They Were Looking For Me
1224 Words
My heart stopped.
We finally found her.
The man’s eyes were still fixed on me.
I couldn’t understand what he meant.
I had never seen him before.
I had never seen any of them before.
“Who are you?” Kael demanded.
The man smiled.
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Kael stepped forward.
The warriors behind him immediately spread out, forming a line between the strangers and the rest of us.
Selene moved closer to me.
“Liana, stay behind me.”
I almost laughed at the irony.
For most of my life, Selene had protected me from everything.
But this time, I wasn’t sure either of us could protect the other.
Kael’s voice became colder.
“You crossed into Mooncrest territory without permission. You stole supplies from my villages. Give me one reason I shouldn’t consider you enemies.”
The stranger looked around.
“Because we didn’t come here for your territory.”
His eyes returned to me.
“We came for her.”
Selene’s grip tightened around my arm.
“Who is she?”
The man didn’t answer.
Kael did.
“You don’t get to come into my territory and demand anything from my pack.”
The stranger chuckled.
“Still as arrogant as your father.”
Kael went completely still.
“What did you say?”
“I knew your father.”
A strange silence fell over the group.
Kael’s expression changed.
“My father died years ago.”
“I know.”
The man tilted his head.
“But before he died, he spent a very long time looking for something.”
Kael stared at him.
“What?”
The man smiled.
“Or someone.”
I felt a chill run through me.
Kael took another step.
“Who sent you?”
“No one.”
“Then who do you answer to?”
The man didn’t respond.
Instead, he looked at me again.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew something about me that I didn’t know about myself.
“Why are you looking for me?” I asked.
Kael glanced at me.
“Liana, don’t.”
But I needed an answer.
The stranger’s smile disappeared.
“Because you were never supposed to be here.”
My stomach twisted.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your family made a mistake.”
Selene stepped forward.
“Don’t talk about her like that.”
The stranger looked at her for the first time.
“Your family?”
His expression became almost amused.
“You still don’t know.”
“Know what?”
He didn’t answer.
Kael’s voice cut through the tension.
“Enough.”
He raised his hand.
The guards moved forward.
The strangers immediately reached for their weapons.
“Don’t,” the man warned.
Kael didn’t stop.
The first attack happened so quickly that I barely saw it.
One of the strangers lunged toward the nearest guard.
The guard blocked him.
Another charged from the side.
Then the entire clearing erupted.
Selene grabbed my arm.
“Run!”
We moved toward the village.
I looked back.
Kael was fighting two men at once.
He moved quickly, but he wasn’t trying to kill them.
He was trying to force them back.
“Keep going!” he shouted.
We ran.
Then I heard a scream behind me.
I turned.
One of the strangers had broken through the guards.
He was coming straight toward us.
Selene pushed me behind her.
“Stay back.”
The man lifted his weapon.
Before he could reach us, another figure slammed into him.
Kael.
He knocked the man to the ground and stood between us.
“Are you both hurt?”
Selene shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
Kael looked at me.
“And you?”
“I’m fine.”
His eyes stayed on me for another second.
Then he turned back toward the attackers.
“Take Selene to the village.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I’m staying.”
“Kael—”
“Selene.”
His tone left no room for argument.
She grabbed my hand.
“Come on.”
I followed her, but something didn’t feel right.
There were too many of them.
They hadn’t come to attack the village.
They hadn’t come to fight Kael.
They had come for me.
And somehow, they had known exactly where to find me.
We reached the village square.
The guards had begun pushing the strangers back toward the forest.
Then I noticed something.
The man who had spoken to us was gone.
“Where is he?”
Selene looked at me.
“Who?”
“The leader.”
Before she could answer, I heard footsteps behind us.
I turned.
The same man stood at the end of the street.
Alone.
He wasn’t carrying a weapon.
He simply stood there, watching me.
“Come with me, Liana.”
Selene stepped in front of me.
“No.”
The man sighed.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
His eyes moved over her face.
“You really don’t know.”
“Know what?”
He looked at me again.
“Ask your mother.”
My breath caught.
My mother.
The word felt strange.
I hadn’t heard anyone mention her in years.
She had died when I was young.
At least, that was what I had always been told.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
The man’s expression changed.
For the first time, he looked almost sympathetic.
“Everything.”
Selene stared at me.
“Liana…”
I couldn’t move.
The man took a step backward.
“Tell her, before it’s too late.”
Kael suddenly appeared behind him.
The stranger looked over his shoulder.
Kael was furious.
“Get away from them.”
The man’s smile returned.
“You’re already too late, Alpha.”
He shifted.
His body changed in an instant.
A black wolf stood where the man had been.
It turned toward the forest and disappeared between the trees.
Kael didn’t chase him.
Instead, he looked at me.
“What did he say?”
I couldn’t answer.
Selene answered for me.
“He mentioned her mother.”
Kael’s expression tightened.
“What about her?”
I swallowed.
“He said I should ask her.”
Kael stared at me.
“Ask her what?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time since we’d arrived, I saw something close to fear in Kael’s eyes.
Not fear of the strangers.
Fear of what they might know.
“Kael,” I said quietly, “what aren’t you telling me?”
He didn’t answer.
That silence was worse than anything the stranger had said.
Selene looked between us.
“Kael?”
He finally spoke.
“We’re going back to Mooncrest.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because whatever this is, it isn’t just a border problem anymore.”
His gaze settled on me.
“It’s about you.”
My chest tightened.
I looked toward the forest where the strangers had disappeared.
They had come looking for me.
They knew my mother.
They knew Kael’s father.
And somehow, their story began twelve years ago.
I had spent my entire life believing I knew where I came from.
For the first time, I wasn’t sure that I did.
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