The Alpha's Forbidden Bloodline

The Guardian Beneath the Roots

Kael pulled me away from the ancient tree just as the ground split open.

Black roots writhed beneath the soil like living serpents. A pair of enormous golden eyes appeared between them, followed by a head covered in dark scales and tangled moss.

I stumbled backward.

“What is that?”

“A guardian,” Kael said, placing himself between me and the creature. “And it should have been asleep.”

The creature rose from the earth. It resembled a wolf, but its body was larger than any wolf I had ever seen. Silver markings covered its black hide, and a crown of twisted branches grew from its skull.

When it looked at me, its golden eyes softened.

“The blood returns,” it rumbled.

My hands trembled around the silver key.

“You know who I am?”

“I knew your ancestor before the kingdoms had names.”

Kael raised his blade. “Step away from her.”

The guardian turned its gaze toward him.

“Draven blood. Always ready to draw steel before listening.”

“I don't take instructions from creatures buried beneath the forest.”

A sound like distant thunder rolled from the guardian's chest.

“Then you have learned nothing from your father.”

Kael went rigid.

I glanced at him. “What does it mean?”

“Nothing.”

The guardian's enormous head lowered toward me.

“The child of the first queen carries the key. The marked Alpha carries the wound. Together, they may open the sealed gate—or destroy the kingdoms attempting to reach it.”

I looked at the key.

“What gate?”

“The one your mother died protecting.”

The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

“No. My mother died from an illness.”

The guardian's eyes narrowed.

“That is what you were told.”

I turned toward Kael, desperate for him to deny it.

He didn't.

“You knew?” I whispered.

“No,” he answered immediately. “I suspected the letter was connected to your mother, but I didn't know this.”

“Then why do you look as if you've heard this before?”

His silence was answer enough.

The guardian lifted one massive paw and pressed it against the earth. A circle of light spread across the stones.

A vision appeared between us.

I saw a palace burning beneath a black moon. Soldiers in dark armor stormed through its gates. A woman with silver hair held a baby against her chest while a man fought desperately to keep the attackers away.

The woman's face was my mother's.

I cried out.

“No!”

The vision changed.

My mother stood before a stone door, holding a silver key. Blood covered her dress. Behind her, the same symbol from the letter glowed on the walls.

A voice echoed through the vision.

“Give us the child, and the kingdoms will be spared.”

My mother raised her chin.

“You will never touch her.”

The vision shattered.

I dropped to my knees, struggling to breathe.

My mother had not simply hidden me from the world.

She had hidden me from people who wanted me dead.

Kael crouched beside me but did not touch me.

“Elara, look at me.”

I couldn't.

“Your mother fought to keep you safe,” he said. “Whatever happened, she succeeded.”

“Until she died.”

His expression tightened. “I know.”

“No, you don't!” I shoved his hand away when he reached toward me. “You don't know what it's like to lose the only person who ever loved you, then discover that your entire life was built on lies.”

He accepted my anger without defending himself.

For some reason, that made it worse.

The guardian's voice interrupted us.

“The key has awakened. Those who hunt the bloodline will soon feel its call.”

Kael stood and turned toward the forest.

“How long do we have?”

“Until the next black moon.”

“How long is that?”

“Seven nights.”

My stomach dropped.

Seven nights to uncover the truth about my mother, the royal bloodline, and the mysterious gate.

Seven nights before our enemies found us.

The guardian lowered its head toward me.

“You must enter the forgotten sanctuary. There, you will learn why your wolf sleeps.”

I stared at it.

“I don't have a wolf.”

“Your wolf has been imprisoned, not lost.”

For twenty-three years, I had believed my body was defective. I had endured cruel laughter, humiliating rituals, and whispered insults from wolves who considered me less than nothing.

Now an ancient creature was telling me that my wolf had been taken from me.

“Who did this?”

The guardian's eyes burned brighter.

“Someone who feared what you would become.”

A sharp whistle pierced the forest.

Kael spun around.

Three arrows flew from the trees.

He knocked two aside with his blade, but the third struck his shoulder.

“Kael!”

He staggered.

Figures in black armor emerged between the trees, their faces hidden behind silver masks.

One of them raised a crossbow toward me.

“By order of the Black Crown,” he announced, “the last daughter of the first queen is to be taken alive.”

Kael stepped in front of me despite the blood spreading across his shoulder.

His eyes turned completely silver.

“Touch her,” he growled, “and I will burn your entire order to the ground.”

The masked soldiers charged.

And for the first time in my life, something inside me answered their attack.

A howl erupted from my chest.

The forest exploded with silver light.