Chapter 4: The Stranger at the Gate
The Council meeting began at midnight.
Liora entered the chamber alone.
Six elders sat around a circular stone table.
Kael stood behind them.
He hadn’t looked away from her since she entered.
Elder Rowan was there too.
His face looked older.
“You came,” Rowan said.
“You summoned me.”
“We needed to know whether the bloodline survived.”
Liora’s expression hardened.
“What bloodline?”
Nobody answered.
Kael finally spoke.
“The Moonborn.”
The room became silent.
Liora slowly looked at him.
“You know.”
Kael’s eyes remained on hers.
“Yes.”
“And you knew three years ago?”
His silence was answer enough.
Anger replaced confusion.
“You knew what I was.”
“I suspected.”
“You rejected me because of it?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Kael stepped forward.
Before he could answer, the doors exploded open.
A guard flew across the chamber.
Dark smoke entered the room.
The elders shouted.
Liora felt something awaken inside her.
Her eyes flashed silver.
The smoke stopped.
Every person in the chamber froze.
A voice whispered through the darkness.
“Found you.”
Liora’s pendant shattered.
A wave of silver energy exploded from her body.
The windows broke.
Kael immediately shifted.
His black wolf emerged, enormous and terrifying.
He stood between Liora and the smoke.
A shadow figure appeared.
“You cannot hide the Moonborn forever, Alpha.”
Kael growled.
“Leave.”
The figure laughed.
“You still protect her?”
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
“She is under my protection.”
Liora stared at his back.
Three years ago he had told her she meant nothing.
Now he was standing between her and an unknown enemy.
The shadow vanished.
Silence returned.
Kael slowly turned.
Liora’s eyes were still silver.
He stared at them.
“You shouldn’t have come back.”
She stepped closer.
“You shouldn’t have rejected me.”
Kael looked away.
“I know.”
It was the first time he had ever admitted it.
