Chapter 6: She Is Our Mate
1553 Words
Elena stared at the three brothers.
No one spoke.
The silver pendant rested in her trembling hand while the words Riven had just spoken settled over the room.
The First Wolf Queen.
It sounded impossible.
Yet the strange mark beneath Elena's collarbone was still glowing.
Roman took one step toward her.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
His eyes had changed.
The dark brown she had seen earlier was gone. A faint golden glow surrounded his pupils.
Riven's eyes had changed too.
So had Rafael's.
“What is happening?” Elena asked.
Roman didn't answer immediately.
He looked at his brothers.
Riven gave a small nod.
Rafael inhaled deeply.
Then all three brothers spoke almost at the same time.
“She is our mate.”
Elena's heart stopped.
Maya stared at them.
“What?”
Roman looked at Elena.
“Our mate.”
The words felt absurd.
Three men.
One woman.
It wasn't possible.
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Rafael frowned.
“You felt it too.”
“I felt something.”
“Then you know.”
“I don't know anything.”
She stepped backward.
Roman didn't follow.
That somehow made the situation worse.
He simply watched her, giving her room.
“You said I was your mate earlier,” Elena said. “All three of you.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're saying this is something different?”
Riven answered.
“The bond has changed.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we were wrong about what we felt before.”
Elena frowned.
“Wrong?”
Roman nodded.
“When we first saw you, we recognized a mate bond. But it was faint. Confusing. Almost buried.”
Rafael looked at the pendant.
“Now it's awake.”
Elena tightened her fingers around it.
“Because of this?”
“Partly.”
Riven walked toward the desk and picked up the burned document.
“Your blood reacted to the necklace.”
He held it up.
“The same thing happened to our wolves when you touched it.”
Elena looked between them.
“So what exactly are you saying?”
Roman's expression softened.
“We're saying that whatever was done to you when you were born wasn't meant to hide you from ordinary wolves.”
He paused.
“It was meant to hide you from Alphas.”
A cold sensation moved through Elena.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
She stared at Roman.
“Why would someone need to hide me from Alphas?”
Riven glanced at the door.
“Because someone was afraid of what would happen if the wrong Alpha found you.”
Elena laughed quietly.
“This is ridiculous.”
“I agree,” Rafael said.
She looked at him.
He shrugged.
“I've spent most of my life believing old bloodline stories were nonsense.”
Despite herself, Elena almost smiled.
“That's supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
Rafael's mouth twitched.
“But at least you're not the only one who thinks this is insane.”
Maya let out a nervous breath.
“Thank you. Finally, someone said it.”
The tension eased for a second.
Then the door opened.
Alpha Marcus entered with two guards.
His gaze immediately went to Elena.
Then to the necklace.
His face changed.
Elena noticed.
“You know it.”
Marcus stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“Elena found it.”
Riven's voice was firm.
Marcus looked at him.
“Give it to me.”
Elena closed her fingers around the pendant.
“No.”
The Alpha's jaw tightened.
“Elena, you don't understand what you're holding.”
“Then explain it.”
Marcus said nothing.
Roman stepped between them.
“She asked you a question.”
Marcus looked at Roman.
“This isn't your pack.”
“No.”
Roman's voice remained calm.
“But she is our mate.”
The two guards exchanged a startled glance.
Marcus looked back at Elena.
For the first time, she saw fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not suspicion.
Fear.
“Where did you hear that name?” Marcus asked.
“What name?”
“The First Wolf Queen.”
Elena's heart sank.
“You know about her.”
Marcus looked toward the window.
“Everyone knows the stories.”
“Stories don't make people this afraid.”
He remained silent.
Riven crossed his arms.
“Alpha Marcus.”
Marcus finally looked at him.
“What?”
“You knew Elena's parents.”
The room went completely still.
Elena stared at him.
“What did he just say?”
Marcus didn't answer.
Roman's voice became colder.
“You knew them.”
“Yes.”
Elena felt the floor shift beneath her.
“You told me they died in a rogue attack.”
Marcus looked at her.
“That is what I was told.”
“You were the Alpha.”
“I was young.”
“You knew them.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes burned.
“Then why didn't you ever tell me anything?”
Marcus lowered his head.
“Because your father made me promise.”
Elena's breath caught.
“My father?”
Marcus nodded.
“He came to me the night before he died.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me to protect you.”
Elena's fingers tightened around the necklace.
“From whom?”
Marcus looked at the three brothers.
“From the royal bloodline.”
Rafael's expression hardened.
“You're accusing our family?”
“I'm telling you what your father feared.”
Roman took a step forward.
“My father has been dead for years.”
“Your grandfather wasn't.”
Silence.
Elena stared at Marcus.
“What does the Blackthorn family have to do with my parents?”
Marcus looked directly at her.
“I don't know.”
She almost laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“But I know your father believed someone in the royal family was searching for you.”
Riven's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Marcus shook his head.
“He never told me.”
Elena turned away.
She felt trapped between too many secrets.
Her parents.
The pendant.
The silver mark.
The dead women.
The First Wolf Queen.
And three men who claimed she was their mate.
It was too much.
“I need to leave.”
Roman immediately looked at her.
“Where will you go?”
“I don't know.”
“Then you shouldn't go alone.”
“I've been alone for twenty-two years.”
His expression softened.
“Maybe you don't have to be anymore.”
Elena looked at him.
Something inside her reacted to those words.
Not the strange power.
Something simpler.
Something painfully human.
She wanted to believe him.
That scared her more than anything else.
“I don't know you,” she whispered.
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
“I don't trust you.”
“I know that too.”
“And I don't want to be someone's Luna because an ancient bond decided it.”
Riven spoke quietly.
“Then don't.”
Elena looked at him.
“What?”
“You don't owe us a relationship because we're your mates.”
Roman glanced at his brother.
Rafael nodded.
“The bond doesn't get to make your choices for you.”
Elena stared at the three men.
She hadn't expected that.
Most Alphas she knew would have treated a mate bond like ownership.
Roman stepped closer, stopping several feet away.
“If you choose us, it should be because you want us.”
Elena's throat tightened.
“And if I don't?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Then we'll still protect you.”
She looked away before they could see the emotion in her eyes.
For twenty-two years, nobody had ever given her a choice.
Not her pack.
Not the people who raised her.
Not the people who lied about her parents.
And now three powerful Alphas were standing in front of her, claiming she was their mate while telling her she was free to reject them.
It didn't make sense.
But for the first time that night, she wanted to believe something.
Then the silver pendant grew hot.
Elena gasped.
The mark beneath her collarbone flared.
A sharp pain shot through her chest.
Roman moved instantly.
“Elena?”
She stumbled.
Rafael caught her before she hit the floor.
The moment his hand touched her waist, a pulse of silver light burst through the room.
Every candle went out.
Maya screamed.
The windows rattled.
Riven grabbed the table for balance.
Roman's wolf flashed across his face.
Elena heard something inside her head.
Not the whisper from before.
This time, it was clear.
A woman's voice.
Ancient.
Calm.
Familiar.
Three wolves will stand beside you.
Elena froze.
The voice continued.
But one of them will betray you.
Her eyes flew open.
Rafael was still holding her.
Roman and Riven stared at her.
“What happened?” Roman asked.
Elena couldn't speak.
The voice had disappeared.
But the warning remained.
One of them will betray you.
She looked at the three brothers.
For the first time, she wondered which one she was supposed to fear.
And then the necklace in her hand began to bleed.
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