The Truth I Buried
1083 Words
Elara’s POV
He wasn’t supposed to know.
I held Cael tightly against my chest, my breath shallow, my thoughts spinning out of control. His small arms wrapped around my neck, warm and trusting, but all I could feel was the burning weight of Kael’s gaze on me.
“You weren’t supposed to know,” I whispered again, but the words felt hollow in my mouth now.
Kael stood, bruised and broken, but taller than the room could contain. His chest was rising and falling fast, jaw tight, eyes burning, not with anger. Not yet.
With something worse. Realization.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. His voice was calm. Too calm. Like he was holding back a storm with every breath.
“I had no choice,” I said hoarsely. “You rejected me, Kael. You don’t remember, but you did. You stood in front of your whole pack and said you didn’t want me. That I was nothing to you.”
He flinched. “That wasn’t me.”
“No,” I said bitterly. “It was the curse. I know. But back then, I didn’t know the difference. All I knew was that the man I loved turned his back on me, and I was pregnant.”
Kael looked at Cael again, and something deep inside him cracked open.
“I… have a son,” he said, almost to himself.
I could feel Cael’s little heart racing against mine. He didn’t understand what was happening, but he could feel it. The tension. The pain in the air.
“I protected him,” I continued, voice shaking. “I ran because I had to. Your mother would’ve taken him from me the second she found out. And if not her… then Draven.”
That name shifted something in Kael. His brows furrowed. “Draven. Why does that name feel familiar?”
“Because he’s more than just a myth. He’s real and he wants Cael.”
Kael’s eyes snapped to mine. “Why?”
I hesitated.
This was the part I never wanted to say out loud.
“Because Cael… isn’t just any child,” I said softly. “He’s part of something ancient. Something dangerous and something powerful.”
I stepped backward, keeping Cael close. “He’s the reason I’ve stayed hidden. The reason I broke every law of blood magic to keep him safe. The reason I’ve been hunted.”
Kael moved forward a step, slow, like he didn’t want to startle us.
“I would never hurt him,” he said.
His voice cracked.
“I know,” I said. “But it’s not just about you. You’re not the only one with blood that matters. Cael’s blood is a prophecy and prophecy never ends peacefully.”
Kael ran a hand down his face and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “I feel like I’m drowning. None of this makes sense. The curse, the child, the bond I can't remember, but my wolf knows. He’s screaming that you’re mine. That the boy is mine. I feel it in my damn soul.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn’t afford to fall apart. Not now.
“You’re feeling the bond pulling through the cracks of the curse. It’s waking up,” I told him.
He looked up sharply. “So the curse is fading?”
“Yes. And that’s not good.”
“Why not?”
“Because the person who cast it, your so-called mother, she’ll feel it weakening too. She’ll know you’re remembering.”
Kael’s fists clenched on his knees.
“Seraphina,” he growled. “She did this to us.”
“She did,” I said, voice flat. “She erased your memories of me, severed the bond as much as she could, and made you believe you were free to choose someone else. That someone else being Nyra.”
Kael flinched again. “I don’t love Nyra.”
“I know,” I said.
Silence sat between us for a long beat.
Then, from my arms, Cael finally spoke. “Is he really my papa?”
I looked down at him, stroking his soft curls. “Yes, baby. He is.”
Kael’s face crumpled. He stood up slowly and took a cautious step forward. “Can I…?”
I hesitated.
Cael looked up at me, then nodded. “I want to talk to him.”
I set him down gently. He walked over, eyes wide, cautious but unafraid.
Kael knelt in front of him. Their eyes locked, mirror images of moonlight fire. For a moment, time stopped.
“What’s your name?” Cael asked, curious.
Kael swallowed. “Kael. I’m your father.”
Cael tilted his head. “Do you like cookies?”
Kael blinked. “What?”
“Because I do. But Mama says I have to eat stew first.”
I let out a shaky laugh, covering my mouth.
Kael smiled, a real one. “I like cookies too.”
“Then you can stay,” Cael said simply, grabbing his hand. “But you can’t make Mama sad, or I’ll bite you.”
Kael’s smile faltered. “That’s fair.”
He pulled Cael into his arms, holding him like he was something fragile and ancient. My heart broke and mended at the same time.
But the moment couldn’t last. Not here. Not in this fragile quiet.
I moved to the window and froze.
There was smoke.
In the distance, curling into the sky above the trees.
Too far for a fire from the village. Too controlled.
Rogues didn’t burn like that.Someone was sending a message or a warning.
Kael stood, sensing the shift in me. “What is it?”
“We have to go.”
“What?”
I pointed. “Someone’s here. I don’t know who, but it’s not safe anymore.”
Kael handed Cael back to me and moved toward the door. “Let me check it out…..”
“No,” I said. “You’re still weak.”
“I’m not letting anything happen to you orr to him.”
Cael looked between us, sensing the fear.
Then he said something that made the hair on my arms rise.
“I saw the fire in my dream last night,” he said. “It was chasing you, Mama. And it had red eyes.”
I met Kael’s gaze.
There was only one wolf with eyes like that.
Draven.
- Writer
