Chapter 65 The Alpha's Debt

Chapter 65 The Alpha's Debt
The big pillar of gold light was gone from the sky, but the air inside the cave still felt like a storm was coming. Lila lay on the cold, hard ground. Her chest was moving up and down very fast. That big explosion of "Thorne Gold" had saved her for a few minutes, but it had taken every bit of her strength.

She tried to reach for her wooden spear, but her fingers would not move. Her vision was blurry. She felt like she was floating away from her own body. Everything hurt. Her back felt like it was breaking, and the baby inside her was moving like he wanted to get out right now.

"Not yet," Lila whispered. Her voice was so quiet it was just a breath. "Please, little one. Just give me five more minutes."
But outside the cave, the silence of the Dead Lands was over. A scary sound started.

The Steel-Wolf Commandos were coming back. These were not the small drones she had fought before. These were big, heavy machines with silver fur and metal bodies. They did not feel tired. They did not feel fear. They just fixed their broken parts and kept walking toward her.

"Target is weak," a robot voice boomed through the fog. "She has no more power. Move in now. Take the baby. If the mother tries to stop us, kill her."

Lila tried to crawl deeper into the dark corner of the cave, but a huge wave of pain hit her. It was the strongest one yet. It felt like a hot knife was twisting in her bones. She dug her fingernails into the black dirt and screamed. She was alone. She was in the dark. And the monsters were at the door.

Meanwhile...

At the Shadow Moon house, hundreds of miles away, the world was in chaos.
Kieran was standing on the high cliff, his heart beating like a drum. He was not acting like a cold machine anymore. The fog that the "Memory Eater" had put in his brain was finally gone. It had smashed into a million pieces the moment he saw Lila’s gold signal in the sky.

He held her letter in his hand. The paper was crumpled and old, but the words were burning into his eyes.

I love you. Even if you have forgotten how to love me back.

He remembered everything now. He remembered the first time he kissed her. He remembered the way she smelled like summer rain. And then, he remembered the last six months. He remembered how he had treated her like a prisoner. He remembered how he had hunted her like she was just a "thing" instead of his mate.

The guilt was so heavy he could barely stand.
"Kieran, stop!" Ronan shouted, running toward him. "The Dead Lands are 300 miles away! You cannot go there! The planes will not work because the mineral storms will break the engines. It is too far!"

Kieran did not even turn around. He looked at the horizon, where the last bit of gold light was fading away. He felt a sharp pain in his chest not from a weapon, but from his own heart.

"Then I will run," Kieran growled.

"You can't!" Ronan cried. "Even for an Alpha, that distance is death! Your heart will snap before you get halfway!"

Kieran did not answer. He did not have time for words. Every second he waited was a second Lila was in danger. He shifted.

It was not a normal shift. It was a massive explosion of silver fur and bone. He became a giant wolf bigger and more powerful than any wolf in the history of the pack. He did not run like a normal animal; he tore through the air. He jumped off the high cliff and hit the forest floor so hard that the trees shook.

He ran.

He ran through the dark woods where the shadows tried to trip him. He ran over the sharp rocks of the mountains that cut into his paws. His lungs felt like they were full of hot coals. Every breath was a struggle. His heart was screaming, but he did not slow down.

He crossed the border into the Dead Lands. The red dust got into his eyes and his throat. The wind was cold and sharp. He was bleeding from a dozen cuts, but he only had one thought in his head.

Lila. Lila. Lila.

He was no longer the "Dark Alpha" that everyone feared. He was just a man who had made a big mistake, and he was running against time to fix it.
Back at the Cave.

The first Commando walked into the cave. Its metal body was covered in scratches from Lila’s blast, but it was still working. It pointed its heavy black gun right at Lila’s head.

"Lila Thorne," the robot said. "You are finished. Give us the Heir now, or we will take him from your body."

Lila found the strength to sit up against the cold stone wall. She had no more Gold power. She had no weapons. She just had her two hands, and she wrapped them tightly around her belly to protect the child.

"My name is Lila Thorne," she said. Her voice was shaking, but she did not look away. "And you will never... ever... touch my son."

The robot did not feel pity. It moved its finger to shoot.

Suddenly, a giant silver shadow smashed into the side of the robot. It was Kieran. He hit the Commando so hard that the metal head flew off and hit the wall.

The other robots moved into the cave to fight. They were fast and strong. One robot swung a heavy metal arm and hit Kieran in the chest. Another robot used a metal blade to slash Kieran’s side.

Red blood splashed onto the dirt floor of the cave.
Instead of moving away from the pain, Kieran stepped directly over Lila. He stood tall, using his own massive body as a living shield to protect her. He took the hits meant for her, his silver fur soaking with blood as he growled at the machines.

"Kieran!" Lila screamed.

The sight of his own blood made Kieran go feral. He did not feel the pain anymore. He only felt the need to protect his mate. He jumped on the robots like a demon. He used his teeth to rip through the metal wires. He used his heavy paws to smash their sensors. He fought until the cave was full of the smell of oil and blood.

One by one, the machines fell. They sparked and smoked until they did not move anymore.
When the last robot was just a pile of scrap metal, the cave became very quiet.

Kieran stood over the bodies, breathing very hard. His silver fur was matted with blood and black oil. He turned around and saw Lila. He changed back into a man, and the change looked like it hurt every bone in his body. He fell to his knees in front of her.

He reached out his hand, but he stopped. He looked at his own hands the hands that had been hunting her and he started to cry.

"Lila..." he whispered. His voice was broken.
Lila reached out and touched his face. She felt the tears on his skin. "You came back to me."

"I am so sorry," Kieran choked out. He felt so much guilt he could barely look her in the eye. "I was the monster. I was the one who made you run. I forgot who I was... but I remember now. Please... please forgive me."

Lila took his hand and moved it down. She put his palm right on her big, round stomach. "Not now, Kieran. We don't have time for that. Our son is coming. He is coming right now."

Kieran’s eyes went wide. Under his hand, he felt a massive, steady thump-thump. It was the strongest heartbeat he had ever felt. It was a Thorne heartbeat.

"I have you," Kieran whispered. He moved behind her and sat down. He pulled her against his warm chest and put his big arms around her. He was a shield again. He was her mate again. "I am here. I am the father. I will never leave you again. I promise."

Lila leaned her head back against his shoulder. For the first time in six months, the fear was gone. She was not alone in the dark anymore.
A final, massive pain hit her. It felt like her whole body was made of light. The cave filled up with a bright amber glow it was so bright that even the fog outside the cave turned gold. It was like the sun had been born inside the mountain.

Lila let out one last, loud cry that echoed across the whole desert.

And then, the silence was broken by a new sound.
It was not the sound of a wolf. It was not the sound of a robot. It was the sharp, loud, beautiful cry of a baby boy.

Kieran held his son in his arms. The baby had a small tuft of silver hair, just like the Blackwoods. But when he finally opened his eyes, they were glowing with a soft, amber light, just like the Thorne Queen.

Kieran lowered his forehead to Lila’s. He closed his eyes, his breath shaking as he felt the warmth of her skin. "Lila," he whispered, his voice full of a love he finally remembered. "My Lila."

Lila looked at her son and then at Kieran. They were a family. They were a pack.

The SOC was still out there. General Vance was still hunting them. The war was far from over. But as the sun began to rise over the Dead Lands, the Alpha and his Queen knew one thing:

They were ready to burn the world down to keep their son safe.