Chapter 4

"Alpha Maxwell called," she said, hovering awkwardly by the door. "He said you had a meeting with him today."

My heart raced. "Yeah, about my ceremony."

She nodded, twisting her hands together. "He mentioned you might be... upset."

"Did he tell you why?" I asked carefully, watching her reaction.

Her eyes darted away from mine. "No, just that you learned something difficult."

She was lying. I could smell it on her, another Alpha trait I'd never understood until now. The slight sour note in her scent that hadn't made sense before.

"You've always known, haven't you?" I whispered.

Marla's face paled. "Known what?"

"Who I really am. Where I come from."

She sank onto the edge of my bed, suddenly looking much older. "Not everything. Just... suspicions."

"Why didn't you tell me?" My voice cracked despite my efforts to keep it steady.

"We were forbidden," she said, staring down at her hands. "When you were brought to us, Alpha Maxwell made it clear that you were to be raised as a normal pack member, nothing more. Your safety depended on it."

"My safety? From what?"

Marla looked up, her eyes meeting mine. "From those who destroyed your birth pack. They thought they'd killed everyone, but somehow, you survived. If they knew..."

A chill ran down my spine. "Who are 'they'?"

"I don't know all the details. Your father…I mean, Alpha Maxwell…never shared the full story with us. He thought it safer that way."

"He's not my father," I said automatically.

Marla gave me a strange look. "No, he's not. But he's protected you all these years, in his own way."

I snorted. "By letting his sons torment me? Some protection."

"It's... complicated," she sighed. "The boys don't know who you are either. No one does except Alpha Maxwell and a few elders. And now you."

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the warm evening. "So what, everyone knows about this great big joke, and guess what, I’m the punch line, go figure. Please just leave. I think that will be best for everyone. Once this is all over, I just leave this pack for good.”

Marla's face crumpled as if I'd physically struck her. "You can't just leave. It's not that simple."

"Why not?" I stood up, pacing to my small window. "I'm not wanted here. I never have been. At least now I know why."

"You don't understand…"

"No, I understand perfectly." I whirled around to face her. "I'm some kind of liability. A reminder of a pack that was destroyed. Everyone's been walking on eggshells around me for seventeen years, and I never even knew why."

Marla stood slowly, her hands trembling. "We tried to give you as normal a life as possible."

"Normal?" I laughed bitterly. "Being treated like an outsider by everyone, including my own adoptive family, is normal?"

"We were protecting you," she whispered. "If we got too close, if we treated you like... like our own daughter, people might have started asking questions. Might have figured out that you were special."

The word 'special' hit me like a slap. "Special. Right. Is that what we're calling it?"

"Your bloodline…"

"My bloodline got my entire pack killed," I snapped. "How is that special?"

Marla was quiet for a long moment, then moved toward the door. "Alpha Maxwell wants to see you again tomorrow morning. There's more you need to know before your ceremony."

"More secrets, you mean."

She paused at the threshold. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. We... I wanted to tell you so many times. But orders are orders."

After she left, I collapsed back onto my bed and pulled the stolen document from under my pillow. The scientific jargon blurred together, but the conclusion was clear enough: I was the daughter of Alpha Kieran Blackthorne of the Shadowmoon Pack. A pack that had been completely wiped out eighteen years ago.

I'd heard whispers about the Shadowmoon massacre over the years, it was pack legend, the kind of story told to remind everyone what happened to those who challenged the wrong enemies. But I'd never imagined I was connected to it.

My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: *Don't even think about running. We need to talk. - L*

Liam. Somehow, he'd gotten my number.

I typed back: *Leave me alone.*

His response came immediately: *Can't do that. Meet me at the old oak by the training grounds in an hour.*

*No.*

*Please. There are aspects of your situation that you don't understand. Dangerous things.*

I stared at the message, my heart pounding. How much did he know? Had Alpha Maxwell told him, too?

*Why should I trust you?*

*Because, unlike my brothers, I've never given you a reason not to.*

He was right about that. Liam had always been... neutral toward me. Never cruel.

*Fine, whatever, today's been one big cosmic joke at my expense, why not allow it to laugh at me some more?* I typed back.

I tossed my phone onto the bed and paced the small confines of my room. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. My entire life had been a lie, and now Liam Maxwell wanted to meet secretly? This day couldn't possibly get any more surreal.

Part of me wanted to ignore his text and crawl under my covers until this nightmare ended. But another part, the part that had just discovered I had Alpha blood, was curious. Dangerous things, he'd said. As if I didn't already have enough to worry about.

With a frustrated groan, I grabbed my hoodie and slipped back out through my window. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the pack grounds. I kept to the tree line, avoiding the main paths where I might run into other pack members. The last thing I needed was more awkward interactions.

The old oak stood alone at the edge of the training grounds, its massive branches reaching toward the darkening sky. As I approached, I didn't see Liam anywhere.