Chapter Five: Bloodlines and Lies

Serena’s POV

"You're lying." The words come out before I can stop them. My voice sounds strange. Hollow. Like it belongs to someone else entirely.

Marcus doesn't flinch. His golden eyes stay fixed on my face, patient and calculating. "I understand this is difficult to hear," he says calmly. "But I assure you, I'm not lying." I stand up so fast the chair scrapes against the floor. My legs feel weak. My chest feels tight. Everything feels wrong. "I'm nobody." My voice shakes. "I'm just a girl whose mom remarried. I don't have special blood. I don't have prophecies attached to my name. I'm nothing."

Marcus closes the ancient book slowly. Sets it on his desk with careful precision. "Your father," he says quietly. "What did your mother tell you about him?" The question catches me off guard. My thoughts stumble.

"He was a pack warrior. Loyal. Strong. He died protecting our territory two years ago." The words come out automatically. Rehearsed. The story I've told myself a thousand times.

Marcus nods slowly. "That's what she told you." My stomach drops. "What does that mean?" "It means there are things your mother has kept from you, Serena. Things about who your father really was. Where he came from. What blood runs through your veins?"

I shake my head. The room feels like it's spinning.

"No. My dad was just, he was normal. He was kind. He taught me to ride a bike. He burned pancakes every Sunday morning. He wasn't." "He was the last living heir of the Silverborne bloodline."

The name hits me like a physical blow. Silverborne. Even I know that name. Every wolf does. The original founding family of the Silver Crest Pack. The bloodline that built everything before it supposedly died out generations ago.

"That's impossible," I whisper. "The Silverbornes are extinct. Everyone knows that."

"Everyone believes that." Marcus moves around his desk slowly. "Because that's what they were told. But the truth is more complicated. The last Silverborne went into hiding decades ago. Changed his name. Joined a smaller pack. Married a woman who had no idea who he really was."

My mother's face flashes through my mind. Her tired eyes. Her hopeful smile when she told me about Marcus.

She doesn't know. She can't know.

"Your father kept his identity secret to protect himself. To protect your mother. To protect you." Marcus stops a few feet away from me. "But secrets have a way of surfacing, Serena. And yours has been written in prophecy for centuries."

I touch my collarbone without thinking. The birthmark pulses beneath my fingers like a second heartbeat. "What does the prophecy say?" My voice barely works.

Marcus's expression shifts. Something careful enters his eyes. "It speaks of a Silverborne heir who will rise when the pack faces its darkest hour. A wolf whose power will either unite the territory under an unbreakable reign or tear it apart completely." Save or destroy. Those were his words. My knees threaten to buckle. I grab the back of the chair to steady myself.

"This can't be real." The words come out desperate. Pleading. "I can't even shift. I have no power. I'm the weakest wolf in this entire mansion."

"For now." Marcus tilts his head slightly. "But power doesn't always announce itself loudly, Serena. Sometimes it waits. Watches. Grows in silence until the moment it's truly needed."

I stare at him. This man I barely know. This stranger who claims to have answers about a life I thought I understood.

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask. "Why now? Why tonight?" "Because those wolves who attacked weren't random." His voice hardens. "Someone sent them. Someone who knows what you are. What you're worth."

The chill spreads through my body. "Who?"

Marcus doesn't answer immediately. His jaw tightens. His eyes flick toward the door briefly, then back to me.

"That's what I intend to find out." The fire crackles in the silence. Shadows dance across the walls. A hundred questions crash through my mind. About my father. About the prophecy. About everything I thought I knew, but one question rises above the rest. "Does Kael know?"

Marcus's expression flickers. Just for a second. Then it smooths over again. "No. And for now, it must stay that way." My heart stutters. "Why?"

"Because Kael is Alpha. His duty is to the pack above all else. If he knew what you are and what the prophecy says, he would be forced to make decisions that could put you in danger." "What kind of decisions?"

Marcus doesn't answer. The silence tells me everything.

"You think he'd hurt me." The realization lands like a stone in my stomach.

"I think he would do whatever he believed necessary to protect this pack." Marcus's voice stays calm. Measured. "Even if it meant sacrificing someone he." He stops. Chooses his next words carefully. "Someone the prophecy ties him to." My blood runs cold.

Marcus knows about the bond. He knows I'm Kael's mate. How long has he known? "You planned this." The words come out numb. "You married my mother to bring me here. You knew about the prophecy. About the bond. About everything."

Marcus doesn't deny it. "I did what was necessary to ensure the pack's survival," he says simply. "Your mother's happiness was a fortunate bonus." Rage rises in my chest. Hot and sudden. "You used her." My voice shakes with anger. "You used both of us."

"I protected you." His tone sharpens for the first time. "Out there, you were vulnerable. Exposed. Anyone could have found you. Here, inside these walls, you're safe."

"Safe?" I laugh bitterly. "Wolves attacked me tonight. Inside your territory. How is that safe?"

Marcus's eyes darken. "That's exactly my point. Someone already knows you're here. Someone is already making moves against you. The question isn't whether danger is coming, Serena. It's whether you'll be ready when it arrives."

I want to scream. I want to run. I want to wake up and discover this whole night was just a nightmare. But the birthmark burns beneath my fingers. Real. Undeniable. "What do you want from me?" I ask. The fight drains from my voice, leaving only exhaustion.

Marcus studies me for a long moment. Then he reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out something small. A pendant, silver chain. A crescent moon charm that matches my birthmark exactly.

"This belonged to your father." He holds it out to me. "He left it with me years ago. Asked me to keep it safe until the time was right." My hands tremble as I take it. The metal feels warm against my palm. Familiar somehow, even though I've never seen it before.

"Why?" I whisper.

"Because he knew this day would come." Marcus's voice softens slightly. "He knew you'd need to understand who you really are."

I stare at the pendant. At the symbol that marks both it and my skin. My father. A Silverborne. An heir to a bloodline everyone thought was dead, Which makes me. The door bursts open behind me. I spin around, heart slamming against my ribs.

Kael stands in the doorway. His chest heaves. His golden eyes blaze with fury, and they're locked directly on Marcus. "You told her." Not a question. An accusation.

Marcus straightens slowly. "She had a right to know."

Kael's gaze snaps to me. Drops to the pendant clutched in my hand. His expression twists into something I can't read, pain, anger, betrayal.

"Kael." I start. "Did he tell you everything?" Kael cuts me off. His voice is ice. "Did he tell you what the prophecy really says?"

I look between them. Father and son. Both are hiding secrets. Both are keeping things from me. "What do you mean?" My voice sounds small.

Kael's jaw tightens. His eyes never leave mine. "The prophecy doesn't just say you'll save or destroy the pack." Each word lands like a blow. "It says you'll do it through the Alpha." My heart stops.

"Through me."

Marcus steps forward. "Kael, don't." "It says the Silverborne heir will either complete the alpha's power. " Kael's voice drops to something raw and broken. "Or she'll be the reason he dies."