Rowan didn't sleep like other wolves.
He drifted.
Half in the present.
Half somewhere far more primal—where howls stitched the sky and the scent of blood mingled with pine.
But on this night, his dream didn't take him to a battlefield.
It brought him home.
---
He stood in a valley of frost-laced grass, the wind brushing his fur, his breath fogging beneath a silver moon.
And across from him, standing on a rise, was a wolf the size of a bear.
Thick gray fur.
Amber eyes that flickered like firelight.
His brother.
Caelen.
Dead nearly ten winters.
Rowan took a step forward. "This is a dream."
Caelen growled low. "No. This is a summons."
---
When Rowan woke, he was already sweating.
He'd felt it in his bones—cold, clear, sharp.
A summons from his old pack: the Redfang.
Not a message.
A call to judgment.
---
Kael noticed his stillness by the fire.
"You're shaking," he said.
Rowan didn't lie. "The Redfang called me."
Kael stiffened. "That's impossible."
"They used the dreamroot. Only blood wolves know how."
Selene approached, brushing ash from her fingers. "Why would they summon you now?"
Rowan didn't answer at first.
Then:
> "Because the last wolf they buried… wasn't the last."
---
Selene didn't understand the danger until Naeria said the name.
"Fenra," she murmured.
Kael's mouth thinned. "She survived?"
"Barely," Rowan said.
"Who is she?" Selene asked.
Rowan looked into the flames. "My old mate."
---
Silence settled around the fire.
Even Elira and Theron stopped breathing for a moment.
Selene's voice came slow. "You never told me you had one."
Rowan exhaled. "Because I buried that life when I chose this one."
---
That night, he stood at the ridge with Selene.
The stars above flickered behind thin clouds.
"I won't stop you," she said gently. "But I need to know if this summons puts us in danger."
Rowan turned to her, jaw tight.
"If Fenra's alive—and leading the remnants—she may want more than my blood."
Selene lifted a brow. "You think she wants you back?"
"I think she wants to burn what I've become."
---
He left at dawn.
Not alone.
Kael insisted on going. "If this is about old fire and buried blades, I want your back covered."
Elira handed them a charm. "This will anchor you to us. If it breaks, we come running."
Rowan clasped her hand. "Don't let your brother burn it out of impatience."
Theron scowled. "I heard that."
---
They found the Redfang camp in a forgotten pass—stone spires towering over snow-blanketed tents. Smoke curled from low fires. Warriors moved like ghosts.
At the center sat Fenra.
Tall. Lithe. Crimson-eyed and moon-marked.
Still beautiful.
Still terrifying.
---
Rowan bowed his head, out of respect.
Not submission.
"Fenra."
She didn't rise.
Only tilted her head.
"You smell like someone else now," she said. "Like stars and silence."
He said nothing.
Kael stood beside him like a wall of heat.
Fenra's gaze slid to him. "And your new Alpha-mate brings his fire to our ice."
Kael didn't flinch. "Just in case you need melting."
---
Fenra rose.
Every step she took stirred frost and memory.
"I called you, Rowan, because your leaving fractured us. You were not just a warrior. You were prophecy."
"I was a mistake," he said.
"You were mine," she hissed.
---
The others watched from shadows.
Fenra walked a slow circle around him.
"You left me," she said. "For a vision of light and fate and a queen who was not born of pack."
"I left because you would have torn the world to keep what wasn't yours," Rowan said.
Her slap came fast.
And sharp.
But he didn't flinch.
---
Kael stepped forward, eyes glowing.
But Rowan lifted a hand.
And slowly, turned back to Fenra.
"You summoned me. Now say what you want."
Her face softened, but her voice cracked:
> "Come back. Lead us. They only follow ash and ruin now. But you were always meant to be Alpha."
He shook his head.
"You wanted me as power. Selene saw me as a person."
---
Fenra's mask cracked.
She turned away.
"I needed to know if you were still the wolf I knew."
"I'm not," he said.
Then—softer—"And thank the stars."
---
He left with Kael before midnight.
No challenge issued.
No blood spilled.
Just silence.
And in that silence, freedom.
---
When they returned to camp, Selene stood waiting.
Rowan walked straight to her.
Wrapped his arms around her waist.
Buried his face in her hair.
"You are the only home I ever needed," he whispered.
And Selene, with her heart full of fire and stars, whispered back:
"You never had to leave to prove it."
---
That night, Rowan dreamed again.
Not of summons.
But of peace.
And a pack that chose him, not for who he'd been—
But for who he became.
---