Chapter 3: The Return
My hands clenched around the steering wheel as I drove toward the Moon Shadow Pack territory, the familiar scent of pine and damp earth filling my lungs. Five years. Five years since I had last set foot here—back when I was nothing but a discarded mate, crawling in the dirt.
Now? Now I was different.
Lily slept soundly in the backseat, her tiny fingers curled around her stuffed wolf. She had no idea where we were going—no idea that this place was the reason I had spent nights crying into my pillow, the reason I had nightmares that still woke me in a cold sweat.
But I wasn’t here for revenge.
I was here because people were dying.
And as much as I hated Leo, I couldn’t let innocent wolves suffer.
The guards at the gate stiffened when they saw my car. Their eyes widened in recognition.
“Luna Selene?” one whispered.
I flinched at the title. “It’s Doctor Selene now.”
They exchanged uneasy glances before stepping aside. The gates creaked open, and just like that, I was back in the place that had once been my home.
The pack looked different—more worn, more desperate. Wolves huddled in groups, their faces gaunt, their eyes hollow. The disease had taken its toll.
A familiar figure stepped forward—Beta Ryan, Leo’s right-hand man. His expression was a mix of shock and relief.
“Selene… you actually came.”
I kept my voice steady. “I’m here for the sick. Nothing else.”
He nodded, but his gaze flickered to Lily, still sleeping in the backseat. His breath hitched.
He knows.
I didn’t expect to see him so soon.
I was in the medical tent, checking a patient’s vitals, when the air around me shifted. My wolf, Lena, snarled inside me, her fur bristling.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
Leo.
His scent—dark oak and winter frost—washed over me, making my stomach twist.
“Selene.”
His voice was deeper than I remembered, rougher.
I forced myself to turn, to meet his gaze.
Time hadn’t softened him. If anything, he was more imposing now—broader, his jaw sharper, his golden eyes burning with something I couldn’t name.
But I refused to let him see how he affected me.
“Alpha Leo,” I said coolly. “I assume you’re here to discuss the outbreak?”
His nostrils flared, his eyes flickering to my neck—where his mark had once been. Now, there was only scarred skin.
Then his gaze dropped lower.
To the small child hiding behind my legs.
Lily peeked out, her big, curious eyes locking onto his.
Leo froze.
And for the first time since I’d known him, the mighty Alpha looked afraid.