Chapter 2 CHA

Elara's feet hit the asphalt of the human highway like lead. The transition from the Death Lands to the human realm felt like slamming into a wall of static. The air was thin, smelling of exhaust instead of pine. Behind her lay the pack that had discarded her like trash; before her lay a grey emptiness.

"Hey! Girl! You okay?" a gravelly voice shouted.

Elara's knees buckled. The silver fire in her marrow settled into an agonizing thrum. The world went black.

When she woke, she was staring at a ceiling of dark, aged wood. The scent of lavender and old paper filled the room.

"Drink this. Slowly now," a man said.

Elara flinched, pulling a wool blanket to her chin. An elderly man sat in a rocking chair, holding a ceramic mug.

"Who are you?" Elara rasped. "Where am I?"

"Safe. You're in Blackwood Creek," the man replied. "I call it a sanctuary for those the world forgot."

Elara took the mug with trembling hands. "I shouldn't be here. I'm an Omega. I'm nothing. I was banished."

The man leaned forward. His gaze fell on her shoulder, where her shirt had slipped to reveal a shimmering silver crescent birthmark.

"An Omega?" The man laughed. "Is that the lie Kael fed you?"

Elara froze. "How do you know him?"

"I know his bloodline. And I know yours," the man said, pacing. "That mark isn't a fluke. It's the seal of the Silver Lycan. The Royal Lineage of the First Moon."

"That's impossible," Elara argued. "The Silver Lycans died out centuries ago. I'm just a powerless wolf. I can't even shift."

The man stopped and looked her dead in the eye. "She wasn't silent, Elara. She was suppressed. Your bond with that Alpha was a lesser bond. His blood tried to dominate yours, but your royal blood is too pure. It shut your wolf down to protect her from being tainted by a common Alpha."

Elara felt the room spin. "You're saying... I couldn't shift because Kael was too weak for me?"

"I'm saying you are a Queen among dogs," he said firmly. "You didn't fail the bond, Elara. The bond failed you."

Silas watched the girl. She looked like a bird with clipped wings, unaware she could soar.

"You need to eat," Silas said. "The awakening of a Royal wolf takes a toll. You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days?" Elara sat up, wincing as she clutched her stomach. "I have to move. If Kael finds out I'm alive-"

"He won't come here," Silas interrupted. "He's too busy celebrating his new Luna to worry about a corpse. Will you stay a victim, or embrace what's in your blood?"

"I don't know how to be a Queen, Silas. I spent nineteen years learning how to bow and take the hits."

"Realize that every hit you took made you harder than the fist that struck you," Silas said.

Elara walked to a cracked mirror. Her skin seemed luminous; her eyes were a deeper shade of grey. She touched the mark on her shoulder.

"They'll pay," she whispered. "Every single one of them."

A surge of adrenaline was replaced by a wave of intense nausea. She doubled over, clutching the dresser as her stomach cramped. It wasn't the awakening. It was a sharp, localized pull in her abdomen.

"Silas!" she called out.

The old man hurried back. "What is it?"

"I feel sick," Elara gasped, sliding to the floor. "My stomach... it's vibrating."

Silas knelt, his hand hovering over her midsection. He closed his eyes, then pulled his hand back as if burned.

"What?" Elara demanded. "Is it poison?"

"No," Silas whispered. "It's a spark. A massive one. Elara, the night of the ceremony wasn't the only time you were with Kael, was it?"

Elara flushed. "No. We... we were together a week before. He said he wanted to claim me early."

Silas took a deep breath. "The bond is gone, but the consequence remains. You aren't just carrying a child. You are carrying an Alpha heir. Because of your blood, that child is already feeding on your power."

Elara's hand flew to her still-flat stomach. She felt it-a distinct, rhythmic throb. A pulse of pure Alpha energy.

"I'm pregnant," she breathed.

"You're pregnant with a King," Silas corrected. "And if Kael finds out, he will want to take that child and turn it into a weapon."

The nausea returned, but Elara fought it down. She didn't see a victim in the mirror anymore. She saw a mother.

"He won't touch him," Elara said, her voice sharp as a blade. "He rejected me. He doesn't get to have a son."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to disappear," Elara said. "I'll raise him in the shadows. I'll wait until he's strong enough to take back everything they stole."

She looked toward the distant mountains where the Silver Moon Pack resided. We are coming for you, Kael, she thought. You and your pathetic little pack.

A sudden pain lanced through her head. A vision flickered: a boy with silver eyes standing over a fallen Alpha.

"The child," Elara whispered. "He's talking to me."

"What is he saying?"

Elara looked at Silas, her eyes glowing with a terrifying silver light. "He says... he's hungry for justice."

The light faded, and the nausea hit again. She clutched her womb, feeling the tiny life kick with impossible strength.

"I can't stay here," Elara said. "The Alpha energy... he's so strong, Kael will scent him from miles away."

"Then we go now," Silas said, grabbing his coat.

As they reached the door, a distant, familiar howl echoed from the ridge. The Silver Moon hunting call.

Elara froze. "They're here."

"Not for you," Silas whispered. "But if they catch a whiff of that Alpha pulse..."

Elara looked at her stomach. The life inside grew silent, as if holding its breath.

"Run," she whispered to the child. "We have to run."