Bound by Two Alphas

Chapter 6: The Silverline Truth

I couldn't speak for a long time.

I sat on the fallen oak, blanket clutched around my shoulders, staring at the moonlit stream without seeing it. Eighteen years. Eighteen years of being told my parents died in a hunting accident. Eighteen years of being an orphan, an Omega, a nobody.

And now Ryder was telling me I was the last survivor of a murdered bloodline.

"Tell me everything," I said.

Ryder nodded slowly. "The Silverline bloodline was the oldest in werewolf history. They weren't warriors — they were *balance*. Their power kept the packs in check, prevented any single Alpha from growing too strong. They were peacemakers. Mediators." He paused. "And that made them a threat."

"To whom?"

"To anyone who wanted absolute power." His voice was bitter. "Kael's father, Aldric Blackwood, wanted to unite all the packs under his rule. The Silverline stood in his way. So he convinced the other packs that the Silverline was dangerous — that their power could be used to *control* other wolves, not just balance them. He spread fear. And fear, as always, was enough."

My hands were shaking. "He killed them."

"Not alone. He had help. My father—" Ryder's voice cracked, just barely. "My father, Alpha Aldric Thorne, was Aldric Blackwood's closest ally. He believed the lies. He joined the purge." His eyes were bright with old grief. "He realized the truth too late. When he discovered the Silverline wolves were innocent, that Aldric had manipulated him, he tried to stop the killing. And Aldric killed him for it."

I stared at him. "Your father was killed by Kael's father."

"Yes."

"And you've been planning your revenge ever since."

Not a question. Ryder didn't pretend it was. He met my eyes, and I saw the truth there — years of grief, rage, and cold, patient planning.

"I came to this forest looking for evidence," he said. "The neutral zone was where the purge happened. I thought if I searched long enough, I'd find something — a record, a grave, a trace of the Silverline I could use to expose the Blackwoods and rally the other packs against them." He paused. "Instead, I found you."

My mind was a storm. I thought of Mara — *if the wrong eyes see that coat, it will kill you* — and understood, finally, why the old healer had been so afraid.

Mara had known. Mara had always known.

"If Cassius finds out what I am," I said slowly, "he'll kill me."

"Yes."

"And Kael—"

"Kael would use you." Ryder's voice was hard. "If he discovers you're Silverline, he won't break the bond. He'll *exploit* it. Your power, amplified through the mate bond, would make him the most powerful Alpha in history. He wouldn't just rule the Blackwood Pack — he'd rule them all."

I felt sick.

The bond pulsed in my chest, golden and warm, and for the first time, I understood it for what it was. Not a gift. A leash. The Moon Goddess hadn't paired me with Kael out of love. She'd paired me with the son of the man who murdered my family.

*Why?*

The question burned in my chest, and there was no one alive who could answer it.

"I have to go back," I said. My voice sounded strange to my own ears — distant, hollow. "Kael will be looking for me."

Ryder caught my hand as I stood. His grip was warm, firm, and entirely different from Kael's possessive hold.

It was a request. Not a command.

"Elara. We'll figure this out. I have resources — people in my pack who remember the truth. We can protect you."

"You can't even protect yourself," I said. "You're an enemy Alpha on Blackwood's border. If Kael finds out you've been meeting his fated mate—"

"Then let him find out." Ryder's amber eyes blazed. "I'm not afraid of Kael Blackwood."

"You should be."

"Maybe." He didn't let go of my hand. "But I'm more afraid of what happens to you if you face this alone."

I looked at him — this enemy, this stranger, this man who'd given me coffee and a jacket and the first shred of hope I'd felt in eighteen years. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to believe he saw *me* — not my blood, not my power, not my usefulness as a weapon against the man who killed his father.

But I'd been burned by trust before. And the ashes of my parents' memory were still warm.

"Three nights," I said. "Same time. I'll be here."

I pulled my hand free, shifted, and ran.

And with every stride, one thought pounded through me, louder than the bond, louder than the wind:

*They didn't die in a hunting accident. They were murdered.*

*And the Moon Goddess chained me to the son of the monster who did it.*