He led me through dense forest, winding between boulders and old trees that hadn't been disturbed in decades.
No trail or scent markers, just wild silence. We stopped at the side of a steep ridge where a moss-covered cabin leaned against a cliff wall.
"Your secret den?" I asked.
"Only place no one ever came looking."
He helped me inside, and the moment the door closed, I sank to the wooden floor.
He knelt beside me, checking the bandages on my arms without asking for permission. His hands were careful, gentle in a way I didn't know I still remembered.
"You shouldn't have shown up," I said, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
He stilled. "Why not?"
I looked at him then, at the lines around his eyes and the grief still tucked into the corners of his mouth.
"Because you never came back for me back then."
"I didn't think I was allowed," he answered simply. "After I heard you married into Dravenmere… I thought you found something better."
I laughed dryly, then flinched. The sound hurt my throat more than I expected. "Nothing about that bond was better. He left me burning, Sylion."
His face darkened, but he didn't speak. I curled into myself and pulled my knees close.
"I'm pregnant for him."
Sylion didn't respond at first as silence descended between us, until I couldn't breathe.
"Oh, really?" he finally said, voice rough as his eyes flickered down to my belly in surprise.
"Yes... And Alaric wanted me to abort it because of his mistress!" I wailed.
"I'm sorry Wen, I should have appeared long ago."
"It's fine," I murmured. "You can't be blamed for my misfortune."
"Hmm. You're getting rest," he said firmly, standing. "And you're not leaving until you can walk without bleeding."
I sat up slowly, ignoring the way my ribs screamed. Sylion still had that trait in him--someone who talked less, preferring to comfort you with presence rather than words.
I guess people don't change that easily.
"Why are you helping out now?" I asked, knowing nothing is for free anymore in this world.
He turned away from me, opened a small cupboard, and pulled out a folded blanket and placed it on me. "Because you're not just some girl I once knew."
I watched him without answering.
Sylion then moved across the cabin again, took a faded cloth bundle from an old drawer and brought it to me.
"I need you to see something first," he crouched beside me.
He opened the cloth carefully, revealing a carved crest burned into dark wood. A symbol I didn't recognize, a six-pointed flower surrounded by curved blades.
"What is this?"
"It belonged to your mother."
I blinked. "My adoptive mother—?"
"No," his voice dropped. "Your real one, the last Healer Queen of Velmira."
I stared at the crest, then back at him.
"I don't understand."
"I know," he replied quietly and I stared at him to continue.
"You were just a child when it happened--the Velmira line was wiped out. At least, that's what the Council was told but one child went missing. Hidden by one of the elder healers, smuggled out the night the capital burned."
"No," I shook my head. "I was thrown away by my adoptive family because they found their real daughter. I was..." I paused. "I was no one—"
"You were a stolen noble," Sylion cut in. "And the people who raised you knew but kept you caged in their lies."
"No," I snapped. "You don't get to say that."
"I'm not trying to manipulate you, Elowen, I'm trying to tell you the truth. You asked why I'm helping you... it's because the blood in your veins was meant for the Drezova Moon Relic!"
He paused for a heartbeat before continuing.
"And you've been suffering, hated, and hunted… not because you're weak but because you were never meant to live chained like this."
The crest burned into my mind. I wanted to scream at him, to throw it across the room saying he was lying, but my hands shook as I clutched it.
"You're wrong..." my voice was already breaking. "...If I was meant for anything more, then why did they leave me there? Why didn't anyone come for me?"
"They tried, Wen. But the moment you vanished into Morvain hands, they erased every trace of your identity. You were tucked away in plain sight — renamed, recoded, locked behind a life that didn't belong to you."
My fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket. "You're lying."
"I wish I was."
I curled in on myself, every muscle straining to hold something in, or maybe hold something together.
"I was a maid for people who hated me, bled for a mate who let me burn and begged for love that was never real. And now you're saying I was… a queen's daughter?"
Tears stung the backs of my eyes.
"It doesn't mean anything, Sylion. Or changes anything. My mother's dead, home's gone and I have no pack!"
He said nothing. Because what could he say?
I looked up slowly. "And if this is true… why now? Why wait until I'm broken to tell me who I was?"
"Because I just found out as well," Sylion muttered. He looked at me for a long time, then nodded. "You know what, let's keep you safe first."
I nodded slowly but we didn't get long. The scent hit us both at the same time--sharp, and full of hostility.
"Scouts," Sylion hissed. "Dravenmere."
He stood, crossed the cabin in two strides, and flipped the rug near the hearth to reveal a floor hatch.
"Get in, now."
I stared at it. "What if they find the blood trail?"
"I'll handle it."
I crawled in, biting down a groan as my muscles protested. The hatch closed over me and darkness swallowed the space. Dust scratched my throat, and the cramped space forced my knees to my chest.
I listened as boots thudded on the porch.
"You're on Tharros land and this is a violation." Sylion's voice was calm.
"We're tracking a fugitive woman," one voice answered, deeper than the others. "She's dangerous and injured. You'll surrender her if you have her."
"I've seen no one," Sylion lied.
"But," another voice chimed in. "There's blood near the door."
There was total silence and then heavier steps, the creak of boots on old wood. I immediately held my breath.
"We're going to check," the deep voice said.
"You're not allowed to search without the Alpha's permission," Sylion replied sharply.
A beat passed, tense. Then, a long, low howl cut through the forest... Alpha summons. I could almost feel Sylion's smile through the floorboards.
"That's your answer, war council. You've overstepped," he sneered at them.
Footsteps retreated and a door opened. I closed my eyes, waiting to exhale. But then… one set of steps remained, lighter, more careful and closer.
The floor above me creaked and… the trapdoor clicked open.