Chapter 12:
*12:48am. 60th Floor. Blackwood Tower.*
The phone screen went black. Photo of 7-year-old me and young Morayo burned behind my eyes.
Damien didn’t speak. Just held me tighter. Bite mark on his neck pulsed gold once, warm like warning.
“Bloodlines remember,” I whispered. “What does that mean?”
Damien’s jaw worked. “Morayo was Chief’s wife. But she raised my mother too. After Mom’s parents died in ‘fire’ 35 years ago.”
Elena looked up from the tablet. Face pale. “Fire. That’s what files say. But Dad’s private journal said different. Said ‘Morayo’s mother was there. She smiled while it burned.’”
Cold crawled up spine. “Morayo had a mother?”
“Had,” Damien said. “Name was Adanna Keeper. ‘Keeper’ was title, not last name. Old pack term. Women who guarded Alpha bloodlines. Coll
