Chapter 4 - The Throne Where Enemies Waited
I did not sleep that night.
Not because of the wolves outside.
Not because of Elias Voss.
Not even because the man I had spent five years fearing had just revealed that my entire life was built on a lie.
I stayed awake because of one sentence.
You are the rightful heir to the Moon Throne.
The words followed me every time I closed my eyes.
They followed me when I looked at the fire.
They followed me when I looked at my own hands.
Hands that had spent years shaking while holding a poison bowl.
Hands that had been called weak.
Hands that apparently carried the blood of a forgotten royal line.
I wanted to laugh.
I wanted to scream.
Mostly, I wanted someone to tell me this was not real.
But every time I looked at Adrian Blackwood, I knew it was.
Because the Alpha King did not look surprised.
He looked guilty.
And guilt was always more honest than words.
The lodge had become silent after Elias escaped.
Adrian had forced the remaining wolves outside to retreat, but I knew they were still there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Like everyone had been doing for years.
The only difference was that now I knew why.
I sat near the fireplace, wrapped in a thick blanket Adrian had left beside me.
Not given to me.
Left.
That small difference bothered me more than it should have.
Because a man who wanted control would have placed the blanket over my shoulders himself.
He would have touched me.
Claimed authority.
Made decisions for me.
Adrian did none of those things.
He simply gave me a choice.
And somehow that made trusting him more difficult.
"You should rest."
His voice came from across the room.
I looked up.
He stood near the window, still watching the mountains.
"You say that like I can sleep after discovering my entire identity was stolen."
His expression softened.
"I know."
"No."
I stood slowly.
"You don't know."
The words came out sharper than I intended.
"You grew up knowing who you were. You were raised as a king. You had people protecting you."
I touched my chest.
"I spent five years believing I was broken."
Adrian didn't interrupt.
That made me angrier.
Because I expected him to defend himself.
Instead, he listened.
"They told me my wolf was weak," I continued.
My voice lowered.
"They told me I would never matter."
The memories returned.
The elders' faces.
Their cold smiles.
The way they looked at me like I was something they owned.
"I believed them."
The room was quiet.
Then Adrian spoke.
"I know what it feels like."
I looked at him.
"You?"
A bitter smile touched his face.
"Yes."
The answer surprised me.
"The world sees the crown."
He glanced toward the symbol above the fireplace.
"They don't see the person carrying it."
For a moment, I saw something beneath the power.
Something lonely.
"I became Alpha King at twenty-four."
His voice was quiet.
"My father died during a rebellion. My mother was already gone."
The name made me remember.
His mother.
The last Moon Bloodline omega.
"What happened to her?"
Adrian's expression changed.
Pain.
Old pain.
"The same thing that almost happened to you."
My breathing stopped.
"People wanted her power."
He looked at the fire.
"They feared what she could become. They convinced the world she was dangerous."
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
"Like me."
"Yes."
The honesty hurt.
"But unlike you, she trusted the wrong people."
Silence filled the lodge.
I looked toward the broken door.
Toward the storm.
Toward the world waiting outside.
"So Glacier Claw knew about my blood."
"Yes."
"And they planned everything."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you stop them?"
The question left my mouth before I could stop it.
Adrian accepted the accusation.
Because maybe he deserved it.
"I tried."
His voice became heavier.
"When I discovered the reports were false, I sent my strongest warriors to investigate."
"And?"
"They disappeared."
A chill moved through me.
"All of them?"
He nodded.
"The elders had been preparing for this longer than anyone knew."
I looked at him.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
The question was quieter.
More dangerous.
Adrian looked away.
And that told me everything.
"You didn't know where I was."
"No."
"Then you didn't tell me because you couldn't."
His silence confirmed it.
A strange feeling settled inside me.
Not anger.
Not relief.
Something in between.
Because for years I believed I was being hunted.
But maybe I had been protected from a distance.
Maybe the unlocked supply boxes containing wolfsbane along my escape route...
Maybe the abandoned cabins that always seemed available...
Maybe the moments where danger somehow disappeared before reaching me...
Maybe those weren't accidents.
My heart started beating faster.
"Was it you?"
Adrian didn't answer.
"Adrian."
Finally, he looked at me.
"Yes."
The room seemed to tilt.
"You helped me escape?"
"I kept you alive."
My voice shook.
"Why?"
His answer came immediately.
"Because I promised your mother."
I froze.
"My mother?"
He walked to the table and removed a small object from inside his coat.
A necklace.
Old.
Silver.
With a crescent moon symbol carved into it.
My breath caught.
I knew that symbol.
I had seen it once.
On a necklace my mother wore before she died.
"You knew my mother?"
Adrian nodded.
"She saved my life."
I stared at him.
"The future Alpha King saved by an omega?"
A faint sadness crossed his face.
"Your mother never cared about titles."
He held the necklace carefully.
"She believed strength meant protecting people who couldn't protect themselves."
My eyes burned.
I hated that.
I hated how every new truth made the old wounds hurt more.
Because my mother had not abandoned me.
The elders had stolen pieces of my life and convinced me I was alone.
Adrian placed the necklace on the table.
"I kept this because I knew one day I would find you."
I looked at it.
"But why didn't you come sooner?"
His expression hardened.
"Because someone inside my own kingdom was watching me."
That changed everything.
"Someone close to you?"
He nodded.
"The throne has been compromised."
I stared at him.
"The Alpha King has enemies?"
A humorless smile appeared.
"Every king does."
He moved closer to the map spread across the table.
"The people who attacked this lodge weren't trying to kill you."
"Then what were they doing?"
"Testing."
My blood went cold.
"Testing what?"
"Whether your power had awakened."
I looked toward the door.
"Elias."
"He wanted to see you with his own eyes."
"Why?"
Adrian's expression became serious.
"Because if the Moon Heir returns, the current order collapses."
The words settled heavily.
"Many packs would follow you."
"And some would fight me."
"Yes."
I understood then.
This wasn't only about survival.
It was about power.
A throne.
A kingdom.
A war waiting to begin.
I looked at Adrian.
"You brought me here."
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"My wolf found yours."
That stopped me.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"I didn't bring you to this lodge."
His voice softened.
"You came because your wolf trusted mine."
I didn't know why those words affected me.
Maybe because for five years, I had treated my wolf like an enemy.
Something dangerous.
Something I had to silence.
But she had never betrayed me.
She had been trying to lead me somewhere.
Toward the truth.
A sudden sound interrupted us.
Not a howl.
Not a wolf.
A horn.
Deep.
Ancient.
The sound traveled through the mountains.
Adrian's face changed.
"What is that?"
I asked.
His eyes went toward the eastern mountains.
"The royal gathering."
My stomach tightened.
"Why are they calling it?"
He looked at me.
"Because someone announced your awakening."
My heart stopped.
"Who?"
His answer was quiet.
"The people who want you dead."
The lodge suddenly felt smaller.
The walls that had protected us now felt like they were closing in.
Adrian grabbed his coat.
"We leave before sunrise."
I stood.
"Where?"
He looked at me.
"The royal fortress."
I almost laughed.
"You're taking me to your kingdom?"
"No."
His eyes became intense.
"I'm taking you to the place where everyone who wants your power will have to face you."
I stared at him.
"I don't know how to be a queen."
A strange softness appeared in his expression.
"Good."
I frowned.
"Good?"
"Because the world doesn't need another ruler who only knows how to command."
He stepped closer.
"It needs someone who knows what it feels like to lose everything."
For the first time since entering the lodge, I didn't see the Alpha King.
I saw the man.
The one who had spent years searching.
The one who had protected me without asking for anything.
The one who was now risking his throne because of my existence.
Outside, the storm began to weaken.
But I knew the real storm was coming.
Because tomorrow, I would walk into the kingdom of the Alpha King.
May you like
And everyone who had called me powerless would see the truth.
The omega they tried to erase was coming home.
