The King's Shadow
The fortress walls pressed closer with every step, black stone rising like cliffs, their torches bleeding firelight across the halls. My pulse thrummed in my throat, too fast, too loud, but Ciaran's grip on my wrist never faltered. His stride was silent, predatory, but his touch had sharpened, as though the bond itself had pulled taut between us.
I hated that he noticed.
I hated more that I couldn't hide it.
The echo of Selene's lilac trail still clung to me, choking. I swore I could feel her breath at my ear, whispering those words again and again: Ask him, little sister. Ask your mighty King why your birth was hidden in shadows.
The corridor curved, narrowing, until Ciaran stopped. Not in his chamber. Not in the Great Hall. Instead he pulled me into a small alcove cut deep into the stone. Firelight from a single torch spilled across the walls, painting them with restless shadows. We were alone. No guards. No servants. Just him towering, silent and the storm crackling in the space between us.
"Look at me."
The command sliced through the silence.
I shook my head, fixing my gaze on the rough stone floor, willing my chest to steady.
"Elara." His voice dropped lower, darker, the kind of authority that could bend even Alphas. It rolled over me like thunder. "She said something to you."
My breath caught. I stayed still, but my pulse betrayed me, hammering against my ribs, begging to be heard.
His silver gaze burned hotter. "What did she tell you?"
The air felt too thin. I forced my chin up, my glare locking onto those molten eyes. "Does it matter? You'd believe her before me."
His jaw flexed, but he didn't flinch. He didn't deny it either. "I don't need her words to know her kind. She wields sweetness like a blade. She drips poison into silence."
My throat burned. Selene's last whisper curled back through my mind like smoke: Ask him why your birth was hidden in shadows.
Not a threat. A promise.
"She reminded me of what I've always wondered," I said, my voice raw. "That I don't know who I am. That my life… my past… was hidden."
His eyes sharpened, silver fire cutting through me. "Lies."
"Then why does it feel true?" The question burst out, jagged and desperate. "Why would anyone hide me? Why leave me in the shadows while she while Selene stood in the light?"
For the briefest moment, something flickered across his face. Not pity. Not weakness. Hesitation.
My chest tightened, cold and hot all at once. "What are you not telling me?"
The storm in his eyes grew darker, swallowing every flicker of light. His words came down like iron. "Enough. You are mine. That is all that matters."
It should have sounded like protection. Instead it felt like chains winding tighter.
The silence stretched, sharp as knives. My tongue burned with the words I wanted to hurl at him, but the bond tightened, holding me in its grip.
Before I could speak, a deep horn rolled through the fortress. The sound echoed across the stone, low and resonant, shaking the air itself. It was the call of the council the summoning of Alphas, Betas, and envoys. Judgment. Challenge.
Ciaran's eyes flicked toward the sound, unreadable, but his jaw clenched as though the fortress itself had bitten down on him. Slowly, he stepped back, the weight of his presence pulling with him. Yet his hand lingered a moment too long near my jaw, hovering, as if reluctant to let go.
"The council waits," he said at last. His voice was steady, iron carved into sound. His gaze bored into mine, heavy, unyielding. "And they will question everything."
Another horn blast thundered through the stone. Louder. Closer.
Ciaran turned toward the sound, his cloak sweeping like a shadow, his stride final. I followed, but my chest was burning, my mind caught on the whisper Selene had planted.
Not venom. Not cruelty. Not even the bond.
A question.
And the truth waiting to devour me was no longer whether the packs would accept me.
It was whether I could accept the answer.