She Gave Birth in the Snow With No Pack — Until the Alpha King’s Wolf Found Her Trail
CHAPTER 2 — THE WOLF THEY BURIED INSIDE HER Elara…
CHAPTER 2 — THE WOLF THEY BURIED INSIDE HER
Elara named her daughter Iris on the seventh day.
The name came from flowers.
Not noble flowers grown in palace gardens.
Wild irises.
The kind that grew between rocks where nothing was supposed to survive.
“That sounds appropriate,” Cael said.
Elara looked down at the sleeping baby.
“She already survived a mountain.”
Cael smiled.
“She has her mother’s temperament.”
“You’ve known me twelve days.”
“Long enough.”
Blackmoor Fortress unsettled Elara because it was too warm.
Too safe.
Her rooms had a lock only she controlled.
Fresh clothes arrived without anyone asking for payment.
Meals appeared three times a day.
Nobody removed them if she ate too slowly.
Cael knocked.
Every time.
Even though an adjoining door connected their rooms.
Elara bolted it every night.
Cael never complained.
That bothered her almost as much as possessiveness would have.
He made it difficult to distrust him.
Then Selene visited.
She found Elara in the library with Iris sleeping against her chest.
Selene was beautiful.
Tall.
Auburn-haired.
Strong enough that her warrior status could be smelled beneath the oil on her weapons.
She sat opposite Elara.
“So you’re the stray.”
Elara closed her book.
“I have a name.”
“I know.”
“Then use it.”
Selene’s eyes narrowed.
“I trained fifteen years to stand beside this king.”
Elara said nothing.
“I fought wars for Blackmoor.”
Nothing.
“I bled for this pack.”
“I didn’t ask you not to.”
Selene leaned forward.
“And you appear half-dead in the snow with another man’s child, and suddenly Cael looks at you as though the moon itself delivered you.”
Elara studied her.
“I don’t want your position.”
“You have it anyway.”
“I have not accepted anything.”
“You don’t understand how Alpha bonds work.”
“Apparently nobody thought I understood anything.”
Selene’s jaw tightened.
“He’ll tire of you.”
Elara lowered her eyes to Iris.
“Maybe.”
“The bond will weaken.”
“Maybe.”
“And then you’ll discover what happens when charity ends.”
That sentence struck exactly where Selene intended.
Elara waited until evening.
Then she found Cael in his study.
“I’m leaving.”
His back was toward her.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then that’s not a destination.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Cael turned.
“It matters to me.”
Elara felt anger rise.
“Your pack thinks I’m using you.”
“My pack thinks whatever people think when they’re bored.”
“Selene—”
Cael’s expression changed.
“She spoke to you.”
“She said what everyone is thinking.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m their Alpha.”
“You’re also the reason they’re afraid to say it.”
Cael crossed the room.
Then stopped before entering her space.
He had learned her boundaries quickly.
“Elara.”
His voice was quieter.
“I have waited twenty-nine years for this bond.”
She looked away.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“I know.”
“My entire life, every good thing has eventually disappeared.”
He said nothing.
“My mother.”
Her voice weakened.
“My place in Ashwood. My job. My home.”
She looked toward Iris.
“I will not let my daughter learn to depend on something that can be taken from her.”
Cael’s hands trembled.
It shocked her.
“I cannot promise nothing will ever hurt you.”
He swallowed.
“I rule a kingdom. There may be war tomorrow. I could die next winter. The mountain could fall into the valley.”
Despite herself, Elara almost smiled.
“But I can promise one thing.”
“What?”
“You will always have a choice with me.”
He extended one hand.
“Stay today.”
“Today?”
“Only today.”
“And tomorrow?”
“I ask again.”
“And if I say no?”
“I open the gate myself.”
Elara looked at his hand.
Then placed hers inside it.
The moment their skin touched, something slammed against the walls inside her chest.
Elara gasped.
Her knees weakened.
“What?”
Cael caught her.
“My wolf…”
She pressed a hand against her heart.
“I felt her.”
Cael’s eyes brightened.
“What did she do?”
“She moved.”
For the first time in seventeen years, Elara felt something alive behind the silence.
A large presence.
Angry.
Ancient.
Awakening.
The dreams began that night.
White marble halls.
Silver-haired women.
Moonlight entering through windows carved with unfamiliar symbols.
A winged wolf etched into stone.
Then fire.
Screaming.
Blood.
Every dream ended with a woman kneeling before Elara.
Her eyes glowed silver.
Remember who you are.
Elara woke screaming.
Maren listened to the description the following morning.
Then pulled an ancient volume from a locked shelf.
She opened it.
The winged wolf stared up from the page.
Elara stopped breathing.
“That.”
Her finger shook.
“That’s what I saw.”
Maren sat slowly.
“The Lunaris crest.”
“Who were they?”
“The First Pack.”
Maren’s voice dropped.
“The oldest Lycan bloodline in recorded history.”
“What happened?”
“The Alpha Council feared them.”
“Why?”
“Because their wolves could do things other wolves couldn’t.”
Maren looked at Elara.
“Heal magical wounds. Break corrupted bonds. Command ancient pack magic.”
“What happened to them?”
“They were exterminated twenty-five years ago.”
Elara’s stomach turned.
“Every one?”
“So history says.”
Silence.
Then Elara whispered:
“My mother.”
Maren nodded.
“She may have been a survivor.”
Elara understood instantly.
Ashwood.
Alpha Roark.
The night her wolf failed to appear.
“He bound me.”
“We don’t know.”
“Yes.”
Elara stood.
“He watched me shift.”
“He watched me fail.”
She remembered his face.
Not disgust.
Relief.
Before Elara could confront him, Roark arrived at Blackmoor.
He demanded her return.
Cael received him in the main hall.
Elara remained behind a stone pillar with Iris.
“She remains Ashwood,” Roark said.
“She was abandoned.”
“She left voluntarily.”
“Because your pack erased her life.”
Roark’s expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what she is.”
Cael’s wolf surged.
“I understand enough.”
“No.”
Roark suddenly looked exhausted.
“I bound her wolf.”
Elara stopped breathing.
Cael went dangerously still.
“Explain.”
Roark rubbed both hands over his face.
“Her mother came to Ashwood twenty-five years ago.”
Elara’s heartbeat thundered.
“She was pregnant. Injured. Terrified.”
“Lunaris?” Cael asked.
Roark nodded.
“The last survivor I ever saw.”
Elara covered her mouth.
“She begged me to hide the child.”
Roark continued.
“I buried her under another name when she died.”
Then he looked toward the pillar.
“I raised Elara as Ashwood.”
Elara stepped out.
“You made me nothing.”
Pain crossed his face.
“I kept you alive.”
“You let them beat me.”
“I know.”
“You let them starve me.”
“I know.”
“You watched people call me defective.”
Roark’s voice cracked.
“If your wolf had emerged, the Council would have sensed you.”
Tears burned Elara’s eyes.
“So you decided destroying me slowly was safer than letting them kill me quickly?”
“I decided badly.”
That answer silenced her.
Roark lowered his gaze.
“I was afraid.”
Elara wanted to hate him.
Part of her still did.
But hatred became complicated when monsters admitted they had once been frightened men making terrible choices.
“You failed me,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Roark looked directly at her.
“I did.”
Cael stepped between them.
“You will never claim authority over her again.”
“I came to warn you.”
Roark looked toward Cael.
“If that binding breaks, the Council will know.”
“Then they will come.”
“Yes.”
Cael smiled without humor.
“Good.”
Roark stared.
“You cannot fight every Alpha Council pack.”
“Watch me.”
Roark left.
That night, Elara stood with Cael beneath the fortress walls.
“My mother died to hide me.”
“Yes.”
“Roark destroyed my childhood to hide me.”
“Yes.”
“And now the Council may kill everyone here because of me.”
Cael turned toward her.
“No.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because the Council would choose that.”
He touched her cheek.
“You are not responsible for other people’s cruelty.”
Elara closed her eyes.
“My wolf is getting stronger.”
“I know.”
“I’m scared of what happens when she breaks free.”
Cael moved closer.
“Then I’ll be beside you.”
“You might not be able to control me.”
His expression softened.
“I don’t want to control you.”
“What if she’s stronger than your wolf?”
A slow smile appeared.
“Heron would probably be delighted.”
Elara almost laughed.
Then somewhere inside her, her wolf lifted her head.
And for the first time, Elara heard her clearly.
They are coming.
Three nights later, Iris screamed.
The bedroom window shattered.
Three Council operatives entered.
Their eyes glowed chemical green.
Elara backed against the wall.
The first reached for Iris.
Something inside Elara snapped.
The binding shattered.
Silver light exploded from her skin.
The fortress shook.
The operatives fell to their knees.
And inside Elara’s chest, something vast opened its eyes.
Her wolf had finally awakened.
