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Chapter 8
Alpha Marcus Nightshade stood frozen in the dim hallway, his sharp features drawn tight with
grim expression.
Outside, the full moon was hidden behind thick clouds, thunder growled like a beast in the heavens, and rain lashed against the packhouse’s tall windows.
The scent of petrichor mixed with the faint trace of ash and blood that clung to the walls; it was almost like the remnants of old magic and even older secrets.
When Brianna had been around, Lucas was never Alpha Marcus’s concern.
She’d been the boy’s whole world–his comfort, his keeper, his shield against the storms, literal and otherwise.
Marcus, Alpha of the Shadow Walked pack, had long focused on politics, territory disputes, and council meetings.
Fatherhood had been little more than a title.
Now, left alone with a frightened, half–shifted pup curled up in a closet, Alpha Marcus realized just how little he knew about his son–and just how much he’d depended on Brianna’s quiet strength.
He wanted to call her.
Goddess help him, he wanted to hear her voice tell him what to do–how to soothe the wild panic in Jayden’s trembling frame.
But then he remembered the way she’d looked at him before she left–like the moonlight had finally stopped warming her heart like he wasn’t her Alpha anymore.
A bitter growl curled in his throat.
No.
He wouldn’t beg.
Alpha Marcus Nightshade didn’t chase.
Not even after the she-wolf who had been his Luna for five years.
Instead, he sent for Ava.
She arrived in a rush of perfume and high heels, wearing crimson silk and a victorious smirk.
She’d misunderstood, of course.
Thought the Alpha had called her for comfort–intimacy, perhaps.
She practically purred as she slipped her arm through his.
“Missed me already, Alpha?”
She cooed, lips grazing his jaw.
Marcus’s eyes, the color of glacial steel, darkened with annoyance. He stepped back.
“Lucas is scared. Stay with him tonight.”
Ava blinked.
The flirty lilt in her voice dropped, replaced with a tight nod.
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Still, the fire of ambition flickered in her eyes. She believed if she won the pup, she might finally win the Alpha’s heart too.
And soon become his new Luna.
As she ascended the stairs, the storm thickened.
Lightning cracked across the sky like an omen, and thunder shook the floorboards.
But it was nothing compared to the chill that gripped Ava when she opened the door to Lucas‘!
room.
The boy’s eyes glowed faintly gold in the dark, his wolf fighting to surface.
His claws had partially formed, and his breath came in sharp, shallow gasps.
He was barely ten, but the pain in his gaze felt ancient.
“Lucas…”
She said with forced sweetness.
“It’s me. Aunt Ava. Don’t be scared, little pup. I’m here to protect you.”
He didn’t move.
His little body was tucked in the closet, knees drawn to his chest, his back pressed against the corner like he was hiding from a monster.
When lightning illuminated the room again, she caught the flicker of fangs in his mouth.
And then…
Whack!
A sneaker hit her squarely in the face.
Then came a hoodie, a book, and a snarl.
“Go away! I want my mom! Only my mom!”
Ava reeled back, stunned, hand flying to her cheek.
Her face flushed with both pain and fury.
Still, with Alpha Marcus watching from the doorway, she forced a tight smile and tried again.
“Honey…”
She whispered.
“Your mom’s gone. She abandoned you. But I’m here, okay? Let me hold you. I’ll protect you
better than she ever did.”
She reached into the closet.
But…
CRACK!
Lucas slammed the door onto her wrist with a force that no human child could muster.
A scream tore from her throat as she yanked her arm back, already bruising deep purple from the blow.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“This is too much!”
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Ava cred, turning toward Marcus
“He’s not just scared–he’s feral. He needs a doctor
This–this is because of her Brianna twisted him. This is what she left you with?
Alpha Marcus’s expression darkened into something unreadable.
Inside the closet, Lucas whimpered like a cub left in the cold.
Thunder rolled again, and Marcus heard the same thing in his son’s cries that he used to hear in Brianna’s pain layered under silence, wounds buried too deep for the eye to see.
Without a word, he called the pack physician:
An hour later, the storm had calmed, but Alpha Marcus hadn’t moved from the doorway of Lucas’s room.
He watched as the doctor, a stem older wolf with silver in his beard, examined his son carefully,
“He’s in a triggered state,” the doctor said.
“This isn’t just fear of storms, He’s reliving something. A memory or a nightmare. Trauma. Possibly both”
Alpha Marcus’s brow furrowed.
“Did Brianna ever mention anything like that?”
the doctor asked.
“No”
Alpha Marcus said quietly
“She never she never told me anything”
“She wouldn’t,” the doctor replied with a knowing look
“Luna Brianna carried her burdens in silence. But this this has been building for years. If Lucas’s wolf manifests during one of these episodes, he could hurt himself–or someone else.”
Alpha Marcus’s jaw clenched.
The doctor packed his things and left.
Ava followed soon after, her wrist wrapped in gauze, fury flickering behind her painted eyes.
Alpha Marcus stayed.
Alone, he sat at the edge of Lucas’s bed, staring at the spot where his son had cried himself to sleep. Moonlight now broke through the clouds and fell across the boy’s face–it was so delicate, so much like Brianna’s
in that quiet, heavy moment, Alpha Marcus realized just how much Brianna had shielded them. from.
How many storms she’d calmed, how many wounds she’d healed with nothing but her presence.
And now she was gone,
Not just his Luna–but the heart of his pack.
For the first time in years, Alpha Marcus Nightshade felt something deeper than pride or anger.
He felt lost.
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And somewhere deep inside him, the wolf began to stir.
Alpha Marcus clenched his fists, needing to hit something–anything–but he didn’t know what.
No…
He wouldn’t beg her to come back. Not after she left with nothing but the certainty that she wanted out of the life he and Lucas had to offer.
Chapter 9
