CHAPTER 3
2279 Words
CHAPTER THREE
The next morning, I woke up with the black feather still clutched in my hand.
For several seconds, I simply stared at it.
Then I remembered everything.
The ceremony.
The bond.
Kael.
His warning.
Someone wants you dead.
I sat upright.
My wolf stirred immediately.
Kael.
I shut my eyes.
“No.”
She ignored me.
Kael.
“Stop.”
She growled.
I threw the feather onto my bedside table and got out of bed.
Whatever was happening, I wasn't going to let one mysterious feather convince me that the man who had rejected me was somehow protecting me.
I had a wedding to survive.
Three weeks.
Three weeks until I became Rowan Blackthorn's Luna.
Three weeks until my life was officially tied to a family that suddenly felt like a stranger's.
I dressed quickly and headed downstairs.
The moment I entered the dining room, the conversation stopped.
My father looked up from his breakfast.
My mother sat beside him, reading through a stack of documents.
And Rowan was there.
He looked perfectly composed.
As if nothing had happened the previous night.
As if his brother hadn't returned from exile.
As if my wolf hadn't recognized another man as my mate.
“Good morning,” Rowan said.
I forced a smile.
“Morning.”
His eyes moved over me.
“You didn't sleep.”
“I did.”
“You look tired.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled faintly.
My father cleared his throat.
“Lyla, sit.”
I took the chair opposite Rowan.
My mother pushed a folder toward me.
“The wedding arrangements.”
I opened it.
Guest lists.
Ceremony details.
Clothing.
Travel.
Security.
Everything.
I stared at the pages without reading them.
“Where's Kael?”
The room went silent.
My father slowly lowered his cup.
“Why?”
“I was asking.”
“He left.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
I looked at Rowan.
He was watching me.
“Does he usually disappear like that?”
“He isn't usually here,” Rowan replied coldly.
I looked back at the folder.
“Right.”
My mother sighed.
“Can we please focus on the wedding?”
I closed the folder.
“Sure.”
She smiled.
“Good.”
Then she said the one thing I wasn't prepared for.
“Kael will not be attending.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“Why?”
“He was invited as a courtesy.”
“And?”
“He refused.”
Something inside me sank.
I told myself it was relief.
It wasn't.
Rowan reached across the table and touched my wrist.
I flinched.
He noticed.
His eyes narrowed.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“You've been strange since yesterday.”
“Maybe I'm nervous.”
“About marrying me?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“You don't need to be.”
I wanted to believe him.
I really did.
But my wolf was restless.
She wanted the man who had walked away.
The man I was forbidden to want.
I pulled my hand from Rowan's.
“I need coffee.”
I stood.
My father watched me leave.
I could feel his eyes on my back.
I didn't care.
I needed to breathe.
I found my mother in the hallway an hour later.
She was speaking to two pack officials.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“There you are.”
“What?”
“Your father wants you to accompany Rowan to the training grounds.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you're going to be Luna.”
“I know.”
“You need to understand pack affairs.”
“I understand.”
She smiled.
“Then go.”
I wanted to argue.
Instead, I followed Rowan outside.
The training grounds were already crowded.
Wolves sparred in the center while others watched from the edges.
Rowan walked beside me.
“You're quiet.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep being quiet.”
I stopped.
“Do you ever get tired of telling me what I'm doing wrong?”
He turned.
“I don't think you're doing anything wrong.”
“Then what?”
He stepped closer.
“You're distracted.”
“By what?”
His eyes hardened.
“You tell me.”
I stared at him.
“Kael?”
His jaw tightened.
I hadn't expected the name to affect him that much.
“You shouldn't say his name like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you care.”
“I don't.”
“Good.”
He walked past me.
I followed.
But the truth was becoming impossible to deny.
I cared.
Not because Kael was my mate.
Not only because of that.
I cared because he was hiding something.
And because I had the growing feeling that everyone else knew what it was.
By midday, I couldn't take it anymore.
I slipped away from the training grounds and returned to the house.
My father's library was empty.
I locked the door behind me.
If everyone refused to tell me the truth, I would find it myself.
I went straight to the oldest shelves.
Blackthorn history.
Territory records.
Bloodlines.
Wars.
Treaties.
I pulled out book after book.
Nothing.
Then I found a leather-bound volume hidden behind the others.
There was no title.
Only the crescent symbol.
My heart stopped.
The same symbol as the feather.
I opened it.
Most of the pages had been torn out.
But one remained.
A drawing.
A woman stood beneath a silver moon.
Dark hair.
Pale eyes.
And around her neck was the same crescent mark.
Underneath it were three words.
The First Blood.
I turned the page.
Blank.
I flipped backward.
Nothing.
I stared at the drawing.
Then I noticed something.
The woman had the exact same birthmark I had.
My fingers moved instinctively to the crescent beneath my collarbone.
“No.”
A sound came from behind me.
I spun around.
The library door was open.
Rowan stood there.
“What are you doing?”
I quickly closed the book.
“Reading.”
His gaze moved to the table.
“What book?”
“Nothing.”
He stepped inside.
“Lyla.”
“Why are you here?”
“I was looking for you.”
“Why?”
“Because you disappeared.”
I smiled.
“I'm allowed to walk.”
His expression hardened.
“What were you reading?”
“Nothing important.”
He reached for the book.
I grabbed it first.
His eyes narrowed.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Lyla.”
“Why are you so interested in it?”
“Because you shouldn't be reading things you don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
He said nothing.
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
“You know what this is.”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
His expression changed.
For the first time since I'd known him, Rowan looked genuinely afraid.
“Where did you find that?”
I held the book tighter.
“So you do know.”
He took a step toward me.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Lyla, I'm serious.”
“So am I.”
The library door opened again.
We both turned.
My father stood there.
His face went pale when he saw the book.
“Where did you get that?”
I stared at him.
“Now you want to know?”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“Everyone keeps telling me I'm about to become Luna. Everyone keeps telling me what a wonderful future I'm supposed to have. But nobody tells me why strange things keep happening around me.”
My father looked at Rowan.
Then back at me.
“You need to forget what you found.”
“Why?”
“Because it isn't your concern.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My name is in this.”
Silence.
My father's face changed.
I knew then.
There was something they weren't telling me.
Something enormous.
“What is the First Blood?”
My father didn't answer.
“Dad.”
Nothing.
“Tell me.”
He finally spoke.
“Go to your room.”
I stared at him.
“You can't be serious.”
“Lyla.”
“What is it?”
His voice became harder.
“Now.”
I dropped the book onto the table.
“You're all lying to me.”
Then I walked out.
I barely made it upstairs before I heard someone behind me.
I turned.
Rowan.
“What?”
He stopped several feet away.
“You shouldn't have found that.”
“Why?”
“Because now you're asking questions.”
“I have every right to ask questions.”
“You don't understand what you're involving yourself in.”
I laughed.
“That's exactly what Kael said.”
Rowan went still.
I realized my mistake.
“You talked to him.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“Lyla—”
“When?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“What does Kael know?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you scared?”
“I am not scared.”
“You are.”
He grabbed my wrist.
Hard.
“Stop asking about him.”
I stared at his hand.
“Let go.”
He did.
Immediately.
But his expression remained tense.
“I love you.”
The words caught me off guard.
I looked at him.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Then trust me.”
I wanted to.
But something about the way he said it made my skin crawl.
“Give me a reason.”
He didn't.
Instead, he walked away.
I watched him disappear down the corridor.
Then I whispered to myself:
“What are you hiding?”
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I sat beside the window, staring at the grounds.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
My thoughts wouldn't stop.
The book.
The mark.
My father.
Rowan.
Kael.
I touched the birthmark beneath my collarbone.
Why did that woman have the same one?
Why did the book carry the same symbol as the feather?
And why had my father looked terrified?
A sound came from outside.
I froze.
Something moved beneath my window.
I stood.
Then I heard a voice.
“Lyla.”
My heart stopped.
I opened the window.
Kael stood below.
I stared at him.
“What are you doing here?”
“Get away from the window.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
Something in his voice made me obey.
I stepped back.
A second later, an arrow tore through the open window and buried itself in the wall.
I screamed.
Kael moved instantly.
He reached the window in seconds and pulled me away from it.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
His eyes scanned me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the arrow.
His expression turned murderous.
Then he looked back at me.
“I told you.”
I swallowed.
“You said someone wanted me dead.”
“They do.”
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“Then tell me why you were outside my window.”
“To protect you.”
“Why?”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“Because you're my mate.”
My heart stopped.
He stepped closer.
“I rejected you because I had no choice.”
“Why?”
“Because if the pack knew the truth about you, you'd never survive.”
I stared at him.
“What truth?”
His gaze dropped to my collarbone.
To the birthmark.
Then returned to my eyes.
“You're not who they told you you are.”
A chill ran through me.
“What does that mean?”
Kael reached toward me.
His fingers stopped just short of my face.
For a second, I thought he might touch me.
He didn't.
Instead, he whispered:
“Your bloodline was supposed to have died twenty-two years ago.”
My breath caught.
“Why?”
“Because your mother was the last woman who carried it.”
I couldn't speak.
He continued.
“And the people who killed her family thought they killed the bloodline with her.”
My heart hammered.
“My mother?”
Kael's expression hardened.
“She didn't tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
“Your mother isn't the woman you think she is.”
Before I could ask another question, a howl erupted in the distance.
Kael immediately turned toward the sound.
His entire body went rigid.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“They found me.”
“Who?”
He stepped away.
“Stay inside.”
“Kael—”
“Lock the door.”
“Don't leave.”
His eyes met mine.
For the first time, the terrifying Alpha looked almost reluctant to go.
Then he said quietly:
“If I don't come back tonight, don't marry Rowan.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
He stared at me for one final second.
“Because your wedding is the reason they want you alive.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
I stood frozen beside the window.
And for the first time, I realized something far more terrifying than being mated to the wrong man.
My entire engagement might have been a trap.
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