Chapter 16
The palace walls rose like silver blades against the darkening sky, cold and beautiful beneath the climbing moon. My body felt heavy—magic-drained, bruised, and raw from everything that happened in the Sanctum—but the moment we crossed the outer gates, a messenger sprinted toward us as if running from death itself.
He skidded to a stop, chest heaving.
"Your Majesty—Alpha Rowan of the Moon Crest Pack has arrived. He requests an immediate audience."
My heart lurched.
Rowan.
Eamon's father.
My former Alpha.
The man who watched me be rejected and did nothing.
The man who later betrayed me to the Council.
Malakai's hand instantly found the small of my back, steady and warm.
"You don't have to see him," he murmured, voice threaded with a possessive darkness.
But I exhaled shakily and forced myself to stand taller.
"I do," I whispered. "If Rowan came all the way here, something is wrong. Very wrong."
Malakai didn't like it, but he nodded once.
Together, we headed to the throne hall.
Rowan stood at the center of the room, broad-shouldered and grim, streaks of silver touching his once-black hair. His scent—pine, steel, and the unmistakable sharpness of Moon Crest—hit me like a memory I'd tried to bury.
He bowed to Malakai.
"Your Majesty. Thank you for granting me entry."
But when his eyes found mine, something cracked behind them—guilt, fear, something bitter he could no longer swallow.
"Elaine," he rasped. "You survived."
"I tend to do that," I said flatly.
Malakai stepped slightly in front of me, dominance rippling from him like a silent threat.
"She didn't just survive," he said. "She rose."
Rowan swallowed, uncomfortable.
I crossed my arms.
"Why are you here, Rowan?"
He lifted a sealed document. The wax bore the sigil of the High Council.
My breath turned sharp.
"What is that?"
His voice dropped to a grave murmur.
"A summons. Concerning you."
Malakai growled low, a sound vibrating through the floor.
Rowan continued, "The High Council believes your lineage is more dangerous than they anticipated. They've marked you."
A cold chill slid down my spine.
"Why tell me?" I demanded. "You fed them information before. You betrayed me."
His jaw clenched. "I did what I thought was right for my pack."
"No," I snapped. "You did what was right for yourself."
Silence thickened.
Rowan's eyes flicked to Malakai, then back to me.
"The Council isn't coming for you alone," he said.
"They're coming for Eamon."
The world tilted.
Eamon.
My former mate.
The man who rejected me—who had broken me before I learned how powerful I truly was.
Malakai stiffened beside me. "Why would they target him?"
Rowan's voice lowered.
"To get to her. To control her."
My blood froze.
"They know you once shared a bond,"
Rowan said. "They believe hurting Eamon will destabilize you… and give them leverage."
My stomach twisted painfully.
Malakai's growl darkened to something lethal.
"If they touch him—"
"They haven't yet," Rowan said quickly. "But they have already tried. He escaped them once. Barely."
My breath hitched. "Where is he now?"
Rowan hesitated.
"He's in hiding. Not alone."
A strange, sharp emotion flickered under my ribs.
"Who is he with?"
"A rogue female," Rowan admitted. "A wolf with no allegiance. She saved his life. They're traveling together now. But the Council won't stop until they find them both."
Heat flashed in my chest—confusion, anger, something far too tangled to name.
Malakai shifted closer to me, sensing every emotion I tried to mask.
"Where," he demanded, "are they hiding?"
Rowan exhaled slowly.
"I'll take you."
"No," Malakai said coldly. "You will give us the location. Nothing more."
Rowan's jaw tightened. "You still don't trust me."
"You're right," Malakai said. "I don't."
Rowan looked at me instead.
"But do you?"
I held his gaze.
I saw the guilt. The fear. The worn edges of a man who had finally realized the consequences of his decisions.
"I trust," I said quietly, "that you don't want your son to die."
Relief—painful, raw—flickered across Rowan's face.
"The Council wants a weapon," he whispered. "They think that weapon is you.
But to get you…"
His voice broke.
"They'll destroy everything around you."
My fingers curled against my sides as a cold certainty settled in my bones.
"They'll try," I said. "But they won't succeed."
Malakai stepped fully beside me, his presence a wall of heat and promise.
"We will protect Eamon," he said. "And we will deal with the Council."
But Rowan shook his head.
"You don't understand. They've already crossed into rogue territory. If we wait any longer… we may lose him."
I swallowed hard.
Eamon and I had a complicated past—a painful one—but I couldn't let him die because of me.
I lifted my chin.
"Give us the location."
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment, then handed Malakai the marked map.
The moment I touched Malakai's arm, a silent message passed between us.
A rescue mission.
A confrontation with the High Council.
The hunt had already begun.
And this time…
I wasn't the prey..