Kamrynn’s POV
Calvin’s eyes widen, his brows furrowing with hurt when I shove him away. The look on his face is almost pitiful, but I feel nothing but cold detachment as he stares at me like I just shattered something precious between us. Whatever he thinks still exists between us has long since withered, if it was ever there at all.
“Kamrynn, please,” he says, his voice thick with desperation. “I swear, I’ve changed. I’m not the man I used to be. Just give me a chance to make things right.”
I stare at him blankly, unflinching. “I’m not here for you, Calvin.” My voice is firm, leaving no room for argument. “I have one reason for coming here, and it has nothing to do with you.”
His jaw clenches, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. The crowd around us murmurs in hushed voices, their gazes flicking between us. Calvin takes a cautious step forward, as if afraid I might bolt.
“I know I hurt you,” he continues, voice low. “I regret it every single day. I-”
A thunderous, guttural roar splits the air, shaking the very ground beneath us. The crowd gasps and stumbles backward, panic rippling through them like a shockwave. Calvin flinches, immediately whipping around to face the source of the warning.
Lorien.
His massive red dragon form looms over the clearing, scales glinting under the daylight like molten rubies. Smoke curls from his flaring nostrils, the heat of his breath palpable even from a distance. His scarlet eyes burn with menace as he glares down at Calvin, his warning clear.
“Back. Off!”
Calvin tenses, his muscles coiling with barely restrained aggression. Recognition flickers across his face as he takes a step toward Lorien, realization dawning like a blade slicing through his fury.
“You-” Calvin’s voice drips with venom. “You’re the bastard who kidnapped her!”
Lorien lets out a deep rumble, a smirk curling along his fearsome snout.
Calvin’s fists tighten. His entire body vibrates with restrained rage. I can see it-the readiness for a fight. The way his stance shifts, his weight lowering like a wolf preparing to lunge at its prey.
Before he can act on his stupidity, I step between them, my patience running dangerously thin.
“Knock it off, Calvin.”
My voice slices through the tension like a blade, sharp and unwavering. He hesitates, breathing hard, his glare bouncing between me and Lorien.
“You expect me to stand by while the man who stole you away stands right here? He wiped your memories, Kamrynn! He took you from me-from our children!”
Something inside me snaps.
“I don’t need you to fight for me.” My words are ice-cold, cutting through his self-righteous anger. “Lorien and I are friends now. I don’t need your protection, and I certainly don’t need your permission.”
Calvin stares at me like I’ve just spoken a foreign language, like the very idea is inconceivable to him. The Pack members shift uneasily, their whispers growing louder, a ripple of unease moving through them like a brewing storm.
“She’s controlling the dragon…” someone mutters.
“She’s brought it back here for revenge,” another voice hisses.
“She’s going to finish what she started!”
“She’s going to destroy us!” Another panicked voice screeches.
Fear spreads like wildfire. I can see it in their eyes-the way they shrink back, trembling, their minds twisting the situation into something it’s not.
Then, as if on cue, the entire crowd falls to their knees.
A wave of terrified pleading crashes over me as they bow their heads, some pressing their foreheads to the ground, hands clasped in desperate prayer.
“Please, Luna Kamrynn, have mercy on us!”
“We’ve suffered enough!”
“We’re begging you!”
The air is thick with fear, suffocating in its intensity. My stomach twists at the sight. They think I’ve come to punish them, to exact revenge for all the pain they caused me.
I attempt to reason with them. “What are you talking about? I’m not here to hurt anyone! I came to lift the curse, not punish you.”
But they’re barely listening, their fear drowning out my words.
Lorien, apparently done with the theatrics, lets out a sharp huff before his body begins to shift.
With a powerful tremor, his massive form shrinks, scales retracting, limbs shortening. Then, standing before me, is Lorien in his human form, shirtless, red hair tousled, ruby eyes glowing with irritation.
“Shut the hell up and get on your feet,” he barks, his deep voice echoing through the clearing.
Silence.
No one moves.
“I said get up.” He crosses his arms. “I swear, if I have to keep listening to your pathetic whining, I’ll lose my temper and roast you all like s’mores.”
Some more silence.
Then, one by one, they scramble to their feet, terror still evident in their eyes but at least they’ve stopped their pitiful pleading.
Lorien exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair. “Finally.” He glances at me. “They’re your people. You deal with them.”
I nod, taking a deep breath. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.” My voice is calm but firm, chipping through the last remnants of their fear. “I came here to break the curse. The one I placed… in anger.”
A hush falls over them. Their expressions shift, morphing from terror to hesitant hope.
I take a deep breath and step forward, facing them all.
“I’m sorry.” My voice wavers, raw with sincerity. “I’m sorry for the suffering I caused. For the deaths of the firstborns. As a mother myself, I know that nothing-nothing-can take away the pain of losing a child. But I hope, through the power of the Moon Goddess that runs through my veins, I can offer you some kind of peace.”
A sob breaks through the crowd. Others lower their heads, some clutching their chests, pain flickering across their faces.
Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out.
“Kamrynn?”
My head snaps toward the Pack house, where the sound came from just as a familiar figure steps out onto the porch-Calvin’s mother, Dowager Luna Marlana.
And in her arms… my babies.
Astor and Arabella.
My breath catches in my throat, my vision blurring at the edges. They’re here.
They shouldn’t be. They were supposed to be in Blue Bell with Rmonica.
Yet here they are, in Marlana’s arms.
My feet move before my mind can catch up. I rush toward them, barely aware of the murmurs around me.
Marlana’s expression softens as she watches me approach. “Welcome home, dear,” she says gently. “It’s been a while. You’re still as beautiful as ever.”
I don’t respond.
I can’t.
I only have eyes for my children.
Marlana holds them out to me, and I snatch them into my arms, clutching them to my chest like my life depends on it.
They coo softly, their tiny hands grasping at my face, my hair, anything they can reach. Their warmth, their scent-everything about them floods me with overwhelming relief.
My heart feels like it might burst. I’ve missed them so much I can’t quantify it.
I kiss their foreheads, inhaling their scent, my vision swimming with unshed tears.
But through my overwhelming relief, something nags at me.
A cold, sharp realization.
Calvin moves toward us, his expression unreadable. “Kamrynn-”
I lift my gaze to him, my arms tightening protectively around my babies.
“How did you get them?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. “Rmonica wouldn’t have just… handed them over.”
Calvin’s lips press into a thin line. “She didn’t,” he admits.
A chill slithers down my spine.
“I had to take them. Sherelle placed a spell on the Blue Bell Pack,” he explains. “She made it so no one there remembers you. As far as they’re concerned… you never existed.”
The world tilts.
I tighten my grip on my children, my pulse roaring in my ears.
Rmonica… forgot me? Everyone there forgot me?
A cold, suffocating rage begins to simmer beneath my skin.
Sherelle! That bitch! I had once foolishly considered her a sister. I loved her so much I would have gone to the ends of the world for her but all she ever did was plot my downfall. She took the man that I loved, faked her own death and put me through devastating physical and emotional pain. She had me kidnapped and basically pawned off in an attempt to separate me from my babies and steal my happiness.
Now this. This has gone too far. I won’t let her get away with it this time. I will make her rue the day she decided to mess with Kamrynn Delamorte, daughter of the moon.
Dear sister, you’d better watch your back because I’m coming to get you and I won’t stop till I make you pay for EVERYTHING.