Emma's POV
"Mama, can we have pancakes?"
I look down at Liam sitting at the breakfast table beside Mira, and my heart still can't believe he's real. That he's here. That he remembers me.
"Pancakes sound perfect." My voice cracks with emotion.
It's been three days since the rescue. Three days of holding my son, listening to him apologize for things that weren't his fault, watching him slowly trust me again.
"I'll help!" Mira bounces in her chair. "I know where the flour is!"
"Me too!" Liam grins at his new sister.
They race to the pantry together, already acting like they've known each other forever instead of just days.
Kendrick walks into the kitchen, freshly showered. His ribs are healed—werewolf healing is fast. But I still see him wince slightly.
"You should rest more," I say.
"I'm fine." He pours coffee. "Marcus is handling the pack business. The other Alphas went home. Declan's officially exiled—no pack will take him."
Good. Let him suffer alone like he made me suffer.
But even as I think it, unease crawls up my spine. "He won't just accept exile. He'll come back."
"Let him try." Kendrick's voice is hard. "I'll be ready."
The guardian bond pulses between us, and I feel his determination. His protectiveness. And underneath it, something warmer that neither of us is ready to name.
The mate bond we're still ignoring.
"Mama! We can't reach the flour!" Liam calls.
I move to help, but Kendrick gets there first. He lifts both kids easily, letting them grab what they need.
Watching him with children—with MY children—does something to my heart.
"Thank you," I say quietly when he sets them down. "For everything. For fighting for me, for saving Liam, for giving us a home—"
"Stop thanking me." But his voice is gentle. "This is your home now. Both of you. You're pack."
"Just pack?" The question slips out.
Kendrick's silver eyes meet mine. Heat flares between us, the mate bond pulling tight.
"Mummy and Kendrick are making googly eyes again," Mira stage-whispers to Liam.
"What's googly eyes?" Liam whispers back.
"It's when grown-ups like each other but won't say it," Mira explains seriously.
Kendrick and I both look away quickly, faces hot.
"Let's make pancakes," I say too brightly.
Two hours later, the kids are playing in the living room while I clean up. Kendrick helps despite my protests.
"You don't have to—"
"I want to." He dries a plate. "Emma, we need to talk about what happens next."
My stomach tightens. "What do you mean?"
"You're safe here. The guardian oath and mate bond protect you from most threats. But legally, you're still declared dead. You can't leave this territory without risking exposure."
"So I'm trapped." I try not to sound bitter.
"Protected," Kendrick corrects. "There's a difference. But yes, for now, you need to stay close."
"I can live with that." And I can. This place feels more like home than anywhere I've lived in six years. "As long as Liam and Mira are safe."
"They are." Kendrick sets down the dish towel. "But there's something else. The pack needs to formally accept you and Liam as members. There's a ceremony—"
A howl cuts through the air. Desperate. Panicked.
A warrior's distress call.
Kendrick's face goes hard. "Stay with the kids. Lock the doors."
He's gone before I can argue, shifting mid-run.
I race to the living room. "Mira, Liam, come here. Now."
They sense my fear and run over immediately. I pull them close, moving toward the panic room Kendrick showed me on the first day.
More howls. Fighting sounds in the distance.
Then Marcus bursts through the door, bleeding from a gash on his shoulder.
"Emma, get the kids to the safe room. NOW."
"What's happening?"
"Rogues. Fifty of them. Someone hired them to attack." Marcus's face is grim. "They're targeting the house. Targeting you."
My blood runs cold. Declan. It has to be.
"Where's Kendrick?"
"Fighting at the front line. But there's too many." Marcus pushes me toward the hall. "Go!"
I grab both kids and run. The safe room is reinforced steel, hidden behind a bookcase. I pull it open, shove them inside.
"Mama, don't leave!" Liam clings to me.
"I have to help fight—"
"NO!" Mira's eyes are wild. "The bond! If you get hurt, it hurts Kendrick too! You'll make him weak!"
She's right. The guardian oath means our lives are connected. If I'm in danger, Kendrick will feel it, be distracted by it.
"Stay here. Don't open this door for anyone except me or Kendrick." I kiss them both. "I love you."
I seal the door and run.
Outside is chaos. Wolves everywhere—Shadow's Edge warriors fighting rogues in brutal combat. Blood stains the ground.
I spot Kendrick in the center, massive black wolf surrounded by enemies. He's holding his own, but barely. Every time he takes down one rogue, two more appear.
This isn't a random attack. This is organized. Professional.
"Emma!" Helena appears beside me. "You need to get inside—"
"I need to help." I look at her. "The guardian bond. Can I use it?"
"Use it how?"
"Send him strength. Like he sends me his protection." I press my hand to my chest where the bond lives. "Show me how."
Helena's eyes widen. "That's advanced magic. You've never trained—"
"Then teach me fast!"
She grabs my hand, places it over my heart. "Feel the bond. Feel his life force. Now push your strength through it. Give him what he gave you."
I close my eyes, finding that golden thread connecting me to Kendrick. I feel his exhaustion, his pain, his determination to protect everyone.
I grab onto that thread and PUSH.
Power floods through the bond. My strength, my will, my magic—all of it flowing into Kendrick.
His wolf's head snaps up. Our eyes meet across the battlefield.
I feel his shock. Then his gratitude.
He fights with renewed strength, moving faster, hitting harder. The guardian bond is working both ways now, making us both stronger.
But then I see it.
A rogue sneaking around the main fight. Heading toward the house. Toward where I told the kids to hide.
No.
I run, intercepting the rogue before it reaches the door. It turns, snarling.
I don't have time to think. Don't have time to be scared.
My wolf surges up—the wolf I haven't let out in months. She's angry. Protective. Deadly.
I shift.
The rogue lunges. I meet it with claws and teeth, fighting with a mother's rage.
It's bigger, stronger, trained to kill.
But I'm fighting for my children.
I tear into it, ignoring pain, ignoring fear. The rogue tries to throw me off, but I don't let go.
Then strong jaws close around the rogue's throat. Kendrick's wolf. He rips the rogue away, finishes it quickly.
We stand panting, staring at each other in wolf form.
The mate bond explodes between us, stronger than ever. In this form, we can't deny it. Can't ignore it.
His wolf recognizes mine. Mine recognizes his.
MATE. MINE. PROTECT.
Before either of us can process it, Marcus howls victory. The rogues are retreating, the ones still alive running into the forest.
We won. Barely.
I shift back, suddenly aware I'm naked and covered in blood. Kendrick shifts too, looking the same.
"You fought," he says, voice rough.
"I had to."
"You could have died—"
"So could you." I step closer. "The bond works both ways now. I felt it. You needed help, so I helped."
Something shifts in his expression. "You sent me your strength. No one's ever done that for me before."
"Well, you saved my son. Seemed like a fair trade."
We're standing too close. Both bloody, both breathing hard, both feeling the mate bond screaming at us to close the distance.
"Emma—" Kendrick starts.
"Alpha!" A warrior runs up. "We found something. The rogues weren't just attacking randomly. They were leaving a message."
He holds out a piece of paper, charred at the edges.
Kendrick reads it and his face goes white.
"What?" I ask. "What does it say?"
He hands it to me silently.
The message is written in blood:
"You took my son. I'll take everything you love. Starting with your precious Luna. Three days. Then she dies. - D"
Declan.
He's not just planning revenge. He's declared war.
And he's given us a three-day deadline.
I look up at Kendrick, fear and fury mixing in my chest.
"He's coming for me."
"Let him come." Kendrick's voice is deadly calm. "This time, I'll make sure he doesn't leave alive."
But as warriors tend to the wounded and fires burn in the distance, I can't shake the feeling that we're missing something.
Declan wouldn't attack head-on. He's too smart for that.
Which means the rogues were a distraction.
But a distraction from what?
My blood runs cold as realization hits.
"Kendrick. Where's Mira?"
"In the safe room with Liam—"
We both run.
The bookcase is open. The steel door hangs loose.
Inside, the room is empty.
Both children are gone.
And on the wall, written in child-sized handwriting:
"Come find us, Mama. We went to help. - Mira"