Chapter 54 What’s in His Blood?
DAGNOTH DRACULIS
“What did you not tell me?”
My voice was calm, but the question was not.
Dahila looked at me as if I had struck her. Liam was still in her arms, his small body trembling, his skin burning against her chest. She held him tightly, protectively, as if I might try to take him by force.
“I have told you everything,” she said.
“No,” I replied evenly. “You have told me what you wanted me to know.”
The healer shifted uncomfortably beside us. “Alpha… the change is accelerating.”
“Then speak clearly,” I ordered.
The healer inhaled. “The child carries wolf blood. That is certain. But there is another current in him. It is older. Stronger. It does not feel like anything from this pack… or any neighboring one.”
Dahila shook her head. “That is not possible.”
“Then explain it,” I said.
Her eyes flashed. “You think I would hide something like this?”
“I think you are capable of protecting your secrets.”
The words came out sharper than I intended.
Her jaw tightened. “And you are capable of seeing enemies everywhere.”
Liam suddenly stirred and gripped her tunic. His eyes fluttered open.
Crimson.
The healer stumbled back a step. “It responds to power.”
“To whose?” Dahila demanded.
The healer did not answer.
He didn’t need to.
The boy’s gaze locked onto mine.
Heat pulsed through the air. A strange pull tightened in my chest. It wasn’t a bond. It wasn’t paternal instinct.
It was recognition.
I took a slow breath and stepped closer.
Dahila’s breath caught. “What are you doing?”
“Give him to me.”
Her arms tightened immediately. “No.”
The refusal was instant.
Our eyes locked.
“I will not hurt him,” I said quietly.
“You don’t know that.”
Something dangerous flickered in my chest. “You doubt my control?”
“I doubt your temper,” she shot back.
The Luna shifted behind us, clearly uncomfortable. I ignored her.
“Dahila,” I said, lowering my voice. “If what is in him awakens fully, your arms will not be enough to contain it.”
Her throat moved as she swallowed. Fear was there.
But so was defiance.
“You always speak as if you already know the outcome,” she said softly. “As if fate bends to you.”
“No,” I replied. “I speak as someone who has seen what ancient blood can do.”
That silenced her.
Slowly, reluctantly, she stepped forward and placed Liam into my arms.
Our fingers brushed as she released him.
The contact was brief.
But it burned.
Her skin was warm, trembling slightly. She did not pull away immediately. Neither did I.
The air between us shifted.
Too close.
Too aware.
I forced myself to step back.
The moment Liam settled against me, the torches along the corridor flickered wildly.
The healer whispered, “It is reacting.”
Liam’s fingers curled into my shirt with surprising strength. His small body arched.
And then he growled.
Not like a child.
Like something older.
Dahila moved closer without thinking. “Liam, it’s Mama. Look at me.”
He didn’t.
His crimson eyes stayed on me.
“Lower chamber,” the healer said urgently. “Now.”
Dahila hesitated. “That place is forbidden.”
“It is forbidden to most,” I said. “Not to me.”
She looked torn for only a moment before nodding.
We descended quickly, the Luna following at a distance. The spiral stairs echoed with our footsteps. Dahila stayed close—so close I could feel her breath near my arm.
“You think I lied about his father,” she said quietly.
“I think you avoided details.”
“He was a warrior from the northern border,” she replied. “He died before Liam was born.”
“Name.”
Her silence answered me.
I stopped walking.
She nearly collided with me.
“You see?” I said.
Her eyes flashed with frustration. “You think I enjoy this? You think I enjoy standing here begging for your help?”
“I did not ask you to beg.”
“No,” she said bitterly. “You prefer obedience.”
The words struck deeper than they should have.
We reached the lower chamber.
The ancient markings along the stone walls began to glow as soon as I stepped inside.
The healer froze.
Dahila sucked in a breath.
“It recognizes him,” the healer whispered.
“No,” I corrected quietly. “It recognizes what is in him.”
Liam’s body stiffened in my arms. His eyes flew open again, fully crimson now.
The temperature in the chamber dropped sharply.
Then the voice came.
“Heir.”
The word echoed through stone and bone.
Dahila stumbled back. “That’s not possible…”
Liam’s body went still.
The heat vanished.
His eyes faded back to gold.
The chamber dimmed.
Silence returned.
The healer fell to one knee. “That was not wolf magic.”
“No,” I agreed.
Dahila stepped forward slowly. “What does it mean?”
I looked down at Liam. He looked normal again. Fragile. Human.
But he was not.
“Years ago,” I said carefully, “a prophecy was spoken when my father died.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What prophecy?”
“That the Alpha’s line would face its ancient enemy again. And when the blood of that enemy returned… an heir would rise.”
The words felt heavier spoken aloud.
She stared at me. “You think my son carries enemy blood?”
“I know he carries something that answers to power.”
“And you think that power is yours?” she asked.
Her tone was sharp, but something softer lingered beneath it.
I met her gaze. “It answered to me.”
Silence stretched between us.
Too charged.
Too close.
“You are not his father,” she said quietly.
The words were meant to remind me.
Instead, they felt like a challenge.
“I know,” I replied.
And yet the pull remained.
The healer cleared his throat nervously. “Alpha… if the child truly carries two lineages, they may not be enemies.”
We both looked at him.
“What do you mean?” Dahila asked.
“Sometimes,” the healer said slowly, “bloodlines merge to end wars. Not start them.”
The thought hung in the air.
Dahila stepped closer to me again, her voice lower now. “If you believe he is dangerous, say it plainly.”
“I believe he is powerful,” I said.
“And power frightens you?”
“No,” I answered. “Losing control does.”
Her gaze softened slightly.
“For someone who claims control,” she murmured, “you look shaken.”
I held her stare.
“You should worry about your son,” I said.
“I am,” she replied. “But I am also watching you.”
The honesty in her voice unsettled me.
“You should not,” I said quietly.
“Why?”
Because if she kept looking at me like that—fear and fire mixed together—I might forget that she was off-limits.
Because she was not mine.
Because she could not be.
Instead, I stepped back.
“Tell me the truth,” I said firmly. “Who is Liam’s father?”
Her face changed.
Fear.
Conflict.
Guilt.
“I cannot,” she whispered.
“You will,” I replied.
“And if I don’t?”
The chamber felt colder.
“Then I will find out myself.”
Her chin lifted. “And if the truth destroys everything you believe about your bloodline?”
“Then it will be destroyed,” I said calmly.
Liam stirred weakly between us.
“Mama?” he murmured.
Dahila immediately reached for him. I allowed it this time.
When she took him, her fingers brushed mine again.
This time she did not pull away quickly.
Neither did I.
For a brief second, the world narrowed to that touch.
Then I forced myself to let go.
“Keep him here tonight,” I ordered the healer. “Under guard.”
Dahila’s eyes widened. “Guard? He’s a child.”
“He is more than that,” I said.
She held Liam closer.
“You don’t get to decide what he is,” she said quietly.
I stepped closer, lowering my voice so only she could hear.
“If the prophecy is tied to him… then everything in this pack will decide.”
Her breath caught.
“And you?” she whispered.
I looked at her for a long moment.
“I will do what an Alpha must.”
Even if it meant pushing her away.
Even if it meant fighting the pull I could not explain.
As I turned to leave, I felt it again.
That ancient current.
Not just from the boy.
From her.
And for the first time, I wondered—
If the prophecy had chosen the wrong heir.
Or the wrong enemy.