The Alpha's Forbidden Command
835 Words
The entire castle had gone silent.
Elara stood in the middle of the great hall, staring at the hundreds of hunters who had dropped to their knees.
She didn't understand.
Only minutes ago, they had been trying to kill her.
Now they wouldn't even look at her.
Kael walked toward the nearest hunter.
“Stand.”
The man didn't move.
Kael's voice became colder.
“I said stand.”
Still, the hunter remained on his knees.
His eyes were fixed on Elara.
“We cannot,” he whispered.
Kael's jaw tightened.
“Why?”
The hunter swallowed.
“Because she carries the blood of the First Moon.”
A murmur moved through the hall.
Elara looked at Kael.
“What does that mean?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he grabbed the hunter by his collar and pulled him to his feet.
“Who sent you?”
The hunter refused to speak.
Kael's eyes flashed silver.
“Answer me.”
“The Council.”
Elara frowned.
“What council?”
Kael released him.
“The Moon Council.”
The name seemed to carry weight.
Even the guards looked uncomfortable.
Elara stepped closer.
“Why would a council send people to kill me?”
“They didn't.”
Everyone turned.
The hunter looked at Elara.
“They sent us to bring you back.”
Kael's expression darkened.
“Where?”
The hunter hesitated.
“The Moon Palace.”
Elara felt a strange chill.
“What is the Moon Palace?”
Kael immediately said, “No.”
She turned toward him.
“No what?”
“You're not going there.”
“Why?”
“Because the moment they get you inside that palace, you won't belong to yourself anymore.”
Elara crossed her arms.
“I'm beginning to notice you have a habit of deciding things for me.”
Kael stepped closer.
“And you're beginning to understand why.”
“No. I understand that everyone knows something about me except me.”
Her voice cracked.
“My mother. My blood. This kingdom. You.”
Kael's expression softened.
“Elara”
“No.”
She stepped away.
“I want the truth.”
Kael stared at her.
“You're not ready.”
“I've spent my entire life being lied to. I think I'm ready for anything.”
Before Kael could answer, the enormous doors of the hall opened.
An elderly man entered.
He wore a long silver robe and carried a black staff.
Every wolf in the room lowered its head.
Kael didn't.
The man's eyes immediately found Elara.
“So,” he said quietly.
“The lost heir has awakened.”
Elara's heart began pounding.
Kael stepped between them.
“You were not invited, Elder.”
The old man smiled.
“You knew this day would come.”
Kael's hand moved toward his sword.
“Leave.”
The elder ignored him.
His gaze remained on Elara.
“Your mother hid you well.”
Elara stepped around Kael.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Elder Lucien.”
“Why do you know my mother?”
“Because I served her.”
Elara's eyes widened.
“Was she really a queen?”
Lucien nodded.
“She was more than a queen.”
He looked toward the silver markings on Elara's arms.
“She was the last woman who could command every wolf beneath the moon.”
Elara looked at her hands.
“And now I can do it?”
Lucien smiled.
“You can do much more.”
Kael's voice cut through the room.
“That's enough.”
Lucien looked at him.
“Why are you so afraid of her, Alpha?”
Kael's eyes hardened.
“I'm not afraid of her.”
Lucien chuckled.
“No.”
He looked at Elara.
“You're afraid of what you'll become if she remembers.”
Elara turned toward Kael.
“What does he mean?”
Kael said nothing.
Her frustration boiled over.
“What aren't you telling me?”
The bond between them suddenly tightened.
Elara felt his emotions rush through her.
Fear.
Guilt.
And a memory he had desperately buried.
A young Kael standing over a blood-covered battlefield.
Her mother's crown lying in the snow.
And Kael holding a newborn baby.
Elara gasped.
She stumbled backward.
Kael caught her.
“You saw it.”
She stared into his eyes.
“You killed my mother.”
Kael went completely still.
“No.”
“You were there.”
“I was.”
“You had her blood on your hands.”
His face twisted with pain.
“But I didn't kill her.”
“Then who did?”
Before Kael could answer, the lights in the castle suddenly went out.
A woman's voice echoed through the darkness.
“I did.”
Elara froze.
She knew that voice.
It was the voice from her dreams.
And then a single sentence followed.
“Your mother wasn't murdered, Elara.”
The darkness seemed to breathe.
“She was betrayed.”
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