Chapter 4 Shadows of the Past

The Shadow Moon Pack territory felt like stepping into another world.

Marcus Silverton stood at the edge of the ancient stone circle that served as their pack's heart, watching his Alpha prepare for tonight's confrontation with a mixture of pride and terror. Seraphina moved with deadly grace as she sharpened her silver daggers, each motion precise and controlled, but he could smell the tension rolling off her in waves.

She was afraid.

Not of Kai Blackwood-Marcus doubted Sera was afraid of anything that walked on two legs or four. But of what tonight might cost her. Of what seeing him again might awaken in the carefully constructed fortress she'd built around her heart.

"You don't have to do this," Marcus said quietly, not for the first time that day. "I could go in your place. Handle the territorial negotiations myself."

Sera's violet eyes flicked up to meet his, and for a moment he saw through the powerful Alpha mask to the woman beneath. The one who still woke up screaming from nightmares about golden eyes and broken promises.

"We both know this isn't about territory, Marcus."

"No," he agreed. "It's about closure. About finally putting the past to rest." He moved closer, close enough to catch her scent of midnight and magic, close enough to see the faint tremor in her hands that she was trying to hide. "But closure doesn't require you to face him alone."

"Yes, it does." She sheathed the daggers with practiced efficiency, then turned to face him fully. "This is between Kai and me. It always has been."

Marcus felt his heart clench at the pain in her voice, the same pain that had been there five years ago when she'd stumbled into their territory more dead than alive, broken by rejection and burning with newly awakened power. He'd found her collapsed in the snow, hypothermic and delirious, calling out for a man who had thrown her away like garbage.

He'd wanted to hunt down Kai Blackwood and tear his throat out then. The feeling hadn't diminished over the years.

"Sera," he said gently, using the name only he was allowed to speak. To everyone else, she was Alpha Nightfall, untouchable and terrifying. But to him, she would always be the shattered girl he'd carried home in his arms. "What if this is exactly what he wants? What if he's luring you into a trap?"

Her laugh was bitter as winter wind. "Then he'll discover that I'm not the same weak little Omega he discarded. I can protect myself now, Marcus. I don't need a white knight."

The words stung, though he tried not to show it. For five years, he'd been her second-in-command, her closest friend, her most loyal supporter. He'd watched her transform from a broken refugee into the most powerful Alpha he'd ever encountered, and somewhere along the way, he'd fallen completely and hopelessly in love with her.

She knew, of course. She'd always known. But her heart belonged to a memory, to the ghost of a love that had nearly destroyed her. And Marcus was too much of a gentleman-and too good a friend-to push for something she couldn't give.

"I know you don't need protection," he said carefully. "But that doesn't mean you have to face everything alone. The Shadow Moon Pack stands behind you. I stand behind you. Always."

For a moment, her expression softened. She reached out to touch his cheek, her fingers gentle despite the calluses earned through years of combat training.

"I know you do," she whispered. "And I'm grateful for it. More grateful than you could possibly know. But this... this is something I have to finish myself."

Before he could respond, a commotion at the edge of the clearing drew their attention. Two pack members were escorting a stranger toward them-a young woman with auburn hair and nervous green eyes. A messenger, from the look of her travel-stained clothes and exhausted posture.

"Alpha," called out Raven, one of Sera's lieutenants. "This one says she has urgent news from the Silver Crest Pack."

Sera's entire demeanor shifted, power radiating from her like heat from a forge. "Speak."

The messenger dropped to one knee, her voice trembling with fear and exhaustion. "Alpha Nightfall, I bring word from Elder Thorne of the Silver Crest Pack. He... he wishes to meet with you privately before your scheduled meeting with Alpha Blackwood."

Marcus felt his hackles rise. Something about this felt wrong, too convenient. "Why would their elder want a private meeting?"

The messenger's eyes darted between them nervously. "He said... he said he has information about your true heritage. About the Ancient Ones."

The temperature in the clearing dropped ten degrees.

Sera went completely still, a predator scenting danger. When she spoke, her voice carried the weight of barely controlled fury. "What did you say?"

"The Ancient Ones, Alpha. Elder Thorne claims he has proof that you're descended from Elena Nightfall, the last of the old bloodline. He says... he says the pack deserves to know what you really are."

Marcus stepped forward, his protective instincts screaming. This was a threat, thinly veiled as information. A way to expose Sera's secrets and turn the supernatural community against her.

But Sera held up a hand, stopping him. "Where does this elder wish to meet?"

"The old cemetery, half a mile from Raven's Ridge. One hour before your meeting with Alpha Blackwood." The messenger pulled out a sealed letter, offering it with shaking hands. "He asked me to give you this."

Sera took the letter, her eyes scanning the contents with growing coldness. Whatever it said, it wasn't good news.

"Tell Elder Thorne that I'll consider his... invitation," she said finally. "You may go."

The messenger fled with obvious relief, leaving the Shadow Moon Pack leadership alone in the stone circle.

"It's a trap," Marcus said immediately. "Has to be. They're trying to separate you from your guards, isolate you before the main meeting."

"Of course it's a trap." Sera crumpled the letter in her fist, violet fire flickering in her eyes. "The question is what kind of trap, and whether I can turn it to my advantage."

"Sera, no. Whatever game they're playing, we don't have to participate. We can call off the meeting entirely, handle the territorial disputes through official channels-"

"Running away?" Her voice was dangerously quiet. "Is that what you think I should do, Marcus? Hide from the truth like I've been hiding for five years?"

"That's not what I meant-"

"Isn't it?" She turned to face him fully, and the power radiating from her made the air itself seem to shimmer. "You think I should stay safe in our little corner of the forest, leading my pack of misfits and outcasts while the rest of the supernatural world pretends we don't exist."

Marcus felt his own temper rising. "I think I don't want to watch you get yourself killed chasing after a man who threw you away like trash!"

The words hung in the air between them like a physical blow. Sera's expression went completely blank, and for a moment Marcus thought she might actually strike him.

Then she laughed, cold and bitter and utterly without humor.

"Is that what this is about? Jealousy?" She circled him slowly, like a predator stalking prey. "Are you worried that if I see Kai again, if I remember what we once had, I might not come home to you?"

"Don't." His voice was rough with pain. "Don't cheapen what we have by making it about that."

"Then what is it about, Marcus? Because I'm struggling to understand why my Beta is trying to talk me out of doing what's best for our pack."

The formal title hit like a slap. She only called him Beta when she was putting distance between them, reminding him of his place in the hierarchy.

"What's best for the pack," he said quietly, "is keeping our Alpha alive. And walking into whatever trap they've set for you is the exact opposite of that."

For a moment, her mask slipped. He saw the fear again, the vulnerability she tried so hard to hide. The girl who was still terrified of being abandoned, of being found wanting and thrown away.

"I can't keep running, Marcus," she whispered. "I can't keep hiding from who I am, what I am. The Ancient One blood in my veins... it's getting stronger. The power is growing beyond my control. If I don't find answers soon, if I don't learn to master what's inside me..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't need to. Marcus had seen what happened when her power slipped its leash, had watched her level half a forest during a particularly brutal nightmare. The Shadow Moon Pack was safe from her-her control was perfect around her chosen family-but the rest of the world...

If she lost control completely, if the Ancient One power consumed her the way it had consumed her ancestors, she wouldn't be the only one to pay the price.

"Then we find answers together," he said firmly. "As a pack. You don't have to face this alone."

"Yes, I do." Her voice was infinitely sad. "This is my burden, Marcus. My bloodline, my curse, my responsibility. I won't risk anyone else."

"And what about after?" The words tore from his throat before he could stop them. "What happens to those of us who love you if you don't come back?"

She went very still. "Marcus..."

"No, let me say this. Just once, let me be honest about what you mean to me." He stepped closer, close enough to see the flecks of silver in her violet eyes. "I love you, Sera. I've loved you since the moment I found you bleeding in the snow five years ago. I love your strength, your compassion, your fierce devotion to the broken and forgotten. I love the way you laugh when you think no one's listening, and the way you cry when you think no one will see."

Tears gathered in her eyes, but she didn't look away.

"I know you don't love me back," he continued. "I know your heart still belongs to him, despite everything he did to you. But I need you to understand that losing you would destroy me. Destroy all of us. You're not just our Alpha-you're our hope. Our proof that someone can be broken and still become something beautiful."

A single tear tracked down her cheek, and Marcus had to clench his fists to keep from reaching out to wipe it away.

"I do love you," she said quietly. "Not the way you want, not the way you deserve, but I do love you. You saved me, Marcus. In every way a person can be saved."

"But?"

Her smile was heartbreaking in its sadness. "But my heart doesn't know the difference between love and obsession. Between healing and revenge. Until I face Kai, until I get the closure I need, I'll never be whole enough to give you what you deserve."

Marcus nodded, though it felt like swallowing glass. He'd known this day would come eventually. Known that Sera's past would catch up with her, would force a reckoning that might destroy everything they'd built together.

"Then go," he said. "Face your demons. Get your answers. But promise me you'll come home."

"I promise to try."

It wasn't the reassurance he'd hoped for, but it was all she could give him. And perhaps it was enough.

"Take Raven and Ghost with you," he said, falling back into his role as Beta, as tactical advisor. "Stay in radio contact. First sign of trouble-"

"I'll call for backup," she finished. "I'm not completely suicidal, Marcus."

"Just mostly suicidal," he muttered, earning a genuine smile.

"It's part of my charm."

For a moment, they stood together in comfortable silence, watching the sun sink toward the horizon. In a few hours, everything would change. Either Sera would get the closure she needed and finally be free of Kai Blackwood's hold over her, or...

Marcus didn't want to think about the 'or.'

"There's something else," Sera said suddenly. "Something I haven't told you about the power, about what's been happening to me."

His blood chilled. "What kind of something?"

"Dreams," she said quietly. "Memories that aren't mine. Flashes of another life, another time. A woman who looked like me, who had my eyes, who loved a man who looked exactly like Kai."

*Elena Nightfall.* The name whispered through Marcus's mind like a death sentence. If the stories were true, if Sera truly was the reincarnation of the most powerful Ancient One in history...

"How long?" he asked.

"Since the night I first shifted, five years ago. But they're getting stronger, more frequent. Sometimes I wake up and I'm not sure which memories are mine and which are hers." Sera's voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm scared, Marcus. What if I'm not who I think I am? What if I'm just... her, living out some cosmic revenge fantasy?"

Marcus reached out then, unable to stop himself from offering comfort. His hands framed her face gently, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"You are Seraphina Nightfall," he said firmly. "Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack. Protector of the forgotten, champion of the lost. Whatever power you carry, whatever memories haunt you, they don't define who you choose to be."

"But what if they do? What if tonight, when I see him again, I lose control completely? What if the Ancient One takes over and I become exactly what they're afraid I am?"

"Then we'll deal with it," Marcus said simply. "Together. As a pack. That's what family does-we face the darkness together."

She leaned into his touch for a moment, drawing strength from his unwavering faith in her. Then she stepped back, her expression hardening into the mask of the deadly Alpha once more.

"Get the pack ready for potential conflict," she ordered. "If this goes badly, if Elder Thorne has set a trap that I can't escape, the Silver Crest Pack might retaliate against our territory."

"Understood, Alpha."

"And Marcus?" She paused at the edge of the stone circle, looking back at him with eyes that held centuries of pain. "If I don't come back... if the worst happens... promise me you'll take care of them. All of them. Don't let anyone scatter the pack."

"You'll come back," he said fiercely. "You're the strongest person I know."

"Promise me," she insisted.

"I promise," he said, though the words felt like a betrayal of his hope. "But it won't come to that."

She nodded once, then disappeared into the shadows between the trees, moving with inhuman grace toward whatever fate awaited her at Raven's Ridge.

Marcus stood alone in the stone circle as darkness gathered around him, and prayed to whatever gods might be listening that he wasn't about to lose the only woman he'd ever loved to the ghost of her past.

Three hours until the meeting.

Three hours until everything changed forever.