When the Rejected Wolf Rules

The Velvet Claw

The red district of Lunaris City never slept.

Lamps burned in every window. Music spilled from open doors. Men and women in expensive clothes walked the streets like they owned them.

"Stay close," Silas said.

"I'm not going to get lost."

"You're going to get noticed. You have 'new girl' written all over your face."

I pulled my hood up. "Better?"

"Worse. Now you look like you're hiding something."

"I am hiding something."

"Then stop. In this place, secrets are currency. If you look like you have one, someone will try to steal it."

I lowered my hood.

"Fine. Lead the way."

The Velvet Claw was at the end of the street.

Red curtains. Gold trim. A sign with a wolf's paw print.

"Classy," I said.

"Lena built it from nothing. Twenty years ago, she was hiding in a basement. Now she owns half the district."

"Maris said she's dangerous."

"Maris says everyone is dangerous."

"She's not wrong."

Silas pushed open the door.

Inside, the air was thick with perfume and smoke. Women in silk dresses draped themselves over velvet couches. Men in suits whispered in corners.

A woman approached us. Tall. Dark skin. Gold earrings.

"We're closed for private parties," she said.

"We're not here for a party," Silas said. "We're here for Lena."

"Lena doesn't see anyone without an appointment."

"Tell her Silas Draven is here. With Rhea Vennier."

The woman's eyes flickered to me.

"Wait here."

She disappeared through a curtain.

Five minutes later, she returned.

"Follow me."

We walked through a maze of hallways. Red carpets. Gold walls. Doors with names on them.

The woman stopped in front of a door at the end.

"Go in. She's waiting."

I pushed the door open.

Lena was younger than I expected. Maybe forty. Dark hair. Sharp eyes. She sat behind a desk covered in papers.

"Rhea Vennier," she said. "You look like your mother."

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because it's true. Sit down."

I sat. Silas stood behind me.

"You have your mother's nose," Lena continued. "And her chin. But your eyes are different."

"My eyes are mine."

"Yes. They are." Lena leaned back. "Maris sent you?"

"Yes."

"She wants me to testify against the Court."

"Among other things. We also need the files. The ones that name Theron directly."

Lena laughed. "You don't ask for much, do you?"

"I ask for what I need."

"And what makes you think I have these files?"

"Kael told me. He said your father told him when he was drunk."

Lena's smile faded.

"Kael Blackthorn. The boy who rejected you."

"The same."

"And now you're working together?"

"We're not working together. He's chained in his father's basement, and I'm trying to save my own life."

"Those two things are connected."

"I know."

Lena stood up. Walked to a painting on the wall. A moon. Full and silver.

She pulled it aside.

Behind it was a safe.

"Your mother came to me, you know. Before she died."

"I didn't know."

"She wanted the same thing you want. The files. The testimony. The proof."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her it was too dangerous. That she should run. Hide. Disappear."

"She didn't listen."

"No. She said she was tired of running." Lena opened the safe. "So am I."

She pulled out a stack of papers.

"These are the originals. Every bribe. Every murder. Every cover-up. Theron's name is on every page."

She handed them to me.

I flipped through.

Alpha Theron Blackthorn. Payment of 1,000,000 to Judge Vane. In exchange for the rejection of Rhea Vennier.

Alpha Theron Blackthorn. Payment of 500,000 to Judge Maris Draven. Declined.

Alpha Theron Blackthorn. Authorization to eliminate hybrid threat. Target: Elena Vance.

I looked up. "Elena Vance is you?"

"Was me. Before I changed my name."

"He tried to kill you?"

"He killed everyone else who had the files. My family. My friends. Everyone except me." Lena touched a scar on her neck. "I've been hiding for twenty years."

"You don't look like you're hiding."

"I'm not hiding anymore. I'm waiting."

"For what?"

"For someone like you. Someone brave enough to use these files."

I held up the papers. "I'll use them."

"I know. That's why I'm giving them to you."

Silas and I left the Velvet Claw at midnight.

The streets were quieter now. The music had stopped. The lamps were dim.

"We need to get these to Maris," I said.

"She can authenticate them. But we still need Lena's testimony."

"She'll testify. She said so."

"People say a lot of things in the moment. Tomorrow, she might change her mind."

"Then we don't give her tomorrow. We take her tonight."

Silas stopped walking.

"You want to kidnap a brothel owner?"

"I want to protect her. If we leave her here, Theron will find out she gave us the files. He'll kill her."

"And if we take her with us, she'll be a target everywhere we go."

"She's already a target. At least with us, she has a chance."

Silas was quiet for a long moment.

"You sound like your mother."

"Is that bad?"

"No. It's terrifying."

We went back inside.

Lena was packing a bag.

"You're still here," she said.

"We're not leaving without you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Theron will kill you."

"Theron has been trying to kill me for twenty years. I'm still here."

"This time is different. This time, he has everything to lose."

Lena stopped packing.

"You're right," she said. "But I'm not going with you."

"Then where will you go?"

"Somewhere he won't expect."

"Where?"

Lena smiled. "I know a place. In the mountains. Near Maris."

"Then we'll take you there."

"I don't need protection."

"I'm not offering. I'm insisting."

Lena looked at Silas.

"She's stubborn," Silas said. "Like her mother."

"I noticed."

Lena grabbed her bag.

"Fine. But if we die, I'm haunting both of you."

We left the city before dawn.

Lena rode in front of me on a horse. Silas led the way. The papers were strapped to my back.

"How far to Maris's cabin?" I asked.

"Half a day. If we don't stop."

"We're not stopping."

The sun rose over the mountains. The snow had stopped. The world was white and silent.

"Tell me about my mother," I said to Lena.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything. How did she smell lies? How did she meet Silas's father? How did she die?"

Lena was quiet for a moment.

"Your mother was the bravest person I ever knew. She could smell lies from across a room. She used to say it was a curse, not a gift."

"Why?"

"Because knowing the truth is painful. Especially when the people you love are lying to you."

"Was my father lying to her?"

"Your father was lying to everyone. Including himself. He loved your mother, but he loved power more."

"Is that why she left him?"

"She never left him. He left her. When he found out she was a hybrid, he couldn't handle it. He married Elara to save face."

"And my mother?"

"She raised you alone. Until Theron found her."

"How did Theron find her?"

"Someone told him. Someone close to her."

"Who?"

Lena looked at Silas.

"Not me," he said. "I was a child."

"Not you. Your father."

Silas's horse stopped.

"My father?"

"Your vampire father. He was working for the Court. He told Theron where your mother was hiding."

Silas's hands tightened on the reins.

"You're lying."

"I never lie. Your mother taught me that."

Silas turned to me. His mismatched eyes were wild.

"I didn't know."

"I believe you," I said.

"My father—"

"Your father is not you. You're not responsible for his choices."

Silas looked away.

"I should have protected her."

"You were a child. You couldn't have protected anyone."

"I could have tried."

"You did try. You opened the vault. You kept the papers safe. You trained me." I touched his arm. "You're protecting her now. Through me."

Silas didn't speak. But he nodded.

We kept riding.

That night, we camped in a cave.

Lena slept. Silas kept watch. I sat by the fire, staring at the papers.

Theron Blackthorn. Murder of Elena Vance (attempted).

Theron Blackthorn. Conspiracy to commit g******e against hybrids.

Theron Blackthorn. Bribery of Moon Court judges.

Page after page. Crime after crime.

"This is enough to hang him," I said.

"Enough to try him," Silas said. "But the Court won't let it go to trial. They'll protect their own."

"Then we don't go to the Court. We go to the people."

"What people?"

"The packs. The hybrids. Everyone who's been hurt by Theron and the Court. If enough of them rise up, the Court can't ignore us."

"You're talking about a revolution."

"I'm talking about survival."

Silas sat beside me.

"You know, when I first found you at the border, I thought you were dead."

"I almost was."

"If you had died, I would have spent the rest of my life in that vault. Reading those papers. Wondering what if."

"What if what?"

"What if I had found you sooner. What if I had trained you harder. What if I had been the brother you needed."

"You're here now. That's what matters."

Silas put his arm around my shoulders.

"We're going to win this," he said.

"How do you know?"

"Because we have something they don't."

"What's that?"

"The truth."

I dreamed of Kael again.

He was still chained. But this time, he was smiling.

"You got the files," he said.

"How do you know?"

"I can feel it. The bond is lighter."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alive. That's enough for now."

"Kael—"

"Don't worry about me. Get the papers to Maris. Get Lena to testify. Destroy my father."

"What about you?"

"I'll find a way out. I always do."

The dream started to fade.

"Kael. I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Silas is my brother. My half-brother. Same mother."

Kael's eyes widened.

"That's... unexpected."

"I know. But it changes nothing. He's still my ally. And you're still—"

"Still what?"

I woke up.

The fire had died. Silas was gone.

Lena was sitting up, looking at me.

"You were talking in your sleep."

"What did I say?"

"You said his name. Kael."

I looked away.

"The bond is strong."

"Stronger than you want to admit."

I stood up. Brushed off my coat.

"We need to keep moving."

"The truth won't wait, Rhea. Neither will love."

I didn't answer.

Outside, the sun was rising.

And somewhere in the distance, I felt the bond pull.

Kael was still alive.

For now.