Chapter 1 - The Luna Who Came BackThe woman who abandoned two dying pups returned to claim what she had lost.The gates of Voss territory had never opened for Serafina Voss.
For two years, the Luna had entered and exited whenever she pleased, surrounded by guards, silk dresses, expensive jewels, and servants who bowed whenever she passed.
But this time, she stood outside those gates alone.
Her hair was tangled.
Her white dress was stained with mud.
Her face was thinner than Damian remembered.
And yet there was something familiar in the way she lifted her chin.
Pride.
The same pride that had watched two four-month-old pups slowly die in a freezing nursery.
Damian stood on the stone steps beside Alora.
Neither spoke.
Serafina's eyes moved past them.
Straight toward the castle.
Straight toward the nursery.
"Damian," she whispered.
His jaw tightened.
"Do not say my name like you still have the right."
Serafina flinched.
Alora felt Damian's wolf growl beneath his skin.
Not anger alone.
Hatred.
Serafina swallowed.
"I came back for my children."
Damian laughed once.
There was no warmth in it.
"You abandoned them."
"I made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
His voice dropped.
"You left them alone for two nights."
"I was frightened."
"You left them while they were sick."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I know."
"You left them when your own daughter couldn't breathe."
Serafina covered her mouth.
"I know."
Damian took one step forward.
"Then tell me why you came back."
Serafina looked at Alora.
Her expression changed.
For one tiny second, the grief vanished.
Something colder appeared.
Recognition.
Calculation.
"You replaced me quickly."
Alora stiffened.
Damian moved between them.
"Careful."
Serafina smiled faintly.
"So it's true."
"What?"
"She's your mate."
Silence spread across the courtyard.
Damian had not announced the bond publicly yet.
Serafina knew.
That alone made his stomach turn.
"Who told you?" he demanded.
"No one."
She looked toward the castle.
"I knew the moment I crossed the boundary."
Alora's brows drew together.
Serafina slowly reached inside her torn cloak.
Damian's guards immediately raised their weapons.
She pulled out a small silver pendant.
Damian recognized it.
His mother's.
His eyes hardened.
"Where did you get that?"
Serafina closed her fingers around it.
"Your mother gave it to me before she died."
"You never told me."
"You never asked."
Damian's wolf slammed against his ribs.
He wanted to rip the pendant from her hand.
But Serafina continued.
"She told me there was something hidden beneath this castle."
Damian went still.
Alora noticed.
"Something that could destroy the entire Voss bloodline."
The wind shifted.
Serafina's eyes darkened.
"I didn't leave because I stopped loving the pups."
Damian's expression turned murderous.
"Then why?"
Serafina looked directly at him.
"Because someone was trying to kill them."
Nobody moved.
Even the guards seemed to stop breathing.
Alora stepped forward.
"Who?"
Serafina's gaze slid toward the eastern forest.
"The person sitting beside you."
Damian's wolf exploded.
A roar tore from his throat.
Guards rushed forward.
Alora instinctively stepped back.
Serafina smiled.
"You wanted to know why I returned?"
She lifted the silver pendant.
"Because the woman who saved your pups may be the reason they were almost killed."
Damian did not sleep that night.
The pendant sat on his desk.
Three healers examined it.
Nothing.
No poison.
No spell.
No hidden message.
But Damian could not ignore Serafina's accusation.
He hated her.
He did not trust her.
Yet he knew one thing.
She had never been stupid.
Alora entered his study just after midnight.
"You believe her."
"No."
"You don't."
He looked up.
"I believe someone is lying."
"Then find out who."
He studied her face.
There was no fear.
Only concern.
"For the pups?"
"For you."
Something inside him softened.
That was the problem.
Every day with Alora made it harder to remember the man he had been before her.
She sat across from him.
"Let me see the pendant."
Damian handed it over.
The instant Alora touched it, she gasped.
The silver pendant became warm.
A thin blue light flickered across its surface.
Damian stood.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
The pendant cracked open.
A piece of folded paper fell onto the desk.
Damian unfolded it.
Only six words were written.
TRUST NO ONE IN THE NURSERY.
His blood froze.
Alora stared at the message.
Then they heard it.
A baby crying.
Not from the nursery.
From somewhere beneath the castle.
Damian grabbed his sword.
Alora rose.
The crying came again.
Weak.
Terrified.
And unmistakably familiar.
Wren and Finn were asleep upstairs.
So who was crying below?
Damian looked at Alora.
May you like
She whispered the question neither dared answer.
"Alpha... how many pups does your family have?"
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