Isla's POV
The three hunters stop screaming and collapse on the sidewalk. People walk past them like nothing happened. That's when I realize—Moira made sure only wolves could see what she did.
"Get in my car," Moira says, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Yours is tagged. Serena's been tracking you since you left the packhouse."
My stomach drops. "Tracked? But I checked—"
"Dark magic doesn't show up on normal searches." Moira guides Lyra and me toward a sleek black car. "She's known exactly where you've been this whole time. She was just waiting for the right moment to strike."
The moment we're inside, Moira speeds away. I twist in my seat, watching my old car disappear. Everything I grabbed in our escape—clothes, photos, Lyra's favorite stuffed bear—all gone.
"Mommy?" Lyra's small hand finds mine. "Is the bad lady going to hurt us?"
"Not anymore," Moira answers before I can. "I promise you, little one. No one touches my family again."
My family. The words make my throat tight. I've been alone so long I forgot what that word even means.
We drive for hours. Lyra falls asleep against my shoulder. I can't rest though. My mind keeps spinning. Pregnant. Tagged. Hunted. And apparently, I'm the heir to some ancient bloodline I never knew existed.
"Why didn't my mother tell me?" I finally ask. "Before she died, why didn't she—"
"She was going to." Moira's knuckles are white on the steering wheel. "On your fourth birthday. But the accident happened two weeks before. The drunk driver who hit them? He was paid by a rival pack. They wanted the Morven line erased." Her voice turns cold. "I made sure that pack doesn't exist anymore."
A chill runs through me. This elegant woman beside me just casually admitted to destroying an entire pack.
"What exactly am I?" The question comes out small. "You keep saying Morven bloodline like it means something. But I'm just—"
"Just?" Moira laughs, but there's no humor in it. "Child, the Morven family has existed since the first wolf took human form. We're not just strong. We're different. Special." She glances at me. "You've always felt it, haven't you? Like you didn't quite fit? Like your wolf was sleeping, waiting?"
Yes. God, yes. All my life I've felt wrong somehow. Too weak to be an Alpha's mate. Too strange to fit in the pack. Like I was pretending to be something I'm not.
"That's because your power was dormant," Moira continues. "Waiting for you to need it. Waiting for you to choose yourself over the mate bond." She smiles. "When you walked away from Dante last night, you woke something up. Didn't you feel it? That moment when his Alpha command slid off you like water?"
I did. I thought I imagined it.
"That's your true blood showing through," Moira says proudly. "Morven wolves can't be controlled. We bow to no one. Your mother had the same gift. It's why she could leave everything behind for love." Her face falls. "I just wish she'd lived long enough to teach you what that means."
We pull up to enormous gates. Behind them, a mansion that makes Dante's packhouse look like a shed. My jaw drops.
"Welcome home, Isla."
The gates open, and we drive through. Wolves line the driveway—dozens of them. They bow as we pass. Actually bow. To me.
"They're bowing to their future Alpha," Moira explains. "I'm old, child. I won't live forever. This pack, this legacy, this power—it's yours now. If you want it."
"I don't know how to lead a pack!" Panic rises in my chest. "I couldn't even keep my own family together—"
"You kept yourself together." Moira parks and turns to face me fully. "That's harder. Dante tried to break you for seven years. Serena poisoned your son against you. Your mate bond was suppressed by dark magic so you'd feel worthless. And you still survived. You still chose to save yourself and your daughter." She takes my hand. "That's Alpha strength, Isla. Real strength. Not the fake coldness Dante learned from his broken father."
Tears burn my eyes. "I'm pregnant with his child. How can I lead anything when I'm still tied to him?"
"Who says you're tied?" Moira's smile turns wicked. "The mate bond can be broken permanently. Painfully, yes. But possible. Especially for a Morven." She touches my stomach gently. "And this baby? This precious child? They'll be raised by a mother who knows her worth. Not a doormat waiting for scraps of affection."
Something fierce burns through me. Yes. That's exactly what I want.
Moira helps me carry sleeping Lyra inside. The mansion is beautiful—all wood and stone and windows that overlook mountains. We walk through hallways lined with paintings. I stop at one.
It's a woman with silver-blonde hair and ice-blue eyes. She looks exactly like me.
"Your mother," Moira whispers. "At twenty-five. Three years before she left. Three years before she met your father at that coffee shop and threw away everything for love."
I stare at the painting. At the woman who gave me life and died too soon. Did she regret her choice? Leaving all this behind for love?
"She never regretted it," Moira says, reading my mind. "Not once. She died happy. That's more than most wolves get."
We put Lyra to bed in a room that looks like a princess castle. I kiss her forehead, breathing in her familiar scent. My daughter. My brave little girl who left everything she knew because she trusts me.
I won't let her down.
Back downstairs, Moira pours tea. We sit in a library that holds thousands of books. The fire crackles. For the first time in years, I feel almost peaceful.
"There's something else you need to know," Moira says carefully. "About Serena's magic. About what she did to you."
My stomach knots. "What do you mean?"
"She didn't just suppress the mate bond between you and Dante." Moira's face turns grim. "She created a false one. Between Dante and herself. Made him think he felt something real for her. Made him believe you were the obligation and she was the choice."
Rage floods through me. "That's why he never loved me? Because she made him love her instead?"
"Partially." Moira holds up a hand. "But Isla, listen carefully. The magic only works if there's a crack to exploit. Dante chose to be cold. He chose to keep you at distance. Serena's magic just made it easier, gave him an excuse." She looks me dead in the eye. "Don't forgive him just because there was magic involved. He made choices. Choices that hurt you and your children."
I nod slowly. She's right. Magic or not, Dante chose Serena again and again. He chose to miss birthdays. He chose to be absent. He chose to let our son call another woman Mommy.
"Can the magic be broken?" I ask.
"Already done." Moira's smile is sharp. "The moment you rejected him, my dear. The moment you walked away, every spell attached to your mate bond shattered. Dante's feeling it now—all seven years of suppressed bond hitting him at once. Along with the pain of rejection. It's probably driving him insane."
Good. Let him suffer like I did.
"Now we focus on you," Moira continues. "Tomorrow, training starts. I'll teach you to use your power, access your wolf fully, protect yourself and your children. You'll learn our history, our magic, our strength." She stands. "By the time Dante finds you—and he will find you—you'll be ready. You'll be the Alpha you were always meant to be."
I stand too, feeling something unfamiliar unfurling in my chest. Hope. Real, solid hope.
"Thank you," I whisper. "For finding me. For saving me."
"Family saves family," Moira says simply. "Always."
She walks me to my room—a gorgeous space with a massive bed and windows overlooking the forest. I'm exhausted but too wired to sleep. I sit by the window, staring at the moon.
My hand rests on my stomach. There's a baby in there. Dante's baby. But also mine. A Morven. A child who'll never know the pain of being unwanted.
A knock makes me jump.
"Come in," I call.
Moira enters, her face deathly serious. "We have a problem."
My blood goes cold. "What kind of problem?"
"Marcus Blackthorn just called. Dante's on his way here. Now. He somehow tracked the mate bond signature." Moira's eyes flash with anger. "And he's not coming alone. He's bringing twenty warriors. He's coming to take you back by force."
The room spins. "When will he get here?"
Moira checks her watch.
"Two hours. Maybe less."
My hands start shaking. I'm not ready. I don't know how to fight, how to use this power she keeps talking about. I just learned I'm supposedly some heir to an ancient bloodline.
How am I supposed to face Dante and twenty warriors?
"There's one more thing," Moira says quietly. "Something I didn't want to tell you until you were stronger. But you need to know now, before he arrives."
"What?" My voice cracks.
Moira's face fills with pity. "The baby you lost two years ago. The miscarriage between Lyra and Kieran. The one the pack doctor said was natural."
Ice forms in my veins. "What about it?"
"It wasn't natural, Isla. Serena poisoned you. She caused that miscarriage. She murdered your child to make sure you stayed weak and broken."
The world disappears. Everything goes red.
Serena killed my baby. My first son. The child I mourned alone because Dante was "too busy" to comfort me.
She murdered my child.
"And there's worse," Moira whispers. "Dante knew."