My mate was already dead

The Stranger

“But the body has the same mark as Elara.”

The words settled over the room like a warning.

I stared at Dorian, then at Alpha Ronan.

Nobody looked surprised.

That was the part that frightened me most.

They had all known there was something strange about that mark. They had all known there was a reason to be afraid of it. I was the only person who had been left in the dark.

“What does it mean?” I asked.

Ronan's jaw tightened.

“We do not know.”

I almost laughed.

“Of course you don't.”

“Elara,” my adoptive father said.

I turned toward him.

He looked worried.

Not the usual worried look he wore when I came home late or returned from training with a bruise.

This was different.

He was afraid.

“You knew about the mark,” I said.

He hesitated.

“I knew there were things your mother did not want you to know.”

“That is not what I asked.”

“Elara, please.”

My mother sounded close to tears.

I looked at her.

“Take me to the body.”

“No.”

Ronan's answer was immediate.

I faced him.

“You cannot tell me that someone has been found dead with the same mark that appeared on me and then expect me to sit here quietly.”

“It is dangerous.”

“So is whatever everyone is hiding from me.”

Silence.

I folded my arms.

“I am going.”

Ronan studied me for several seconds before finally nodding.

“You stay beside me.”

I agreed.

Mara followed us out of the council room without being asked.

She caught up to me in the courtyard.

“What happened?”

“There is a body.”

Her eyes widened.

“And you are going to see it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I am coming.”

I looked at her.

“You do realize you could be sensible for once.”

“No.”

Despite everything, I smiled.

“That would be too much to ask.”

We left the compound with the patrol.

The northern forest was only a short distance from the pack, but the walk felt longer than usual.

Nobody spoke.

The forest itself seemed strangely quiet.

Mara squeezed my hand.

“Something is wrong.”

“I know.”

My adoptive father walked a few steps ahead of us.

I watched him carefully.

For twenty years, I had believed I knew everything important about him.

He had raised me.

He had taught me how to fight.

He had stayed beside me through every fever, every punishment, every nightmare.

He was my father.

But today, for the first time, I wondered how many things he had never told me.

We reached the clearing.

Several patrol wolves stood around an enormous tree.

Ronan stepped forward.

The body lay beneath it.

A man.

He looked young, perhaps in his late twenties.

His clothes were torn, and dried blood covered part of his chest.

I stared at his face.

I did not know him.

There was no familiar feeling.

No recognition.

Nothing.

And somehow, that made the scene even stranger.

I had expected to feel something.

Instead, I felt as though I was looking at a stranger who had somehow wandered into a story that belonged to me.

Ronan crouched beside him.

“When did you find him?”

“About an hour ago.”

“Was he alive?”

“No.”

“Any identification?”

“None.”

Kael stepped closer.

“There is something in his hand.”

Ronan looked down.

The dead man's fingers were tightly curled around a small silver object.

Ronan carefully opened them.

A ring rested in his palm.

My mother stopped breathing.

I looked at her.

She was staring at the ring as though she had just seen a ghost.

“Mom?”

She did not answer.

“What is it?”

Her lips parted.

“That belonged to your father.”

My heart stumbled.

“My biological father?”

She nodded.

I stared at the ring.

I had never seen it before.

I had never met the man who had given me half of my blood.

I knew him only through the stories my mother had refused to tell and the few photographs she had kept hidden from me.

He had died before I was old enough to remember him.

A powerful man.

A dangerous man.

A man whose name seemed to make adults lower their voices.

And now something that belonged to him was lying in the hand of a dead stranger.

“How did this man get it?”

My mother shook her head.

“I do not know.”

“You knew my father.”

Her eyes met mine.

“Yes.”

Not a hesitation.

Not an excuse.

Just yes.

Something inside me tightened.

“How well?”

She looked at the body.

“Very well.”

The answer hurt more than I expected.

I had spent my entire life believing my biological father was nothing more than a name attached to an old photograph.

My mother had known him.

Loved him, perhaps.

Hated him, perhaps.

Whatever their history had been, she had lived it.

I had not.

“Why did you never tell me?”

“Because there were things about him that could have put you in danger.”

“He is dead.”

“I know.”

“Then what danger is left?”

My mother looked toward the forest.

“His enemies did not die with him.”

A chill moved through me.

“What enemies?”

She shook her head.

“I cannot explain everything here.”

“Then explain something.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Your father was powerful, Elara. More powerful than you understand.”

I looked at the ring again.

“Did he know about me?”

“Yes.”

My throat tightened.

“He knew I existed?”

“Yes.”

“Did he ever try to find me?”

My mother looked away.

“He could not.”

“Why?”

She closed her eyes.

“Because he was already dead.”

The words were quiet, but they cut deeper than they should have.

I had always known he was dead.

But hearing it spoken while standing beside a stranger holding his ring made the truth feel different.

My adoptive father moved closer.

“Elara, enough.”

I looked at him.

“You knew about this?”

“I knew your father was dangerous.”

“That is not what I asked.”

He sighed.

“I knew your mother was trying to keep you safe.”

“From his enemies?”

“Yes.”

“Who are they?”

He did not answer.

Of course.

Another secret.

Before I could demand more, a howl echoed through the forest.

Every wolf turned.

Another howl followed.

This one was closer.

Ronan stood immediately.

“Everyone stay alert.”

Kael moved toward the trees.

“Something crossed the northern border.”

My adoptive father stepped in front of me.

“Stay behind me.”

I did not argue.

Something about the forest had changed.

The air felt heavier.

The hairs on my arms rose.

Then I saw movement between the trees.

A shadow slipped behind a trunk.

I held my breath.

“Did you see that?”

Mara nodded.

“There.”

The shadow disappeared.

Kael's eyes flashed gold.

“Show yourself.”

Nothing happened.

Then a voice came from somewhere beyond the trees.

“Elara.”

My heart stopped.

Everyone heard it.

My mother grabbed my hand.

My adoptive father pulled me closer.

Ronan's expression became murderous.

“Who are you?”

Silence.

Then a second voice answered from deeper within the forest.

“We have been looking for her.”

Every wolf in the clearing went still.

I stared into the darkness.

“Who?”

No answer came.

A branch snapped.

Then another.

Something moved away from us.

Fast.

Ronan raised his hand.

“Do not follow.”

I looked at the dead man beneath the tree.

My father's ring was still in Ronan's hand.

The mark on his body was the same one that had appeared on mine.

Someone had crossed into Blackwood territory.

Someone knew my name.

And someone had been looking for me.

For the first time in my life, I wondered if being different had never been the real problem.

Maybe the real problem was that someone out there already knew exactly what I was.