Chapter 3 THE WOMAN BEYOND THE FOREST

"Lena!"

The scream came from beyond the broken windows.

I knew that voice.

I had not heard it since I was five years old, but some part of me recognized it before my mind could understand what was happening.

My mother's voice.

I ran toward the window.

Kael caught my arm.

"Don't!"

"Let go of me!"

"Look at the wolf!"

I turned.

The enormous black wolf stood beyond the shattered glass, its white eyes fixed on me. Snow white mist curled around its paws, although the night was not cold enough for frost.

It did not growl.

It did not bare its teeth.

It simply watched me with an expression that was almost human.

Then it lowered its head again.

The ancient voice inside me whispered.

Come home, my daughter.

My knees weakened.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

Mara stared at me.

"Hear what?"

"The voice."

She shook her head slowly.

I looked at Darius.

He had gone completely still.

"You heard it," I said.

He swallowed.

"I heard nothing, Lena."

"Then why are you frightened?"

He did not answer.

Another scream came from the forest.

My mother's scream.

I tore my arm from Kael's grip and ran toward the doors.

This time, he followed.

"Lena, wait!"

I ignored him.

The corridors of the pack house blurred as I ran past frightened servants and warriors rushing toward the eastern boundary. My lungs burned, but I kept moving.

I had spent eighteen years believing my mother was dead.

Eighteen years of birthdays without her. Eighteen years of trying to remember the sound of her laughter. Eighteen years of wondering whether she had been afraid when she died.

If she was alive, I needed to see her.

If someone was hurting her, I needed to help.

And if this was another cruel lie, I wanted to look the person responsible in the eyes.

I reached the eastern courtyard and stopped so suddenly that Kael nearly collided with me.

The forest stretched before us.

Between the trees stood a woman wearing a long white dress.

Her dark hair fell over her shoulders, and one hand rested against the trunk of an ancient oak. Her face was hidden in shadow, but I could see that she was trembling.

"Mother?"

The woman lifted her head.

I could not see her eyes clearly.

But I saw her smile.

It was the same smile I remembered from childhood, the one that had appeared whenever I ran into her arms after a nightmare.

My heart broke open.

"Mother!"

I took a step toward her.

The woman shook her head.

"Don't come closer, Lena."

I stopped.

Her voice was softer than I remembered, weakened by years of pain.

"Please," I whispered. "I've been looking for you."

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I know."

"Why did you leave me?"

She pressed a hand over her mouth.

"I never wanted to."

"Then why didn't you come back?"

She looked toward Kael.

The moment she saw him, her expression changed.

Fear.

Pure, unmistakable fear.

"Get away from my daughter," she said.

Kael stepped forward.

"I didn't know she was still alive."

My mother laughed, but there was no happiness in the sound.

"You knew enough to reject her."

The words struck him.

He lowered his gaze.

I turned toward him.

"What does she mean?"

He did not answer.

I looked back at my mother.

"Please tell me what's happening. Everyone keeps talking about my bloodline, the royal family, and some seal. I don't understand any of it."

She took a shaky breath.

"Your father was a good man, Lena."

I froze.

"My father?"

"Yes."

I had never known my father. Whenever I asked about him, my mother used to kiss my forehead and tell me that some questions were too painful to answer.

After she disappeared, the people who raised me said he had died before I was born.

Now a stranger had told me that my mother was alive, and she was speaking about my father as though she had seen him yesterday.

"Who was he?"

Before she could answer, a low growl rolled through the trees.

My mother turned sharply.

Her face drained of color.

"They've found us."

Darius appeared behind us, breathing hard.

"How many?"

My mother looked at him.

"Enough."

The black wolf emerged from the trees and positioned itself between her and the courtyard. Its white eyes began to glow.

Then the forest came alive.

Dozens of wolves stepped out from between the trees.

Some were enormous, their coats darker than the night. Others were pale and almost translucent beneath the moonlight. All of them wore silver collars engraved with symbols I had never seen before.

The warriors behind Kael raised their weapons.

"Protect the Alpha!" someone shouted.

My mother shook her head.

"No. Protect Lena."

The wolves attacked.

Everything happened at once.

A warrior was thrown against the courtyard wall. Another disappeared beneath a mass of black fur. The air filled with snarling, breaking stone, and screams.

Kael shifted before my eyes.

His bones cracked as dark fur spread across his body. Within seconds, an enormous black wolf stood where the Alpha had been.

He leaped toward the nearest attacker and knocked it away from me.

I stumbled backward.

Another wolf charged directly toward my mother.

"NO!"

The word tore from my throat.

The world flashed silver.

The attacking wolf stopped in midair.

Its body trembled as though an invisible hand had seized it. Then it was thrown backward, crashing through two trees before landing heavily on the ground.

Every wolf in the courtyard froze.

I stared at my hands.

I had not touched it.

I had barely moved.

My mother looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Lena."

I could hear the pain in her voice.

"What am I?"

She shook her head.

"You are my daughter."

"That's not an answer!"

A sudden blast of pain tore through my skull.

I dropped to my knees.

Images flooded my mind.

A magnificent palace beneath a silver moon.

A woman wearing a crown of white gold.

A man holding a newborn baby against his chest.

Fire.

Blood.

And a voice screaming that the child must survive.

I clutched my head.

"Stop!"

The images vanished.

When I looked up, the entire courtyard had fallen silent.

Every wolf was staring at me.

Even Kael had returned to his human form. Blood ran down his arm, but he seemed unaware of the wound.

My mother hurried toward me.

This time, I did not run to her.

I could not.

Too many years of grief stood between us.

She stopped a few steps away.

"Lena, please."

"Tell me the truth."

Her shoulders shook.

"I wanted to come back for you. Every day, I wanted to come back."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because the people who killed your father were waiting for you to awaken. If I returned, they would have found you."

I swallowed painfully.

"And now?"

She looked toward the red moon.

"Now they already have."

A horn sounded from the mountains.

Darius spun toward the forest.

"That's not possible."

My mother grabbed my shoulders.

"Listen to me carefully. You cannot trust the council. You cannot trust the elders. And whatever Kael tells you, remember that his family helped destroy ours."

Kael stepped forward.

"My father made those decisions. I was a child when the attack happened."

My mother turned on him.

"But you were old enough to inherit his secrets."

He had no answer.

I looked between them.

"Enough. I'm tired of everyone speaking in riddles."

My mother released my shoulders.

Then she reached into the neckline of her dress and pulled out a small silver chain.

A ring hung from it.

The moment I saw the symbol engraved on its surface, the mark beneath my collarbone began to burn.

It was a crescent moon surrounded by seven stars.

I had seen the same symbol in my dreams since childhood.

My mother placed the ring in my palm.

"Your father wore this when he was alive. It belongs to you now."

The metal warmed against my skin.

Then a thin line of silver light appeared across its surface.

My mother's eyes widened.

"No."

I looked at her.

"What?"

She grabbed my wrist.

"Lena, whatever happens, do not let the ring complete the circle."

I stared at the ring.

A second line of light had appeared.

Then a third.

"What does that mean?"

She looked toward Kael.

For the first time, I saw genuine hatred in her eyes.

"It means the person who betrayed your father is still alive."

Kael went completely still.

My mother took a step backward.

"And he is standing right behind you."

I turned.

An elderly man stood at the entrance to the courtyard, surrounded by a dozen armed warriors.

Elder Rowan.

His white hair stirred in the wind.

His gaze settled on the ring in my hand.

Then he smiled.

"After eighteen years," he said quietly, "the princess has finally found her crown."

He raised one hand.

Every warrior behind him drew a silver blade.

"Take the girl alive."

His eyes moved to Kael.

"Kill anyone who tries to protect her."

For a moment, Kael did not move.

Then he stepped between Rowan's warriors and me.

My mother reached for my hand.

Darius raised his weapon.

And Elder Rowan's smile widened.

"Forgive me, Your Highness," he said. "But your father should have killed you when he had the chance."