MOONBOUND LIES

She stepped out from behind the trees like she belonged there.

Confident.

Perfect.

Her golden curls were pulled back in a loose braid, her leather jacket spotless, her boots clicking on the rocks like she wasn’t standing in the middle of a cursed forest.

And those eyes…

Once warm and familiar.

Now cold.

Calculating.

“Erica,” she said, voice smooth as ever. “You look… alive.”

The warriors behind her said nothing, but I saw the way they shifted hands near their weapons, eyes watching me like I was dangerous.

I clutched the tree behind me, my body still sore, my arms trembling.

Ren was inside. I had to protect him.

“What do you want?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

Lyall smiled and took a step forward. “I came to help you.”

I laughed, bitter and sharp. “Like you helped me at my trial?”

Her expression didn’t flicker. “I didn’t have all the information then.”

My nails dug into the bark. “And now you do?”

She nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Silence stretched between us, thick as fog.

“Then say it,” I whispered. “Say you know I didn’t kill them.”

She hesitated.

That was all I needed to know.

“You still think I did it,” I said, voice cracking. “You came here to what, bring me back in chains? Finish what the Council started?”

“No,” she said gently, stepping closer. “I came because Derek asked me to.”

The breath left my lungs.

“What?”

Lyall’s gaze softened, and for a moment, I saw the girl I used to trust. “He’s not well, Erica. He’s… different. Angry. Haunted. He asked me to track you. He said he needed answers.”

Answers?

After tossing me out like garbage?

I shook my head. “He didn’t believe me then. He doesn’t get to now.”

“I’m not here to debate your guilt,” Lyall said. “I’m here because there are things happening that you don’t understand. And I think someone wants you dead.”

“I already know that,” I snapped. “I’ve been living with it.”

She glanced past me toward the hollow tree.

“Who’s with you?”

“No one.”

She raised a brow. “We saw two sets of prints.”

I stepped in front of the entrance. “He’s a child. Alone. Hurt. He’s none of your business.”

Lyall’s expression darkened. “The rogues have been targeting packs. Killing off stragglers and the weak. That boy might know something. He could lead them here.”

“I’m not handing him over.”

She studied me for a moment.

Then surprisingly she nodded. “Fine. We’ll stay nearby. Keep watch while you rest. If they come for you, we’ll be ready.”

I didn’t trust her.

Not even close.

But I didn’t have a choice.

Not with Ren burning up. Not with rogues stalking the woods.

I turned without a word and ducked back into the hollow.

Ren was awake but sweating. His skin was pale, eyes half-lidded with fever.

“They’re here,” he whispered. “The silver-eyed girl…”

I knelt beside him. “She’s not here to hurt you.”

“I don’t trust her,” he croaked.

“You shouldn’t,” I whispered back.

He tried to sit up, but I placed a hand on his chest. “Don’t move. Rest. I’ll be right here.”

Outside, I could hear the warriors moving setting up camp, talking in low voices. Lyall’s voice rang out in command, sharp and crisp.

Just like Derek’s used to.

My heart twisted.

What had happened to him?

Had he truly sent Lyall to find me?

Why now?

Why not when I was starving and alone and nearly eaten by rogues?

That night, I sat outside the hollow with a makeshift spear across my lap.

Lyall sat across the fire, her eyes locked on me.

The flames danced between us.

“I didn’t lie to you,” she said quietly.

I said nothing.

“I didn’t know what happened. But I always wondered…”

I finally looked up. “Wondered what?”

“If it was too perfect.”

My brows furrowed.

She leaned forward. “The deaths. The timing. The way the Council turned on you so quickly. How the poison was found in your room but not your scent on the bottle.”

I flinched.

“No one questioned it,” she continued. “No one wanted to. Not even Derek. It was easier to blame you.”

“Then why didn’t you speak up?”

She looked away. “Because I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

A long pause.

“Of being right.”

Something in her tone made my wolf stir.

She was hiding something.

I stood. “You want to help me? Tell me the truth.”

Lyall looked up at me, her eyes shining in the firelight. “I think someone in the Council wanted the Alpha and Luna dead. And you were just… convenient.”

My stomach turned.

“You think it was a coup?”

“I think it’s bigger than that.”

“Then why come now?”

She hesitated again. “Because the same wolves who framed you… might be coming for Derek next.”

Ren worsened through the night.

His fever burned hotter, and his leg swelled.

I soaked a cloth and laid it on his head, whispering stories and prayers I didn’t believe in anymore.

At one point, he grabbed my wrist, eyes wide.

“Erica…”

“What is it?”

He opened his mouth.

And his voice changed.

Not deeper. Not his.

A whisper not meant for him.

“They watch from the shadows. The bond is broken but not undone.”

I jerked back.

“What?”

He collapsed into sleep again.

I stared at him, breath shallow.

My wolf was howling inside me now.

That wasn’t him.

Then who had spoken?

I stepped outside and found Lyall staring up at the moon.

“I need to know something,” I said.

She turned. “What?”

“Did Derek ever reject me?”

She blinked. “No.”

My chest tightened.

“Why not?”

Her eyes searched mine. “Because deep down… he didn’t want to.”

The next morning, Ren was gone.

Just gone.

The hollow was empty. The clothes were discarded. No blood, no trail.

Just a single mark etched into the bark outside.

A symbol.

Sharp lines. A circle broken in two.

Lyall stood beside me, staring at it.

“That’s not rogue work,” she whispered.

My knees gave out.

“Where is he?” I whispered.

And then, behind us

A scream.

High.

Young.

Ren.