The pack had never seen Caesar like this.
Not since Serena.
When he returned years ago with a child—no warning, no explanation—most of the pack had assumed it was a lie. A decoy. A play for sympathy.
Until they saw his eyes in the boy's.
Lucien.
He had Serena's softness. Her sharp intuition. But he moved like Caesar—shoulders squared, every step silent, every word chosen with precision.
Caesar raised him privately, teaching him discipline, strategy, languages, even restraint. Every night, he'd sit beside him, stare into the fire, and whisper, "Don't be like me. Be better."
Lucien listened.
But there was always a hunger in him—a quiet rage just beneath the surface. And Caesar recognized it. Because he'd once lived with it too.
By sixteen, Lucien was already more capable than half the pack. But he hadn't asked about his mother.
Not until his birthday.
They stood together in the quiet woods, the moonlight tracing a silver line across the boy's jaw.
"Who was she?" Lucien asked.
Caesar didn't lie. He never did to his son.
"She was a witch," he said. "Strong. Kind. Fierce. Her name was Serena."
Lucien listened in silence, absorbing every detail like it was scripture.
"She was killed," Caesar said flatly. "By someone I once trusted."
"Who?"
Caesar looked at him. "Opal Renee White."
Lucien clenched his fists. "The hunter?"
Caesar nodded once.
Lucien's voice dropped low. "You always said I had to earn things. That power comes with patience and purpose."
"I meant it."
"Then give me my first true gift." His eyes glowed faintly. "Let me kill her."
For the first time in years, Caesar hesitated.
Lucien stepped closer. "She's alive. You let her go. Why?"
Caesar didn't answer.
Lucien's voice was cold. "She murdered my mother."
Caesar's eyes darkened. "And if you kill her, it won't bring your mother back."
"No," Lucien said. "But it will give me peace."
A long silence passed between them. The wind moved the trees.
Finally, Caesar gave a small nod.
"Then you'll have your wish," he said. "One way or another."
And somewhere, in a quiet town still healing, a woman who once loved him had no idea what was coming.