Chapter 42 The Name that Shouldn't be Spoken
~Alaric's POV~
After my question, the air in the waiting hall froze. Luna Rhiannon's eyes widened, her hands clutched at her chest as though I had struck her. Kaelan's gaze snapped to me, unreadable yet stiff. Neither spoke or breathed.
"Why is no one answering me?" I demanded. "I asked a simple question. Where is she?"
Suddenly, images tore through my mind... flashes of her, the last time, the fights with Sylion and endless search that had driven me into restless nights.
That was what I remembered.
Kaelan stepped forward at last, bowed his head with that respectful calm that only made my impatience flare hotter.
"Alpha…" his tone was careful, cautious. "…come with me, please."
He tilted his head toward the far corridor, away from Rhiannon and curious ears. For a heartbeat, I considered refusing but his steady eyes forced my feet to move.
We walked until the murmur of voices dimmed. He stopped, turned, and looked at me like a man staring into fire.
"What's going on with you, Alpha? Why now? Why her name?"
"What do you mean why?" My brows drew tight. "I asked where Elowen is. What crime is it to speak of her?"
Kaelan's jaw clenched. "Because months ago... you, Alpha... you ordered that we stop searching for her."
The ground shifted beneath me. I blinked at him, words caught like stone in my throat. "I… ordered that?"
"Yes, Alpha." He nodded once, his eyes not leaving mine. "You told us yourself that the search ends... that she is no longer our concern."
Cold sweat slid down my back. My mind clawed for the memory, but all I found were gaps, jagged holes where days should be. Why would I command such a thing? Why cut the tether to her when every bone in me remembered otherwise?
Voices churned in my skull. 'Did I? Did someone twist me? Did I truly let her go after killing my brother?'
"Alpha? Are you hearing me?"
Kaelan's voice snapped me back. I forced air into my lungs, grounding myself, though the dizziness clung.
"And you listened to such an order? Without question?"
His eyes narrowed slightly, lips pressing together. "I serve you and trusted your word. We all did."
Silence descended on us. Thoughts spun in circles, none finding ground. My wolf growled low in the back of my mind, restless, and unsettled.
"Didn't you hear?" Kaelan spoke again, softer this time, like a man afraid of shattering something fragile. "The doctor said it just now. Luna Tazira has given birth, a healthy baby girl."
His words floated past me, unreal. My lips parted, the sound that escaped brittle. "…Really?"
Kaelan's brows lifted, a flicker of alarm in his eyes. He studied me as though searching for cracks in stone, and he found them. I knew he did.
His stare crawled across my skin and my wolf stirred, uneasy. 'He sees and feels it. Something's wrong in us.'
I tore my gaze from him, chest tight. "I need to return to the Pack House."
He stepped forward quickly. "What about Tazira? And the child? Your daughter—"
"Take care of them," I cut in, sharper than I meant, the words slicing through the space between us. My tone left no room for refusal.
Kaelan's lips parted, as if to argue, but I didn't wait. I turned, boots striking against the floor, each step harder, faster, until the doors came in view.
Behind me, his voice called, faint, uncertain but I didn't stop. Outside, my wolf snarled, voice thundering in my skull.
'What's happening to us, Alaric? What truth is being hidden? Why does her name still burn when it should be ash?'
I clenched my fists, teeth grinding, pace quickening into a stride that bordered on a march...
★★★
~Tazira's POV~
The room was quiet except for the steady beeping from the monitor.
My mother sat near the window, hands knotted in her lap, her face pale and drawn. Something in her look unsettled me more than the dull ache in my body.
"What is it, Mother?" My voice came out weak.
She hesitated, glanced toward the door, then back at me. Her lips pressed thin before she finally spoke.
"Alaric… he just asked of Elowen."
The words jolted me harder than the labor pains I'd endured. My eyes widened, searching her face for any sign of jest.
"Elowen?" I gasped.
Before she could say more, the door creaked open and Kaelan stepped inside, his expression cold as ice. I turned my head sharply toward him.
"Tell me..." my tone sharper now, "is it true? Did Alaric really ask about Elowen?"
Kaelan's gaze stayed on me for a long second before he nodded once. "It's true."
The confirmation shook me to the core. My stomach twisted as my thoughts raced. "Why would he?" I demanded. "After all this time… why suddenly?"
Kaelan exhaled slowly, dragging a hand through his hair.
"I don't know. But the man I just spoke with… he wasn't the Alaric we've seen these past months. He looked like the Alaric from eight months ago."
I froze, locking eyes with my mother as dread passed between us. Slowly, I turned back to Kaelan.
"Where is he now?"
"He left... Returned to the Pack house."
"What!" The words stung sharper than a blade. "Without even checking on me first?"
He hesitated, jaw tightening. "He said… I should take care of everything."
The room chilled and Kaelan didn't wait for my reply. Without another word, he turned and walked out, the door clicking shut behind him.
I lay there, stunned, the silence pressing in until my mother rose and came closer, dragging the chair to my bedside. She sat and leaned forward, her eyes searching mine.
"What's happening, Mother?" I whispered, my throat dry.
"I don't know my dear," she answered, though her voice trembled with worry.
"Is it…" I swallowed hard. "Is the potion failing?"
Her face tightened, the silence answering before her words did. "It may be... something must have shifted."
"But how? How could it stop now?" I gripped the blanket, pulling it tight around me.
She drew a long breath and then said, "Because love potions often end once first blood is drawn. And you… you just bled for the first time since using it."
Her words struck me. My chest constricted, and I stared at her, stunned. "So that's it? Just because I gave birth, it's undone?"
"It's possible," she admitted quietly. "Your body changed and the blood broke the thread. It's an old rule, but one we can't ignore."
My heart raced, a cold wave flooding me. "Then what am I supposed to do now? What happens when he remembers everything?"
She placed her hand over mine, her grip tight. "We will find another way. Don't panic yet. Rest, gather your strength."
But I couldn't rest. Not when the image of Alaric, the way Kaelan described him... haunted me. If the potion's hold was gone, then everything I had built… every sacrifice I had made… would collapsed.
And worse, his thoughts would turn back to Elowen... No!!!