CHAPTER 4 - Echoes of Pain

A silence fell.

Adrian spoke first, voice strained.  “If what he’s saying is true, then you’re in danger.  My father won’t let you live knowing this.”

 Kieran’s tone hardened.  “Then maybe it’s time someone stopped him.”

 Adrian glared.  “You can’t fix the past by starting a war.”

 “Then we expose him,” Kieran said.  “Let the council see who he really is.”

 “And get Nova killed in the process?”  Adrian snapped.

 I lifted my head.  “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”

 Both men fell quiet.

 “I don’t need your protection,” I said.  “Not from him.  Not from you.”

 Kieran’s face softened.  “You may not want it, but you’ll need it.”

 Adrian’s eyes burned.  “If you touch her again”

 “Then what?”  Kieran asked quietly.  “You already threw her away.”

 Adrian lunged forward, but I stepped between them again.  “Enough!”

 They stopped, breathing hard, eyes locked in quiet rage.

 Kieran breathed, voice quieter now.  “You should come with me, Nova.  Just for today.  I can explain everything.”

 Adrian’s hand tensed at his side.  “Don’t go with him.”

 I looked at both of them, the man who broke me and the one who claimed to hold answers I wasn’t sure I wanted.

 “Why should I trust you?”  I asked Kieran.

 “Because the next time your wolf feels that pull,” he said softly, “it won’t be toward Adrian.  It’ll be toward me.”

 My breath caught.  “You’re insane.”

 “Maybe,” he said.  “But tell me you don’t feel it.”

 His eyes locked onto mine, and my heart stumbled.  The air between us hummed, alive, dangerous.  My wolf stirred againwild, confused, drawn.

 Adrian saw it too.  His eyes widened, a mixture of rage and pain.  “No.”

 Kieran smiled faintly.  “Guess the bond chose differently this time.”

 Adrian’s voice broke.  “Get away from her.”

 But Kieran didn’t move.  He lifted his hand slowly, brushing his fingers against mine.

 The instant his skin touched me, heat shot through my body like fire meeting ice.  My wolf roared inside, not in fear but in recognition.

 I gasped, stepping back, but it was too late.  The connection had started.

 “What did you do to me?”  I whispered.

 Kieran’s eyes burned silver.  “Nothing you didn’t already feel.”

 Adrian’s voice cracked.  “Stop this!”

 Kieran turned to him.  “You can’t stop what fate has already claimed.”

 Before I could say another word, a sharp pain entered my chest.  My knees buckled.  Kieran caught me before I fell.

 “What’s happening?”  I gasped.

 “Your wolf is shifting,” he said.  “She’s choosing.”

 Adrian reached us, fear filling his face.  “Let her go!”

 “She’s not yours anymore,” Kieran snapped.

 A spark of raw energy rushed between themAlpha against Alpha.  The air seemed to tremble.  My head spun.

 I felt the pull again, deeper this time, and I couldn’t breathe.  My wolf howled inside me, torn between duty and instinct.

 Then, suddenly, the pain stopped.

 Silence.

 Kieran’s arms were still around me, his beating steady against mine.  I looked up and saw fear flicker in his eyes, not vanity.

 He whispered, “The bond is real.”

 Adrian’s face was drained of color.  “That’s not possible.”

 Kieran’s gaze didn’t leave me.  “It’s already done.”

 I stepped back, shaking, looking at both of them.  “What bond?”  I whispered.

 Kieran’s voice was barely a breath.  “You’re mine now.”

 And from somewhere deep inside, my wolf answered howling in agreement.

Sleep refuses to come.  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him turning away.

 I sat on the cold floor, hugging my knees, hearing Adrian’s voice again in my mind, the words that tore everything apart.

 “You’re not my mate.”

 The memory stung like glass.  I wanted to forget, but it stuck to me.  Every heartbeat held the memory of that refusal.

 I mumbled to the darkness, “Why did you do it, Adrian?  Why did you throw me away?”

 My wolf moved, restless and hurt.  She hated the weakness in my voice.  But I was tired of faking power.

 And then a knock.

 Sharp.  Hesitant.  Almost afraid.

 I froze.  No one ever came to my room at night.  Not since the rejection.

 Another knock.

 “Who’s there?”  My voice shook despite me.

 “Someone who knows the truth,” a male voice said from behind the door.

 I stood, my heart racing.  “What truth?”

 “About your family.  About your mother.”

 The words turned my blood to ice.  I flung open the door.

 A man stood there tall, hooded, face half-hidden.  His smell was strange, neither pack nor rogue.

 “Who are you?”  I asked.

 He lifted his head slightly.  “Someone who owes your mother his life.”

 I frowned.  “My mother’s dead.”

 “I know.”  His voice relaxed.  “But not how you think.”

 I felt my stomach twist.  “You’re lying.”

 He shook his head slowly.  “If only I were.”

 “Say what you came to say,” I said, my tone hard.

 He looked around, then stepped inside.  “You shouldn’t be seen speaking to me.  They’d kill me for it.”

 “Who?”

 “The ones who killed her.”

 The room went quiet.  My breath caught.  “What did you just say?”

 He met my eyes.  “Your mother’s death wasn’t an accident.  It was a cover-up.”

 I stumbled back, grabbing the wall.  “That’s not possible.  She died in the fire”

 “She was silenced,” he interrupted.  “Because she knew something she shouldn’t have.”

 I shook my head.  “You’re lying.  You don’t know her.  You don’t know anything about me.”

 He stepped closer.  “You think I’d risk my life for a lie?  I saw it happen.  I saw who lit the fire.”

 My voice broke.  “Then say the name.”

 He paused.  “I can’t.  Not yet.”

 “Then you’re wasting my time.”

 He grabbed my wrist, not hard, but firm.  “Listen to me.  There are things moving against you.  You’ve been marked since birth.”

 I stared at him, fear crawling beneath my skin.  “Marked?”

 “Yes.  Your bloodline threatens more than one Alpha line.  That’s why they kept you hidden.”

 The words repeated what Kieran had said.  My heart twisted horribly.  “Who sent you?”

 He sighed.  “Let’s just say…  not everyone in this pack follows the current Alpha.”

 My throat tightened.  “You’re talking about Kieran, aren’t you?”

 His silence was answer enough.

 “Where is he?”  I asked.

 “I don’t know,” the man said.  “He disappears when danger is close.  But he wanted you to have this.”

 He pulled a small, sealed package from his coat.  The wax seal bore the sign of a wolf’s head, Kieran's mark.

 I looked at it.  “Why give this to me?”

 “Because your mother’s last words were meant for you.  And Kieran found them.”

 My chest tightened.  “That’s impossible.  She died when I was a child.”

 The man’s voice dropped.  “The truth doesn’t die, Nova.  It only hides.”

 I paused before taking the letter.  My hands shook.

 “What’s in it?”

 He looked uncomfortable.  “Answers.  And danger.”