Chapter 24 Ghost Of The Past
“Again!”
Tiara’s voice cracked through the training ground like lightning.
The rogue-turned-warriors charged at her, muscles tense, teeth bared, but she moved through them with precision—her aura a dominant hum in the air. She spun, grabbed one wolf by the scruff as he lunged, slammed another with her elbow, and pinned the third beneath her boot.
“Yield,” she growled—not loud, but commanding.
The wolves dropped instantly, whimpering under the pressure of her power. Her dominance wasn’t brutality. It was instinct—natural, binding, protective. The SilverShield Pack didn’t fear her. They trusted her.
Brayden wiped sweat from his brow, chest heaving. “Alpha… you’re getting stronger by the day.”
Tiara offered him a hand up, and when he grasped it, her palm tingled. Not power—purpose. “No, Brayden. We’re all getting stronger.”
A murmur of pride rippled through the pack. For once, she felt the warmth of belonging… until a low growl echoed behind her.
Rhea, her sharp-tongued beta, approached, gripping a torn piece of hunter’s leather. “Alpha. We found this near the border.”
Tiara inhaled sharply. The scent hit her like a punch—mint, moon ash… wolf blood.
Her mother’s pattern.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Impossible.
Rhea lowered her voice. “It’s NightFang scent-marked. And there’s more.”
She held out a small pendant—silver, cracked down the middle, etched with a sun swallowing the moon. Tiara’s breath trembled. Her mother’s heirloom. The one she wore the night she died. Or was supposed to.
“I saw her body,” Tiara whispered, fingers shaking as she held the pendant. “They showed me the ashes.”
Rhea’s eyes softened. “Ashes can be from anyone. Bodies burn easy, Alpha. But those who are valuable? They get caged.”
Tiara’s legs weakened. She stumbled but Brayden caught her elbow gently.
She’s alive. My mother… alive.
Her wolf howled within her, shaking her bones.
FLASHBACK
Blood. Smoke. Screams.
Her father had dragged her under the altar, whispering, “Stay quiet, Tiara. They’re coming for us.”
And her mother, Seraphine, stood between the attackers and her family, her aura fierce and bright as moonfire.
But instead of shielding her father, her mother turned on the Fairly Moon elders.
“Traitors.”
The betrayal… the pack elders… the hunter’s fire… Tiara remembered her father pushing her away and her mother’s scream.
Then darkness.
Tiara gasped back to the present. Her throat burned. “Why didn’t she come for me? Why leave me alone?”
Rhea crossed her arms. “Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe she was protecting you. Or maybe…” she paused, gaze heavy, “someone didn’t want her to ever return.”
The weight of those words wasn’t loud. It was merciless.
In another territory, beneath the high arches of a council hall, Damien sat facing seven Alphas, political venom thick in the air. They waited for him to fail, to submit. But his glare was pure ice.
“AlphavDamien,” an older wolf sneered, “the Moon Council demands an inquiry. You’ve been gathering rogues, sending messages, plotting against your own blood.”
Damien clicked his tongue, leaning back like the accusations amused him. His shirt collar was still stained with battle scars Tiara had healed with her touch. He carried her warmth like armor.
“Plotting against my father?” he said. “No. I’m merely cleaning the throne he’s already dirtied.”
Gasps rippled.
“Reckless,” someone hissed.
“Courageous,” another whispered.
Damien smiled. “Or perhaps just inevitable.”
A messenger rushed in, bowing deeply. “Your Highness! The NightFang Pack is moving. Not against the Fairly Moon… but toward the rogue north.”
Damien’s blood chilled. Toward Tiara.
He rose instantly. “Session dismissed.”
His voice cut like a blade.
“Prince Damien, you cannot just—”
He turned, glare razor-sharp.
“Watch me.”
Back at SilverShield territory, Tiara tested the pendant again. Her fingers curled tight around it, as if warmth could seep through metal and bring back memories.
“She fought for me,” Tiara murmured. “She fought for all of us, and I let the Fairly Moon lie bury her.”
Brayden stepped closer. “You didn’t know. You were a child.”
Her eyes lifted, full of storms. “Then allow me to change that now.”
A rumble of agreement swept through the wolves. Even the trees seemed to vibrate with her resolve. The moonlight clung to her hair like silver threads.
Rhea asked quietly, “What will you do?”
Tiara straightened to full Alpha height, voice steady, powerful, unstoppable.
“I’m going to break the NightFang Pack.”
Her wolf roared through the air, echoing across the valley.
“But not for revenge.”
Her eyes glowed with purpose.
“For the mother they buried alive… and the truth they tried to kill.”
Her pack howled with her, a chilling, united song.
Suddenly, a blood-covered scout stumbled into the clearing, collapsing at her feet. Tiara crouched beside him. His eyes were wide with terror.
“Alpha…” he gasped, clawing at her wrist, “the NightFang leader—he knows… who you are.”
Tiara’s pulse froze. “What do you mean?”
“He knows your bloodline. He knows your mother… and why she was taken.” His voice cracked into a sob.
The scout shivered violently.
“And he said… you’re next.”
The wind died.
The
forest went silent.
Tiara stood slowly, the pendant cutting into her clenched fist.
She stared into the shadows where her enemy waited.