Chapter 7

Elena woke to soft dawn filtering through the Citadel's tall windows.

She lay still, her body aching, her mind reeling from last night's revelations. The portrait. Her bloodline. Kaelen's confession that he hadn't known about her heritage until last week.

Her wolf stirred. He told you the truth. He loves you.

Elena shoved the thought away. She couldn't afford to trust him. Not yet.

The twins slept in the adjoining room. She crept to their door, peering inside. Leo sprawled across his bed, his small chest rising and falling. Lily curled into a tight ball, her golden hair fanned across her pillow, her humming power a faint vibration.

They're safe. For now.

Elena dressed quickly and slipped into the corridor. The Citadel was quiet, with only servants and guards patrolling. She kept her head down, her footsteps silent, as she made her way to the medical wing.

The Blood Moon ritual was in ten days. She still didn't fully understand what it required.

The medical wing was empty. Elena lit a lamp and pulled out the ancient texts, flipping through yellowed pages, searching for anything she'd missed.

Blood of a Lycan King. Blood of an Ancient Alpha. Mixed under the Blood Moon. Administered orally.

She'd memorized the steps. But there was a footnote she'd skimmed over. She squinted at the faded script, her heart pounding as she read aloud:

"The Ancient Alpha's blood must be given freely. Coercion or unwilling sacrifice will cause the ritual to fail, resulting in the child's immediate death."

Elena's blood turned to ice.

Freely. Willingly.

She had to consciously give her blood. She had to want it with every fiber of her being. Any doubt, any hesitation—

The child will die.

She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart hammer. She loved Leo and Lily more than anything. She would give everything for them.

But what if the ritual drained her entirely? What if it killed her?

She shuddered and pushed the thought away.

The hidden door in the medical wing caught her eye again.

Concealed behind a false bookcase, barely visible. She'd discovered it yesterday but hadn't had time to explore. Now, curiosity gnawed at her.

She pushed the bookcase aside and found a narrow staircase spiraling downward. The air grew colder with each step, carrying the scent of dust and ancient magic. Faded tapestries lined the walls battles, coronations, scenes from a time long past.

At the bottom, she found a chamber filled with portraits.

Old. Cracked. Faded. Some so ancient the paint had flaked away. Others remarkably preserved, their subjects staring out with solemn eyes.

Elena walked slowly, her fingers trailing along gilded frames. Wolves. Lycans. Kings and queens. She didn't recognize any of them.

Until she reached the center.

And stopped.

The portrait was massive twice her height, framed in silver and gold. It depicted a woman with long, dark hair cascading like ink. Delicate face. Sharp cheekbones. Gentle smile. Silver-blue eyes the same shade as Elena's own.

Around her neck hung a silver crescent pendant identical to the one Elena had stolen from Kaelen's cave.

Queen Seraphina. Last Ruler of the Ancient Lycan Dynasty. Slain in the Massacre of the Night, 2060.

Elena's hands trembled. Her vision blurred. She stumbled backward, her hip hitting a table, sending a vase crashing to the floor.

No. That's not me. That can't be me.

But it was. The resemblance was unmistakable. Same hair. Same eyes. Same defiant chin.

Her mother had told her she was a foundling, an orphan left at the Silvermoon border. But what if that was a lie? What if she'd been hidden and protected from the massacre that wiped out her family?

Footsteps echoed behind her.

Kaelen's voice cut through the darkness. "Elena? What are you doing here?"

She spun around, heart in her throat. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes flicking from her face to the portrait. His expression went still. Unreadable.

"I can explain," he said quietly.

"Explain what?" Elena's voice cracked. "That you knew who I was all along? That you let me think I was a nobody—"

"I didn't know," he said. "Not until last week, when I traced your bloodline. I swear, I didn't know when I found you in that cave."

Elena shook her head, stepping back until her shoulders hit the cold stone. "How can I believe you? Your family murdered mine. You're the son of a killer."

Kaelen's jaw tightened. His hands clenched, silver tattoos pulsing.

"And I'm trying to be better," he said. "I've spent ten years undoing my father's atrocities. Freed the slaves. Rebuilt alliances. Open borders. I'm not him."

"But you still sit on his throne."

"Because someone has to." He stepped closer, hands raised. "If I abdicate, the Council will tear the territories apart. Elena, I'm not your enemy. I'm trying to protect you."

She wanted to scream. To run. To tear down these beautiful, terrible walls.

But the portrait of Queen Seraphina stared with loving eyes and Elena realized, with a jolt, that her wolf had finally fully awakened.

She had royal blood. Ancient power. She would not let Kaelen chain her again.

"Let me be clear," she said, her voice cold as ice. "I'm staying for the cure. For my children. But I'm not your queen. I'm not your subject. The moment Leo and Lily are safe, I'm taking them and never coming back."

Kaelen's eyes darkened with pain.

"As you wish," he said. "But don't expect me to stop fighting for you."

Elena fled the archives and ran until she reached her suite.

She slammed the door, locked it, and pressed her back against the wood. Her breath came in ragged gasps. The image of Queen Seraphina's face burned in her mind.

I'm a princess. The last of a murdered dynasty. And the man who claims to love me is the son of my family's executioner.

Her wolf howled. He is not his father. He is ours.

"Shut up," Elena hissed. "You don't know anything."

But her wolf knew. Her wolf had recognized him in that cave. Bonded with him. I ached for him for five years.

Traitor.

She collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in silk pillows. The bond pulsed warm against her chest, a constant reminder that she could never truly escape him.

The next few days passed in a blur.

Elena threw herself into research, studying the Blood Moon ritual obsessively. The Ancient Alpha's blood had to be given freely, with complete willingness, no doubt. Any hesitation would cause failure.

The ritual would drain her. Possibly kill her.

She didn't care. Leo and Lily were everything. She'd give her last breath for them.

Kaelen found her late one night, surrounded by books, her eyes bloodshot.

"You haven't slept," he observed.

"Neither have you." She didn't look up. "I feel you pacing through the bond. You're worried."

He pulled up a chair. "The rogues are mobilizing. Several packs have joined forces. They want to kill you and the twins. A hybrid queen with Ancient Alpha blood terrifies them."

Elena finally looked up. "So I'm not just trapped here. I'm a target."

"You've always been a target." His voice was gentle but firm. "The day you survived my feral heat, you became the most dangerous woman in the supernatural world. Every rogue, every rebel, every power-hungry wolf wants you dead."

She set down her pen. "And what do you want, Kaelen? Do you want me dead too?"

His eyes flashed silver. "I want you alive. Healthy. Happy." He reached across the table, fingers brushing hers. "I want you to trust me, Elena. Even if it takes a lifetime."

She stared at their hands, his scarred and powerful; hers small and trembling.

"I don't know how to trust you," she whispered. "You're everything I was taught to fear."

"I know." He pulled back, his expression closing. "But the Blood Moon is in ten days. I need you ready. I need you strong."

"I'm always strong." She lifted her chin. "I survived your feral heat. Survived giving birth in a leaky clinic. Survived five years of running. I can survive anything."

Kaelen smiled a slow, proud smile that made her stomach flip.

"That's why I fell in love with you," he said quietly.

Then he stood and walked away, leaving Elena with a racing heart and unanswered questions.

The night before the Blood Moon, Elena couldn't sleep.

She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the bond pulse. Kaelen was restless too, his mind churning.

It's going to work. It has to work.

A knock on her door made her sit up.

"Elena?" Kaelen's voice, muffled. "I need to show you something."

She opened the door to find him pale, hands clenched.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Your mother," he said quietly. "She's not dead. She's in the Citadel's dungeons. Viktor kept her alive to blackmail me."

Elena's blood turned to ice.

Her mother. The woman she'd mourned for twenty years. Alive.

"Take me to her," she demanded. "Now."

What happens next?

Will Elena reach her mother before the Blood Moon ritual? What devastating secrets will the Old Queen reveal about the Ancient Dynasty's massacre? And will the rogue army attack the Citadel before Kaelen can protect his family?

The truth about Elena's heritage will change everything and the Blood Moon is only hours away.