Chapter 2: The Alpha Who Rejected Me

The council room was silent, barely lit by the flickering flames of the torches. Kael Nightfang, the Alpha of the Shadowfang pack, stood, his gaze lost in the papers he pretended to read.

But his mind was elsewhere.

A patrol had reported a name he never thought he'd hear again.

Lyna Silverclaw.

A chill ran down his spine. That name, he had buried it. Lyna was supposed to be dead. Exiled. Gone for eight years. And yet… she had returned.

— You seem troubled, Kael, a soft voice remarked.

He looked up. It was his sister, Karissa, who had come to the meeting as an advisor. She had inherited their mother's gift: reading emotions without the need for words.

— The dead don't return, he whispered.

Karissa approached, her arms crossed.

— Do you really think she came back for nothing? A woman doesn't return after eight years of exile for a casual visit.

Kael gritted his teeth.

— I protected her.

— You rejected her, in front of the whole pack, Karissa murmured. And you turned your back on her when she needed you the most. You left her alone.

Kael didn't respond. The pain in his heart, he had never expressed it. What he had done… he thought it was right. He had his reasons. Reasons no one knew. Not even Lyna.

But now, she was back. And he could feel it, even without the soul bond: she wasn't the same.

— What are you going to do? Karissa asked.

— What I have to do, he replied coldly. The truth must remain buried. For everyone's sake.

---

On the other side of the pack, Lyna watched the ruins of her parents' house. Abandoned. Fallen apart. The garden where she had run as a child was now nothing more than a field of dry grass.

She took a deep breath. Everything inside her screamed with pain, but her face remained impassive. She wasn't 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.

She closed her eyes.

— My heart wants answ

ers. My mind wants the truth. But my wolf… she wants justice.