I shook my head,"Why should I believe you?"
Alpha Morvan's gaze softened,"Because the truth doesn't care if you believe, It will always find you."
He turned to the door but just before he left, he looked over his shoulder and said, "You still have time to choose your path girl, just don't let Veran choose it for you."
Then he was gone and I just stood there staring into the fire until the flames blurred.
My mind began to race fast, " Is Veran hiding something?" I thought out loud,
Of course he was but what did it matter?, he saved me and taught me how to survive and when I cried in my sleep, he would stay close without a word. I owe him everything but still a question grew inside me, question I couldn't ignore anymore.
Who is Veran really?
He came back just before dawn carrying two rabbits with dust of snow on his cloak. He dropped them on the table, his face blank.
"You're up early," he said.
"I had a visitor."
He froze. "Who?"
"Morvan."
He didn't move for a moment then he turned toward me slowly.
"What did he say to you?"
"Enough to make me ask," I said carefully. "Did you kill his sister?"
His jaw tightened,"I did what I had to do."
"That's not an answer."
His eyes burned into mine, "It's all you can get."
I stepped back. "You're hiding things from me."
"I'm keeping you safe."
"From what? The truth?" I snapped. Veran moved so fast I barely saw it, one moment he was by the table and the next he stood inches from me his eyes wild and glowing silver.
"You know nothing about this world you've stepped into," he growled. "There are rules here and there are enemies who won't hesitate to tear you apart, Alpha Morvan acts noble but he wants you because you're rare and because your blood has the mark of the Moon Pact."
I swallowed hard. "And you? What do you want from me?"
He became silent and then he stepped back he had this hard look on his face.
"You should rest," he said flatly. "Training starts at dawn."
....
The next few days were quite and cold, Veran spoke only when necessary and I didn't push him, but the space between us grew. I trained harder, faster and stronger, trying to clear my head but the confusion stayed whispering in the dark corners of my mind.
One night while Veran was gone again, I found a hidden compartment under the cabin floor.
Inside it was an old torn leather journal, i paused only a second before I opened it.
"Day 41: I still smell her blood on my hands,
I didn't mean to but I had to choose between her and the truth, she begged me not to look back but every night I still do. If the moon gives me another chance I swear I'll protect her this time no matter what I become."
The ink looked blurry on the page, I didn't know if the "her" was Alpha Morvan's sister or someone else but one thing was clear, Veran wasn't just running from the past, he was haunted by it and maybe he was trying to make it right.
The next day a messenger wolf came, not just any wolf. This one wore silver bands on its legs, the mark of the High Claw Council, the rulers of all northern territories.
Veran read the scroll in quietly then crushed it in his fist.
"What is it?" I asked.
"They've summoned you," he said tightly. "They know you've awakened."
"Why?"
He looked at me his eyes full of something like fear.
"Because they want to test your loyalty and if you fail…" He lowered his voice. "They'll tear you apart before Alpha Morvan gets the chance."
Two days later we stood before the council's stone fortress, a giant fortress carved into a cliff over a frozen lake. Guards lined the path, their eyes following us like wolves scenting prey, I didn't let them see me shake but deep down my heart was pounding hard.
Inside the council chamber was colder than outside, five stone chairs faced us and in them sat the alphas of the northern packs old, wise and harsh. In the center chair sat the one they called Elder Sigard, Alpha of the First Bloodline.
He looked down at me long and hard,
"So the bastard girl who rose from death," he said. Veran growled beside me but I raised my chin.
"I have a name,Delphine."
He laughed. "Not anymore, names belong to the past you are wolfblood now and creature of the Pact."
"Then test me," I said. "If that's what you want."
Alpha Sigard smiled. "Oh, we will but first, let see what kind of creature you really are."
He clapped once and from the shadows they dragged something out.
I froze, it was a girl no older than sixteen weak,bloody and chained.
"She's a spy," Alpha Sigard said. "Caught sneaking messages across the border."
"What do you want me to do?" I asked knowing the answer.
"Kill her."
My breath stopped."She's human."
"So were you."
"I won't kill an innocent girl."
"Then you fail."
Veran stepped forward. "There must be another way…"
Alpha Varric raised a hand. "Silence, oath-breaker."
He looked at me smiling wickedly.
"Choose girl! Show us your loyalty or die with her."
And then the girl looked up at me but I froze because I knew that face!.
It was my half-sister, Lady Vivienne's favorite daughter the one who poured hot tea down my back while smiling, the one who watched me die and laughed. She was bruised and shaking barely able to lift her head but I knew that face anywhere, Amalric…my half-sister the treasured jewel of the De Vargue family. The one my father adored and the one Lady Vievinne polished like fine jade. She would whispered in my ear, "You're just a shadow Delphine nothing more."
And now she was here in chains brought before me like a gify or a curse.