Chapter 124

ELENA

The fire pit was little more than a ring of scorched stones now, filled with white ash and the collapsed skeletons of logs. Charcoal dust stained the edges of the grass, a faint outline of where the flames had lived. The scent of woodsmoke still hung in the air, sharp and lingering, but it was fading fast—already being swallowed up by the pine-heavy quiet of the forest.

I stood there, hands in the pockets of my jacket, staring into the dead fire. This was where they’d taken him. Where they’d dragged my son into the woods. Where they’d made Derek shift and chase and choose.

Aiden had been standing right here. Sleeping feet from this spot.

My throat tightened.

“How did it happen?” I asked without turning around.

Behind me, I heard Derek shift his stance. Pine needles crunched beneath his boots. The fire of his presence was always so near—whether I wanted it or not.

“He’d just gone to pee,” Derek said, voice quiet. “I followed him partway. Just to keep him in sight. The horses started getting nervous, so I had him go back to the tent. I did a quick patrol. I thought—I thought it was clear.”

I could hear the guilt cutting through his words. But he kept going.

“He zipped himself up inside. A minute later, I shifted to do a full perimeter sweep. When I came back…” His voice broke just slightly. “He screamed.”

I turned to face him. “And then?”

“I ran. I chased them through the trees. Two wolves. Smaller. Fast. Aiden was shouting—he was close. I almost had them when this woman’s voice rang out.”

He paused.

I waited.

“She yelled, ‘A kid?! You took a kid?! There’s a kid here?! Let him go. Now! Get out of here!’” He looked at me, brows drawn. “Like she hadn’t known. Like she was furious about it.”

A chill crawled up my arms. “That is… really strange.”

He nodded. “They dropped him. Ran. She shifted, too, grabbed her clothes, took off with them.”

“Without looking back?”

“I couldn’t chase. Not with Aiden there.”

I didn’t need to say it. He already knew he’d done the right thing.

But it didn’t stop my heart from twisting at the thought of Aiden, even for a second, being held by strangers in the dark.

I took a breath and turned back toward the cold fire. The woods beyond it were still. But they weren’t quiet—not really. The trees rustled with memory. And this place… this place was familiar.

“This isn’t far from where you found me,” I murmured, staring into the line of trees just beyond the ridge.

Derek came to stand beside me, his presence a warm line at my shoulder. “No. It isn’t.”

Something stirred inside me. That old pull. That strange gravity that lived between us, even now—after all the pain, all the mistrust. Even after I’d run from him again.

I could still feel it. That bond that snapped taut when we were near each other. Like the Moon Goddess hadn’t given a damn about our choices.

For a flicker of a second, I remembered the grotto.

The way his hands had felt. The way his voice had shaken when he said my name. The way I’d lost myself in him again—and the way I’d bolted afterward, heart pounding, unable to carry the weight of the past we’d dragged between us.

I shoved the memory away and stepped past the ring of stones.

Something tugged at me. Not physically, not visibly. But I felt it. Like a thread pulling at my chest, dragging me toward the trees beyond the campsite. The silence out there wasn’t empty. It was waiting.

Then—there it was.

A scent.

So faint I thought I might have imagined it. It ghosted past me, caught on a breeze, and then vanished again. Pine. Earth. And underneath it… something familiar. Something I hadn’t… my wolf reacted before I did. My heart kicked hard in my chest.

I froze, inhaling again, trying to find it.

“Elena?” Derek’s voice was cautious behind me. I could feel him watching me, could hear the faint shift of his weight in the needles.

I didn’t answer right away. My head turned slightly, following where I thought the scent had drifted. I took a step, then another.

“Elena,” he said again, more certain this time. “What is it?”

“I smelled something,” I murmured. “I’m not sure. It was faint. But I think I know it.”

I took a few more steps, slow and deliberate.

“I need to follow it.”

There was a pause. A rustle behind me. Then Derek’s voice came again—quieter this time, more grounded.

“Then I’m coming with you.”

I glanced back and saw Brock standing near the horses, watching us closely. Derek gave him a silent signal, and Brock nodded.

I turned and began to walk.

The forest grew denser the farther we went. The path narrowed until there wasn’t one at all—just brush and undergrowth and a trail only my instincts could follow.

Derek didn’t speak. He didn’t press. He just walked behind me, his steps steady and quiet, like he knew I needed this. Like he trusted me to find whatever was waiting.

And I did.

I didn’t know how long we walked—twenty minutes, maybe more—but I eventually broke through a thicket of brambles and found myself at the edge of a cliff.

The trees opened into open sky, the forest rolling beneath us in a sea of green and gold.

I stopped.

Something about this place…

I closed my eyes.

And then I was there.

It crashed over me like a wave.

Two wolves—no, men in wolfskin cloaks—held me by the arms. My wrists were bound with coarse rope. My mouth was gagged, rough cloth pressing against my teeth.

I was shaking. Frightened. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would crack my ribs.

Pierce stepped into view.

His eyes were hollow. His voice was smooth, cold. He held a knife in one hand, the blade long and wicked.

“She’s the Moonstone girl,” one of the wolves holding me said. “You sure about this?”

Pierce smiled. “She’s more than that. She’s the beginning of the end.”

He stepped closer. I struggled, but the bonds were too tight. He reached forward and grabbed my face.

“Moonstone dies with you,” he hissed.

Then another figure stepped out of the shadows.

Maggie. I recognized her now, but I didn’t know her then.

Younger. Thinner. She didn’t meet Pierce’s eyes.

He shoved me toward her. “Keep her here. I’ll return when it’s time.”

The others left. Maggie watched them go.

Then, without a word, she knelt and began loosening my ropes.

My eyes widened.

She didn’t speak until the gag slipped loose.

“I’ll create a distraction,” she whispered. “You run.”

“Who are you—”

She shook her head. “Don’t ask. Just go.”

Then she straightened and screamed, “Who’s that?! Someone’s coming!”

The men turned.

I ran.

I ran as fast as I could, lungs burning, feet slipping on wet leaves.

But just as I reached the trees, a hand grabbed my hair and yanked me backward.

Pierce’s voice was in my ear. “Not yet.”

“Help!” I screamed.

“Father, NO!” she shouted, and—

I gasped, stumbling back into the present.

Derek caught me instinctively, hands on my arms. “What is it?”

I blinked, breath ragged. The sky was still blue. The trees were still green. But everything felt different now.

I turned to him, heart pounding.

“The woman who was out here…”

Derek narrowed his eyes. “The woman that was out here? The she-wolf?”

I nodded slowly. “I think I know who it was.”