Chapter 226 Chapter 226

Chapter 226 Chapter 226
Ellie

Nobody breathed.

The rain continued to fall, soft enough that I could hear each drop striking the stone courtyard, but somehow the entire world had gone silent.

Every wolf in the square stared at the man standing on the wall.

Malachar.

The name meant nothing to me.

The reaction around me said it should.

Marcus’s entire body went rigid beside me.

Rowan looked like someone had reached into his chest and stolen the air from his lungs.

Even the warriors surrounding us hesitated.

Not one of them charged.

Not one of them even spoke.

The only sound was the crackling of the watchtower still burning behind us.

The man smiled.

It wasn’t a wild smile.

It wasn’t cruel in the obvious way.

That somehow made it worse.

He looked…

Amused.

Like everything happening today had unfolded exactly the way he’d expected.

His dark cloak shifted in the breeze as he slowly clasped his hands behind his back.

“I imagined this moment differently.”

His voice carried effortlessly across the courtyard.

“I expected there to be celebration.”

Nobody answered him.

He tilted his head slightly.

“The Moon-Blessed has finally returned.”

His gaze settled on me.

“The bond is complete.”

His smile widened.

“And yet…”

He looked toward the three men standing around me.

“…everyone still looks terrified.”

Blake took one step forward.

“You’ve got five seconds to explain who the hell you are.”

Theo caught his arm before he could move any farther.

“Don’t.”

“He’s standing right there.”

“I know.”

“I can hit him from here.”

“I also know that.”

Malachar laughed.

The sound echoed strangely across the courtyard.

“I remember that temper.”

Blake frowned.

“What?”

Malachar looked almost nostalgic.

“The last Blake had it too.”

Every hair on the back of my neck stood up.

The…

Last Blake?

Theo’s voice became dangerously calm.

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, Malachar looked at Sebastian.

“You’ve inherited your grandfather’s eyes.”

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change.

“I never met my grandfather.”

“No.”

Malachar’s smile faded ever so slightly.

“You weren’t allowed to.”

Something passed between Rowan and Marcus.

Fear.

Real fear.

Rowan stepped forward.

“Enough.”

Malachar looked at him.

“Rowan.”

He actually sounded pleased.

“I was wondering if you’d lived long enough to see this.”

“You should have stayed buried.”

“I tried.”

The answer came so casually that it chilled me.

“But your ancestors kept digging.”

Theo’s grip on my hand tightened.

“Who is he?”

Rowan didn’t take his eyes off Malachar.

“He was one of us.”

The courtyard exploded into whispers.

One of us?

Malachar gave Rowan an approving nod.

“There you are.”

“I knew you’d remember eventually.”

Marcus looked genuinely confused.

“I’ve read every council record.”

“No.”

Malachar corrected softly.

“You’ve read every record that survived.”

My stomach tightened.

The words sounded painfully familiar.

Every time we’d uncovered another piece of history…

Pages had been missing.

Names scratched away.

Entire families erased.

Not destroyed by time.

Destroyed deliberately.

“You erased yourself,” Theo realized.

Malachar actually applauded.

“Very good.”

He looked around the square.

“The future Alpha.”

“The clever one.”

His eyes shifted toward Blake.

“The reckless one.”

Then Sebastian.

“The observant one.”

Finally…

He looked at me.

“And the one everyone has been waiting for.”

A strange pressure settled against my chest.

Not painful.

Heavy.

The pendant beneath my shirt had become almost unbearably warm.

Without thinking, I pressed my hand against it.

Malachar noticed immediately.

His smile returned.

“There it is.”

“What?”

I whispered before I could stop myself.

“The recognition.”

I frowned.

“I don’t know you.”

“No.”

His expression softened in a way that somehow made him even more unsettling.

“But part of you does.”

Every instinct inside me screamed that he was lying.

Then…

A flash.

So fast I almost convinced myself I’d imagined it.

Stone walls.

Torchlight.

Someone laughing.

A man’s voice saying my name.

Not Ellie.

Another name.

Gone before I could grab hold of it.

I stumbled backward.

Theo caught me instantly.

“Ellie.”

“I’m okay.”

No.

I wasn’t.

Something had just happened.

Something inside my head.

Malachar watched my reaction with unmistakable satisfaction.

“I wondered how long it would take.”

Theo stepped in front of me.

“What did you do?”

“I?”

Malachar looked offended.

“I haven’t done anything.”

He nodded toward me.

“She’s remembering.”

My pulse thundered in my ears.

“I don’t remember anything.”

“You will.”

His confidence terrified me.

“Every Moon-Blessed remembers eventually.”

Rowan’s voice cracked through the courtyard like thunder.

“Stop talking.”

Malachar looked almost disappointed.

“You’ve spent centuries trying to bury the truth.”

His gaze swept across every wolf standing in the square.

“I wonder…”

He smiled again.

“…how loyal this pack will remain once they discover your greatest lie.”

The whispers grew louder.

Confused.

Uneasy.

Theo raised his voice.

“Nobody listens to another word.”

“Oh, I think they will.”

Malachar spread his arms.

“Because unlike you…”

His eyes locked with mine once more.

“…I’m the only one willing to tell Ellie who she really is.”

The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Then, for the first time since he’d appeared…

I stepped out from behind Theo.

Three hands reached for me at once.

Blake.

Sebastian.

Theo.

I gently squeezed Theo’s hand before letting go.

“I need to ask him something.”

“Ellie—”

“It’s okay.”

No.

It wasn’t.

But I needed answers.

I looked directly at Malachar.

“If you know so much…”

My voice shook only slightly.

“…then tell me.”

His smile disappeared.

For the first time since he’d arrived…

He looked serious.

I swallowed.

“Who am I?”

The question hung over the silent courtyard.

Every wolf waited.

Even the rain seemed to stop.

Malachar held my gaze for a long moment.

Then he smiled again.

Not cruelly.

Sadly.

“You’ve been asking the wrong question from the very beginning.”

My heart hammered.

“The question isn’t…”

He pointed directly at the pendant resting over my heart.

“…who you are.”

His finger slowly lowered until it pointed toward the ground beneath the Alpha compound.

“It’s…”

“What were you born to awaken?”

The earth shook.

Not violently.

Just enough for cracks to race across the stone courtyard beneath our feet.

Somewhere deep below the Alpha house…

Something answered.