Chapter 7

Keira:

Princess Aurelia.

The name struck the room like a blade thrown into silence. I didn't know or understand why, but it just did for a few seconds. No one moved. It seemed that even the silver flames on the candle seemed to freeze. 

Or maybe it was just me hallucinating. But I stared at the wounded border guard on the floor, his blood soaking the stone beneath. His eyes were fixed on me. As if I was the reason his enemies were tearing through the border.

Maybe I was.

But my name was Keira Brown.

Silent omega. Floor cleaner. Ghostwriter. The girl who lowered her head and did not speak because words were too dangerous in her mouth. The person who never dared speak back or even look at someone who was a higher rank than she was.

But the guard had looked at me with terror in his eyes and called me something else.

Princess Aurelia.

The name felt wrong and familiar at once. It was like I had heard it before, a distant memory as they're nowhere, nor did I know whether or not it was real.

“What did you say?” I whispered.

The guard swallowed hard, his face pale from blood loss. “They called you Princess Aurelia. They said the lost bloodline had awakened. They said Bloodfang came to claim what Silver Moon stole. They are looking for the Oracle. They are looking for you.”

Silver Moon stole.

I looked at Alpha Harlan. His expression had gone still in a way that told me more than anger would have. He was not shocked by the name. He was not confused.

He knew. Just like Elder Selene knew, she stood beside the old book with her hand pressed against the table, guilt written across every line on her face.

Derek stood in front of me, taking me off guard. I didn't even see him move. But it seemed to me like he was trying to guard me from something.

“Move,” I said quietly. 

“No,” he said calmly. 

The border guard tried to push himself up, but Brad moved first, crouching beside him with surprising control. “Stay down. You’re bleeding too much.”

Lena rushed forward, her fear forgotten the moment she saw the wound more clearly. “Let me see. I can help you.”

Brad looked at her sharply, but he did not stop her. He knew that if anyone could help the man, it was going to be her.

Isaiah moved toward the window, pulling back the curtain just enough to look outside. His green eyes narrowed. “The alarm hasn’t reached the inner wing yet. If Bloodfang crossed the eastern border, someone delayed the signal. We would have known.”

Alpha Harlan’s head snapped toward him. “Watch your accusation, Sterling.”

Isaiah did not look away from the window. “I didn’t make one. Yet.”

My blood ran cold because they knew the name hidden from me and enemies were crossing the border. They knew something about my bloodline that I didn't, and they came for me. I stepped around Derek, but his hand shot out, blocking my path before he even touched me.

“Keira, don’t.” He said, looking at me.

I looked at his hand, then at him. His blue eyes were glowing faintly, his wolf too close to the surface. His jaw was tight, his shoulders tense, and every part of him seemed ready to throw himself between me and the world.

“You don’t get to stop me,” I said. “I am going to see what is going on.”

“I know that I don't.” He said as pain flashed across his face, but he stood his ground as he looked me in the eye. “But you are not going anywhere.”

“You don't get to tell me what to do.”

“I'm still not letting you go.” He said, his eyes darkening as his tone grew more protective. Brad glanced over his shoulder. Isaiah turned from the window. Even Alpha Harlan went still, watching his son with growing fury.

The bond tightened in my chest.

“I need to hear what they want,” I said. “If they came because of me, then I should know why. And I should understand what it is that everyone is trying to hide from me.”

“They crossed our border after your awakening. They knew the name on that bloodline chart before you did. They are not here to explain things nicely.” Derek said angrily. “Do you really believe that they would have come for anything that is good?”

“For eighteen years, everyone decided what I should know,” I snapped. “Everyone hid things. Everyone looked at me and chose silence for me. I will not stand in another room while men with power decide what happens to my life. I am going to go and I'm going to cross that border to know what it is that everyone has been hiding from me.”

The silver candles flared. My voice had not risen much, but the room reacted to my annoyance anyway.

Alpha Harlan growled, the sound deep and furious. “Enough. The girl will be secured in the inner wing. Derek, you will stand down and allow my warriors to handle this. You are not going to interfere. Neither one of you is going to interfere.”

My throat tightened. “You do not command me.”

“No,” Derek said. “I’m begging you. Because I don't want you to get hurt.”

The alpha heir who had once ordered me to look at him, to clean faster, to stay out of the way, now stood in front of me with fear in his eyes. I fear that he had for me, begging me not to go out there.

The bond softened for one dangerous second, and I felt him. 

“You don’t get to suddenly care,” I whispered, looking away from him.

His face tightened. “I know. I understand you're angry frustration, but I cannot just let you risk yourself for this.”

Alpha Harlan’s patience snapped. “Derek…”

His alpha command slammed through the chamber. This time, it was aimed fully at his son. “Stand down.”

Derek’s body went rigid, but his wolf fought the command, and the struggle showed in every muscle of his body. He was raised to obey that voice. Trained to follow it. Built to inherit it. But the bond burned between us. Derek slowly turned his head toward his father.

“No.”

Alpha Harlan’s eyes darkened. “What did you say?”

It was not as heavy as his father’s. Not yet. But it was young, sharp, and powerful, storming through the chamber with enough force to make the silver flames bend toward him.

“I said no.”

Alpha Harlan stepped forward, rage twisting his face. “On whose rule do you defy your alpha?”

Derek moved fully in front of me then.

“On mine.”

Alpha Harlan stared at his son as if he had become a stranger.

Derek’s voice dropped lower, colder. “You don’t get to call her an asset. Bloodfang doesn’t get to call her a prize. The elders don’t get to hide her name and then decide where she stands. No one gets to come through that door and claim they want to protect her while keeping her blind.”

My breath caught, and Derek looked over his shoulder at me, and for a moment, the whole room seemed to narrow to the blue fire in his eyes.

“She deserves answers,” he said. “But she is not walking into an ambush to get them.”

“There’s more,” he choked out.

Lena pressed her hands harder against his wound. “Don’t move.”

The guard ignored her, looking straight at me. “The Bloodfang leader sent a message.”

Alpha Harlan’s voice sharpened. “What message?”

The guard’s lips trembled. “He said if Princess Aurelia does not come willingly before moonset, he will send back proof of who betrayed her parents. He said the first proof… is buried under this pack house.”