Chapter 190
Elowen's POV
Austin and Ella exchanged a long look. Finally, Ella turned to me, her face crumbling with emotion.
"You're not just the Lycan King's daughter, Elowen," she whispered. "You're his heir. The rightful successor to the throne."
The words hit me like a physical blow. Through our bond, I felt Casper and Cassian's shock mirror my own, their emotions tangling with mine in a chaotic mess.
"Wait," Cassian said, his analytical mind clearly racing. "Ronan is older. Wouldn't he—"
"I'm a bastard," Ronan interrupted, his voice surprisingly calm. "Born to a mistress, not a mated queen. In Lycan law, that disqualifies me from succession." He looked at me, and I saw something soft in those fierce green eyes. "But you? You were born to his mate. His true, Moon-blessed partner. That makes you legitimate. That makes you the heir."
The room started spinning. I could hear my own heartbeat thundering in my ears, could feel Juno whimpering in my mind.
"I don't—" My voice broke. "I don't understand. You're saying I have a brother? That I'm—that they were—"
And then it hit me. Really hit me.
I'd spent my entire life thinking I was nobody. An afterthought. A disappointment. I'd grown up believing my own mother didn't love me, that I was somehow fundamentally unworthy of being cared for.
But the truth was worse. So much worse.
"They're dead," I heard myself say, my voice hollow. "My real parents. They're both dead."
The words tasted like ash in my mouth. I'd found out who I really was—found out I had a father who was a king, a mother who was a queen, found out I mattered—all in the same breath as learning they were gone forever.
"I'll never meet them," I whispered. "I'll never know them. I just found out I had parents who actually wanted me, and they're already—"
A sob tore from my throat, violent and ugly. I felt my knees give out, but strong arms caught me before I could fall. Ronan. My brother.
"Easy, little sister," he said softly, lowering us both to the floor. "I've got you."
Little sister. The words broke something inside me.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I gasped between sobs. "Why did they let me think—why did Jessica—"
Rage suddenly flared through my grief, hot and vicious.
"Jessica," I spat the name like poison. "She knew. She had to know. She raised me like I was dirt under her feet, made me feel worthless and stupid and wrong, and the whole time she knew—"
"She knew you were royalty," Cassian finished grimly. I felt him and Casper kneel beside me and Ronan, their hands finding my shoulders. "She knew you were valuable, and she treated you like garbage anyway."
"Worse than garbage," I choked out. "She made me believe I was nothing. That I'd never be anything. And all along, I was—I could have—"
I couldn't finish. The betrayal was too enormous, too crushing. Every harsh word, every cold look, every moment she'd made me feel small and unimportant—it all came flooding back with new, horrible clarity.
"She stole my childhood," I whispered. "She stole the chance to know my real parents. She stole everything."
"Hey." Ronan's voice was rough but gentle. He tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. "She stole a lot, yeah. But she didn't steal this. She didn't steal us."
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. "I have a brother."
"You have a brother," he confirmed, and his smile was heartbreakingly tender. "And I'm not going anywhere."
"Me neither, cutie," Casper said fiercely, his hand tightening on my shoulder.
"Neither am I," Cassian added, his voice hard with determination.
I looked around at all of them—at Ronan, my newfound blood; at the twins, my mates; at Austin and Ella, who'd kept this terrible secret to protect me.
"I want to find them," I said quietly. "Whoever killed my parents. Whoever took them from me before I even got the chance to know them." My voice strengthened, fueled by rage and grief. "I want to find them and make them pay."
"We will," Casper promised immediately.
"We'll find them," Cassian agreed, his analytical mind already working. "We'll track down every lead, follow every thread—"
"And when we do find them," Ronan added, his smile turning predatory, "they're going to wish they'd never been born."
I took a shaky breath, then another. Through our bond, I felt Casper and Cassian sending me waves of love and support, trying to steady me.
"I'm the Lycan King's heir," I said slowly, testing the words. They felt foreign on my tongue. Impossible.
"You're Princess Elowen Ashborne," Ronan corrected gently. "Daughter of Lucian and his mate. My little sister." He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "And you're not alone in this. You never will be again."
Something warm bloomed in my chest, cutting through the grief and rage. For years, I'd felt like I didn't belong anywhere. Like I was fundamentally wrong, fundamentally broken.
But maybe I'd just been in the wrong place all along.
"I wish I could have met them," I whispered. "Just once. Just to know—"
"They loved you," Ella said suddenly, her voice thick with tears. "Your mother especially. She fought so hard to protect you, even as she was dying. Her last words were your name."
I pressed my face against Ronan's shoulder and let myself cry—for the parents I'd never known, for the childhood I'd never had, for the girl I'd been who thought she was worthless.
And through it all, I felt the steady presence of my brother, my mates, my chosen family surrounding me.
Jessica had stolen a lot from me. But she hadn't stolen this.
She hadn't stolen my future.