Chapter 80 Coming Home
The estate looked different. Smaller somehow. Like nearly dying made everything else shrink in comparison.
Pack members flooded out before we’d even parked. Faces I recognized. Names I’d fought to remember. All of them are watching. Waiting to see if their Luna had survived.
Clara pushed through the crowd. Tears are already streaming. She grabbed me the second I opened the door. Held on like I might disappear.
“You’re alive. You’re really alive.” Her hands checked me over. Looking for injuries. For proof this was real. “They said you were captured. That Thornheart had you. I thought I’d lost you again.”
“I’m okay. We’re all okay.” I hugged her back. Breathed in her familiar scent. Lavender and home. “How are you feeling? The enhancements they gave you?”
“Gone. Purified. Whatever you did before they took you, it worked.” She pulled back. Looked at Lycian. At the blood still covering him. At how he leaned on me for support. “You’re hurt. Both of you. Inside. Now.”
She herded us toward the house. The pack follows. Everyone is talking at once. Asking questions. Sharing relief. Celebrating survival.
Tessa was waiting in the living room. She tackled me in a hug. “You scared the hell out of me. Again. This is becoming a pattern.”
“Sorry. I’ll try to get less captured.” I held her tight. My best friend. My anchor to the normal world. “How are you? After everything?”
“Traumatized. Terrified. In therapy.” She pulled back. Forced a smile. “But alive. Thanks to you. So I’m not complaining.”
The freed prisoners clustered near the door. Uncertain. Not knowing if they were welcome. If this place were safe. If anywhere was safe anymore.
“You’re all welcome here,” I announced. Loud enough for everyone to hear. “For as long as you need. We’ll find you permanent homes. Reunite you with families if possible. But for now, you’re under pack protection. Under my protection.”
They relaxed slightly. Some crying. Some nodding. All grateful to have somewhere to go. Somewhere to belong.
Elena organized sleeping arrangements. Food. Medical care. She was good at this. Efficient. Caring. The sister I’d never known I had.
Lycian and I escaped upstairs. To our room. Our space. Away from the chaos. Away from the expectations.
The second the door closed, he collapsed. Just gave up. Knees buckling. All the strength he’d been faking was gone.
I caught him. Barely. Dragged him to the bed. “You need a doctor. Need treatment. You gave too much through the bond.”
“I’ll heal. Eventually. Just need rest.” He lay back. Closed his eyes. “I need you close. Need to feel you through the bond. Proof you’re real. Alive.”
I lay beside him. Careful not to jostle injuries. His arm came around me. Pulled me against his chest. His heartbeat was steady under my ear.
“We almost died,” I said. Stating the obvious. “Both of us. Again.”
“It’s becoming a habit. A very bad habit.” His fingers traced patterns on my arm. Soothing. Grounding. “But we didn’t die. We survived. That’s what matters.”
“For how long? The message said eighty days. Eighty days until Project Genesis. Until everything ends.” I closed my eyes. “How do we fight that? How do we stop thousands of programmed wolves from activating?”
“We start by resting. Healing. Preparing.” He kissed my hair. “Then we make a plan. A real plan. Not rushing in. Not reacting. Actually thinking things through.”
“That doesn’t sound like us.”
“Then maybe it’s time we changed our approach. Stopped letting the Collective dictate our moves. Started playing offense instead of defense.” His voice was getting sleepy. Fading. “Tomorrow. We will strategize. Tonight, we just exist. Together.”
I wanted to argue. Wanted to start planning immediately. But exhaustion crashed over me. Heavy. Overwhelming. My body was demanding rest whether I was ready or not.
“The message mentioned my parents,” I whispered. “Said they’re in the chambers. Alive.”
“I know.” His arm tightened. “We’ll investigate. Find out if it’s true or another manipulation. But carefully. Smartly. Not rushing into traps.”
“What if it is true? What if they’ve been alive this whole time? Trapped. Suffering. Waiting for me to find them?”
“Then we free them. Bring them home. Give you back what the Collective stole.” He shifted. Looked at me. Eyes serious. Intense. “But Elowen. You need to prepare. For the possibility it’s a lie. For the possibility they’re really gone.”
“I know.” My throat tightened. “I just. I want to hope. Want to believe something good could come from all this.”
“Then hope. I’ll be realistic enough for both of us.” He smiled. Tired but genuine. “That’s what mates do. Balance each other. Cover each other’s weaknesses.”
“What’s your weakness?”
“You. Always you.” He kissed me. Soft. Sweet. “You’re my weakness and my strength. My reason for everything.”
Heat spread through my chest. Warm. Right. “I love you. Even when you’re being impossibly romantic and making me cry.”
“Good. Because I’m not stopping.” He pulled me closer. “I almost lost you today. Watched you die twice. Once from memory suppression. Once in that explosion. I’m never taking a single moment for granted again.”
“Me neither.” I kissed him back. Deeper. Longer. Tasting life and survival and tomorrow. “We’re alive. We’re together. Everything else we can figure out.”
We fell asleep tangled together. The bond is humming. Content. Complete. Two souls that had found their way back to each other despite everything trying to tear them apart.
I woke up hours later. It's dark outside. The house is quiet. Everyone else is sleeping.
Except my mind wouldn’t stop. Wouldn’t rest. Too many questions. Too many threats. Too many impossible choices looming.
I slipped out of bed. Careful not to wake Lycian. Grabbed a robe. Headed downstairs.
Found Clara in the kitchen. Making tea. Like she knew I’d need it.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” She handed me a mug. Chamomile. “Your mind won’t stop spinning. Too much to process. Too much to plan.”
“Something like that.” I sat at the counter. Wrapped my hands around the warm mug. “The Collective. They said my parents are alive. In chambers. Part of Project Genesis.”
Clara’s face went carefully neutral. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth. Did they die when I was three? Or was that another lie? Another way to control me?”
She was quiet for a long moment. Just stirring her tea. Thinking. Deciding.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I saw the bodies. Identified them. Buried them. But looking back. Knowing what the Collective can do. Knowing about induced death and suspended animation.” She met my eyes. “It’s possible. Possibly they’ve been alive this whole time.”
The mug trembled in my hands. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why let me believe they were dead?”
“Because I thought they were. Because the alternative. That they’d been suffering for twenty years while I raised you. That I’d failed to save them.” Her voice cracked. “I couldn’t face that possibility. Couldn’t investigate. Couldn’t risk finding out the truth.”
“But now we have to. Now we have no choice.” I set down the mug. “I need to know. Need to find them if they’re alive. Free them if they’re imprisoned.”
“Even if it’s a trap? Even if Nightshade is using them as bait?”
“Especially then. Because if they are alive, I’m not leaving them there. I’m not abandoning them like they were abandoned before.” I stood. Paced. “I know it’s dangerous. I know it’s probably what Nightshade wants. But I have to try.”
“Then we try. Together. The whole pack. No more solo missions. No more walking into traps alone.” Clara touched my hand. “You’re not the wolfless girl anymore. You’re Luna. You’re Moonsilver. You’re powerful. But you’re not invincible. You need support. Need backup. Need to trust others to help carry the weight.”
She was right. I’d been so focused on protecting everyone else. On being strong enough to save them. That I’d forgotten strength wasn’t about doing everything alone. It was about knowing when to let others help.
“Okay. We do this smart. We gather intel. We verify the location. We make plans. We go in prepared.” I looked at her. “And we don’t tell Lycian until morning. He needs rest. Needs healing time.”
“Agreed. Though he’s going to be furious when he finds out we let him sleep through strategy planning.”
“Then I’ll deal with furious Lycian. After he’s healed enough to actually survive being furious.” I finished my tea. “Thank you. For being here. For raising me. For not giving up even when everything seemed impossible.”
“You’re my daughter. In every way that matters. I’d never give up on you.” She hugged me. Tight. Warm. Safe. “Now go back to bed. Get what rest you can. Tomorrow we start planning. Tomorrow we figure out how to stop Project Genesis. Tomorrow we change everything.”
I went back upstairs. Slipped into bed beside Lycian. He stirred. Pulled me close without waking.
Through the bond, I felt his dreams. Peaceful. Content.
Tomorrow would come soon enough.
But tonight, we’d just be. Two people who loved each other. Who’d survived hell.
Together. Always together.
My phone buzzed. On the nightstand.
One new message. Unknown number.
A video file.
The video showed two people. In glass chambers. Unconscious. Hooked to machines. But alive.
My mother. My father.
And standing between their chambers, looking directly at the camera, was someone I recognized.
Tessa.
She smiled. Not her real smile. The fake one.
“Hello, Elowen,” she said. “I’ve been Nightshade the whole time.”
She gestured to my parents.
“You have seventy-nine days before Project Genesis launches.”
“Come alone. No pack. No mate. No backup. Or everyone in these chambers dies.”
The video ended. Deleted itself.
But I’d seen it. Knew the truth.
My best friend was the enemy.
And she had my parents.
Seventy-nine days.
That’s all I had.
Because I was Moonsilver. Because I was Luna. Because I was Elowen Hale.
And I didn’t quit. Didn’t break. Didn’t surrender.
Not ever.