Chapter 5 The Fire Incident

I stood there, frozen.

I didn't know which part made me angrier, the way he said it like it was nothing or the way Silas had looked at me with those lustful eyes, like he already owned me.

I clenched my fists, the betrayal sat heavy in my gut, burning like acid.

He just sat there by the fireplace, staring into the flames like he hadn't just destroyed what was left of my life.

And that was it. That was the last straw.

"How dare you?" I snapped, my voice shaking with rage. Power burst out of me before I could stop it. It wasn't as massive as before, but it was strong enough.

Strong enough to knock Douglass off his chair. His back slammed into the edge of the fireplace with a dull thud before he hit the floor.

The noise echoed through the room, and just like that, the anger drained out of me, replaced with panic.

I ran to him.

"Douglass-" My voice cracked as I dropped to my knees beside him.

He groaned but pushed himself up slowly. He wasn't bleeding, and nothing looked broken.

Still, the sight of him on the ground, wide-eyed and shaken, brought tears to my eyes.

He looked at me, not with cold indifference. But something else entirely, fear... and something close to guilt. Maybe even regret.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He nodded slowly and let me help him to his feet.

And then I snapped. "You don't get to do this," I said through gritted teeth.

"You don't get to treat me like garbage for years, then sell me off and act like it's for my own good. What the hell is wrong with you? Why now? Why him?"

He sat down heavily on the edge of the chair he'd been thrown from, rubbing his forehead like he was trying to piece together how to say what he needed to.

"You're not my daughter, Alina," he said finally, his voice hoarse.

The words hit harder than any blow I'd ever taken.

I blinked, unsure if I'd heard him right. "What?"

He met my eyes. "You're not mine. You never were. Your real parents... they were powerful wolves, they were not from Ashgrave. They brought you here when you were a baby, and asked me to protect you."

I stared at him, tears filling my eyes "Why?"

He hesitated, then went on. "There was a prophecy. About two children born during a blood moon. One with power strong enough to either save this realm... or destroy it. You're one of them. A Moonborn."

I stumbled back a step, shaking my head like that would make it all disappear. "That's insane."

"I didn't believe it either at first. But then... you started showing signs. Strange things happened when you got upset. Even as a kid. Your parents knew people would come for you, people who feared what you might become. So they gave you up in order to keep you safe."

My legs gave out and I sank to the floor, my back against the wall. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because anything I said... anything I did... could've triggered your power too early, I couldn't get close, I couldn't show you love or hate. I had to make sure you stayed unnoticed. Unremarkable."

At this point, the tears were running down my face, and I didn't bother to wipe them away. "So you treated me like I was nothing."

"It was the only way I knew to keep you alive," he said quietly. "I didn't have a choice. But now, your power's waking up, and the wrong people will feel it. They'll come for you, Alina. The deal with Silas was... it was desperation. He offered protection. I didn't know what else to do."

I looked up at him. "You were still going to hand me over to a monster."

He didn't deny it.

I wiped my face and stood up. My body was shaking, but my voice came out steadier than I expected.

"It's too late for apologies. You let me grow up thinking I was nothing. And now I'm supposed to be something that could change the world?"

Silence.

"I'm leaving," I said. "Lucan offered to teach how to control this, If I stay here, I'm dead."

Douglass didn't argue. He just nodded, and for the first time, he looked like a man who'd lost something important.

Maybe he had.

Maybe I had too.

But I didn't have time to sit around grieving what could've been.

I couldn't wait until nightfall the next day. If what Douglass said was true then staying here would only put everyone in Ashgrave at risk including me.

I didn't understand what I was capable of or how to control it. And every time something triggered me, it exploded out of me.

The path Lucan wrote in the parchment wasn't far. I didn't take anything with me except the clothes on my body.

I just walked, needing to put distance between me and this place before something else went wrong.

I was almost at the edge of the pack's territory when I smelled something, it smelt like burning wood.

A few seconds later, I spotted the smoke. It was rising fast from the old storage building. It was a building the pack owned, but we barely used it anymore.

Now flames were climbing the walls, spreading quickly. Just immediately, I heard the cry for help. Someone was trapped inside.

I ran without thinking, When I got close enough, I realized how bad it was.

The fire had already consumed most of the roof, and the heat was unbearable. But I didn't stop. I covered my mouth and stepped inside.

The smoke made it almost impossible to see, but I heard coughing toward the back of the room. I followed the sound until I saw her.

Lena.

She was lying on the ground, her leg pinned under a fallen log. She looked up at me like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Alina?" she said, her voice hoarse from the smoke.

I didn't answer, I dropped to her side and tried to move the log, but It wouldn't budge.

She started to panic. "I-I can't move, I-"

"Don't talk," I snapped. "Let me handle it."

I grabbed the beam again. This time, I felt the power building inside me.

I wasn't trying to control it or force it-I just needed it. My body responded, a pulse of energy pushed out from me, crackling through my hands into the wood.

The log split through the middle, I helped Lena to her feet and threw her arm over my shoulders.

She was coughing hard and limping badly, but we got out just before the entire wall gave in.

We collapsed outside in the dirt, both of us gasping for air. I wiped the sweat from my face and glanced at her.

She looked shaken and confused.

"I thought you were weak," she said after a long silence. "I've treated you like you didn't matter."

"I know," I replied, flatly.

"I was wrong."

I stood up, brushing the ash off my legs. "Glad you finally noticed."

I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care, she deserved it.

She looked down, feeling ashamed. "Thank you. For not leaving me In there."

"You're welcome."

I replied dryly, giving her nothing else and walked away.

LUCAN'S POV

The door creaked open, and the stench of ash followed her in.

Her hair was a mess, parts of it singed, her dress torn in places, clinging to her from sweat or heat-I didn't care to figure out which.

She froze when she saw me, as if she'd walked into a lion's den.

She wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow.

My jaw tightened, I didn't move, I Just watched her.

"Sit," I said.

She sat down slowly, her hands folded tight in her lap, she lifted her eyes to mine briefly and then looked away.

"There was... a fire," she began, her voice was shaky. "Someone was trapped inside."

She licked her lips, blinked, and then glanced up at me through her lashes with this hesitant, sheepish look.

My wolf growled, low and sharp in my chest. She didn't even know what she was doing to me.

Something about her looking filthy and breathless, sitting there with ash on her skin and that look in her eyes made me imagine things.

I clenched my fists, looking away, needing a second to gather myself.

When I felt steady again, I looked back at her.

"You reek of smoke," I said flatly. "You need a bath. And clean clothes."

I said it because it was true, and because the air inside the carriage felt like a battlefield, thick with tension I wasn't in the mood to indulge.

I tapped my knuckles twice against the carriage door, a guard came and opened the door.

"Where's Kael?" I asked, not bothering to shift my focus.

"He went to retrieve supplies for the journey."

I trusted Kael with many things, what I ate was one of them. In my position, paranoia wasn't a flaw, It was survival.