Chapter 10: The Shift

~Kaelean~

I sank into my chair and buried my face in my hands. This was a disaster. A complete and utter disaster. My mate was sleeping down the hall. My daughter, the daughter I never knew existed, was curled up in a princess bed having no idea that her father was a monster who lived under the same roof. And my brother, my own blood, was falling for the woman I had destroyed.

How was I supposed to fix this? How could I possibly make any of this right?

I sat there for hours, the questions circling endlessly in my mind. No answers came. Only more guilt and the growing certainty that I had ruined everything beyond repair.

It was nearly dawn when I finally moved. I told myself I was just going to check on them just sure they were settled and safe. It wasn't about seeing her again. It wasn't about watching her sleep like some kind of obsessed stalker.

I was lying to myself and I knew it.

The corridor was dark and silent. Everyone else had long since gone to bed. I moved quietly, my wolf's senses guiding me toward that scent that had never really left my memory no matter how hard I tried to forget it.

I stopped outside her room and pressed my palm flat against the wood. She was just on the other side. So close. After five years of distance, she was finally close enough to touch.

Not that I had any right to touch her. She wouldn't let me even if I tried. I don't think so.

Her denial kept replaying in my mind. The way she had looked at me like I was nobody. The way she had erased our entire history with four simple words.

Did she hate me that much? Or was she protecting herself?

The thought made me want to howl with grief.

I should leave. I should go back to my room and stay away from her like Rhys had refused to do. I should let my brother have her since he clearly deserved her more than I ever did.

Sighing tiredly, I turned around to leave. That was when I heard a cry from inside the room.

"Mommy!"

Without thinking, I threw open the door and rushed inside. Elara was already there, kneeling beside Lily's bed, her face white with terror. The little girl was convulsing, her small body arching off the mattress, her eyes flickering rapidly between brown and gold.

"What's happening?" Elara's voice was frantic. "Lily, baby, I'm here. Mommy's here."

But Lily couldn't hear her. She was lost in the grip of something her half-human body couldn't control.

A shift, I realized suddenly. She was trying to shift.

"Move." I pushed past Elara and gathered Lily into my arms. She was burning up, her skin hot enough to scorch. "We need to get her to the healers. Now."

"What are you doing?" Elara grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "Put her down! What's happening to my daughter?"

I looked at her then, at the terror in her eyes and the desperation written across every line of her face.

"She's shifting." I said, and the words felt like a death sentence. "Her wolf is trying to emerge."

She glared at me as if I had grown two heads. "Her what?"

There was no time to explain. No time for the gentle revelation Rhys had probably been planning. No time for anything except action.

"Trust me." I said, and I knew how ridiculous that sounded coming from me. "Please. If you want to save your daughter, you have to trust me right now."

Elara stared at me for an endless moment. I could see the war happening behind her eyes. The hatred battling with desperation.

Then she nodded.

"Go." She whispered. "Save her."

I took off immediately. Lily was limp in my arms, her small body still trembling, her breaths coming in shallow gasps. I took the stairs three at a time, shouting for the healers, shouting for anyone who could help.

Doors flew open. Rhys appeared from somewhere, his face going pale when he saw who I was carrying.

"What happened?"

"She's shifting." I didn't slow down. "Get Helena. Now."

Rhys disappeared and I kept running. Helena met me at the door, her silver hair wild around her face, her eyes sharp despite being woken in the middle of the night.

"Put her on the table." She commanded.

I obeyed, laying Lily down as gently as I could. Her eyes were fully gold now, glowing in the dim light like twin suns.

"How old?" Helena demanded.

"Five."

"Too young." She was already moving, grabbing bottles and herbs. "Much too young. The shift shouldn't happen until puberty at the earliest. Something is forcing it."

"Can you stop it?"

"I can try."

Elara burst through the door, Rhys right behind her. She pushed past both of us and grabbed Lily's hand.

"Baby, I'm here. Mommy's right here. You're going to be okay."

Lily's eyes rolled toward her mother's voice. For a moment, just a moment, the gold flickered back to brown.

"Mommy." She whispered. "It hurts."

"I know, baby. I know it hurts. But this nice lady is going to make it better." Elara looked at Helena, desperation written across her face. "You can make it better, right? Please. Please help her."

Helena's expression was grim. "I need everyone out. Now."

"I'm not leaving her." Elara's voice cracked.

"You'll distract her. The bond between mother and child will interfere with what I need to do." Helena pointed at the door. "Out. All of you. I'll call when it's done."

Rhys stepped forward and put his hand on Elara's shoulder. "Come on. Let Helena work."

"No." Elara shook her head frantically. "No, I can't leave her. I can't—"

"Elara." I spoke her name without thinking. "She's in good hands. Helena has been healing our kind for sixty years. If anyone can help Lily, it's her."

Elara's head snapped toward me.

"Fine." She released Lily's hand and stepped back. "But if anything happens to her—"

"Nothing will happen to her." I said, and I meant it with every fiber of my being. "I won't let it."

She held my gaze for a heartbeat, then she turned and walked out of the room, Rhys's hand still on her shoulder. I followed them out and closed the door behind me.

The three of us stood outside the closed door in heavy silence. Elara was trembling, her arms wrapped around herself like she was trying to hold herself together. Rhys stood beside her, close enough to touch but not quite touching, his eyes fixed on her face with that soft expression I was beginning to hate.

"She's going to be okay." Rhys said quietly. "Helena is the best healer in the territory."

Elara didn't respond. She just stood there, staring at the closed door, her face blank with shock.

"Why don't you sit down?" Rhys guided her toward a bench against the wall. "I'll get you some water."

He walked out and I was left alone with her. The silence that reigned between us was so loud. I could feel her awareness of me. She knew I was watching her but was choosing not to acknowledge me.

"Elara." I said her name softly.

She didn't respond.

"I know you recognize me."

Still nothing.

"You're going to pretend I don't exist?"

Finally, she turned to face me. Her eyes were dry but there was a tempest of fury and pain raging behind them.

"Now is not the time."

"When is the time? When were you planning to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" She laughed bitterly. "I don't know you. Remember?"

"Stop it." I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "Stop pretending. Stop lying about her."

"Her?" Elara's expression flickered. "What about her?"

"She's mine, isn't she?"

Elara's face went completely blank. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't." I sighed desperately. "Don't do this. I need to know. Please. Is she my daughter?"

Returning footsteps sounded and I glanced back to see Rhys returning with the water.

Elara leaned in close, so close I could see the tears she was refusing to let fall.

"You don't have a daughter." She whispered. "You made that very clear five years ago when you walked away."

She pulled back just as Rhys appeared. The mask slid back into place so seamlessly that I almost wondered if I had imagined the whole exchange.

"Here." Rhys handed her the water. "Small sips."

"Thank you." Her voice was warm when she spoke to him. Everything it hadn't been when she spoke to me.

I watched them together. Watched Rhys hover over her with infuriating concern. Watched her lean into his comfort like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And I realized with devastating clarity that I had lost her.

I had lost her five years ago when I walked away. I had lost her every day since then when I chose silence over truth. And I was losing her right now, watching her turn to my brother for the support I should have given her all along.

The healer's door opened and Helena stepped out.

Elara shot to her feet. "Is she okay? Can I see her?"

Helena held up a hand. "The child is stable. I managed to suppress the shift. But this is only temporary. Her wolf will try again and again until it succeeds."

"What does that mean?" Elara's voice shook. "What wolf? What happens when it succeeds?"

Helena looked at me, then at Rhys, then back at Elara.

"It means we need to find her father." Helena said slowly. "A half-blood's first shift is dangerous under normal circumstances. But Lily's wolf is unusually strong. It's responding to something in her bloodline."

"What does her father have to do with anything?"

"Because the father's presence can stabilize a young wolf. His blood, his voice, his proximity can ease the transition." Helena's eyes bored into Elara's. "Without him, the next shift could kill her."

Elara gasped and swayed on her feet. Rhys caught her, steadying her against his chest.

"Then we find him." Rhys said firmly. "Whoever he is, wherever he is, we will track him down and we drag him back here."

"That won't be necessary,"a voice came from behind us.