It was also the name written in the Valeheart lineage scrolls for thirteen generations of firstborn heirs.
Years ago, when I threw myself between Selene and the rogues who had taken her captive, I took a blade meant for her. The wound damaged something deep within me—my ability to sire pups naturally was nearly destroyed.
Our first pup, conceived through the Moon-Blessing Rite, had been seven months along when she helped Dorian Frostclaw through a heat-draught that someone had slipped him. She spent that night tangled in his arms, and the bleeding that followed forced the healers to end the pregnancy early.
That pup had already taken form. A male.
I had planned to raise a rune-stone memorial for him and lay his remains in the ancestral burial grounds.
But the moon-reader said the pup had not reached full term before passing, and the timing was unfavorable. We would need to wait.
That wait stretched beyond a full year.
Throughout her pregnancy, Selene had whispered in my ear countless times, begging to give this illegitimate pup the name Noah Frostclaw.
I had refused every time.
But now, seeing the hopeful light in her eyes, I felt only disgust at the memory of her tears and false remorse.
I knew the Matriarch would never have chosen that name.
This was Dorian Frostclaw's doing—he delighted in taking everything that belonged to me, and he had poured poison into Selene's ear.
The Bond Severance was already certain. Let this pup carry whatever name they wished—I wanted nothing of his faithless mother's bloodline attached to my own.
"Do as you please. Call him whatever you want."
"I have only one condition: do not list me as the pup's sire. My true son's spirit would never accept it."
Selene hesitated, and guilt flickered across her gaze.
"Kael, don't worry. I only used Dorian because he shares half your bloodline. He and I never truly—"
Before she could finish, a crash echoed from beyond the door.
"You worthless cur! Who permitted you to set foot here!"
Dorian Frostclaw had been thrown to the ground, his eyes blazing red with barely contained wolf-light.
"I only wanted to see the pup."
Matriarch Aurelia struck him repeatedly with her walking staff, each blow sharp and unforgiving.
"Get out!"
In that instant, Selene startled like a cornered wolf. Despite her body still weak from the birth, she shoved the pup into my arms without care and rushed toward the door.