Chapter 2
1293 Words
Isla’s POV
The first thing I felt was pain.
A dull, throbbing ache in my skull, like someone was pounding from the inside. My body felt heavy, damp, and dull. And then there was the smell—something sterile, something clean. Not the wet and earthy scent of the forest. Not the river and not death.
I tried to blink my eyes open but white lights stung my eyes.
I was alive.
How?
My heart kicked into a wild rhythm as I tried to sit up, only to feel something tug against my arm. I gasped. An intravenous injection was fixed into my wrist, and a slow drip of fluid made its way from a hanging bag into my veins.
A surge of panic gripped me. Where was I? I asked out loud, looking around the room. The walls were white, and in the far corner was a monitor with a blinking green line. I had never seen such a place before. I had never been outside the pack borders. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Wherever here was.
My throat felt dry as I whispered, “Where am I?”
No answer.
I tried again, louder this time. “Where am I?”
The door suddenly clicked open. A gasp escaped my throat instantly, my heart beating in fear.
A man walked in, he had a white coat on, tall and clean-shaven, likely a doctor. But it was the man beside him who stole my breath.
He was tall—taller than anyone I’d ever seen. Broad-shouldered, with golden-blond hair that fell across his forehead like sunlight itself, he had followed him indoors. His jaw was carved, sharp and proud, and his blue eyes were like ice and fire at once. He wore a grey suit, but it couldn’t hide the strength in his body or the authority in his steps.
My voice shook as I clutched the bedsheet to my chest.
“Where… am I?”
He stepped forward slowly, like he didn’t want to frighten me.
“You’re safe,” he said. His voice was deep, smooth like riverstone. “You’re in a private hospital near my estate. My name is Leonidas. Leonidas Vale. The Alpha of the Regal Wolf Pack”
The doctor nodded. “She’s stable now, Mr. Vale. We’re just monitoring her for any signs of delayed trauma.”
Leonidas... Vale?
The name sounded familiar. Like something I’d heard in passing, maybe on the rare occasion someone brought back news from outside the pack lands.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “I—I was on a cliff. I fell… There were wolves. Someone tried to kill me.”
Leonidas pulled up a chair and sat beside me. “I know. My estate borders the northern coast. I was overseeing some construction work, a new water fountain and canal system when one of my workers saw your body in the water. You had washed up along the rocks. You weren’t breathing at first, but… somehow, we held you on and brought you here.”
The memories came rushing back in. The rejection. The humiliation. The cliff. My uncle’s wolves. My body was shaking in the cold river. I was no longer within the borders of the Moon Dragon pack.
I swallowed, suddenly very aware of how alone I was.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Though I must admit, I’ve never seen anything like it. That water is from a distant source… somewhere far beyond this region. You’re not from here.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never been outside my pack before.”
He leaned in slightly. “Which pack are you from?”
I hesitated. “The Moon Dragon Pack.”
He looked at the doctor, then back at me. “I’ve heard of them. Your region is… troubled.”
Troubled was an understatement.
I ran a hand through my hair. “Is this another pack?”
Leonidas gave a small smile. “It’s different here. We don’t operate the same way. This town is unified, a coalition of packs and wolf clans. We like to call it a country. My family is in charge of keeping the country together and overseeing the rest of its political affairs. My father calls him the Alpha Lord."
I blinked at him.
"A country? You mean something like Wolvenreach?"
"Yes," the handsome man said with a smile. "You are in Wolvenreach."
What! I remember now. Leonidas Vale! The magazines interviewed and the face I usually always saw on the news.
I couldn’t believe this was real. I couldn't believe he was real.
The doctor checked my pulse and nodded. “You’re free to go whenever you feel ready. Just a mild concussion and a few scratches.”
When he left, Leonidas stayed behind. Watching me. Not with suspicion. With something softer. Gentler.
“You must have questions,” he said.
“Just one,” I replied. “Why are you being kind to me?”
He smiled again, but it wasn’t smug. It was thoughtful. “Because you remind me of someone.”
I frowned. I expected him to say he was only being a reputable leader, that he was that this only as an act of charity and charismatism.
"I don't understand," I said slowly.
“My sister, Aurelia,” he said, his voice dropping. “You look exactly like her.”
Something inside me stirred.
“She’s been in a coma for almost two years. She fell ill suddenly… and we’ve kept her on life support ever since.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Seeing you… It brought something back to all of us. My mother was stunned. They’ve asked me to bring you home to them. But only if you’re comfortable.”
To come along?
My lips parted, but I didn’t know what to say. Nobody had ever asked me to stay before. Not without strings. Not with open arms.
“I have nowhere else to go,” I admitted.
Leonidas nodded. “Then you will come with me. We’ll make sure you’re cared for.”
It wasn’t until we drove up the long winding road to the Vale estate that I realized that I was living out of a fairytale.
The mansion was carved from white marble and crowned with silver domes. Waterfalls lined the entrance, and gardens bloomed in perfect circles. Staff moved with quiet efficiency. I was ushered inside, where a woman with dark brown curls and silver jewelry took my hands.
“Oh my stars,” she breathed. “Aurelia?”
Leonidas stepped in. “No, Mother. This is Isla. She’s… not Aurelia.”
But the resemblance shook everyone to their core. Even Leonidas’ father, broad and stately, his hands marked with years of work, stared at me as though I were a ghost.
They didn’t send me away.
They embraced me.
And I stayed.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t a burden. I wasn’t a stain. I was a guest. A friend. A sister. The Vale family treated me with care I had never known. We had dinners under glass chandeliers. I slept in a warm bed. I wasn’t watching. I wasn’t judged.
I was loved.
Weeks passed, and the bruises on my body healed.
But the bruise in my heart…
It returned with a vengeance the morning I collapsed on the bathroom floor.
It started with the nausea. The dizziness. The ache in my lower back.
I thought it was stress. But when I stared at the little stick in my shaking hands, everything fell apart.
Two lines. I was pregnant.
I dropped to the floor, my hands pressed over my mouth.
Cassian’s child.
- Writer
