Chapter 13
Dahlia’s POV
Nate’s hand on my waist was the only thing keeping me upright as the lab doors swung shut, locking us in with the three High Elders and a woman whose screams were loud enough to wake the dead.
The mask lay on the floor between us. My face felt cold and exposed. After years of being ’Dr. Willow,’ being Dahlia again felt like having my skin peeled back.
“I knew there was something pretentious about you, Dahlia. Fooling us all along to think you’re some renowned healer.” Gina sneered.
“I am a healer,” I shot back.
“Arrest her!” Gina’s voice hit a glass-shattering pitch. She was vibrating with a mix of terror and triumph. “She’s a fugitive! She’s been in the Alpha’s house, touching our food, treating our Elder, who knows what she’s planted? She’s a traitor p>
Elder Silas, the oldest of the three, stepped forward. His grey eyes were hard as flint. He looked at me, then at the scar on my temple. “Dahlia? The omega who fled after the Alpha made his choice p>
“Her name is Dr. Willow,” Nate said, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous tone. He didn’t move his hand from my waist. If anything, he pulled me closer. “And she is under my protection p>
“Protection?” Elder Silas barked.
“Nate, look at the situation. You are the Alpha of this pack. This woman deserted her post, stole medical knowledge that belongs to the shifter world, and returned under a false identity. By pack law, she is a criminal. By the laws of the Moon Goddess, she is a rogue p>
“She saved the Elder’s life,” Nate countered. “While your Luna was screaming in the hallways, this woman was in the operating theater. If she wanted us dead, Silas, we’d be buried by now p>
Gina lunged forward, extending her claws. She looked like a wild animal. “She’s bewitched you! Can’t you see it? She’s used some human poison to cloud your mind. She’s probably used it on the kids, too… those poor things she’s kept hidden in the woods p>
My heart skipped a beat. Every time Gina mentioned the children, my blood ran cold. “Leave them out of this, Gina p>
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Gina sneered, a cruel light entering her eyes. She turned to the Elders.
“She admitted it herself. She has three children at that cottage. Who knows who the father is? For all we know, she’s raised a brood of rogues to infiltrate the Silver-Crest line p>
“Enough!” Nate’s aura flared.
The glass beakers on the shelves behind us cracked. The sheer pressure of his power forced Gina to take a step back, her face turning pale. “The children are not to be touched. Silas, if a single guard sets foot on the cottage grounds without my express command, I will consider it an act of mutiny p>
Silas narrowed his eyes. “Then we have a problem, Alpha. Because the Council cannot ignore a rogue in our midst. If you won’t let us investigate the cottage, then we must hold the woman. Until her identity and her motives are fully vetted, she stays in the Iron Cell p>
“No,” Nate growled.
“I’ll go,” I said, steadying my voice despite the roar of panic in my chest.
Nate turned to me, his eyes wide. “Dahlia, no. You don’t know what p>
“I know exactly what it is,” I said, looking him in the eye. “But if I go, the guards stay away from my children. That’s the deal. I stay in the cell, and the cottage remains off-limits to everyone. Including the Luna p>
I looked pointedly at Gina. She looked like she wanted to spit on me, but she held back, sensing the Elders’ shifting mood.
“Fine,” Silas agreed. “The woman goes to the cells. The children will be monitored from the perimeter by the High Guard, not the Luna’s personal staff. We will begin the interrogation at dawn p>
Nate looked like he wanted to tear the room apart, but I squeezed his hand, it was a silent plea. I needed him to keep them safe. That was all that mattered.
The walk to the dungeons was a blur. Two guards walked beside me, pressing their hands on my shoulders. Nate followed at a distance, his presence was a dark, brooding cloud. Gina stayed behind, no doubt already plotting how to get to the cottage while I was locked away.
The Iron Cell was in the deepest part of the pack house, carved directly into the mountain. The bars were infused with silver and cold iron, designed to suppress a shifter’s wolf.
As soon as I stepped inside, a wave of nausea hit me. My connection to my wolf, as small and quiet as it was, felt like it was being snuffed out.
The heavy door slammed shut.
Nate dismissed the guards with a sharp flick of his wrist. He waited until their footsteps faded before he pressed his face against the bars.
“I’m getting you out of here,” he whispered. “Dahlia, I swear on my life p>
“Nate, listen to me,” I interrupted, grabbing his hands through the cell. “You have to go to the cottage. Now. Sinclair is there, but he’s human. He can’t stop Gina if she sends her own people p>
“I’ve already sent my most loyal men to the perimeter,” Nate said. He looked at me, his eyes searching mine. “But that’s not what I need to talk about. The boy… Axel. He’s mine, isn’t he p>
I closed my eyes. “They all are, Nate. Aidan, Axel, and Ariana p>
I heard him gasp. It was a soft, broken sound. “Three… I have three children p>
“You have two sons and a daughter,” I said, my voice cracking. “They don’t know you. And right now, they’re terrified and alone on a land that is trying to poison them p>
Nate’s grip on my hands tightened until it hurt. “I missed everything. The births… the first steps. You kept them from me for six years p>
“I kept them alive!” I hissed.
“Nate, look where I am! Look at what your mate is doing! She’s siphoning the pack’s life force. I saw her blood, it’s black. She’s the reason the pack is sterile. She’s the reason Elder Thomas is dying. If she finds out the kids are yours, she won’t just exile them. She’ll use them as fuel for whatever dark bond she’s built with you p>
“Wait what p>
Nate’s face went stone-cold. The shock was replaced by a clarity that was even more terrifying. “She’s been lying to me about the bond since the day you left. My wolf never accepted her, Dahlia. I thought I was just broken. I thought the rejection had ruined me p>
“You weren’t broken,” I whispered. “You were just waiting for the truth p>
We stood there in the dark, holding each other’s hands. It was the most honest we had been in years.
“I have to go to them,” Nate said, pulling back. “I’ll bring them to the pack house. It’s the only place I can guarantee their safety p>
“No! Gina will p>
“Gina will be dealt with,” Nate said, his voice dropping into a tone that made the air in the cell grow cold. “She thinks she’s the Luna. She’s about to find out what happens when you threaten an Alpha’s pups p>
He turned to leave, but he stopped at the stairs. “Dahlia p>
“Yes p>
“Aidan. The way he looked at me… he knew, didn’t he p>
“He’s your son, Nate,” I said. “He knows a king when he sees one p>
Nate disappeared up the stairs, leaving me alone in the damp, silver-chilled cell. I sat on the small stone cot, as my mind raced. I had revealed the children. I had revealed myself. The game was over.
But as I sat there, I felt a strange vibration in the stone. A low, rhythmic thumping.
It was the same heartbeat I had heard at the cottage.
I pressed my ear to the floor. It wasn’t coming from the house. It was coming from the mountain itself. And as I listened, I realized it wasn’t one heartbeat. It was dozens.
My mind immediately flashed to the conversation I had with Gina earlier. The “Thinning” wasn’t just a loss of power. The energy Gina was stealing was going somewhere.
Just then, a voice whispered from the neighboring cell; a cell that was supposed to be empty.
“So… the little omega finally came home to see the harvest p>
I spun around, as my heart leapt into my throat. A pair of glowing red eyes stared back at me from the darkness.
“Who are you?” I demanded, swallowing hard.
“I’m the reason Gina is so powerful,” the voice rasped. “And I’m the reason your children will never leave this mountain alive p>
The figure in the shadows of the adjacent cell didn’t move, but the smell coming from him was unmistakable. It was the scent of old blood and stagnant water; the same rot that had been clinging to Gina’s perfume.
“The harvest?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper against the cold iron bars. “What do you mean, the harvest p>
A low, wet chuckle came from the darkness. The red eyes blinked. “The Luna… she’s a greedy little thing. She wanted a bond that wasn’t hers. She wanted a throne she didn’t earn. But power like that isn’t found in a prayer, little omega. It’s stolen p>