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Kieran barely had time to admire her execution before engaging a hunter who'd spotted him. Despite his weakened state, years of combat training made his movements efficient. He disarmed the man with a brutal twist, using the hunter's own momentum to drive him into the wall.

Through their bond, he continued directing Maya, and the two remaining wolves in a coordinated attack pattern.

Flank them. Drive them toward the center. Work as one.

The hunters, expecting disorganized resistance, found themselves facing precision predators moving with tactical unity. Maya, under Kieran's guidance, demonstrated an uncanny ability to anticipate and lead. When one of the young wolves faltered, she darted between him and the hunter's weapon, buying crucial seconds.

Pride surged through Kieran as he watched her—not just fighting but protecting. Leading. She was magnificent, her russetfur stained with blood, her eyes burning with fierce intelligence as she executed complex maneuvers he'd only thought in their bond.

The battle ended with Maya's teeth around the throat of the lead hunter. Kieran approached, his eyes cold as winter as he gazed down at the man.

"Did Alaric Silvercrest send you?" he demanded, his voice deadly quiet.

The hunter's laugh was wet with blood, then he uttered his last words. "Of course he did. Your father wants his wayward son brought home for proper punishment—privately. Can't have the pack seeing him get soft about family, can he? Publicly banishes you, privately wants to handle you himself." The hunter's eyes then dimmed permanently.

The betrayal cut deep. His father had allied with humans—the very beings he'd taught Kieran to distrust and ordered him to kill a week ago—to hunt down his own son.

Maya padded to his side, pressing her warm flank against his leg. Through their mate bond flowed strength, understanding, and fierce loyalty.

Kieran loomed over the hunter, whose blood pooled beneath him on the wooden floor. The man's final confession burned through Kieran's veins hotter than any silver poison ever could. His father—the great Alpha Alaric Silvercrest—had arranged this ambush personally, outside the High Council's knowledge or approval.

Kieran's muscles coiled with barely contained fury as he processed the revelation. He turned away from the corpse, his eyes flashing dangerously as he met Maya's wolf gaze.

"Hypocrite," he snarled, slamming his fist into the cabin wall. "My entire life, he preached about honor, about transparency, and about the danger of humans. And here he is—makingbackroom deals with human hunters while maintaining his public face of righteousness."

Maya padded closer, her russet fur gleaming in the dim light. He felt her concern wash over him like a soothing wave through their bond.

"My own father," Kieran growled, raking his fingers through his black hair. "All these years, I've defended him. I've questioned myself, thinking I wasn't seeing the bigger picture." His laugh was harsh and bitter. "And here he is, working with the very humans he condemns while pretending to cast me out for treason."

The remaining shifters watched him warily. They'd never seen the normally controlled heir to the Silvercrest pack so raw and so exposed. But something had broken inside Kieran—a final thread of hope that his father might someday understand.

"Get the injured to safety," he commanded the others, his voice steady despite the storm raging within. "We're moving out in five minutes. Leave nothing behind. Torch the building."

As the others scrambled to comply, Kieran crouched beside Maya's wolf form, one hand buried in the thick fur at her neck. The contact grounded him, pulling him back from the edge of his rage.

"You know what really kills me?" His voice dropped, meant only for her ears. "It's not even the betrayal. It's that he can't see what's right in front of him. Change isn't just coming—it's here. You're here."

He cupped her wolf face between his hands, staring into her intelligent green eyes that held her human consciousness.

"If he could just stop seeing the world as it was and look at what it could be." Kieran shook his head. "We could have moved forward together. Instead, he'd rather destroy his son than question his convictions."

Maya pressed her muzzle against his chest, a comforting weight.

"I'm done trying to earn his approval," Kieran decided, steel entering his voice. Through their bond, he felt her fierce pride and approval. "If he wants to cling to outdated traditions while lying to his own pack, that's his choice. But I'm making a different one."

He stood, shoulders back, chin lifted—every inch the Alpha he was born to be, even without a pack or territory to call his own. The silver poisoning still weakened him, but something new burned in his blood—purpose, clarity, and the freedom of finally breaking free from expectations he'd carried since birth.

"We're forging our own path now," he announced, his voice carrying the weight of command. "Together."

TWENTY-THREE

MAYA

Maya watched Kieran transition from a hurt son to a commanding presence in the span of heartbeats. The renewed purpose radiating through their bond felt like lightning, sharp and electric against her consciousness.

Through her wolf eyes, the world appeared in vivid detail—heart rates, scent markers, and subtle shifts in body language. The young rebel sympathizers scrambled with their unconscious packmates, moving with urgent efficiency under Kieran's command.

Kieran knelt before her, placing both hands on her wolf face. "Let me help you shift back. Focus on my voice, feel your human form."