Elira’s POV

The first sound I heard after five long years was fireworks bursting across the sky.

A sudden crack tore through the air—bright, violent, almost unreal. I stood frozen in the middle of the Winterfell Pack’s banquet hall. Above me, chandeliers glittered like falling stars. Music rolled through the walls. Laughter overlapped laughter. Everything came crashing in at once. Too much. Too sharp. My ears rang painfully, like my body couldn’t decide whether to accept sound again or reject it.

It was January 1st. The first day of the year.

The day my silence ended.

“Mommy!” My son, Ezra, was tugging at the hem of my dress, but I couldn’t even turn to him right away. Every little thing felt amplified—the clink of crystal glasses, wolves cheering in celebration, the orchestra warming up for another piece, even the soft fabric brushing against my skin.

I forgot how loud the world really was.

For a second, I just stood there, unable to breathe properly.

Five years ago, everything sound-related had disappeared from me in an instant. My world had gone completely quiet.

That night still lived in my memory like it happened yesterday. Alpha Adrian had been the one driving me home to Ironvale Pack after the Alpha Gathering. He smiled at me like I was something rare, told me it was love at first sight, said he wanted to see me again… insisted he would personally bring me to meet his parents.

I was young. I believed every word.

But on the road back, rogues attacked. The car spun out, crashing against the mountain side. I remember throwing myself over him without thinking when the vehicle flipped. Pain exploded through my head—something sharp, something final.

When help arrived, I was still alive.

But I woke up to a world that no longer made sound.

Just silence. Endless and heavy.

Winterfell Pack sent word to my family soon after. They offered me an engagement to their heir as repayment for saving him.

My parents accepted immediately.

I thought Adrian agreed too. I thought he chose me. I thought the way he looked at me before everything went dark meant something real.

I was wrong.

The engagement wasn’t his decision—it was obligation. A debt. A forced repayment.

Never love.

Life beside him as Luna was nothing like what I imagined.

I couldn’t hear, and the pack maids treated it like a weakness they could exploit. They mocked me behind smiles, dumped duties on me that weren’t mine, and made sure I felt unwanted in every corner of that house. I couldn’t hear their words, but I didn’t need to. Faces said enough. Smirks said everything.

“Easy to push around a deaf Luna,” they would say, thinking I wouldn’t catch on.

And Adrian… he never stopped them. Not once. He barely acknowledged me unless tradition demanded it. Even standing beside him in ceremonies felt like I was invisible.

Then one night, he came home drunk.

Really drunk.

And for a single night, he held me like I mattered.

I thought maybe that was the beginning of something real.

A month later, I found out I was pregnant.

Ezra’s birth gave me hope I hadn’t allowed myself in years. I told myself things would change—that maybe he would finally see me differently. Not as a burden. Not as repayment. But as the mother of his child.

Nothing changed.

Five years passed like that. Five years of trying. Five years of enduring. Five years of quietly hoping he would look at me the way he once did, even just once.

And now, after all that time, my hearing had returned.

I thought maybe this was a new beginning.

Maybe he would be happy for me.

“Mommy?” Ezra pulled on my sleeve again, his small face worried. His eyes—so like his father’s—searched mine. “What’s wrong?”

I forced a smile. “I’m okay. Mommy can hear now, sweetheart.”

His face lit up instantly. “Really? Daddy will be so happy!”

“Yeah…” I said softly, though my voice didn’t feel steady. “Maybe he will.”

But I didn’t stay.

I needed to tell Adrian myself.

I left Ezra with the nanny he trusted most and made my way out of the hall, stepping into the cold night air where fireworks still painted the sky. My ears ached from the sudden flood of sound, but I kept walking anyway.

Inside the pack house, I climbed the stairs toward the second-floor veranda.

That’s when I heard it.

A woman’s voice—soft, familiar.

Too familiar.

“How much longer are you going to keep me waiting, Alpha? It’s been five years. When are you finally ending things with her?”

My steps stopped.

Mira.

The omega always by his side. The one who smiled too comfortably around him. The one everyone noticed but no one dared question.

Footsteps followed after a pause.

Adrian.

“Soon,” he answered flatly. “Everything is already in place. I can’t break it off immediately because of that child. But once I push things in the right direction, she’ll remove herself.”

My stomach dropped.

“Push things…?” I whispered without meaning to.

Mira let out a small sigh, like she was exhausted by me. “It’s just hard seeing her still there… acting like she belongs with you. I can’t stand it.”

“She won’t be there for long,” Adrian said coldly. “Once everything is finished, she’ll be gone.”

My grip tightened on the wall beside me.

Then his voice shifted—lower, sharper.

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved with her in the first place. If I knew she’d end up deaf, I wouldn’t have wasted a second. She’s nothing but trouble now. I can’t get rid of her easily because of politics—and because she somehow clung to me with that child.”

The words hit harder than anything I had felt in years.

Clung?

Me?

I stepped back slowly, shaking. My hand pressed over my mouth as if that could hold me together.

Five years ago, he said it was love.

Five years ago, he looked at me like I mattered.

Five years ago, he chose me—or so I thought.

And five years ago, I gave up my hearing saving him.

So all of it…

meant nothing?

My throat burned as I swallowed back a sound I didn’t want to make.

Even the fireworks outside couldn’t drown what I was hearing now.

Because after five years of silence…

the first truth I ever heard from him

was that he wanted me gone.

My knees weakened. My vision blurred.

I stumbled back, the world tilting as sound pressed in on me from every direction. Too loud. Too real. Too cruel.

I covered my ear out of instinct, as if I could shut it all out again.

But there was no silence left to return to.

I could hear everything now.

The truth.

The lies.

And the man I once saved…

destroying me piece by piece with every word.

Alpha Adrian never loved me.

He never wanted me.

And he never wanted our son.

Elira’s POV

My head felt like it had been split open from the inside.

When I finally came to, the first thing I noticed was the empty liquor bottle sitting on the bedside table. I let out a low groan and pressed my palm against my forehead. My mouth was stale and bitter, my body heavy like it didn’t belong to me. I never drank. Not at banquets, not even during celebrations. But last night… last night I needed something—anything—to drown out the weight of Alpha Adrian’s words echoing in my mind.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but even breathing hurt. A faint whimper slipped out before I could stop it.

My eyes snapped open.

“Ezra?” I murmured, pushing myself upright.

He was there—curled beside me, his small body trembling in his sleep. His face was scrunched up, lips quivering like he was trapped in something terrifying. Tear tracks clung to his lashes.

My chest tightened. “Baby…”

I reached for him—and froze.

His skin was scorching.

Not warm. Not feverish.

Burning.

“Ezra!” I gasped, panic slicing through me.

His fingers twitched weakly, his head shaking slightly as he cried without waking up. The sight shattered something inside me.

No. This wasn’t right. He had fallen sick before, but never like this. Never this hot.

I pulled him into my arms, my hands shaking uncontrollably. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Mommy’s here. I’ll get you medicine, just hold on…”

But his body went limp against me.

A scream clawed up my throat, but I swallowed it down.

I laid him gently on the bed, wrapped him tightly in a blanket, and ran.

My legs nearly gave out on the stairs, still heavy from last night, but I forced myself forward. The clinic wasn’t far—just a few buildings away. That was all I needed.

Get medicine. Get help. Nothing else mattered.

And then she stepped in front of me.

Mira.

That same soft smile. That same gentle face. The one I used to mistake for kindness.

“Move,” I snapped, trying to shove past her. “My son is sick. I need the clinic.”

She shifted slightly, blocking me again like it was nothing. “Sick?” she repeated lightly, glancing at her maids.

“Please,” I said, already losing patience. “I don’t have time for this.”

Instead of stepping aside, her lips curled. She pulled out her phone and typed something, then turned the screen toward me.

[Jump into the pond first.]

I froze.

“…What?”

She tilted her head as if I was slow. [Did you read it?]

A shaky laugh escaped me. “Are you serious right now? My child is burning up.”

She didn’t react. Just typed again.

[Jump.]

My throat went dry.

Behind her, two guards stepped forward, silently blocking the clinic doors.

“Mira…” My voice cracked. “Please. He needs help. Just let me pass.”

She only shrugged, like I was asking for something trivial. [Then jump.]

Something inside me twisted violently.

I wanted to scream. To drag her down. To make her understand what it felt like to be powerless.

But Ezra…

Ezra came first.

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. “Fine.”

Her smile widened, satisfied.

I turned away and walked toward the small pond near the clinic. Snow dusted the stone path, and the winter air cut through my wet clothes from earlier. The water beneath the bridge looked dark, frozen at the edges.

Behind me, I could hear her laugh.

I stepped onto the bridge. My fingers curled around the railing for a second—just one second—before I let go.

Then I jumped.

The cold hit like a weapon.

It stole the air from my lungs, dragged me under in an instant. My body went rigid, every nerve screaming as icy water swallowed me whole. I kicked hard, gasping, teeth clattering violently as I forced myself back up.

When I crawled out, I was shaking so badly I could barely stand.

Water dripped from my hair, my clothes clinging to me like ice. My entire body trembled uncontrollably.

Behind me, Mira laughed.

The maids with her snickered too.

“There she goes again,” one whispered. “So pathetic.”

“Honestly, no wonder Alpha Adrian doesn’t care about her.”

I didn’t respond.

I just walked past them.

Soaked. Freezing. Silent.

I grabbed the medicine with trembling hands, ran back through the wind, and didn’t stop until I reached my son.

When I held him again, he stirred weakly, pressing his face into my chest.

“Mommy…”

That one word broke me.

“I’m here,” I whispered, holding him tighter. “I’m right here.”

I gave him the medicine, wiped his fevered skin, and wrapped him in layers of blankets. His breathing slowly steadied—but mine didn’t.

Something was wrong with this place. Deeply wrong.

And I finally felt it in my bones.

We needed to leave.

By evening, I changed out of my wet clothes, though my body was still freezing and my head spun with nausea. I didn’t rest. I couldn’t.

A knock came at the door.

“Luna Elira, Alpha Adrian requests your presence for dinner.”

I kissed Ezra’s forehead before leaving.

The dining hall was warm when I entered, filled with the smell of roasted meat—but all I felt was disgust.

Mira was already there.

Of course she was.

Seated right beside Adrian like she belonged there more than I did. She poured soup into his bowl, smiled softly, adjusted his sleeve like she had every right.

And he let her.

Like I wasn’t even part of the room.

I sat in my usual seat—far away, forgotten. They always assumed I couldn’t hear anyway.

Tonight… I heard everything.

“So,” Mira said casually, swirling her wine, “how are you going to explain to the elders that your marriage to her was never real?”

My fingers tightened around my spoon.

Adrian leaned back, calm as ever. “I’m the Alpha. I don’t answer to anyone. And that arrangement with her? Just repayment. I allowed her to stay as Luna for years—that should be enough.”

My stomach dropped.

Fake?

My marriage… fake?

Suddenly everything made sense. The missing ceremony. The incomplete bond. The absence of elders.

I thought it was because I was deaf.

I thought it was care.

It was neither.

It was a lie I had been living in.

My grip tightened on the table just to stay upright.

I forced myself to finish dinner in silence, the food tasting like nothing at all. Every laugh between them felt distant—like it was coming from another world.

When it finally ended, I rushed back to my room.

But the moment I opened the door—

Empty.

My heart stopped.

“Ezra?!” I ran inside, checking everywhere. “Baby?! Where are you?!”

Nothing.

Panic swallowed me whole. I ran down the hall, grabbing the nearest maid.

“Where is my son?!”

She shook her head in fear.

Then I saw her.

Mira, standing at the end of the hallway like she had been waiting.

She walked toward me slowly, calm as ever, holding a notepad. Then she flipped it around.

[Your child was very ill. I sent him to the hospital.]

My blood ran cold.

“…What?” My voice broke.

She turned the page again.

[You weren’t available. Someone had to decide.]

I didn’t trust her. Not a single part of me did.

But Ezra was sick.

And if there was even the smallest chance she was telling the truth, I had to go.

I turned and ran.

Out of the pack house. Into the freezing night.

Past guards who didn’t stop me.

My lungs burned. My vision blurred.

“Please,” I whispered, tears spilling now. “Please be okay… please be there…”

Because if anything happened to him—

I would destroy everything in my path without hesitation.

Elira’s POV

The moment I reached the hospital entrance, I didn’t slow down—not even a little. I was still running when I pushed through the doors, breath spilling out in sharp white bursts in the freezing air. My lungs burned with every inhale, but I ignored it. My heart was beating too violently, too erratically, like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest.

“Ezra… please… hold on…”

I hurried through the bright corridor, not stopping to think, just following instinct. I knew his scent too well—soft, warm, comforting, like fresh bread right out of the oven. It pulled me straight toward the children’s ward.

But before I could reach it, two Winterfell warriors stepped in front of the door.

I stopped abruptly. “I need to get in. My son—he’s inside.”

They didn’t respond.

Instead, one of them raised a small board and held it up in front of me.

[Luna Elira is prohibited from entering.]

My chest tightened. “No… what do you mean prohibited? That’s my child!”

Their faces stayed blank.

[Alpha Adrian’s orders.]

My voice broke as I stepped closer. “Please, you don’t understand—he needs me. Ezra needs his mother. Let me see him.”

Still nothing.

The second guard lifted his hand and pointed firmly at the hallway behind me.

[Step away.]

When I tried to reach the door anyway, he shoved me back. Hard. My shoulder slammed against the wall and pain shot through me.

“Please!” My voice cracked under the pressure. “He’s just three years old! He’s sick—he must be scared out of his mind. I need to be with him. I’m begging you!”

They didn’t even look at me.

The first guard wrote again, slower this time.

[He is under medical care. Leave.]

“I’m his mother!” I choked, tears already spilling. “How can you stop a mother from seeing her own child?”

Silence.

I pressed my forehead against the cold wall, struggling not to fall apart. How did it come to this? How could this pack be so cruel… and Adrian even more so?

Footsteps suddenly echoed down the hall.

I turned sharply.

Alpha Adrian was there—with Mira beside him.

My breath caught.

“Please,” I said quickly, wiping my face. “Let me see him. Ezra is sick. He needs me. You can’t keep me out like this.”

Adrian didn’t look moved at all. He lifted his hands and signed slowly, deliberately.

[He requires doctors, Elira. Not you. Don’t interfere.]

I shook my head violently. “That’s ridiculous! He’s just a child! He needs comfort, not just medicine! He needs his mother!”

Mira gently slid her arm through his like she belonged there and glanced at me with a soft, fake pity.

“You’ll only upset things,” she said calmly. “Just wait.”

“I said I’m his mother!” My voice rose, breaking completely.

“Enough.” Adrian’s tone turned sharp. He signaled to the guards. “Keep her out. No exceptions.”

Then they walked in.

And the door shut in my face.

The lock clicked.

That sound hit harder than anything else.

For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the closed door, struggling to breathe.

Then my strength gave out and I slid down to the floor.

If anything happened to him… if I lost Ezra…

I couldn’t even finish the thought.

Tears fell freely now as I wrapped my arms around myself. The hospital hallway felt too bright, too cold, too empty. Nurses passed by without stopping. No one dared approach the Luna who wasn’t really a Luna.

My breathing turned uneven. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Time blurred after that.

I don’t know how long I sat there.

All I could think about was—

please… let him be okay.

I leaned my head back against the wall, trying to steady my breath.

Then I heard it.

A soft click.

The door hadn’t fully closed.

It was slightly open.

My body stiffened instantly.

Voices drifted from inside.

I hesitated… then slowly moved closer, just enough to hear.

Mira spoke first.

“So the Winterfell Pack is really going to launch an attack on Ironvale? Without warning?”

My blood turned cold.

Ironvale.

My home.

I pressed a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping.

“Yes,” Adrian answered flatly. “They took the weapons meant for us. They used my father’s trust against us. That is betrayal.”

Mira hummed softly. “So that’s why you’re attacking them?”

“Yes.” His voice was colder now. “They crossed a line. This week, we strike. Ironvale Pack will fall.”

My heart dropped so hard it felt like it hit the floor.

No… that’s not possible.

Ironvale would never steal weapons. Never.

My father was an honorable Alpha. My brother protected their name with everything he had. We were not thieves.

Something must be wrong. A misunderstanding. A setup. Anything but this.

My hands trembled uncontrollably.

They were planning war. This week.

“How convenient,” Mira chuckled. “She’s too clueless to even realize what’s happening. Even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.”

Adrian let out a low laugh. “She believes everything she’s told. She always has.”

My lip trembled so hard I bit down until I tasted blood.

Everything was collapsing at once.

My son was sick behind that door.

And my entire pack was about to be destroyed.

I had to warn them.

I backed away from the door and ran down the hallway, heart pounding violently. I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and called my mother.

Ring.

Once. Twice. Three times.

No answer.

I tried my father next.

Nothing.

My brother.

Still nothing.

“Please…” My voice cracked. “Answer… please…”

I tried again.

Still silence.

My chest tightened painfully. Something was wrong. Something was already happening.

I leaned against the wall, my legs barely holding me up. My mind spun—fast, chaotic, suffocating.

I needed to go home. I needed to reach Ironvale. I needed to stop this.

But—

Ezra.

He was still inside that room. Feverish. Helpless. Mine.

And Adrian’s guards would never let me take him.

My hands covered my face as I whispered, broken, “What am I supposed to do…?”

For the first time in years, I felt completely cornered.

Like prey caught too deep in a trap.

My son needed me.

My pack needed me.

But I only had one body.

And it was being pulled apart in two different directions.