on my collarbone, faded but never fully gone, burn like it had five years ago.

“That’s not our problem,” I said firmly, forcing my voice to stay level. “We help individuals escape pack law. We don’t shore up the system that’s destroying them. Delete the message and blacklist that signature.”

“Already done.” But Jennifer was watching me with those too-knowing eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

I wasn’t fine.

The thought of Silver Crest in crisis, of mate bonds severing en masse, of the pack that had been so eager to reject me now falling apart, it should have felt like justice.

Instead, it felt like a knife twisting in an old wound that had never properly healed.

“Mama!” Noah’s voice echoed up the stairs, young and bright. “Dinner’s ready, and Liam says we have to wait for you, but Emma’s already stealing bread!”

“Emma!” Liam’s indignant cry followed. “That’s the third piece!”

Despite everything, the memories, the pain, the message about Silver Crest, I smiled.

This was my pack now. These children, these survivors, this place we’d built from nothing but determination and fury.

Silver Crest and its crisis could burn for all I cared.

I’d built something better from the ashes of my rejection.

“Come on,” I told Jennifer, closing down my workstation. “Let’s call it a day. Whatever’s happening in Silver Crest, it’s not our concern.”

But even as I said it, even as I walked downstairs to have dinner with my children and the family we’d chosen, a small voice in the back of my mind whispered that I was lying.

Some wounds never fully healed.

Some bonds, no matter how thoroughly rejected, never truly died.

5. When the Past Comes Calling

The Continental Pack Council’s formal summons arrived three days later, delivered by a neutral courier with diplomatic immunity and an expression that brooked no argument.

I stared at the seal, three wolves circling a crown, pressed into gold wax, and felt the past reaching out to drag me back.

“Dr. Winters.”

The courier, a severe woman in her fifties with steel-gray hair and harder eyes, kept her posture military-straight. “I’m required to wait for your response. Continental Law, Article Seven, Section Three.”

“Give me a moment.”

I broke the seal with hands that only trembled slightly, unfolding the heavy parchment.

To Dr. Sage Winters, Director of the Sanctuary,

The Continental Pack Council formally requests your immediate presence and expertise regarding a supernatural crisis affecting mate bonds across North America.

As the foremost researcher on severed bonds and their psychological and supernatural effects, your consultation is deemed critical to preventing widespread pack collapse.

Under Article Seven of Continental Law, you are hereby granted:

– Full diplomatic immunity from all pack prosecution

– Safe passage through any territory

– Protection from Alpha claims or challenges

– Suspension of all previous pack conflicts

– Autonomy in your research and recommendations

These protections remain in effect for a period of thirty days from acceptance and may be revoked by majority Council vote in cases of gross misconduct or threat to pack security.

The crisis originated in the Silver Crest pack four months post-initial incident and has spread to seventeen territories in the subsequent period. Without immediate intervention, projections suggest complete mate bond network collapse within six months, affecting an estimated 40,000 bonded pairs.

Your answer is required within twenty-four hours. Failure to respond will result in mandatory summons under Continental Emergency Powers.

Respectfully,

High Chancellor Marcus Stone

Continental Pack Council

Marcus Stone.

Dominic’s uncle.

And he was telling me that if I didn’t come willingly, they’d make me.

“I need time to consider,” I told the courier, my voice steadier than I felt.

“You have twenty-four hours. I’ll return tomorrow at noon.”

She inclined her head with military precision and left, her footsteps echoing down the hallway like a countdown clock.

I sank into my chair, the letter trembling in my hands.

Seventeen territories.

Forty thousand bonded pairs at risk.

And it had started in Silver Crest four months after I left.

My research files were already open on my tablet before I consciously decided to look. Five years of documenting severed bonds, of interviewing wolves who’d survived forced rejections. I’d become the world’s leading expert on bond trauma because I’d lived it.

My rejection: five years ago, during the Blood Moon Festival.

My departure from Silver Crest: three months after that.

The first reported bond severing in Silver Crest: four months after I left.

Then the spreading pattern, radiating out from Silver Crest like ripples in a pond.

My hands stilled on the screen.

This wasn’t coincidence.

“Mama?”

Liam’s voice made me jump. He stood in the doorway, too perceptive for four and a half years old, his amber eyes, Asher’s eyes sharp with concern.

“You’re scared,” he said softly. “I can smell it. You smell like… like thunder before a storm.”

I forced a smile that felt like it might crack my face.

“Just work stuff, sweetheart. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Is someone trying to take us back to a pack?” His small voice was steady, but I could see the fear beneath it.

“No one is taking you anywhere.”

I pulled him onto my lap, breathing in his familiar scent, honey and old books and something uniquely Liam. “I promise you that. You’re safe here. You’ll always be safe with me.”

“Then why are you looking at pack law?” He pointed to my screen, where I’d pulled up the Continental Council’s charter without thinking.

Too smart. They were all too smart.

“Because sometimes we have to understand pack law to fight it better,” I said carefully. “That’s what we do here, remember? We help people escape bad situations.”

“Like you did.”

It wasn’t a question.

My children knew I’d fled a pack, though they didn’t know which one or why. They knew their fathers had rejected them before they were born, though they didn’t know the full story.

“Like I did,” I agreed quietly.

Liam was silent for a moment, his small fingers tracing patterns on my arm. Then he said, “If you have to go help people, we’ll be okay here. Ms. Jennifer and Mr. Javier can watch us. We know the safety protocols.”

My throat tightened painfully.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“But if you have to,” he persisted, that strategic thinking that was pure Asher, always planning three moves ahead “we’ll understand. You taught us that sometimes we have to do hard things to protect people, even when it scares us.”

I held my son close, breathing in his scent, feeling the weight of impossible choices settling on my shoulders like a physical burden.

The Continental Council was offering immunity. Protection. For thirty days. Thirty days that could be revoked if they decided I was a threat.

Walking into Silver Crest would still be dangerous.

But if the crisis really had started with my rejection, if the unraveling of the mate bond network was somehow connected to what the Alphas had done to me five years ago…

I couldn’t let forty thousand innocent wolves suffer because I wanted to avoid my past.

“Mama?” Liam’s voice was small, uncertain. “You’re crying.”

I wiped my eyes quickly.

“I’m okay, baby. Just thinking.”

“Thinking about our fathers?”

The question was hesitant, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to ask.

“Yes,” I admitted, because I’d never lied to my children about the important things, even when the truth hurt both of us.

“Do you think they miss us?”

Emma had appeared in the doorway, Noah right behind her, and I realized all three of them had been listening, pack children and their supernatural hearing. “Even though they didn’t want us?”

The question shattered something in my chest, made the old wound tear open, fresh and bleeding.

“I don’t know what they think,” I said carefully, gathering all three of them close. “But I know that you three are wanted. So wanted. By me. By everyone here in the Sanctuary who loves you. And if your fathers can’t see how incredible you are, that’s their loss, not yours. Do you understand me? Their loss. Not yours.”

“But maybe…”

Emma bit her lip, unusually hesitant. “Maybe they’d change their minds? Maybe they’d want to keep us?”

“Maybe if they met us now?”

The hope in her voice nearly destroyed me.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

I held them tighter, these fierce, brilliant children who carried Alpha blood they’d never be allowed to claim. “Listen to me. All three of you. You are not responsible for earning anyone’s love, including theirs. You exist, and that’s enough. You’re enough. You’ve always been enough.”

But even as I said the words, even as I felt them burrow into my arms, seeking comfort, I knew what I had to do.

The Continental Council was summoning me back to Silver Crest.

Back to the Alphas who’d rejected me.

Back to face the consequences of a bond that should have died but somehow, impossibly was tearing the entire supernatural world apart.

I had twenty-four hours to decide.

But deep down, I already knew my answer.

Some debts demanded payment.

Some wounds needed to be cauterized.

And some bonds, no matter how thoroughly rejected, refused to die quietly.

Tomorrow, I would accept the summons.

Tonight, I would hold my children and pretend that going back wouldn’t destroy everything I’d built.

Even freedom had its price.

And mine, it seemed, was just coming due.

6. ​Where It All Began.

“Let me come with you,” Javier said with contained desperation. He hated packs just as much as I did and I could feel his loyalty.

“I need you to babysit,” I replied with a small smile. “Trust those bundle of joy are too much to handle.” I added as I nodded towards my Emma, Liam and Noah who were talking animatedly amongst themselves.

I knew that they were nervous and worried, I could feel their fear. “And the sanctuary needs me too,” Javier said in a defeated voice. He understood. “More babysitting.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “And do not teach Noah how to throw knives.” I lightly warned.

“Trust me, Sage, those cubs have a way of getting what they want. They are really smart for their ages.” Javier said with pride.

“Still, let us not enable them,” I replied.

“You know Noah will just go to someone else, if I don’t teach him, right?” Javier said with a sly smile. “So, I think it is safer if he learns from me than some other shmuck.”

“He is barely five,” I replied with a slight shake of my head.

“Sage, I know you do not want to hear this but those kids were born into a battle, a battle of a past that has now come for you. It is not to early to teach them how to take care of themselves.” Javier said with a seriousness that unnerved me and I shivered a little.

“I have to go,” I said, putting an end to the discussion. I walked out of the room and paced towards the entrance of the sanctuary where the courier waited with a stiff impatience.

Thankfully she did not say a word because I was not in the mood to exchange words with a woman that represented everything that I hated. I could see the slight look of disapproval in a glance as she led me to the SUV that waited.

I did not give a shit about how she felt. Besides, if being in a pack worked out so well for her, she would not be here. Her masters needed me, she needed me, I had no use for her.

I entered first, and she entered second. The car started and the journey back to my place of pain and suffering started. I tried to stop my mind from wandering but there was no use, that night played itself in my mind all over again and I clenched my fist in anger.

I was angry about the sheer audacity of the council to just call on me like I owed then anything. Their brutal and rigid laws changed the trajectory of my life and here they were sprouting codes and sections like it meant anything. The only thing that kept me sane was the unlucky forty thousand werewolves who were currently suffering due to their cruel laws.

Bond Severity was a painful thing for any werewolves to experience. It was like being split in half slowly with a blunt sword and most werewolves died from that alone. Other unpleasant things followed afterwards but one thing that remained was the constant pain in the heart that never truly went away.

“A lot of werewolves would have been honoured if they had been in your shoes,” The Courier said as she watched me closely.

I was so lost in thought that I had even forgotten that she was by side. “What did you say?” I asked with a slight growl and I knew my expression was a mask of anger.

“You had your chance with the Alphas and then you left,” The Courier replied. “I don’t understand what you were so ashamed of.”

I sighed angrily and closed my eyes. I counted to ten in my head and opened my eyes. I turned to her and gave her the letter the council sent me.

“Go through this,” I told her and waited patiently for her to finish. She handed it back to me when she was done.

“Did it mention anywhere that I must answer to the courier?” I asked her coldly.

“No, it did not,” The Courier answered.

“The only time you matter is now, right here in this moment, when I step out of this vehicle, you no longer matter to me or to anyone. Know your place, you are nothing but a messenger, if you had the answers to the problems plaguing the world as we speak, you would not be here. Do not speak to me again.”I let her have it.

The rest of the ride continued in silence and I in minutes, I stopped giving a fuck about the messenger.

The horizon revealed the territory of Silver Crest as the vehicle sped towards it. I had no idea what I would be looking forward to but I knew that it was not going to be easy.

I was comfortable with things being uneasy. Nothing about my existence had been easy. I had fought hard and long to be where I was today and nothing was going to change that, not even three Alphas.

“My goodness,” I muttered in a mixture of shock and disbelief as Silver Crest got closer. It was not the place I remembered it to be. The streets were empty and littered. Houses were still burning while firemen did their best to put them out, shops and restaurant had been vandalized and destroyed, it was almost like a war had taken place here.

I knew what had taken place here, I understood it very well because I had spent a major part of my life studying it. “I am surprised it got this bad.” I said to no one in particular.

Silver Crest was a shell of its former glory, her cloud was dark and I could feel the despair in the air.

“It happened like something out of a nightmare,” The courier said in a blank voice but I could detect the hidden pain in her tone.

“At first, we thought it was just normal crimes, or acts of defiance against the council,” she continued. “Then it began to increase, and just like that it got out of hand.”

“Everyone turned one another.” I said.

7. Law and Order.

Insanity. That was one of the side effects that took place when a bond was severed. It happened to both male and female werewolves, especially if they were of a lower rank.

I had wondered why it did not affect me for years and conducted tests and research on myself until I found an answer. It was very simple. I had been marked by three powerful Alphas and their strain or seed had altered my DNA in ways that I could not even begin to describe.

Apart from the constant ache in my heart, some days after the mind-blowing love making between the three Alpha’s, I felt stronger and my werewolf senses had been heightened. I could even take on werewolf who ranked higher than me.

There was a sparring floor back at the sanctuary where I trained with others and I kicked ass. I got the nickname of Iron Sage, because my hits were allegedly bone-breaking.

I guess I took more from the Alphas than they took from me.

“Loss of reason and logic takes place after rejection, leading to spontaneous aggression. The rejected is unhinged and filled with an enormous rage that consumes them making them dangerous to others and themselves. The aggression lasts hours, days and even months.” I recited from one of research journals.

The Courier looked at me in awe but quickly looked away. “We are here,” she announced as the SUV slowed to a halt.

I opened the door and got out of the vehicle. I was a bit surprised that my destination had been where it had all started. The place where I had been planning my escape from this place.

Silver Crest Library. It was heavily guarded which would have been unusual under normal circumstances. But thinks were far from normal and I understood why this place was guarded tightly. The library held vast information and archived secrets that would prove dangerous if it got into the wrong hands.

“You look well,” A familiar voice said as I approached the stairs. It belonged to the only werewolf who had risked his life and position to help me leave this cursed place.

“Marcus!” I ran towards him and hugged him tightly. He patted me kindly in the back. Tears threaten to escape my eyes but I held them back.

“It is so good to see you alive, Sage,” Marcus whispered fondly.

“Likewise,” I breathed and broke our embrace.

“We do not have much time, the High Chancellor wants to see you,” Marcus said as he looked me over. “You have grown really strong, Sage, I can literally feel your strength.” He added with a disbelieving smile.

“I had no choice but to be strong,” I replied with a modest shrug.

“I am just glad that you are safe and healthy,” Marcus said with a relieved sigh.

I wiped the edges of my eyes as tears leaked out. This was not the time for a teary reunion. I could already feel trouble coming.

“How are they?” Marcus asked in a very low whisper. I knew he was referring to the triplets.

“They are the best thing to have ever happened to me.” I whispered back. He nodded in contentment at the answer. For Marcus, that response enough.

He led me to into the library where a tall imposing figure stood, covered in a long coat. I knew who he was and I already anticipated that we were going to be enemies.

Dominic’s uncle sneered down at me as Marcus and I approached him.

“High Chancellor Mason,” Marcus announced. “Director Sage Winters is here.”

“The girl that ran away,” Mason said as he sized me up. I stared straight into his eyes, unflinching and defiant. He was a High Chancellor here in Silver Crest but he had no jurisdiction over me no matter what the laws said.

I said nothing in reply. There was no need to false pleasantries.

“Your little Sanctuary is illegal do you know that?”

“Do something about it then,” I replied with a nonchalant shrug. He was not the first person to have a say about the sanctuary and he was not going to be the last. I did not become the director of the sanctuary only to be afraid of threats and sanctions. Their laws did not apply to me, it had never had, it never will.

Out of the corner of my left eye, I saw Marcus smile a bit.

“You should do well not to call the bluff of a High Chancellor,” Mason remarked in a low threatening tone.

“High Chancellor Mason,” I said. “I am very sure you did not call me here to display how powerful you are, that will be a total waste of tax payers’ money and also a total waste of everyone’s time. I don’t want to be here, I never did. You have a problem and the only reason I am here is because you believe that I can solve those problems.”

“Director Sage is correct,” Marcus butted in. “Time is of the essence.”

Mason glared at me. I knew that this was far from over. If it was me four and the half years ago, he would have succeeded in making me afraid. But I was Director Sage Winters of the Sanctuary. I would hand him his ass if it was necessary.

“Silver Crest has lost two things that made it great and that is why I summoned you here to get rid of these minor setbacks, so my Pack can go back to running smoothly.” Mason said with pride.

“What are these two things?” I asked.

“Law and Order.” Mason proclaimed.

“What minor setbacks are you talking about?” I inquired.

“Well, this bond debacle of course!” he said with a dismissive hand gesture. “Get rid of it!”

“It is not something you can get rid of, High Chancellor,” I said.

“I thought you were an expert!” he barked.

I shrugged. “I know all about it, but I have not had time to find the cure for it.” I said with a heavy drip of sarcasm. “I have been too busy smuggling werewolves from various parts of pack settlements, it is a tasking job, High Chancellor.”

“Just do something and this meeting never happened, no word of this is to come to anyone, not even the Alphas” Mason said in an annoyed haste.

A shiver ran down my spine as a voice rang out from among the shelves of books.

“It a little too late for that uncle.” Dominic said as he stepped out into the light.