Chapter 4: The Heart of the Lion

The city of the Silver Moon was no longer the collection of rustic cabins I remembered from my childhood. In the five years since I had been banished, Killian had transformed it into a fortress of glass and stone. High rise buildings gleamed under the moonlight, and the streets were paved with a dark, expensive marble that felt like it was designed to vibrate with the power of the wolves walking upon it.

I parked my nondescript sedan in a dark corner of a public parking garage three blocks away from the Royal Palace. My heart was a frantic drum in my ears, making it hard to hear anything else.

"Mommy, are you leaving us?" Maya whispered from the back seat. Her eyes were wide and filled with a wisdom that no five year old should possess. She was holding Toby’s hand, her small fingers laced through his limp ones.

"Only for a little while, Maya," I said, turning around to look at them. I reached out and stroked Leo’s cheek. He was staring at the palace walls visible through the garage opening, his jaw set in a line that looked painfully like Killian's. "Leo, you are in charge. Keep the doors locked. If anyone besides me tries to open this door, you use the emergency whistle I gave you, and you run into the human crowd. Do you understand?"

Leo nodded solemnly. "I will protect them, Mommy. I promise."

I kissed each of them, my throat tight with a sob I refused to let out. If I was caught, I would be executed for trespassing. If I was recognized, I would be reclaimed or worse. But as I looked at Toby, whose breathing was becoming a series of wet, ragged gasps, I knew I didn't have a choice.

I stepped out into the cool night air, the scent blockers on my skin feeling like a thin, fragile shield. I pulled my dark hoodie over my head and began to move toward the palace perimeter.

The Royal Gardens were located on the western side of the palace, protected by a twenty foot stone wall topped with electrified wire. For a human, it was impossible. For a shifter, it was a challenge. For a mother whose son was dying, it was merely an obstacle.

I found the drainage pipe I had remembered from my time as a servant. It was small, slick with moss, and smelled of stagnant water, but it led directly under the wall and into the botanical reserve. I dropped to my hands and knees, ignoring the way the rough concrete tore at my palms. I crawled through the darkness, the space so tight I could feel the weight of the mountain pressing down on me.

When I finally emerged on the other side, the scent hit me like a physical blow.

The gardens were beautiful, filled with rare flowers that shimmered with their own internal light. But beneath the floral aroma was the one scent I had spent five years trying to scrub from my memory.

Rain. Forest floor. And a sharp, metallic edge of lightning.

Killian.

I froze, my stomach dropping into my shoes. He was here. He was in the gardens. I pressed my back against a large oak tree, my lungs burning as I tried to keep my breathing silent. Through the thick foliage, I saw a shadow moving near the central fountain.

It was him.

He was taller than I remembered, his presence more suffocating than it had been when he was just an Alpha heir. He was dressed in a dark suit, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as he stared at the moon. He looked like a man haunted by ghosts. For a split second, I felt a treacherous pull in my chest. The bond, even shattered and rejected, wanted to scream out to him. My wolf scratched at the inside of my mind, desperate to run to the man who had cast her out.

No, I told myself, biting my lip until the copper taste of blood filled my mouth. He is not your mate. He is the man who left you in the mud. He is the man who doesn't know his children are dying three blocks away.

Killian let out a long, heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his dark hair, a gesture of frustration I knew all too well.

"I know you're out there," he said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that echoed through the trees.

I stopped breathing entirely. Had he caught my scent? Had the blockers failed?

"I can feel the restlessness in the air tonight," he continued, speaking to the empty garden. "Something is coming. I can taste it."

He stood still for another agonizing minute, his silver eyes scanning the darkness. I prayed to the moon that the shadows were deep enough to hide me. Finally, he turned and began to walk toward the palace doors, his heavy footsteps fading into the distance.

I waited until the sound of the heavy oak doors clicking shut reached my ears before I dared to move. My legs felt like jelly, but I pushed myself forward toward the small, glowing pond at the far end of the garden.

And there they were.

The Lunar Lilies. They were delicate, translucent flowers that seemed to be made of trapped starlight. They bloomed in the shallow water, their petals opening slowly to drink in the Blood Moon's fading light.

I reached out, my fingers trembling as I grasped the stem of the largest flower. This was it. This was Toby’s life.

As I pulled the flower from the water, a snap of a twig sounded behind me. I spun around, the lily clutched to my chest, my eyes wide with terror.

A palace guard stood ten feet away, his hand already on his weapon.

"Identify yourself!" he yelled.

I didn't think. I didn't plead. I turned and bolted back toward the drainage pipe, the adrenaline turning the world into a blur of color and light. I could hear the guard's heavy boots behind me, and the sound of a whistle being blown.

Run, Elara. Run for your children.

I dove into the pipe just as a hand grazed my ankle. I scrambled through the muck, the lily held tightly in my teeth to keep it safe. I burst out the other side and sprinted toward the parking garage, my lungs screaming for air.

I reached the car, my hands fumbling with the keys.

"Mommy!" Leo cried as I scrambled into the driver's seat.

"Stay down!" I barked, starting the engine.

As I tore out of the garage, I saw the palace lights flickering to life in my rearview mirror. The hunt was on. I had stolen from the King, and now I was a fugitive in my own home. But as I looked at the glowing lily in my hand, I knew I would do it a thousand times over.

I had the cure. Now I just had to get out of the city alive.