Chapter 87 Kaden's POV
The world stopped.
"Elena Silvercrest."
The name echoed in the entrance hall like a thunderclap.
I stared at Helena, trying to process what she had just said. The Silver Moon Pack had been destroyed fifteen years ago. Everyone knew the story. Erebus's followers had attacked in the night, slaughtered the Alpha and his family, and burned the territory to the ground.
There were no survivors.
"That's impossible," I said.
"The Silvercrest family killed all of them."
"That's what everyone believed," Helena said, her eyes still fixed on Elara.
"But Elena's body was never found. We assumed she had been killed and the body destroyed in the fires. But now..."
"Now what?" Elara's voice was shaking. "You think I'm her? Some Alpha's daughter who has been missing for fifteen years?"
"I knew Elena's mother. We were friends before she died in childbirth. I was there when Elena was born…. I held her."
Helena moved closer. "You have her eyes, her face even the way you stand is the same."
"That doesn't mean anything lots of people look alike-"
"Not like this, not this exact." Helena turned to me. "May we speak somewhere private? This isn't a conversation for the entrance hall."
I nodded, still trying to make sense of this. "My office this way."
Selena immediately stepped forward. "Kaden, perhaps this should wait. Alpha Helena just arrived she must be tired from her journey-"
"This can't wait," I said flatly.
"But the celebration preparations-"
"Can wait too. Ethan, make sure Alpha Helena's belongings are taken to her quarters. Selena, you're dismissed."
"But I should be part of this discussion-"
"You are dismissed," I repeated, my voice carrying an edge that made it clear this wasn't negotiable.
Selena's face flushed with anger and humiliation but she said nothing. Just turned and walked away, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
I led Helena and Elara to my office. Elara was moving stiffly, her face pale, her hand pressed protectively against her stomach.
Once we were inside and the door was closed, Helena sat in one of the chairs across from my desk. Elara remained standing by the window, as far from both of us as she could get.
"Tell me everything," I said to Helena. "About Elena Silvercrest, about the Silver Moon Pack, all of it."
Helena took a breath. "The Silver Moon Pack was one of the oldest and most powerful packs in the region. Alpha Thomas Silvercrest was Elena's father, a good man and a strong leader. His mate died giving birth to Elena, but he raised their daughter with help from the pack."
"What happened to them?"
"Erebus happened fifteen years ago, his followers attacked in the middle of the night. It was coordinated. Brutally they killed Alpha Thomas and most of his inner circle. Set fire to everything by morning, the pack was destroyed."
"And Elena?"
"She was eight years old and everyone assumed she died in the attack. Her room was found burned with blood on the floor but no body."
Helena paused. "Some of us wondered if she had been taken instead of killed. Erebus was known to take children and sometimes use them. But after months of searching turned up nothing, we accepted that she was dead."
Elara spoke from the window, her voice tight. "This doesn't prove anything. I could be anyone. Just someone who happens to look like a dead girl."
"You could be," Helena agreed.
"But there are ways to verify the Silvercrest line had a distinctive birthmark. A crescent moon shape on the left shoulder blade did you have one?"
"I don't know ... .I don't remember anything from a few months ago."
"May I check?"
Elara hesitated, then slowly turned around and pulled down the collar of her shirt enough to expose her left shoulder.
There, clear as day, was a small crescent moon birthmark.
Helena stood, her expression shifting from curiosity to certainty. "It's you, you are Elena Silvercrest."
"No." Elara pulled her shirt back up.
"I'm Elara, an omega from this pack. I have been here for years working in the kitchens-"
"Have you?" Helena asked gently. "Or is that just what you were told? What do you remember because someone wanted you to believe it?"
"I remember working here. I remember-" Elara stopped. "
Helena said. "Someone took you from the Silver Moon Pack attack, someone kept you hidden for fifteen years made you believe you were someone else, an omega powerless. Unimportant."
"But why? Why would anyone do that?"
"To hide you the daughter of a powerful Alpha bloodline would be valuable. To Erebus's followers to anyone who wanted to use your heritage for their own purposes."
I'd been silent, processing all of this. Now I spoke up. "The Luna aura. The power Elara displayed. That's not something omegas can do."
"Exactly," Helena said.
"It's a power reserved for Alphas and their mates. If Elara is Elena Silvercrest, daughter of an Alpha, that would explain why she can wield it despite being unrecognized as Luna."
"I'm an omega," Elara insisted. "I've always been an omega. My wolf is weak, my rank is low, everything about me says omega."
"Or everything about you was suppressed," Helena countered.
"There are ways to suppress someone's true nature. Dark magic, ancient rituals, things Erebus's followers would absolutely know how to do."
Elara was shaking her head, backing toward the door. "This is crazy, are you saying my entire life is a lie? That I'm not who I thought I was? That I'm the daughter of a dead Alpha from a destroyed pack?"
"I'm saying it's possible. Likely, even." Helena's voice was gentle. "And if it's true, you deserve to know."
"I don't want to know! I don't want to be someone's missing daughter or some Alpha's heir or anything except what I am right now!"
"Elara-" I started.
"No. I can't do this. I can't be like this." She was at the door now, fumbling with the handle. "I'm sorry, but I can't."
She got the door open and ran.
"Elara, wait!"
But she was already gone, moving faster than she should have been able to with a recently healed leg.
I turned to Helena. "We will continue this later. I need to find her."
"Of course. Go."