Chapter 29
The Glaciermaw pack was leaving. Evelyne had known it was coming, yet watching them prepare to depart tightened something in her chest all the same.
The Moonshade pack had left at first light, just as the sun’s pale glow crested the horizon. Their farewell had been brief and Beau lingered at the edge of it, clearly eager to be gone, offering little more than a curt nod before turning away.
Coren and Ravena, however, had not left so quietly.
They offered sincere words of encouragement, and Ravena’s attention remained on Evelyne in a way that unsettled and steadied her all at once, as though the Moonshade alpha saw not only who she was, but who she might yet become.
Gratitude stirred in Evelyne’s chest. Their time together had been brief, yet it had mattered.
And more than once, she found herself wanting the same quiet, unshakable strength Ravena carried so effortlessly.
For a selfish heartbeat, she had wished the Moonshade pack would travel alongside Ironwolf longer.
She wanted more time. More understanding of what it meant to be a wolf.
But Moonshade’s path had been clear and they were driven by their own battles, their own reasons to hunt the darkness.
Evelyne could not ask them to linger simply because she was not ready to let them go.
So they parted with promises to cross paths again.
And now Ironwolf would stand alone once more.
“Ahhh, Heidara,” Obren sighed dramatically, brushing a hand through his hair as though the mountains themselves were mourning him. “I know you’re going to miss this beautiful face.”
Heidara rolled her eyes, though her smile betrayed her. “Extremely, Obren.”
“I knew I’d grow on you.”
“Like frostbite,” she replied sweetly.
Obren puffed out his chest. “Maturity does that.”
A snort rippled through the group, even from Holden.
Obren turned toward Evelyne and bowed deeply, taking her hand in his own. He pressed a kiss to the air just above her knuckles—careful not to let his lips touch her skin. Evelyne did not need to glance at Kaldrek to know exactly how short Obren’s life would be if he crossed that line.
“My dear Lady Evelyne,” he declared, straightening. “It has been a pleasure to travel beside such beauty. Even if I could not sweep you from your feet as impressively as an Ironwolf male.”
Evelyne lifted her chin. “Careful now, Obren. We were all just starting to like you. I would hate for my mate to grow territorial before we part.”
A slow grin curved his mouth. “Ah. The mate-bond. A most inconvenient obstacle. I’m fairly certain I would have won you over, given enough time.”
“Given enough delusion, perhaps.”
Obren leaned closer, lowering his voice as though confiding something scandalous. “I believe I was meant for the south, Evelyne. Dresses, corsets, sharp-tongued women. It feels like destiny.”
“I am certain you would flourish there,” she replied dryly. “In fact, I know the perfect woman back home to keep you thoroughly… occupied.”
Callista Evermere’s razor-edged voice flashed through Evelyne’s mind. The thought of Obren trying to spar with that particular wretch was almost enough to make her laugh. Almost. But the image of him anywhere near Callista soured the amusement at once.
Obren’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. “Tempting.” He ruffled Cillian’s hair next. “I like you, kid. But next time I see you, I expect to see more fangs. Just because the first shift was unpleasant doesn’t mean it isn’t your calling.”
Cillian nodded solemnly, though pride flickered in his gaze.
When Obren finally turned to Kaldrek, the theatrics fell away. No jokes. No smirks. Only a quiet incline of the head, which Kaldrek returned in kind. Holden followed suit. It was the closest the two packs came to open respect. Tolerance lay between them, but it no longer tasted bitter.
Obren turned to his second, and Thorne answered with a knowing nod.
It was time. One by one, the Glaciermaw wolves shifted, bones snapping and fur rippling beneath the fading light.
Evelyne swallowed against the sudden rush of emotion.
They had stood beside her through Vaelora’s fall.
Through the suffocating tunnels. Through the relentless battles against the Noskari.
They had bled with the Ironwolves. And now they were going.
Evelyne’s gaze lingered on Obren a heartbeat longer than she intended. Beneath the arrogance and laughter, he had lost more than he let anyone see.
This chapter of her life had been carved in fear and fire. And she would never forget it.
They were less than an hour from Velenshire’s trading outpost—the very place where darkness had first begun to unravel Evelyne’s life. Where horror had crept in quietly and changed everything.
It should have felt like nearing home. Instead, it felt like standing on the threshold of something she no longer recognized.
Home…
She wasn’t certain she knew what that word meant anymore.
***
“You must be eager to see your mother and sister again,” Heidara said once they shifted back into their human forms, careful not to alarm the individuals lodged at the outpost.
“Yes,” Evelyne answered softly. “Very much. It’s been too long.”
“And so much has happened. Have you thought about how you’ll tell them?”
Evelyne’s steps slowed.
How did one begin to explain that her father had been slaughtered by shadow-born creatures—demons of blood forged by an immortal witch?
That her brother had nearly become a thrall beneath a celestial blood moon?
That her bloodline carried wolf magic? That she loved an alpha—was mated to one?
That everything they once believed about their world was wrong?
And that there was still more she didn’t fully understand?
She would be returning to silk gowns and tea trays.
To noble halls and polite conversation. To a world that had never prepared her for claws and fangs and ancient magic.
That was, of course, assuming the Noskari had not already reached the southern territories.
She could not bear to imagine her mother, or Seraphine, or anyone she loved swallowed by that darkness.
“No,” she admitted. “I haven’t.”
Heidara studied her, then smiled faintly. “Well… as strange as it sounds, I’m glad my brother has made a friend of yours. He needs someone with strong morals.”
Evelyne huffed a soft laugh. “It is rather surprising, isn’t it? The two of them bonding.”
“I think it makes sense,” Heidara said, though she wrung her fingers as she spoke. “Holden and I… We didn’t grow up in the kindest household… or tent, for that matter.”
Evelyne remained silent, giving her space.
“My mother died bringing me into the world and my father never forgave me for that.” Heidara’s voice was distant. “He was angry all the time. He blamed me. And Holden…” She exhaled slowly. “Holden took the worst of it.”
They walked in step as dusk began to bleed into the sky.
“He protected me,” Heidara continued. “Even from our own father, no matter what it cost him.”
Evelyne’s chest tightened. She thought of the scars along Holden’s arms, scars she had once assumed were earned in battle. Now she was no longer so sure.
“Kaldrek’s father eventually killed mine,” Heidara added in a low voice.
Evelyne stopped. “He what?”
“In our pack, anyone can challenge an alpha. But a challenge ends in death.” Her mouth curved without humor. “My father believed the mark had chosen wrong. That it should have been his. And, well… jealousy rotted him from the inside.”
“Why would he risk leaving you and Holden alone?”
Heidara’s laugh was hollow. “He whipped Holden nightly while I listened. The alpha heard the screams, and wolves do not tolerate cruelty toward their young.” She lifted her chin. “After Kaldrek’s father confronted mine publicly, he challenged the alpha the next day. And he lost.”
The pack pressed on ahead of them without a word—Kaldrek, Holden, Alaric leading the way toward the hidden path behind the trading post.
“Kaldrek’s parents took us in,” Heidara said. “They were kind, but nothing can ever truly replace your own parents.”
Evelyne swallowed. Her father had not been perfect. He had been distant at times, consumed by trade and politics. But he had loved her. Loved them.
“He must have been cruel for you to feel relief at his death,” Evelyne said gently.
Heidara nodded once. “He was. There were times I thought it should have been me instead of my mother, if only it could take away the memory of Holden’s screams as a boy. Wolves may heal faster, but when a babe is trapped, there is often very little anyone can do to save the mother.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Heidara.”
“I know.”
A lantern’s glow flickered ahead through the trees. They were close now.
“Holden is a good male,” Evelyne murmured, glancing toward him where he walked beside Kaldrek.
“Yes,” Heidara said. “And I think he enjoys helping Cillian. He never had someone to guide him through becoming a wolf. Kaldrek’s father did what he could… but some wounds don’t close that easily.”
Evelyne’s heart ached at that.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said quietly. “You’ve never fully spoken of it before.”
Heidara’s green eyes grew tender in the fading light. “You’re my best friend. I trust you. That’s what we do for each other, isn’t it?”
Evelyne felt a small, genuine smile rise through the weight in her chest.
“Yes,” she said. “It is.”