The forest had never been so loud.

Every heartbeat, every breath, every rustle in the trees cut sharper than steel.

It wasn’t the forest that had changed. It was me.

The bond was awake now — and it wasn’t whispering anymore. It was screaming.

I could feel her like fire under my skin.

Anger. Fear. The thrum of her pulse just at the edge of hearing.

Each sensation hit me like claws from the inside.

I told myself to turn back. That this was a mistake. That the past should stay buried.

But the wolf didn’t listen.

It never did when it came to her.

________________________________________

Daren caught up to me near the ridge, breath clouding in the cold air.

“You’ve been circling this line for hours,” he said. “You’re going to spook half the border patrol if you keep pacing like this.”

“I’m not pacing.”

He gave me a look. “You’re hunting.”

I didn’t answer.

He sighed. “You sure it’s wise to cross into Ironclaw territory? Kane’s not the kind of Alpha you want to provoke.”

“I already did,” I said. “He knows I’m here.”

“Then why hasn’t he torn your throat out yet?”

“Because he’s protecting something.” My eyes lifted to the horizon — the faint trail winding east through the trees. “Or someone.”

Daren frowned. “You think the one you’re—” He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.

The silence between us said enough.

“You said she died that night,” he finally said.

“I thought she did,” I replied. “Until the moon told me otherwise.”

________________________________________

We moved through the trees, slower now. The scent grew stronger — wild, sharp, threaded with something familiar that made my chest ache.

Not the scent of the girl I remembered. That one had been soft — all sunlight and cedar.

This one was colder, harder. Forged.

“Alpha?” Daren asked quietly.

“Stay back,” I said.

The air changed before I saw them — faint sounds of movement, steel scraping, hushed voices. Not far.

I stepped behind a fallen pine, eyes narrowing. Through the fog I caught flashes — four figures moving in formation. Fast. Trained.

And one of them—

My lungs forgot how to work.

Even from this distance, even hidden beneath armor and the scent of Ironclaw leather, I knew.

The world went quiet.

The bond didn’t whisper this time. It howled.

Mate.

It took everything I had not to move.

________________________________________

She’d changed. Gods, she’d changed.

Taller. Stronger. The girl I remembered had been firelight — fierce but fragile. This woman was a blade honed to perfection.

But when she turned slightly, when the light caught her face — that same sharp jaw, that same look of defiance — I knew it was her.

Lyra.

Alive.

And alive because I hadn’t killed her that night — though part of me wished I had, if only to spare her this.

Daren stepped forward, but I caught his arm, grip iron tight.

“Not a word,” I growled.

“Alpha, what are you—”

“Not. A word.”

He went still, eyes wide as he finally saw what I saw.

“She’s—”

“I know.”

My heartbeat thundered in my skull. The wolf pressed against my control, desperate to break free, to close the distance, to claim.

But I couldn’t.

Not like this. Not covered in her father’s blood.

So, I stayed in the shadows, watching her vanish into the fog.

________________________________________

Only when she was gone did I breathe again.

“She’s with Kane,” Daren said quietly. “You think he knows who she really is?”

“He knows,” I said. “And if he’s smart, he’ll keep her hidden.”

Daren hesitated. “What are you going to do?”

I stared after her trail, every instinct screaming to follow.

“I don’t know,” I said finally. “But I can’t stay away anymore.”

________________________________________

When night fell, I climbed to the ridge overlooking the Ironclaw border. The moon hung high and pale, painting the forest in silver.

I could still feel her — restless, uncertain, alive.The bond pulsed once, deep, and slow, like a heartbeat shared across distance.

And in that moment, I made a promise to the moon itself:

If fate brought her back to me, I’ll face whatever I buried — even if it kills me this time.