The wind whipped through the trees, as if announcing her arrival. Hidden under the black hood of her cloak, Lyna stared at the border of the Shadowfang pack. Eight years. Eight long years of exile, pain, secrets… and hatred.
Her heart beat loudly, not out of fear, but out of restrained rage.
— Are you sure you want to do this? Marla, her best friend and blood-moon witch, asked, standing beside her.
Lyna didn't answer immediately. She took a step forward, finally placing her foot on the land where everything had begun… and where everything had been destroyed.
— I didn't run to come back empty-handed, she finally said. What they took from me, I will take back. And what they did… I will make them pay.
She could feel the ground tremble beneath her feet, as if the very earth itself recognized her return. The pack had changed, she knew that. Alpha Kael was still in power, stronger than ever. But she was no longer the naive girl who had cried when he had rejected their soul bond in front of the entire pack.
No. She had become a wolf that even the old legends feared.
— Kael knows you're here, Marla said. He'll send a messenger, or he'll come himself.
— I hope so, Lyna murmured. Because I'm not leaving.
Her eyes glowed faintly with a silver hue, a sign of her control over her inner wolf.
— He betrayed my bond. He let my parents die. He made everyone believe I was a threat. And now… he will answer.
Marla sat down beside her in silence.
— And if he told you he had a reason?
Lyna stayed silent for a moment. Then she replied, her voice trembling but firm:
— He should have trusted me. The soul bond never lies. But he… he rejected me without looking me in the eyes.
She closed her eyes.
— My heart wants answers. My mind wants the truth. But my wolf… she wants justice.
---
On the other side of the pack, Lyna gazed at her parents' old house. Abandoned. In ruins. The garden where she once ran as a child was now nothing but a field of dry grass.
She took a deep breath. Everything inside her screamed with pain, but her face remained impassive. She was not here to mourn the past.
— Kael knows you're here, Marla said. He'll send a messenger. Or he'll come himself.
— I hope so, Lyna murmured. Because I'm not leaving.
Her eyes glowed faintly with a silver hue, a sign of her control over her inner wolf.
— He betrayed my bond. He let my parents die. He made everyone believe I was a threat. And now… he will answer.
Marla sat down beside her, silently.
— And if he told you he had a reason?
Lyna stayed silent for a moment. Then she replied, her voice trembling, but firm:
— He should have trusted me. The soul bond never lies. But he… he rejected me without looking me in the eyes.
---
In the distance, hidden in the shadows of the forest, a figure watched Lyna. Silent. Discreet. But its golden eyes glimmered with an unusual light. It knew her. It had searched for her. And now that she was here… everything would