The Paper Trail

The red light on the computer screen blinked at me.

ACCESS DENIED.

I stared at it for a long time. Yesterday, I was the King’s Auditor. I was the woman who saved him millions. I was the woman sleeping in his bed. Today, I was locked out.

The keycard was gone-Dante had taken it. His faith was gone. And it hurt more than I cared to admit.

I pushed the expensive leather chair away and stepped up into a cage once more. The glass walls that had once felt so modern and alive now felt like walls of a fishbowl. With me on display, it was impossible for me to touch anything.

"Fine," I whispered in the emptiness. "If I cannot see the digital future, I will gaze back at the paper past."

Vanessa had said there was no birth record for me in the Silver River Pack. She thought that made me a spy. But something in my gut told me it meant something completely different.

It meant I didn't belong to Miller. It meant I had come from somewhere else.

I stepped out of my office and into the larger library.

The Black Summit library was enormous. Two stories high, filled to the brim with rows and rows of dark wooden shelves. Most of the pack did everything on tablets and computers now. These hard copies were basically mere decoration. Dusty, forgotten, ignored.

Just like me.

I walked further back into the stacks, away from sunlight. The air was heavy with the smell of old paper and vanilla. And it was so quiet.

I was no longer looking for financial records.

Now I was looking for history.

"You're in the wrong section," a rasp of a voice said.

I jumped; my heart dived.

An old man sat at a small desk in the back corner, shielded by a barricade of books. Chaos reigned in his white hair, which stood imperiously like a defiant lion's mane, while thick glasses placed over his nose kept huge, bulging and bleary eyes. An obviously ancient tweed jacket was hanging loosely on the bony shoulders that appeared to shy away from the bright rays of daylight.

"I thought nobody was here," I said.

"Nobody comes back here," the old man grumbled. He refused to look up from his book. "They all want the Wi-Fi. They all want quick answers. Nobody cares about the ink anymore."

His eyes pierced into me.

"You are the new girl. The Purchase."

I felt my muscles tense. "My name is Maya."

"I know who you are," he said. "I am Mr. Abernathy. I take care of the books. What do you want, Maya? The romance novels are in aisle four."

"I do not want any romance," I said, taking another step toward him. "I want to know about the pack wars. Specifically, twenty-two years ago."

Mr. Abernathy paused. He closed the book slowly. The title on the cover read Lineages of the Northern Territories.

"Twenty-two years ago," he repeated. "That was a bad year. A bloody year."

"Why?"

"Because of the Great Purge," he said. "Why do you care? You're from Silver River, aren't you? That trash heap of a pack down south."

"I lived in Silver River," I corrected him. "But I was told today that I wasn't born there. There is no record of my birth."

Mr. Abernathy looked at me carefully. His eyes traveled down to study my pale skin. His eyes, carefully hidden behind the dark sunglasses gifted to me by Dr. Evans, were violet.

"Take off the glasses," he commanded.

"My eyes are sensitive," I said.

"Take them off."

I hesitated, but slowly lowered my sunglasses.

Mr. Abernathy gasped. He stood up, with the loud squeak of the chair legs against the floor, and leaned over the desk to stare into my bright glow-in-the-dark violet eyes.

"Violet; I haven't seen that color since..."

He abruptly stopped and glanced around nervously, as if afraid the books could hear him.

"Since when?" I pressed.

"The Moonfall Pack burned," he said almost inaudibly.

"Moonfall?" I had never heard of it.

"It doesn't exist anymore," Abernathy said, sitting back down heavily. "It was a Royal pack. Very powerful. They were known for their white wolves and their... unique eyes."

My heart hammered against my ribs. White wolves.

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"The High Council were jealous of them," Abernathy said sadly, "it was too powerful, too dangerous bloodline. There was talk they would create a "Super Alpha" to conquer the world.

Picking up a rag, Abernathy began to clean his glasses while his hands were shaking.

"Twenty-two years ago, there was a raid. Not officially sanctioned; mercenaries hired guns. They burned everything to the ground of the Moonfall estate. Everybody died. The Alpha, the Luna... everybody."

"Everybody?" I asked.

"A rumor," Abernathy said softly. "A tale that the Luna had given birth only days before the fire. A baby girl. The nursemaid tried to run with the child."

His look at me was pointed.

"The mercenaries caught the nursemaid at the border. They killed her. But the baby... the baby was never found. The Council declared the child dead. Burned in the fire."

I felt cold. My knees felt weak.

"Who were the mercenaries? " I asked, "Who led the raid?""

Abernathy said, shaking his head as if to relay an unfortunate truth. "Too far back now. Most of those men are dead or imprisoned. The alpha... Young, ambitious Alpha was then; wanted land and willing to get the Council dirty to obtain it."

"Who?" I demanded.

"Miller," said Abernathy. "Alpha Miller of Silver River."

This was as shocking as a smack to my face.

Miller.

My owner. The one who abused me. The one who poisoned me.

It all made clear sense. All the pieces fit together.

Miller led the raid. Killed my parents. Found the babe-me. Why didn't he kill me? Probably as insurance? Maybe to sell me later?

But as I grew, he probably figured things out. He saw my Royal blood. Saw the violet eyes and knew that, if the Council found out he was hiding one of Moonfall's survivors, they would kill him too.

Thus, he poisoned me.

Daily he gave me Wolfsbane to keep me weak. To prevent shifting. To make my eyes muddy and gray. Turned a QUEEN into a SLAVE to save his own skin.

"Oh my goddess," I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand.

I wasn't a defect. I wasn't a nothing.

I was the last surviving member of a royal massacre.

"You need to be careful, girl," Abernathy hissed, leaning forward. "If you are who I think you are... you are a ghost. And ghosts frighten people. The scary people are the High Council. If they know you are alive, they will finish what they began twenty-two years ago."

"Then Dante knows?" I asked. "Does the King know about Moonfall?"

"The King was a child when it happened," Abernathy said. "He knows about it. But he doesn't know the survivors. His father, the old King, refused to help the Council, but didn't stop them either."

I took a step back. My thoughts were racing.

Vanessa. The daughter of an Elder. If she found out who I was, she wouldn't merely call me a spy. She would call me an abomination. Execution was what she would have planned for me.

"Thank you," I said to the old man. "Please don't tell anyone we spoke."

Standing, Abernathy picked up that book again. "I'm just a crazy old man who reads too much. Nobody listens to me."

He winked at me behind his thick glasses.

I turned and walked away. I need to get back to my room. I need some time to think.

I walked fast, my head down; so intent was I in my thoughts that I didn't hear the soft footfalls approaching behind me until it was too late.

I turned the corner and walked straight into a hard, solid chest.

Strong hands grabbed my arms to steady me.

"Whoa," said a deep voice.

I looked up. It was Dante.

He looked tired and stressed. His tie was loosened, and his sleeves were rolled up. He smelled like coffee and frustration.

"Where have you been?" Dante asked. "I went to your office. It was empty."

"I was... stretching my legs," I lied. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.

He looked at me. He looked at the sunglasses I still held in my hand. He looked at the dust below my fingers from old books.

"At the library archives?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I like old books," I said. "They don't require a password."

It was a sharp comment, reminding him that he had locked me out.

Dante's expression softened a little, and he allowed my arms to fall, but did not move back.

"Maya," he said softly. "About the keycard..."

"It's fine," I cut him off. "He has to protect his pack. I understand."

I didn't want to talk about the keycard anymore. I was terrified he would smell the fear on me. I was terrified he would look into my eyes and see the Moonfall ghost.

"I'm tired," I told him as I tried to step past him. "I'm going to rest before dinner."

Dante stepped in my way.

"You're hiding something," he said.

"I have nothing to hide," I said, forcing my voice to steady. "You have my background check. You have my medical files. You know everything."

"I know facts," Dante said, closing the space slightly. "But I don't know you. You're trembling."

"I'm cold," I lied.

Dante slid his hand down to my cheek. It was warm to the touch. For that brief second, I wished to lean into it. I wanted to tell him everything. Dante, Miller killed my family. Dante, I think I'm a Princess.

But I couldn't.

He was a King. He had a law to obey. If I was a danger to his pack- should the Council come for me- would he give me up? Would he trade me for the safety of his people?

I couldn't take that risk. Not yet.

"I'm just tired, Dante," I whispered. "Please. Let me go."

Dante stared into my eyes for what felt like a long time. He looked torn inside. The mate bond calls him toward me; logic calls him away.

Finally, he dropped his hand.

"Go," he said.

I walked past him. I didn't look back.

I rushed toward the elevator, my legs shaking.

I had gotten the truth. I had understood who I was.

But now the castle felt different. No longer it was a cage. It was a hiding place.

And one thing I was sure of was that I had to get that baby out of me. Because if my child inherited my eyes... if my child was born of the White Wolf blood... we were both dead.

I placed my hand on my belly. I had not taken a test. But I knew. I could feel the tiny spark of life creeping within me. A spark that was illegal.

I was a Royal without a throne. And I was pregnant with the King's heir.

The game had just changed. And I was playing for keeps.