I drifted after my mate until we reached an old dwelling at the edge of the woods.

It was the house he once lived in before our bond was sealed beneath the full moon.

Strange… I had never known he still kept it.

Not until I died.

Not until my soul was already slipping between worlds did I learn that another woman had been living there all along.

Virelia Bloodwyn.

His former mate.

The one he once called his lost, everlasting love.

Three moons ago, she had been taken by rogue wolves who dealt in forbidden powders. Aldric had been the one who rescued her from their grasp. Since then… he never truly let her go.

And I… I never knew he was still coming here.

A sharp ache twisted through what remained of my spirit.

So this was where he vanished to on the nights he did not return to our den. Not for duty. Not for war.

But for her.

He arrived faster than any wolf should have been able to run, nearly breaking through the door as his voice called out into the quiet house.

“Virelia?”

The only other time I had heard that kind of fear in his voice… was the night his father’s life was taken by a rogue blade.

Inside, she was curled by the hearth, small and trembling like a wounded fawn.

The moment she heard him, she rose and threw herself into his arms.

And he caught her.

Stiff at first… then slowly, he held her.

One hand moved through her hair, steadying her like she was something fragile and precious.

“It’s alright,” he murmured. “I’m here now. No one will touch you.”

Virelia clung to him, tears soaking into his cloak.

“You were gone so long… I thought they’d come back for me,” she whispered.

“I was at the council hall,” Aldric said softly. “The elders brought the remains from the sewer tunnels. I had to see the truth myself.”

At that, Virelia’s grip loosened slightly.

“The case?” she asked carefully.

“Yes,” he answered. “The victim was pregnant. It looks like revenge. But we still cannot name her.”

“A pregnant she-wolf…” she whispered. “How cruel…”

Her voice trembled.

But her eyes… lingered too long on his.

Too curious.

Too calm.

Aldric did not notice.

He rarely noticed anything when she was near.

“The murderer cut her womb open,” he continued quietly, as if speaking to ease his own mind, “took the pup, and left something unnatural behind. We believe it is tied to those rogues from three moons past.”

Virelia gasped. “Have you found them?”

“Not yet,” he said, brow furrowing. “But if they’ve returned… they may target you again. Stay within these walls. Do not wander.”

“I will,” she said immediately, soft and obedient.

Then, as if carefully stepping over a blade, she tilted her head.

“Jay… does your mate not object to this? You come here often… to keep me safe. Does she not resent it?”

At the mention of me… something in him changed.

The warmth in his expression froze.

A shadow passed through his gaze.

“If it weren’t for her,” he said coldly, “my father would still be alive.”

Silence followed.

Then he exhaled and turned away, as if closing a wound that still bled.

“Enough of this. Rest.”

But Virelia reached for his sleeve again.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

His voice softened instantly.

“Don’t be,” he said. “I will stay until you sleep.”

And so he did.

I hovered near the doorway as he sat beside her bed, speaking in low tones meant to soothe nightmares.

The same voice that once called me his Luna… now belonged to someone else’s comfort.

The same hands that once held my face beneath the moonstone vow… now brushed her fear away like it was sacred.

And I finally understood.

I had never truly stood beside him.

Only behind him.

Always behind her shadow.

But Aldric…

The woman you are protecting so fiercely…

Is not as fragile as you believe.

The next day, Aldric traveled with a warrior from the investigation hall to the healer temples of the city.

They went from one great hall of healing to another, where elder healers kept records of expecting she-wolves—those carrying pups beneath the blessing of the Moon Goddess. They searched for any trace of a woman whose condition matched the victim’s remains.

By the time they reached the second-largest healer hall, dusk had already fallen. Torchlight flickered along stone walls as Aldric stood over the parchment records, flipping through names and pregnancy logs, his brow tight with focus.

A young attendant healer nearby murmured as she checked a scroll.

“Nymera Anderson… why has she not come for her moon-check? It has already passed her appointed day.”

Aldric paused for a heartbeat.

The name brushed against something faint in his mind… but he dismissed it just as quickly. Common name. Nothing more.

The truth was—those records belonged to me.

The same day I had gone for a blessing of my womb.

The same day I had been told my life was slipping away.

I was no rogue. No criminal. I only wished to bear his pup beneath the Moon Goddess’ blessing… but even that was taken from me.

The attendant healer frowned, scanning further.

“That strange incident three moons ago… I think she might be tied to that same matter…”

Before she could finish—

A mindlink flared violently through Aldric’s mark.

“Captain Stormwolf! We have a lead!”

He cut the link instantly and turned away.

On the stone desk behind him, the very next parchment held my registration seal.

One step more… just one more page…

And the truth would have opened before him like a moonlit path.

That I was innocent.

That I had never lied.

That his father’s death… was not my doing.

But he never saw it.

He left.

And rode back to the pack stronghold without looking back.

—

That night, something dark was delivered to the Alpha’s hall.

No footsteps were heard.

No scent was traced.

Only a single object left upon the stone floor like a curse.

A bloodstained message carved into hide:

[Guess who I am? Hint: Baby doll.]

The hall fell silent.

Even warriors who had survived rogue wars felt their skin crawl.

Aldric frowned deeply as he read it.

Annoyance rose first… then contempt.

Without hesitation, he pulled out his mindlink stone and severed my name from the blocked bond again, sending his voice through the link like a blade.

“Nymera. Enough of your games.”

No answer.

Only silence.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

Frustration sharpened his expression.

He sent another message, colder this time.

“Do you think I will ever forgive you for this? Never. Not in a thousand moons. You only make me hate you more.”

Daxon stepped forward slowly.

“This may not be her doing,” he said carefully. “We should at least investigate—”

“Waste of time,” Aldric cut him off. “It’s her trick. Nothing more.”

He turned away sharply. “I will check the rogue cartel records. Do not involve me in her matters.”

But Daxon did not move.

Something in his gaze had changed.

He gathered a few warriors and went to the outer refuse pits beyond the pack walls.

For hours they searched through discarded waste, until at last they found the strange doll Aldric had thrown away.

Daxon turned it over slowly.

Then his thumb pressed against a hidden seam.

A faint click.

The air shifted.

A sick, rotting scent burst out like something sealed for too long beneath blood and earth.

“By the Goddess…” one warrior staggered back.

The doll split open.

And inside—

A perfectly formed pup, preserved in a horrifying state.

Fresh.

Unnatural.

Still.

Daxon’s face went pale.

He did not speak at first.

Then he rose suddenly, clutching the evidence.

“Aldric!”

He rushed back to the hall where Aldric stood among scrolls and clan records.

“Something is wrong with Nymera!” Daxon’s voice shook. “That doll you threw away… it wasn’t fake. It contained a real pup!”

The hall went dead silent.

Aldric’s expression darkened instantly.

“What did you say?”

Daxon stepped closer, forcing the truth out.

“A newly formed pup. Preserved. Hidden inside that thing.”

For the first time… uncertainty flickered in Aldric’s eyes.

“A real… pup?” he repeated slowly.

Daxon nodded grimly. “We cannot trace where it came from. But Aldric… when was the last time you actually saw your mate?”

Silence.

The words struck deeper than steel.

Aldric opened his mouth—

But nothing came out.

Just then—

A warrior burst into the hall, breathless, face pale as ash.

“Captain Moonshield! Captain Stormwolf! There is a woman at the gates!”

“She says… she is reporting a missing she-wolf.”

He swallowed hard.

“A pregnant she-wolf named Nymera Anderson.”

“She has been missing for seven days.”