THE GUARDIAN'S TRUTH

CHAPTER FOUR: THE GUARDIAN'S TRUTH

Roland's POV

I watched Eden's face go pale as she listened to her mother's frantic voice, and every protective instinct I had developed over twenty years of survival screamed at me to take the phone and handle this myself, but she needed to hear whatever Patricia was saying. The fear in Eden's eyes made my wolf rage against the surface, demanding I eliminate whatever threatened our mate, and that thought stopped me cold because I had not meant to think of her that way.

She was supposed to be a contract wife, a means to an end, a way to gain legitimacy and access to the Ashford family, but somewhere between saving my life and unleashing power that lit up the hall like a supernova, Eden had become something far more dangerous to my carefully constructed plans. The mate bond had not snapped into place yet, but I felt it hovering there, waiting, and I knew with absolute certainty that this woman was mine in ways that terrified me.

"I will be there in thirty minutes," Eden said into the phone, her voice shaking but determined, and she ended the call before looking at me with those green and gold eyes that seemed to see straight through all my defenses. "My mother says Richard found out what I am, and he is gathering people at the Ashford Estate, she thinks he is planning to take me somewhere I cannot escape."

"Then you are not going," I said flatly, moving to block her path to the door, because walking into Richard Ashford's trap was suicide, and I had not spent two decades planning revenge just to lose the key piece now. "We will bring your mother here if she is genuinely concerned, but you are not setting foot in that house."

Eden's eyes flashed with anger and that silver light flickered around her fingers again, power responding to emotion, and I felt my wolf respond to the challenge with interest rather than aggression. "She is still my mother, the only mother I have ever known, and if she is reaching out, it means she is in danger too," Eden argued, stepping closer to me despite the fact that I was a foot taller and probably twice her weight. "I am going, with or without your permission, because you do not own me, contract or not."

She was magnificent when she was angry, all fire and determination, and I had to physically restrain my wolf from doing something stupid like kissing her. "Fine, but I am coming with you, and so is Nicholas and half my security team," I said, pulling out my phone to make the arrangements, because if Eden was walking into danger, I would make damn sure she walked out alive.

Twenty minutes later, we were loaded into three vehicles heading toward the Ashford Estate, with Eden sitting beside me in tense silence, and I could see her mind working, processing everything she had learned tonight. "Tell me about my real parents," she said suddenly, turning to look at me with vulnerable eyes that made my chest tight. "If I am Moon Blessed, if I had a pack, who would they be?"

I had known this conversation was coming, but I still was not prepared for the pain that accompanied memories of that time, back when I was twelve and the world made sense. "Your father was Alpha Solomon Silvermoon, the strongest alpha I had ever met, and your mother was Beatrice, a healer whose power was legendary," I said, watching Eden's face as she absorbed this information. "They ruled the Silvermoon Pack with wisdom and fairness, and they were allied with my family, the Blackthorns, in protecting the old ways."

"What happened to them," Eden asked, her voice barely above a whisper, and I saw tears gathering in her eyes.

"Twenty years ago, someone betrayed the alliance and sold information to hunters, human mercenaries who specialize in killing supernaturals," I said, the old rage rising up like it always did when I thought about that night. "They attacked both packs simultaneously, using silver bullets and weapons designed specifically to kill wolves, and they did not leave survivors, or at least, they thought they had not."

"Except me," Eden said, understanding dawning, and she wiped at her eyes with shaking hands. "Why did they let me live?"

"They did not let you live, you were hidden by your mother before she died, placed in a magical barrier that kept you safe until Richard Ashford found you three days later," I explained, remembering the reports I had gathered over years of investigation. "Richard was supposed to be an ally, someone the Silvermoons trusted, but he took you and disappeared, and when he resurfaced months later, he had adopted you as his daughter and was telling everyone you were human."

We pulled up to the Ashford Estate and I saw immediately that something was wrong, too many cars in the driveway, too many lights on in windows that should have been dark, and my instincts screamed trap. "Eden, we should leave," I said, putting my hand on her arm, but she was already opening the door.

"My mother is in there," she said, and before I could stop her, she was walking toward the mansion with determination I both admired and wanted to strangle. Nicholas and my security team fanned out, covering all exits, and I followed Eden, staying close enough to intervene if necessary.

Patricia met us at the door, looking genuinely terrified, her perfect makeup streaked with tears, and she grabbed Eden's hands. "I am so sorry, I should have told you years ago, I should have protected you better," Patricia said, the words tumbling out frantically, and I saw Eden's expression soften despite everything.

"Where is Richard," I asked, because the patriarch's absence was suspicious, and Patricia's face crumpled.

"In the study with the others, he has been planning this for months, waiting for Eden's powers to manifest so he could harvest them," Patricia said, and Eden jerked back like she had been slapped. "He never wanted a daughter, he wanted a weapon, a way to steal Moon Blessed abilities for himself."

Before anyone could react, the front door slammed shut behind us and I heard locks engaging, magical locks that glowed with runes designed to contain supernatural creatures. "It is a trap," Nicholas said through the communication device in my ear, his voice tight with alarm. "We are surrounded, at least fifty wolves, traditional pack soldiers, by their scent."

I pulled Eden behind me as Richard Ashford emerged from the study with a dozen men, and I recognized several as alphas from packs who had refused to join my rogue coalition. "Roland Blackthorn, thank you for delivering my daughter directly to me," Richard said, his cold smile making me want to rip his throat out. "And Eden, my dear, it is time you understood your true purpose."

"Stay away from her," I growled, feeling my wolf pushing against my control, and my eyes must have been glowing gold because Richard's smile widened.

"So protective already, did you tell her you planned to use her against me, that you married her specifically to get close to the Ashford family," Richard said, and I felt Eden stiffen behind me. "Did you tell her that the Blackthorns were not just guardians but also the ones who first discovered how to extract and transfer Moon Blessed abilities, making them the most dangerous family in supernatural history."

"He is lying," I said, turning to look at Eden, but I saw doubt in her eyes, and it cut deeper than any blade. "My family protected the Moon Blessed, they died protecting your family."

"They died trying to steal what they could not have," Richard countered, pulling out an ancient book that I recognized with horror, my family's grimoire, the one that had been lost the night of the massacre. "The Blackthorns discovered that Moon Blessed blood could grant immortality and unlimited power if harvested correctly, and they were planning to use your mother as the first subject, but she discovered the plot and called for help."

"No," I said, because that version of history was impossible, my parents had been honorable, devoted to their duty, but Richard opened the grimoire to a page marked with dried blood.

"Read it yourself, Roland, read your father's notes about the perfect subject, about Beatrice Silvermoon and how her power would make the Blackthorns unstoppable," Richard said, and he held the book out mockingly. "Your family started the war that killed everyone, and I finished it by ensuring their evil knowledge died with them."

I could not breathe, could not think, because if this was true, then everything I had believed for twenty years was a lie, and I had built my entire existence on avenging a family that did not deserve justice. "Eden, I did not know," I said, reaching for her, but she pulled away, silver light flickering around her hands.

"Get away from me," she whispered, and the betrayal in her voice destroyed something inside me, but before I could respond, Richard made his move.

He pulled out a syringe filled with glowing liquid and lunged at Eden with supernatural speed, and I threw myself between them, taking the injection meant for her directly in my chest. Pain exploded through me as the liquid, concentrated wolfsbane mixed with silver, burned through my system, and I felt my wolf retreating, my strength draining away.

"Roland," Eden screamed, catching me as I collapsed, and her hands on my face were the last thing I felt before darkness took me, but I heard Richard's triumphant voice: "Now, my dear daughter, you will come quietly, or I will finish killing your husband, and trust me, even Moon Blessed power cannot bring back the dead.”