“Your son was never supposed to be born.”
Roderick Moonfang’s words settled in the archive like poison.
For a moment, Kael did not move.
Then the room temperature dropped.
The candles along the walls flickered.
Every instinct inside him screamed.
Danger.
Not because of Roderick.
Because of what those words meant.
Kael stepped forward.
“What did you say?”
Roderick did not move.
For the first time in years, someone looked at Kael without fear.
That irritated him more than anything.
“I said,” Roderick repeated calmly, “that the child you never knew existed was a mistake that should have been erased.”
A terrifying silence followed.
Kael’s fingers curled.
“You knew.”
It was not a question.
Roderick smiled.
“Yes.”
“You knew Lyra was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she raised my son alone.”
“Yes.”
Each answer made Kael’s anger grow colder.
Not explosive.
Not reckless.
Controlled.
The kind of anger that came before destruction.
“Why?”
Roderick walked closer.
“Because some children are not born to inherit a family.”
He looked directly into Kael’s eyes.
“Some children are born to destroy the world.”
Kael grabbed Roderick by the throat.
The older man’s feet left the ground.
The pressure in the room became unbearable.
“You will tell me everything.”
Roderick struggled to breathe, but he still smiled.
“There it is.”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“The same weakness that made you lose everything.”
Kael’s grip tightened.
“You think my son is my weakness?”
“No.”
Roderick’s smile disappeared.
“I think he is your chain.”
Before Kael could respond, the archive doors exploded open.
Several council warriors rushed inside.
Kael threw Roderick aside.
The warriors attacked instantly.
They were not trying to kill him.
They were trying to delay him.
That alone confirmed everything.
They were protecting a secret.
Kael moved through them effortlessly.
Years in the cursed wildlands had changed him.
He no longer fought like a noble Alpha.
He fought like a survivor.
Within seconds, the warriors were on the ground.
But Roderick was already gone.
Only one thing remained behind.
A small piece of paper.
Kael picked it up.
There was only one sentence written on it.
“Ask Lyra what happened the night you rejected her.”
An hour later, Kael stood outside Lyra’s apartment.
For the first time since returning, he hesitated.
Not because he feared her.
Because he feared the answer.
Seven years ago, he remembered that night clearly.
The council surrounded him.
Chains around his wrists.
Lyra standing before him.
Crying.
The rejection ceremony.
The pain.
But there was something he never understood.
Why did Lyra look at him like she hated him afterward?
He always believed it was because she thought he abandoned her.
But what if there was more?
Kael knocked.
The door opened slowly.
Lyra stood there.
Her expression immediately changed when she saw him.
“You again.”
Kael ignored the hostility.
“We need to talk.”
“I told you yesterday—”
“About the night I rejected you.”
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But Kael noticed.
Fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
“What did they tell you?”
Lyra’s voice became quiet.
“What?”
“What did they tell you happened that night?”
She looked away.
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I never chose to reject you.”
The silence that followed was painful.
Lyra stared at him.
Then she laughed.
A broken laugh.
“You’re still lying.”
Kael froze.
“What?”
“You stood there.”
Her voice trembled.
“You looked me in the eyes and said you regretted choosing me.”
Kael felt like the ground disappeared beneath him.
“I never said that.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No.”
“Yes!”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You said I was a mistake.”
Kael’s chest tightened.
Impossible.
Those words were not his.
Someone had used his voice.
Someone had destroyed them both.
Inside the apartment, Eren watched them silently.
The child noticed things adults missed.
The way his mother looked at Kael.
The way Kael looked at her.
Like two people who loved each other but were trapped behind a wall neither could break.
“Mom…”
Both adults turned.
Eren looked at Kael.
“Are you really my father?”
The question froze the room.
Kael looked at him.
For years, he had faced death without fear.
But this small child asking him that question made him feel powerless.
“Yes.”
His voice softened.
“I am.”
Eren stared.
Then slowly walked closer.
Lyra immediately reached out.
“Eren.”
But the boy ignored her.
He stopped in front of Kael.
Then he touched Kael’s hand.
The moment their skin connected—
A violent wave of energy exploded through the room.
The windows shattered.
The lights went out.
Lyra stumbled backward.
Kael caught Eren immediately.
And then he saw it.
A silver mark glowing on the child’s wrist.
A mark Kael had never seen before.
His wolf went silent.
Completely silent.
That had never happened.
Not even in battle.
“What is that?” Lyra whispered.
Kael stared at the mark.
His heart began pounding.
Because he recognized the symbol.
Not from Moonfang history.
Not from any Alpha records.
From the cursed wildlands.
The same symbol that appeared before ancient beasts attacked him.
The same symbol connected to the power he spent seven years trying to understand.
“No…”
Kael stepped back.
“What is it?” Lyra asked again.
Kael looked at his son.
Then at her.
And for the first time since returning… he looked afraid.
“Your son…”
He swallowed.
“He isn’t just an Alpha.”
A sudden growl echoed outside.
Not from a wolf.
Something older.
Something powerful.
Kael turned toward the window.
Hundreds of wolves outside had dropped to their knees.
Every single one facing the apartment.
Every single one sensing Eren.
Then a voice came from the darkness outside.
A voice that did not belong to any living wolf.
“The Moonborn Heir has awakened.”
Lyra’s face went pale.
Kael’s expression hardened.
Because he finally understood.
The council had not been trying to kill his son.
They had been waiting for him.