Three days. We'd been in the Crescent camp for three days. We have tried to stitch together sixteen years of missing pieces. But I kept feeling like something was pulling me at the edges of my awareness. Something wrong.

Kael felt it too. I could see it in the way he'd pause mid-sentence and his eyes going distant. "You should reach out to Blackridge," I told him that third night. "Let them know you're alive." "I've tried. Marcus isn't responding." His jaw tightened. "It's probably nothing. Communication disruptions happen."

But neither of us believed that. Lyra sat across the fire from us, still maintaining careful distance. She'd agreed to come with us, but trust was a different matter entirely. "When we go back to Blackridge," she said quietly, "will they accept me?"

"They'll have to." Kael's voice carried Alpha authority. "You're my daughter." "That's not what I asked." I understood her fear. "Pack politics are complicated. Some will see you as a threat because you're powerful. Others will see you as proof of," I stopped.

"Proof of what?" Lyra's eyes were sharp. "That the great Alpha Kael couldn't let go of the woman he rejected?" The words stung because they were true. Kael stood abruptly. "I need to try Marcus again." He walked away, and Lyra looked at me. "He's worried."

"Yes."

"You are too." I nodded. The mate bond with Kael had been humming with increasing anxiety for hours. Something was very wrong.

A wolf burst into camp just before dawn, collapsing at the entrance. One of Kael's scouts, covered in blood. We ran to him. Kael got there first, already in Alpha mode. "Report."

The scout's words came in gasps. "Blackridge... Seraphina... she's taken control... Marcus is gone... the pack thinks you abandoned them..." My stomach dropped. "How long?" Kael's voice was ice.

"Three days. Maybe four now. She's been spreading lies. Saying you left the pack for," the scout looked at me, misery in his eyes, " for her. That you chose personal obsession over duty." Kael went absolutely still. The kind of stillness that comes before violence. "Marcus?" he asked quietly.

"Captured or dead. His patrol was ambushed. Only one survivor made it back, and Seraphine's using his story to turn the pack against you." I felt sick. While we'd been here, dealing with Lyra and Darius and ancient prophecies, Kael's entire world had been stolen from under him.

"This is my fault." The words came out broken. "If you'd never come looking for me." "No." Kael's voice cut like a blade. "Seraphine's been planning this for years. We just gave her the opening she needed."

Lyra had joined us, listening. "So, what do we do?" Kael looked at her, then at me, then at the gathered wolves. "We take back what's mine."

-Raven organized the war council. Fifty Crescent fighters are willing to march with us. Against an entire pack, it wasn't nearly enough. "We need allies," Raven said flatly. "Other packs who'll see Seraphine's coup as illegal."

Everyone looked at me. "Windermere." Cyrus's name tasted complicated on my tongue. "He'll help." "Will he?" Lyra's question was legitimate. "You left him for Kael. Why would he risk his pack for that?"

"Because he's honourable. Because he knows the pack law. Because, " I stopped, met Kael's eyes. "Because he's a better man than we deserve." Kael nodded. "Mira goes to Windermere. I'll approach the northern packs. Lyra, you take the Crescent fighters and position them outside Blackridge's borders."

"You're splitting us up?" I hated the idea immediately. "We're multiplying our chances." Kael's hand found mine. "This is the only way." He pulled me aside after the council dispersed. The mate bond thrummed between us, heavy with everything unsaid.

"If this goes wrong." "Don't." I pressed my fingers to his lips. "We don't get to say goodbye again. Not after everything we've survived." He kissed me. Hard and desperate and full of fear, neither of us would speak aloud.

When we broke apart, Lyra was watching from across the camp. Something flickered in her expression, not quite approval, but maybe understanding. She walked over. "For what it's worth, I think you two are idiots for waiting this long."

Despite everything, I laughed. "Your timing needs work." "Yeah, well." She looked between us. "I spent sixteen years thinking I was alone. Don't waste any more time being apart when you don't have to be." Kael touched her shoulder, tentative, asking permission. She didn't pull away.

"We'll get through this," he promised. "All three of us." I wanted to believe him. I rode for Windermere at dawn, two of Raven's wolves as escort. The journey took half a day, and every mile felt like pulling against the mate bond. Kael was heading north, the distance growing, and it physically hurt.

When we reached Windermere's borders, Cyrus's guards recognized me immediately. "Luna Mira." The lead guard's face was carefully neutral. "We weren't expecting you." "I need to see Alpha Cyrus. It's urgent."

They escorted me through familiar territory. Six years I'd lived here. Built a life. It felt like looking at someone else's memory now. Cyrus met me in his study. He looked tired, like he'd been expecting this visit. "Mira." He didn't move to embrace me. "I heard rumours. About Blackridge. About Kael."

"It's a coup. Seraphine's taken control while he was gone." The words rushed out. "She's turned the pack against him, imprisoned his Beta. Kael needs help." "Help reclaim his pack." Cyrus's voice was flat. "After he left it to find you."

"He left to investigate a legitimate threat. The Crescent Collective was real, dangerous." "And he found you in the middle of it. Along with a daughter." Cyrus's eyes searched mine. "Was any of it worth it?"

The question hung between us. "Yes." My answer was simple, honest. "I'm sorry, Cyrus. I'm sorry I couldn't be what you needed. But I won't apologize for choosing him. For choosing our daughter."

He turned away, looked out the window at Windermere spread below. His pack. His responsibility.