Chapter 11: Hidden Blood

Elijah pushed open the door to his father's study without knocking. Marcus sat behind his desk, his face stiffening when he saw his son.

"I saw you on the phone," Elijah said, his voice low and dangerous. "Were you calling Thorne?"

Marcus closed the folder he'd been reading. "Come in and shut the door."

Elijah stepped inside but left the door open. "Answer me."

"I said shut the door." Marcus's eyes flashed, not with the amber of a wolf, but with something else—something silver that disappeared so quickly Elijah wondered if he'd imagined it.

Reluctantly, Elijah closed the door and leaned against it, arms crossed. "Thorne said you told him where to find Liam. Is that true?"

"It's not that simple," Marcus sighed, suddenly looking older than his years. "There are things you don't understand."

"Then help me understand," Elijah ordered. "Why would you betray someone under our protection? Someone important to me?"

The words hung in the air between them. Elijah hadn't meant to share so much, but there it was—the truth he could no longer deny.

Marcus stood and walked to the window. "Did you ever wonder why I was so hard on you growing up? Why I pushed you to be the strongest Alpha you could be?"

"To prepare me to lead the pack," Elijah said.

Marcus shook his head. "To hide what we really are."

A chill ran down Elijah's spine. "What are you talking about?"

"Our family has a secret," Marcus said softly. "For generations, we've hidden it. The Blackwood line isn't pure Alpha as everyone believes."

"Thorne mentioned Omega blood," Elijah said, moving closer.

"Not just any Omega blood," Marcus turned to face his son. "The first Omega's blood. Just like the Silvermoon boy."

Elijah felt like the floor was tilting beneath him. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" Marcus asked. "Haven't you felt it? The pull toward him? The way your powers grow stronger when you're together?"

Heat rushed to Elijah's face. "That's just—"

"It's not just attraction," Marcus cut him off. "It's recognition. Your blood calling to his."

Elijah thought of every moment with Liam—the excitement when they touched, the way their wolves seemed to know each other. "Why hide this? Why lie to me all my life?"

Marcus moved to a picture on the wall—a family portrait from generations back. He swung it aside to show a safe. After entering a code, he removed an old, leather-bound book.

"This journal belonged to your great-great-grandfather," Marcus said, setting it on the desk. "Read page forty-three."

Elijah opened the book carefully, finding the page. The handwriting was faded but clear:

Today I made the hardest choice of my life. I hid my true nature from my own pack. The Omega purge has begun. Alpha Ravencrest has stated all Omegas with power must be eliminated. To protect our family, I must pretend to be what I am not. Only my mate knows the truth. Our children will be raised as Alphas, never knowing the silver blood that runs through their bodies.

"The Ravencrest he mentions," Marcus said. "That was Thorne's ancestor."

Elijah looked up from the book. "So we've been hiding this for generations? Pretending to be pure Alphas?"

"It was the only way to survive," Marcus said. "After the purge, any wolf showing Omega powers was killed. Our family learned to suppress those abilities, to channel everything into Alpha traits instead."

"Is that why you were always so angry when I showed any softness? Any compassion?" Elijah asked, old scars reopening.

"I was trying to protect you," Marcus maintained. "If anyone suspected—"

"So what does this have to do with Liam?" Elijah asked. "Why tell Thorne about him?"

Marcus's face darkened. "Because the prophecy is real, Elijah. And it's dangerous."

"The one Kaida mentioned? About restoring balance?"

"Balance sounds wonderful until you understand what it means," Marcus said bitterly. "When the first Alpha and Omega's powers combine, it doesn't just change them—it changes everything. The old wolf ways would return."

"And that's bad because...?" Elijah asked.

"Because chaos would follow," Marcus maintained. "The structures that have kept us safe, kept us hidden from humans—all gone. The power would be too much for anyone to control."

"You don't know that," Elijah countered.

"I know what I saw twenty years ago," Marcus said quietly. "When Liam's parents tried to fulfill the prophecy."

Elijah stared at his father. "What?"

"Liam's father was like him—an Omega with the old powers. His mother was from a pack with hidden Alpha-Omega blood. Like ours." Marcus's voice got softer. "They believed in the prophecy. They tried to restore the balance."

"What happened?" Elijah whispered, though he thought he knew.

"The Void happened," Marcus said. "The darkness that Kaida mentioned. It came for them. For their power. Thorne and I... we tried to stop them before it was too late."

"You helped kill Liam's parents?" Elijah felt sick.

"We tried to save them," Marcus maintained. "To make them see reason. But they wouldn't listen. And when the Void appeared..." Marcus shivered. "I've never seen anything like it. It consumed them. Only the children survived."

"Liam and Aria," Elijah said.

Marcus nodded. "Somehow, the boy lived when he should have died. He was just a cub, barely five years old. We found him in the woods after, covered in silver markings that weren't there before."

Elijah remembered Kaida's words: Ask the wolf cub who should have died. Ask how silver came to mark your skin.

"If you're so afraid of the prophecy, why not kill Liam then?" Elijah asked, his voice hard.

"I wanted to," Marcus revealed. "Thorne insisted. But I couldn't... not a child. So I hid him instead. Found a pack far away that would take him in. Made them promise never to tell him what he was."

"And now he's back," Elijah said. "And you're helping Thorne hunt him."

"I'm trying to prevent a disaster," Marcus insisted. "You don't understand what you're dealing with."

"I understand that I care about him," Elijah said, the words surprising even himself. "I understand that for the first time in my life, something feels right."

"It feels right because your blood recognizes his," Marcus said. "But that doesn't make it safe."

A knock at the door stopped them. Aria stood there, her face pale.

"Elijah," she said quickly. "It's Liam. Something's wrong."

Elijah's heart lurched. "What happened?"

"He collapsed. The markings on his skin—they're spreading. And he keeps saying your name."

Elijah pushed past her without another word, rushing toward Liam's room. Behind him, he heard his father call out.

"Elijah, wait! There's more you need to know!"

But Elijah didn't stop. His only thought was getting to Liam.

When he burst into Liam's room, the sight before him made him freeze. Liam lay on the bed, his body bent in pain. The silver marks had spread across his entire body, glowing so brightly they lit up the room. Black veins seemed to be creeping in from the edges of the markings, like evil trying to swallow the light.

"Liam," Elijah whispered, moving to his side.

Liam's eyes flew open at his words. Instead of their normal violet, they glowed silver like the moon.

"Elijah," he gasped. "I can feel it. The Void. It's coming."

"I won't let it take you," Elijah promised, taking Liam's hand. Where their skin touched, the black veins receded, and the silver glow brightened.

Liam's eyes locked with his. "There's something inside me," he whispered. "Something that wasn't there before. I think... I think it was waiting for you."

As if reacting to his words, the door slammed shut behind them. When Elijah turned to look, his blood ran cold.

Darkness gathered in the corner of the room, thicker than smoke, blacker than night. And within it, two red eyes opened and fixed on them.

The Void had found them.