Chapter 5

The rogues were waiting at the border. Six of them, armed and dangerous, but they dropped to their knees when they saw my eyes.

"Princess," one breathed. "He said you'd come."

"Where is Marcus?"

"Close. He's been watching the pack, waiting." The rogue stood slowly. "He knew you'd make the right choice."

"I haven't made any choice yet."

But even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. The moment Michael put those cuffs on me, the choice was made.

"This way."

They led me deeper into neutral territory, to a mansion hidden in the forest. It was beautiful, elegant—nothing like the savage rogue dens I'd imagined.

Marcus stood on the front steps, arms open. "Welcome home, daughter."

"This isn't home."

"Not yet." He smiled. "But it will be."

Inside, the mansion was warm, luxurious. A fireplace crackled in the sitting room where Marcus poured two glasses of wine.

"You broke the silver," he said proudly. "I wasn't sure you could without training."

"Anger is excellent motivation."

"Yes, it is." He handed me a glass. "Tell me what happened."

I didn't want to talk to him, didn't want to bond with this stranger who claimed to be my father. But the words poured out anyway. Two days of imprisonment. Michael's coldness. Madison wearing my ring.

"He gave her your ring?" Marcus's eyes flashed red. "Disrespectful pup. When I ran the Blood Moon Pack, such insults were met with death."

"I don't want anyone to die."

"Not even Madison?"

I thought about it. Really thought about it. "I want her to suffer. But not die."

"Suffering can be arranged." He pulled out his phone, showed me something on the screen. "Security footage from the hotel. Audio included. Madison discussing her plan with my messenger."

I watched Madison laugh about how stupid I was, how easy it would be to fool Michael, how she'd have him back in days.

"She never loved him," I said quietly.

"No. She loved his power. His status." Marcus put the phone away. "But you loved him. The real him."

"I thought I did."

"You did. That's what makes his betrayal worse." He sat across from me. "I investigated him, you know. Michael Sterling. Strong Alpha, decent leader, but weak when it comes to Madison. She's his blindspot."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to understand that going back isn't an option. Even if you showed him this footage, proved your innocence, he'd never fully trust you again. Not now that he knows what you are."

"What I am?" I laughed bitterly. "I don't even know what I am."

"You're a Blackstone. One of the most powerful Alpha bloodlines in existence." He leaned forward. "Your mother tried to suppress it, hide it, make you normal. But power like ours doesn't stay hidden forever."

"Our power?"

"Watch." He held out his hand. Fire danced across his palm, beautiful and deadly. "Elemental manipulation. Inherited through our bloodline. You showed ice earlier, didn't you?"

I nodded, remembering the frost spreading across the prison walls.

"Fire and ice. You got both." He smiled. "You're more powerful than even I expected."

"I don't want power. I just wanted a normal life. A mate who loved me."

"Normal is for prey. We're predators, Ava. Apex predators." He stood. "Let me show you something."

He led me to a training room filled with weapons and equipment. But that wasn't what caught my attention. It was the wall of photographs.

All of me.

Baby pictures I'd never seen. School photos from every year. Pictures of me with Michael, with Sarah, at my failed wedding.

"You've been watching me my whole life?"

"Protecting you. Waiting for the right moment." He touched a photo of my mother. "She died before I could convince her to come back. But you... you're here now."

"She died of cancer."

"She died of poison. Slow-acting, undetectable to normal wolves. But I knew." His voice hardened. "The Silver Moon Pack killed her when they discovered she'd been hiding something."

"What?"

"Documents. Proof that their previous Alpha had murdered innocent wolves during territory disputes. Your mother was going to expose them, so they silenced her."

My legs gave out. I sank onto a bench. "Michael's father?"

"Michael doesn't know. It was kept from him. But yes, his father ordered your mother's death."

Everything I thought I knew was crumbling. "And Nathan? My... the man who raised me?"

"Genuinely loved your mother. Genuinely loved you. His only crime was investigating her death." Marcus sat beside me. "I framed him to protect you. If he'd discovered the truth, they'd have killed you both."

"So you destroyed his reputation instead?"

"I saved your life. A traitor's daughter is pitied. A victim's daughter seeking revenge is eliminated."

My head spun. "This is too much."

"I know. But you needed to know the truth." He stood. "Rest tonight. Tomorrow, we begin your training."

"Training?"

"To use your power. To lead." He paused at the door. "And to make them pay."

"I told you, I don't want revenge."

"Not yet. But when you see the full truth, when you understand everything they've taken from you..." He smiled darkly. "You'll want what I want."

"Which is?"

"Justice. Or vengeance. Sometimes they're the same thing."

He left me alone with the photos. Pictures of a life built on lies, surrounded by people who'd hidden the truth or never known it.

My phone buzzed. Sarah had been texting frantically.

"Where are you? Michael's losing his mind. He found something in Madison's room. Evidence she was lying. He wants to find you, to apologize."

Too late. The words echoed in my mind.

Another text: "Madison's gone. Ran in the middle of the night. Left a note confessing everything."

Of course she ran. The coward.

One more text, this time from Michael: "Ava, please. I know you'll see this eventually. I was wrong. I was so wrong. Come home. Please."

Home. As if that place had ever been home.

I turned off the phone and lay down on the unfamiliar bed. Tomorrow, Marcus would train me. Tomorrow, I'd learn to use the power I'd suppressed my whole life.

But tonight, I mourned. For the life I'd wanted. For the love I'd believed in. For the girl who'd died in that prison cell.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in."

But it wasn't Marcus.

It was someone I never expected to see again.

My mother.

Standing in the doorway, very much alive, looking exactly as I remembered her.

"Hello, my darling girl," she said. "It's time you knew everything."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

"Mom?"

She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Ava. For all the lies. But I'm here now. And we have so much to discuss."

The world tilted.

Then everything went black.