The walls of the safe room felt like they were caving in. The word "murderer" rang in my ears. I almost forgot how to breathe.
"Selina..." Finn started, uncharacteristically softly given the way he had burst into my life.
"No..." I started. The static hummed loudly in my mind. Angrily, demanding answers I wasn't sure I was ready for. I checked the door lock and began stuffing supplies into a duffel bag - clothes, dry food, bottled water, knives, medicine and bandages. "That's absurd. My mother was not murdered..."
"Alpha, she was indeed - in order for Kaelin to take over the Blackwood pack, he killed your mother so he could take her place. And now he is coming for you - the only person who could stop him," Elias explained frantically. "Which is why we need to get you out of here."
I felt like I was losing my mind. The stench of earth, blood and sweat was overwhelming in the tight, claustrophobic space. Elias was panicking in a corner now, crying hysterically, physically overwhelmed by the fear of the situation.
Murdered? My mother was a florist who died in a sterile hospital bed while I was a baby. That's what Karina told me. That's the only truth I own. This... this man in the corner, this 'Elias,' is talking about queens and coups like we're in a bad Renaissance fair. It's a lie. It has to be.
"Elias - calm down, I can't concentrate," the demand came out once again with that authoritative haze that smelled like burnt ozone and silver. He immediately shifted, straightening himself up, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes.
"My mother was a florist, not some cult leader... She died in the hospital when I was a baby after being hit by a car..." My whole life this is what Aunt Karina told me. I was beginning to question everything. Was what they were saying true? Was Karina even really my aunt? Confusion and doubt flooded my senses.
"Not a cult Alpha, our Pack, our family of wolves. You are the heir, the legacy of the Blackwood pack," Elias tried to explain. Finn shot him a look, anger, disgust, betrayal all at once. Elias immediately cowered back to the corner.
"Wolves? What the fuck are you talking about? Are you insane?" What absolute tosh. These men were clearly crazy. Maybe they had escaped from a nearby lunatic asylum....
The noise above our heads was sudden. I sensed six heartbeats. I could hear the sound of heavy boots destroying the life I had built for myself, searching for something I prayed they would not find - me.
The static came through clearer now. Listen to them Selina. They are telling you the truth whether you are ready or not.
"How are you even standing?" I demanded of the man I'd had to drag into my cabin not even thirty minutes before.
"Our wolves, they heal us. Look." He gestured to Finn's face. "You cut him, deeply. Wipe away the blood."
I leaned forward and with my sleeve and cautiously wiped the blood from Finn's face. I watched in a trance as the jagged red line of the wound pulled itself together, the skin knitting with an unnatural, silver-white glow until it was as smooth as marble - like nothing had ever happened.
I backed away until I felt the cold of the stone wall against my back, my face twisted in fear.
"But... how? I cut you! Why is there no mark?" I demanded, my voice trembling, yet the air once again thickened with my authority.
Finn's golden eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness. "There are no scars for us, Selina. Not from a simple blade. Our bodies don't allow the weakness of slowly healing."
This. Could. Not. Be. Happening. I was dreaming. I was going to wake up and have a right laugh at myself about this stupidly elaborate story.
"There's more." Elias cleared his throat, glancing towards me then looking straight back down at the floor as if his gaze on me was forbidden.
"Kaelin wasn't just a rival; he was Adelaide's trusted advisor. He betrayed our pack for a "forbidden power" - the same power he thinks is hidden in your blood," Alpha." His voice cracked as he spoke.
My blood ran cold but when Finn spoke it nearly froze.
"He didn't just kill her. He tried to drain her. He wanted the Silver Spark for himself. But the Spark died with her... or so we thought, until I smelled you in the woods."
Smelled me? What the...
"You are one of us Selina. Let us protect you. We need to get out of here," Finn told me sincerely, his glowing eyes pressing into mine with a certainty that made my heart flutter but left my head feeling more confused than ever.
We can trust them. They are kin. The static told me but I still wasn't convinced.
"But... I'm human..." I stuttered.
"No Selina." Finn told me. He looked me dead in the eyes. His voice didn't hit my ears; it erupted inside my mind, a deep, resonant hum that bypassed my senses and spoke directly to my soul. I froze, mouth gaping, body cold.
Did you ever wonder why you lived like this? Why you had such strict rules? Why you weren't like other girls? How you survived like this? Your stronger instincts and senses, your power, your need to hunt. You are one of us.
I gasped, collapsing to the floor. The truth hit me in waves. The way Elias had said my claws were itching to burst out, my feral need to hunt, to kill, my predatory need. The static....
Yes Selina. I am your wolf. I am a part of yourself you can no longer deny. They are our Kin Selina. Trust them. Danger is imminent, we need to leave now.
"Karina, she used herbs as scent blockers to keep you safe, she felt you would be safer if you had no idea who you were," Elias explained softly.
Every single thing about my life suddenly made sense. My aunt had lied to me my whole life, so who even was I?
Suddenly the rumbling above quietened, the creak of the trap door sending a shiver down my spine, cold sweat coating my neck.
"I promise I will tell you everything, Alpha." Elias was practically begging now. "But we have. To. Go. Now!"
I reached up to detonate the explosives lining the tunnels. What had felt like overkill not long before suddenly felt essential. There was a loud boom and the earth rumbled as the explosives went off, and the tunnels began to collapse. The smell of disturbed earth, burnt ozone and copper filled the atmosphere. I pushed open the door to the tunnels on the other side.
Suddenly, my ears rang, the static in my head cleared, and I froze as I felt the intrusion. It was similar to what Finn had done but without that underlying trust that I had felt grounding me in his eyes.
A voice like silk dragged over broken glass cut through the static - chilled, predatory, and dangerously intimate. "The Hound is a beautiful liar, isn't he? He hides his bloodstained hands behind a 'mate' bond. Ask him, Little Alpha... how many of your kin did he hunt before he found you?"
Mate bond... the word mate had surfaced between us a few times now. That seemed to be the reason he stopped trying to kill me and supposedly was trying to save me. I gasped, holding my hand to my ead as I stumbled, eyes locked on Finn's, filled with horror.
Finn is our fated mate Selina. I felt it the second our eyes met - and so did you. The static pressed through the intrusion, grounding me.
He looked at me, almost like he knew what was happening.
"Selina? Who is in there?" he asked quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist as if he had anticipated my stumble.
Who are you? I pushed back desperately hoping it would work. This was not something I had ever experienced before.
My name is Malakai. I'll be ready when you are my love. You know how to find me.
Finn's hand reached for mine, the heat of his skin promising protection, but Malakai's whisper still echoed in my skull. Was I being rescued by my soulmate, or was I just being traded from one executioner to another? Was I falling into the arms of my destiny, or was I simply walking to a different silver cage?