Chapter 4 - THE BLOODLINE THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
Elara woke in a room she had never seen before.
Sunlight streamed through tall windows.
A fire burned in a marble fireplace.
Soft blankets covered her legs.
She sat up abruptly.
“Where am I?”
A woman sitting beside the bed smiled.
“You're safe.”
Elara stared.
“Who are you?”
“Dr. Miriam Vale.”
The woman wore a simple blue sweater and held a medical tablet.
“I'm a physician.”
Elara's heart raced.
“Did my father send you?”
Miriam shook her head.
“No. King Damian asked me to examine you.”
Elara looked toward the door.
“Am I a prisoner?”
Miriam's expression softened.
“No.”
“Then can I leave?”
“Of course.”
Elara stared at her.
The answer seemed impossible.
Damian entered a few minutes later.
He stopped at the doorway.
“May I come in?”
Elara blinked.
Nobody had ever asked permission to enter her room.
“Yes.”
Damian approached slowly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Confused.”
He nodded.
“Reasonable.”
She looked around.
“Where are we?”
“My residence in the northern territory.”
Her eyes widened.
“You brought me here?”
“You asked to leave. You lost consciousness before we reached the car. Dr. Vale examined you, and we brought you somewhere safe.”
Elara looked down.
“My father will be angry.”
Damian's expression hardened.
“Your father has other concerns.”
Miriam explained the initial medical findings.
Elara showed signs of chronic malnutrition and prolonged stress.
There were also indications that she had been given suppressive substances over time.
The exact compounds required further testing.
Elara stared.
“Suppressive?”
Miriam nodded.
“Substances that may have affected your wolf-born abilities.”
Elara's hands began trembling.
“My father said I was defective.”
Damian went very still.
“He said what?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“That my wolf never developed properly.”
Miriam exchanged a glance with Damian.
Then said gently, “Elara, your abilities may have been deliberately suppressed.”
Elara stared at her.
“Why?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Later, Damian met with his council historian.
An elderly wolf-born scholar named Gideon Ashcroft.
Gideon examined a photograph of Elara's eyes.
His hands began shaking.
“Impossible.”
Damian folded his arms.
“Explain.”
Gideon looked up.
“Silver eyes.”
“Yes.”
“There has not been a confirmed silver-eyed wolf-born in more than a century.”
Damian's jaw tightened.
“What does it mean?”
Gideon swallowed.
“It means she may belong to the Moonborn line.”
Damian stared.
“The royal healers?”
Gideon nodded.
“More than healers.”
He leaned forward.
“The Moonborn were the only bloodline capable of challenging an Alpha King's dominance without violence.”
Damian looked toward the window.
“And they disappeared.”
Gideon nodded.
“After the Silver Purge.”
May you like
Silence.
Then Gideon whispered, “If Everett Harrow knew what she was, he had every reason to hide her.”
