Chapter 17 - Lila
I felt Caleb reach down the bond, assuming he wanted to make sure I was still breathing after the harrowing, danger-filled journey through town to my client’s house.
Resisting the urge to follow my eyes at the thought, I had sent back a small reply. It was half-hearted at best, but enough to quell his concern.
He could hardly go an hour or two without looming, and while that should be heartwarming, I find it vaguely irritating. If he grants me the freedom to reclaim parts of my old life, then he can wait until I’m home again to question me or need any kind of update.
Part of the appeal of leaving the house is getting time away and being left with my work and thoughts. My own thoughts, unencumbered by his breaching my mind.
But now, Astrid’s small hand is in mine while we leave the cafe in the afternoon.
Her mouth is still dusted with powdered sugar from the donut she enjoyed, and of course, it had to be the biggest, messiest one.
It was something Caleb had shown her the last time we were there, and of course, she clung to it and had to do it again.
Still, it made her day, and I’m not willing to rain on her parade. Especially not when my day has gone better than expected.
I get back to work, catching up with my clients who were certainly curious about my abrupt disappearance, but after giving the best explanation I could without divulging the truth, the usual routine settled right back into place.
And now, I’m capping the day with some time away from the house with Astrid, who is more than happy to be out.
“Can we see the fountain?” she asks, already tugging me along by the hand down the sidewalk.
“Of course we can,” I say, smiling to myself at the innocent joy she seems to garner from the smallest of things. Of course, they don’t seem small at all to her, and it’s something I often admire about her.
Astrid bounds ahead, dark hair coming slightly loose from the ribboned pigtails I gave her earlier.
Warmth lingers in my chest at how pure her little world is, and with the reminder of how much our lives have changed in a matter of weeks, I cling to it.
But the moment we approach the small memorial park with garden beds and a fountain situated in the middle, I feel eyes on me. Attention is shifting toward me, even when those people pretend to look elsewhere.
A pair of older pack women glance at me from the entrance of a boutique, and they smile politely, but I catch the forced nature of them. Then, they mutter something to each other.
A younger male sits in his parked truck, giving me a nod that feels more like an assessment than a genuine greeting. Even one of the local mail carriers who has known me since I was a child gives me a strained expression before averting her gaze.
It’s all subtle and careful, given the human bystanders everywhere. But I feel it anyway.
Between judgment, disbelief, resentment, and sometimes reluctant acceptance, I’ve had to shoulder all of it.
They make me feel like I’ve somehow stolen a place at Caleb’s side from someone more deserving. Like I’m still the weak outcast I used to be, and one they all looked down on.
To them, I’m not their Luna. I’m just something to scrutinize.
My stomach twists, and I clam up from the heat of those stares.
Astrid hums to herself while she looks at the fountain, completely oblivious of anyone looking our way.
Immediately, the urge to take her away from it surges in me. I refuse to let anyone poison her outlook on the world. Swallowing back the urge to cower, I square my shoulders and remind myself of what truly matters.
My daughter.
“C’mon, honey,” I murmur, gently gripping her shoulder before attempting to guide her away. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
She frowns. “But mama, the fountain—”
“We’ll come back another day with Caleb,” I suggest, reassuring her with a soft smile. “How about we walk through the woods instead? Just you and me.”
At this, her face lights up again. “Like before?”
I nod. “Just like before.”
Without any resistance, Astrid follows, and a touch of relief settles in me.
Slipping through the outskirts of town, we enter the woods, following an old trail I used to take whenever I wanted to avoid the locals. Pine needles crunch under our shoes, and sunlight flickers overhead through the leaf canopy.
Breathing in the familiar, damp air, it feels like home, even if I never truly belonged in the pack. Being out here steadies me. In the woods, I’m not being judged, and I’m not being compared to their image of what a Luna should be.
Here, I’m just Lila. Just Astrid’s mom, watching her laugh and step deliberately over roots.
She gathers little stones like precious treasure, darting ahead while she giggles. Then, she bends down to pick one up before holding it for me to see.
“Look! This one’s a heart.”
I smile and lean in to get a better look. “It is. You have a good eye.”
“You keep it,” she says with a smile. “For good luck.”
Softening, I carefully accept it. “Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll keep it right in my pocket.”
Satisfied, Astrid beams, then continues her rock search.
For a while, I almost feel whole again, like this is how things should be—how it had been for years.
Before it even has the chance to linger in my chest, the wind shifts, and dread trickles into my system.
Something prickles at my neck, causing me to bristle before I can even begin to understand what’s happening. That feeling doesn’t come from the bond, and I know it has nothing to do with Caleb. Instead, it makes every muscle go rigid.
Someone’s here.
Carefully pulling in another breath, I try to study every signature, but nothing familiar registers. Instead, it’s all wrong.
When a shiver tears through me, I turn around quickly and freeze.
Only a few steps away, a wolf emerges from within the trees, eyes set firmly on us while it slowly approaches, teeth bared in warning.
“Mama?”
Astrid’s voice lurches me out of it, and I back up, reaching for her hand.
“Stay close.”
“What’s wrong?” she asks, green eyes wide as she looks up at me. The sight alone makes my heart clench.
Before I can say anything, two other figures appear, but instead of wolves, it’s two men. Neither of which I recognize.
Astrid freezes, and I grip her tighter.
Wraith Peak. It has to be.
My heart slams against my ribs, and as hard as I try to keep calm, my breath turns shallow and feels almost impossible to regain.
“Stay back, honey,” I whisper, guiding Astrid behind me to shield her from them.
The two men stand there, smirking with that hungry, predatory way that screams they’ve found something vulnerable, and potentially valuable. Everything about them screams danger, as if the entire pack is swathed in dark energy that sets my nerves on edge.
“Well, well,” one of them says, voice rough. “Look what we finally found.”
Scared just from the sight of them, Astrid lets go of a quiet sound and presses against me.
Forcing myself to stand my ground, it feels all too much like the first time we were surrounded, and I’ll be damned if I let them terrify her all over again. Once was more than enough.
I’m shaking, and I know it, but I harden my stance, not backing down as I stare at them with as much intimidation as I can muster. But compared to them, three against one, the odds aren’t in my favor.
“The Alpha’s scent is all over her… guess he wasn’t lying.”
“Doesn’t mean anything for the brat,” the other murmurs, glancing at Astrid. “Just means she’s worth more now.”
A harsh, violent chill moves down my spine so fast that it knocks the breath from my lungs.
They want her, not me. They know what she is, and they want her for it.
“You’re not touching her,” I snap, voice cracking.
The wolf takes a step closer and snarls, but one of the men just huffs out his subtle amusement. “Be smart here. You can’t fight us, so you might as well hand her over.”
Those words, reminiscent of the taunts I endured before, sets something off in me.
I’ve been told my entire life how weak I am, how I don’t have enough power to be of any use to the pack. I’m just dead weight and can hardly even hold my wolf form.
And now, they’re closing in while my daughter trembles behind me, afraid of what they might do. And despite how I try to stop it, their words claw at me before they even have the chance to.
Even if everyone has been right all along, and even if I’m not strong enough, I still have to protect what’s mine.
And when the wolf snarls and Astrid screams, I snap.
Instinctively, I lunge for the closest man, catching his jaw hard enough to catch him off guard. But he grabs my wrist and twists, sending blinding pain shooting through my arm.
I cry out, forced to listen to Astrid calling for me.
“Run, Astrid!”
But I can’t even see if she has gone. The other man steps around us, surely cutting off her escape, and panic unfurls inside me.
Everything in me burns, and raw desperation tears at my chest as I’m pushed to the dirt, lungs emptying all over again. My head rings, and the world spins through the haze of it all.
But I don’t think. I can’t.
Instead, I hurry to my feet, pulling urgently at the bond, shouting in my head for Caleb. For anyone.
I hurl myself at the wolf again as every organ, every bone, and every drop of motherly instinct I have screams for me to protect her.
Even if I die doing it.