The Truth

Kael moves like smoke. One moment he is standing before me, the next he has shifted into his massive black wolf and vanished into the trees. I hear the rogues’ snarls turn to yelps of surprise, then pain, then silence.

When he returns, his fur is dark with blood that is not his own.

He shifts back and offers me his hand again. I take it without hesitation this time. My wolf purrs at the contact.

“We need to move,” he says. “More will come. They will have scented your awakening.”

He leads me through the forest at a pace I could never have managed before. But my body is different now. My wolf lends me strength and speed. The silver mark on my wrist pulses like a second heartbeat, guiding me.

We travel until the sky lightens to gray. Finally, Kael stops at the mouth of a cave hidden behind a waterfall. The roar of water drowns out any sound of pursuit.

Inside, the cave is dry and warm. A fire pit already holds ashes. Kael has used this place before.

He builds a fire while I sit with my back against the stone wall, watching him. Now that the adrenaline has faded, questions pile up in my throat.

“You said my parents were murdered.”

Kael does not look up from the flames. “Yes.”

“By who?”

He adds another branch to the fire. Sparks spiral upward. “The conspiracy involved several packs. But the blade that killed your father was held by Alpha Thorne of Shadowfang.”

My blood freezes. Alpha Thorne. The man I served for ten years. The man who watched his son reject me and said nothing.

“He was there?”

“He was the architect.” Kael’s voice is flat, but I see his jaw tighten. “Your mother was the Silvermoon Queen. Your father, her consort. They ruled the original Alpha line, the bloodline from which all other packs descend. Thorne wanted that power. He made an alliance with other ambitious Alphas. They struck during the Lunar Eclipse, when your parents’ power was weakest.”

I press my hand to my chest, feeling the phantom echo of a wound I never knew I had. “They killed them.”

“They killed everyone. Everyone except you.” Kael finally meets my eyes. The firelight softens his scarred face, but nothing can soften what he says next. “Your mother’s last act was to send you away. She stripped your wolf and sealed her inside you. She bound your royal mark so it would not appear until your eighteenth birthday. Then she placed you in Shadowfang, the heart of the enemy, knowing they would never look for the lost princess in the home of her murderer.”

I think of the cold floor I slept on. The scraps I ate. The way Alpha Thorne looked through me as if I did not exist.

“He knew,” I whisper. “He knew who I was.”

“He suspected a child survived. He did not know it was you. Your mother’s magic was too strong.” Kael’s voice grows softer. “But he was careful. He made sure you were kept low, kept broken. An omega with no wolf would never be seen as a threat.”

A bitter laugh escapes me. “He was right. I was nothing.”

“You were waiting.” Kael moves closer, his silver eyes intense. “You were surviving. And now you have awakened. The magic that hid you is gone. Every enemy who hunted your family now knows you exist.”

“Then why bring me here?” I ask. “If they will come for me—”

“They will come whether you hide or fight. But if you fight, you have a chance.” He reaches out and takes my marked wrist, turning it so the silver crescent catches the light. “This mark is proof of your bloodline. The Silvermoon line was the first. Every Alpha owes their power to your ancestors. When you claim your throne, the packs who remain loyal will rally to you. The traitors will fall.”

I look at the mark. It glows faintly, as if listening to his words.

“You said you are the queen’s champion,” I say quietly. “The usurper’s champion.”

Kael releases my wrist and leans back. His expression closes off.

“I am.”

“Then how can you be here? How can you help me if you serve her?”

For a long moment, he says nothing. Then he pulls aside the collar of his tunic, revealing his own neck. A collar of black iron encircles his throat, etched with runes that make my wolf snarl.

“I am bound by blood magic,” he says. “The usurper killed the true champion of the Silvermoon throne and bound me in his place. I am her weapon. Her sword. I cannot refuse her commands.”

My stomach drops. “Then everything you have done for me tonight—”

“Was my choice.” His voice hardens. “The bond forces me to obey her orders. It does not control my will. I searched for you because I chose to. I came to you tonight because I chose to. And when the time comes for the Rite of the Lost Queen, I will face you in the arena because she will command it.”

I stare at him. “You will kill me.”

“I will not.” His eyes burn. “There is a way to break the bond. If the rightful queen defeats the usurper’s champion, the magic shatters. You do not have to kill me to win. You only have to survive until the rite recognizes your claim.”

“And if I lose?”

Kael’s silence is answer enough.

I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold my shaking body still. I was a servant yesterday. I was nothing. Now I am supposed to fight a fated mate in a magical trial to claim a throne I never knew existed.

“Why?” I ask. “Why search for me? Why risk everything for someone you do not know?”

Kael looks at me for a long, aching moment. When he speaks, his voice is rough.

“Because I have dreamed of you every night for twenty years. Because I have felt the mate bond stretching across kingdoms, pulling me toward you, even while this collar burns my throat. Because you are the last hope of a bloodline that should never have fallen, and because I have loved you since before I knew your name.”

The fire crackles between us. My wolf is silent, but I feel her satisfaction like a warm glow in my chest.

I have been rejected. I have been called unworthy. And now, a man who could have any wolf in any pack kneels before me and tells me I am his destiny.

I do not know if I believe in fate. But I believe in the fire in his eyes.

“Then teach me,” I say. “Teach me to fight. Teach me to survive. And when the rite comes, I will not kill you.”

Kael bows his head. “As my queen commands.”

I am not a queen. Not yet. But for the first time in my life, I feel like I could become one.

TO BE CONTINUED...