MY ROGUE MATE IS THE ALPHA'S LORD

CHAPTER FIVE — The Brother Who Came Back

"Welcome, Princess Liana."

The words echoed through the broken hall, bouncing off cracked stone and empty arches.

I couldn’t breathe.

Princess.

The word felt foreign. Impossible. Wrong. Like it belonged to someone else’s life — not mine.

I turned slowly to Darius. He hadn’t moved. Every muscle in his body was locked tight, as if he were fighting something invisible.

"Kael." His voice was low, sharp, warning.

His brother smiled — cold, knowing, and sad all at once. "So you do remember me."

Darius’s hand drifted slowly toward the weapon at his hip.

Kael noticed instantly. "You still do that when you’re nervous. Same old habits."

"I’m not nervous."

"No?" Kael tilted his head. "Then why are you reaching for your sword?"

Darius didn’t answer.

I stepped out from behind him, heart hammering hard enough to shake my ribs. "Who are you, really?"

Kael’s silver eyes moved to me, softening just a little. "I told you. My name is Kael."

"And the rest?"

He bowed his head slightly. "Kael Blackthorn."

My stomach twisted tight. Same last name. Same silver eyes. Same powerful, heavy presence.

Darius’s brother. The one who vanished twelve years ago — the one everyone said was dead.

"You were there," I said, voice trembling but steady. "The night my family was attacked."

Darius moved closer. "Liana —"

"I need to know." I didn’t look away from Kael.

His smile faded completely. "Yes. I was there."

"What happened?"

Kael glanced at Darius — long, heavy, full of history I couldn’t see. "Ask your mate. He was there too."

Darius’s jaw set hard. "Don’t."

I turned to him. "You said you wanted me to know the truth. All of it."

"I do."

"Then tell me."

He stared at me for long seconds, then spoke slow and heavy. "That night, Kael was ordered to guard the western gate. He wasn’t there."

Kael laughed — bitter and sharp. "Oh, I was there. Until someone ordered me away. Someone high up."

"Who?" I asked.

Kael’s eyes narrowed. "The same person who ordered you away, Darius."

Silence fell — thick, suffocating. Darius said nothing.

"Who?!" I demanded, frustration rising hot and fast. "Why does everyone speak in riddles? Why does everyone keep acting like I should already know every secret in the world?"

Kael studied me carefully. "Because you truly don’t remember anything… do you? Not even the night you were born."

"I was a baby," I whispered.

"Exactly." He stepped closer. Darius moved instantly between us.

"Stay away from her."

Kael raised his hands — surrender, but his eyes were hard. "I’m not here to hurt her. I’m here to tell her what they buried."

He looked straight at me.

"The people who erased your identity didn’t do it to protect you. They did it because they were terrified of what would happen if you ever remembered who you are."

My breath caught. "What am I?"

"The true heir to the Blackthorn throne. And your blood carries something no one else has — the power to unite every pack in the land."

I stared at him. "And that scares them?"

"Terrifies them," Kael said grimly. "For twelve years, the Council has ruled while packs split apart, fought, weakened — easy to control. But if you take your place… they lose everything."

"So that’s why they wanted me dead."

"Partly," Darius said quietly.

"Partly?"

Kael answered before Darius could. "Your blood does more than unite packs. It can unlock the seal beneath the Moon Throne — and what lies inside it."

"What?"

"The Crown of Shadows."

A cold shiver ran down my spine. "What is that?"

"An ancient weapon. Ancient power. Dangerous enough to change everything — or destroy it all."

Darius stepped forward, eyes flashing. "Enough, Kael. You’re telling her too much."

"She deserves the truth!"

"Not when it puts her in more danger!"

"When have you ever been good at keeping her safe?!"

The air turned sharp and hot. I stepped between them, hands raised. "STOP!"

Both fell silent.

I looked at Kael, heart pounding. "Tell me what really happened twelve years ago. Not the story they told us. The truth."

His expression softened — sad, heavy, broken.

"Your mother wasn’t killed in that attack, Liana."

The world seemed to stop.

"What?"

"She survived."

"That’s impossible — everyone said she died. My father told me she died."

"Your father believed she died. He was told the same lie everyone else heard. She didn’t die… she disappeared."

"Where?!"

"We don’t know." Kael looked at Darius. "But he searched for her. For years."

I turned to Darius. "You looked for her?"

"Everywhere. Mountains, forests, old territories… years of searching."

"And you found nothing?"

He hesitated.

"I… heard her voice. Five years ago, deep in the northern peaks."

My breath caught. "What did she say?"

"She said… Find Liana. Keep her safe."

Tears pricked my eyes. "She knew where I was? She knew I was alive all this time… and you never told me?"

"I didn’t know if it was real. If it was a trap… or a trick."

I stepped back, hurt and anger rising sharp and hot. "So you kept it from me. Just like everyone else keeps everything from me."

Liana…

His voice was soft, broken. I held up a hand. "Don’t. Not yet."

Suddenly Kael’s head snapped toward the entrance. His face went pale.

"Someone’s coming. A lot of them."

Darius went instantly alert. "How many?"

"Too many to fight."

Elder Ronan burst through the doors, breathless, terrified.

"We have a problem — the Northern Packs are here. They found us."

Darius’s eyes narrowed. "How? We left no trail."

Ronan looked straight at me.

"They followed her."

My stomach dropped. "Me?"

"The moment your wolf awakened… your power signature exploded across the land. Every strong wolf within hundreds of miles felt it. They tracked you straight here."

A long, deep howl rose from the mountains — then another, and another, until the air was filled with the sound of hundreds of wolves coming closer.

Darius grabbed my arm. "We have to leave — now."

I pulled away.

"No."

"Liana — you don’t understand what’s coming!"

"I’m done running. I’ve spent seventeen years hiding, believing I was nothing, while people who wanted me dead ruled everything. I’m done hiding."

I looked toward the dark throne room at the end of the hall.

"If I am the heir… if I have this power they fear so much… then I want to know exactly what they were so afraid I’d become."

Kael stared at me — then smiled, slow and proud.

"That’s the first thing you’ve said tonight that sounds like a queen."

Then the whole fortress shook.

A c***k split the stone floor wide open. Silver light flooded out from beneath — glowing, bright, ancient.

Ronan stumbled back, terrified.

"The throne… it’s waking up!"

The royal crest above the doorway blazed with blinding silver fire. A voice boomed through every wall, every stone, every corner:

THE HEIR HAS RETURNED.

Every torch went dark. Total darkness swallowed us.

And then — soft, warm, familiar — a voice whispered directly inside my mind.

Come to me, Liana…

My heart leaped. I knew that voice. I’d heard it every night in my dreams since I was small.

Come to the throne…

I stepped forward — and Darius caught my hand tight, desperate fear in his eyes.

"Don’t listen! Don’t go!"

"Why?! That’s… that’s my mother!"

"NO — IT IS NOT!"

Behind us, Kael’s voice came out thin and shaking, full of dread.

"He’s right… the Moon Throne… it doesn’t speak with voices of the living…"

Cold fear flooded my veins.

"Then… whose voice is it?"

No one answered.

Deep beneath the stone floor, something laughed.

It sounded exactly like my mother.

TO BE CONTINUED…