Chapter FourThe Alpha’s Hidden Enemy
1073 Words
Elara couldn’t sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the little girl’s voice.
Cassian.
It shouldn’t have been possible.
She had never met him before the night he attacked her village.
At least, that’s what she believed.
Yet somehow, a memory from her childhood knew his name.
Elara sat on the edge of the enormous bed in the guest chamber, staring at the pendant Cassian had found.
The crescent.
Three wolves.
And the words:
REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE.
A soft knock came at the door.
Elara immediately stood.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
She reached for the dagger hidden beneath her pillow.
The door opened.
Cassian stepped inside.
Elara relaxed slightly.
Only slightly.
“What do you want?”
“To talk.”
“It’s midnight.”
“I know.”
“Then you have terrible timing.”
His expression remained serious.
“I found something.”
Elara crossed her arms.
“Another mysterious object?”
“No.”
He placed a folded piece of parchment on the table.
Elara opened it.
Her eyes widened.
It was a list.
Names filled the page.
Some had been crossed out.
Some had dates beside them.
And beside the final name was hers.
ELARA VALE — LOCATE AND ELIMINATE.
Her stomach twisted.
“Who wrote this?”
“We don’t know.”
“You said the Raven Court was behind it.”
“I said they might be.”
“So you don’t actually know anything.”
Cassian’s eyes narrowed.
“I know someone has been searching for you for years.”
“Why?”
“That is what we’re trying to discover.”
Elara stared at the list.
“How did you get this?”
“One of my spies found it beneath the eastern archives.”
She looked up.
“You have spies inside your own palace?”
“I have enemies inside my palace.”
The answer sent a chill through her.
Cassian walked toward the window.
“Three years ago, my mate disappeared.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it matters.”
He turned toward her.
“She discovered that someone in the royal court was selling information about our kingdom to an enemy pack.”
“And?”
“She was going to expose them.”
Elara’s eyes narrowed.
“But she disappeared before she could.”
Cassian nodded.
“Three days later, everyone was told she was dead.”
“You didn’t believe it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I felt her.”
Elara frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Werewolves have a bond with their mates. Even after death, some connections remain.”
His voice became quieter.
“For three years, I felt nothing.”
Elara’s heart skipped.
“And then?”
Cassian looked directly at her.
“The moment I saw you in the village, the bond returned.”
Silence.
Elara looked away.
“That doesn’t mean I’m your mate.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you keep looking at me like you expect me to become someone else?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
Elara stepped closer.
“Who was she?”
“My mate?”
“Yes.”
He hesitated.
Then he said her name.
“Lysandra.”
Elara’s breath caught.
The name sounded strangely familiar.
She closed her eyes.
A flash of silver.
A forest.
A woman’s face.
Then—
A scream.
Elara opened her eyes.
Cassian was watching her.
“You remembered something.”
“Maybe.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
She pressed her fingers against her temple.
“There was a woman.”
“Lysandra?”
“I couldn’t see her clearly.”
Cassian moved closer.
“What else?”
“She was afraid.”
“Of whom?”
“I don’t know.”
Elara suddenly remembered another voice.
A man’s voice.
Cold.
Angry.
She cannot survive.
Elara opened her eyes.
“There was someone else.”
Cassian’s expression changed.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he say?”
Elara swallowed.
“He said…”
She stopped.
Cassian waited.
“He said I couldn’t survive.”
The room went silent.
Cassian’s face hardened.
Then a crash came from outside.
He immediately reached for his sword.
“Elara, stay here.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Elara.”
“You’re not leaving me alone after telling me someone wants me dead.”
He looked annoyed.
She glared back.
Finally, he sighed.
“Stay behind me.”
They left the room.
The palace was silent.
Too silent.
They reached the main staircase.
A guard lay unconscious on the floor.
Elara’s heart raced.
Cassian crouched beside him.
“Alive.”
Then he noticed something.
A black feather.
The same symbol.
“The Raven Court,” Elara whispered.
Cassian stood.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“This isn’t their work.”
“How do you know?”
He pointed toward the floor.
There were footprints.
One set.
Leading toward the restricted wing.
Cassian’s expression became grim.
“Because whoever did this wanted us to think it was them.”
They followed the footprints.
The restricted wing was locked.
Cassian pushed the door open.
Inside was a narrow chamber filled with old books and dusty shelves.
At the far end stood a wooden table.
Something was sitting on it.
A small wooden box.
Elara approached.
Cassian caught her arm.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wanted us to find it.”
He carefully opened the box.
Inside was a photograph.
Not a painting.
A photograph.
Elara stared.
There she was.
But she wasn’t alone.
She was a little girl, perhaps four or five years old.
Standing beside her was a young Cassian.
And between them stood Lysandra.
Elara’s mouth fell open.
“That…”
Cassian stared at the photograph.
His face had gone completely pale.
“I never took this.”
Elara looked at the little girl.
Then at Cassian.
Then at the date written on the back.
Twenty years ago.
Her hands began to shake.
“I was four.”
Cassian slowly turned the photograph over.
There was one final message.
THEY LIED ABOUT HER DEATH.
A sound came from behind them.
They turned.
The door slammed shut.
And a voice whispered from the darkness:
“You were never supposed to find this.”
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