Chapter 48 Revelation
“I thought it was my hallucination that the Alpha cared for you,” Cariel shouted as she threw herself dramatically onto the chair, clutching her chest, “but this—this is huge news for everyone!”
Selene flinched slightly at the sudden volume. Her ribs protested as she shifted, and she raised a hand weakly. “Cariel,” she said gently, “please lower your voice. The walls here are thin.”
“I don’t care!” Cariel cried, sitting up straight again, eyes wide and shining. “Do you know what just happened? Do you have any idea what I just witnessed?”
Selene leaned back against the pillows, trying to look calm even though her heart was still beating a little faster than usual. “You witnessed the Alpha escorting me back to my room.”
“No,” Cariel said sharply. “I witnessed the Alpha escorting you back to your room, talking to you, joking with you, smiling—smiling, Selene!”
She jumped up and began pacing the room like a storm trapped in four walls.
“He never does that,” Cariel continued. “Not with anyone. Not with maids. Not with warriors. Not even with the elders. He’s polite, yes—but distant. Always distant.”
Selene watched her quietly.
“He laughed,” Cariel said again, slower this time, like she needed to convince herself it was real. “He actually laughed. Out loud.”
Selene smiled faintly. “That’s not strange.”
Cariel stopped pacing so abruptly she almost tripped.
“…Not strange?” she repeated.
Selene shook her head. “That’s just how Ryzen is.”
Cariel stared at her.
“Selene,” she said slowly, “that is not how the Alpha is.”
Selene sighed. She knew this was coming.
“The way people describe him,” Selene said calmly, “is not the way I know him.”
Cariel dropped back into the chair, staring at the ceiling. “I feel like my entire world just tilted.”
Selene chuckled quietly.
Cariel sat up again. “You don’t understand. Do you know how many years I’ve worked here? Do you know how many times I’ve seen him walk these halls?”
Selene raised an eyebrow. “A lot?”
“Too many,” Cariel said. “And never—not once—have I seen him act like that. The description everyone uses for him? Cold. Aloof. Untouchable. Even scary.”
Selene tilted her head. “He’s none of those things.”
“That’s what makes this terrifying!” Cariel cried.
Selene laughed softly. “You’re overreacting.”
“No, I am underreacting,” Cariel corrected. “This changes everything.”
Before Selene could respond, the door opened.
Jenna stepped inside, carrying a small tray. She paused the moment she saw Cariel mid-panic and Selene calmly watching.
“…Did I miss something?” Jenna asked.
Cariel spun toward her. “Jenna.”
“Yes?”
“Where were you just now?”
“The kitchen,” Jenna replied. “Why?”
Cariel’s eyes widened even more. “Did you hear anything while you were there?”
Jenna frowned. “Actually… yes.”
Selene sat up slightly. “Hear what?”
Jenna set the tray down slowly. “Some of the kitchen staff were whispering. They said the Alpha was laughing with the ‘new girl.’”
The room went silent.
Jenna blinked. “But… there is no new girl. Except—” Her eyes shifted to Selene. “…you.”
Cariel let out a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a gasp.
“Oh no,” Selene muttered.
Cariel rushed toward Jenna and grabbed her shoulders. “JENNA. LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY.”
Jenna startled. “Cariel—!”
“THE ALPHA WALKED SELENE BACK TO HER ROOM.”
Jenna froze.
“HE SAT BESIDE HER.”
Jenna’s eyes widened.
“HE TALKED TO HER. JOKED WITH HER.”
Jenna’s mouth fell open.
“HE LAUGHED.”
Jenna gasped.
Cariel shook her gently, frantic. “AND HE TOUCHED HER HAND.”
Jenna screamed.
Selene covered her face with her pillow. “Please stop.”
Jenna rushed to Selene’s bedside. “Is this true?”
Selene peeked at her. “…Yes.”
Jenna stared at her like she was looking at a legend. “Do you know each other?”
Cariel echoed, “Yes—do you?”
Selene hesitated.
She looked at both of them. Their wide eyes. Their confusion. Their excitement.
“Yes,” Selene said softly. “We do.”
Jenna sat down heavily. “How?”
Selene smiled faintly. “University.”
The room erupted.
“UNIVERSITY?!” Cariel shouted.
“With books?!” Jenna added.
Selene nodded. “Yes.”
Cariel pressed her hands to her head. “The Alpha… carrying books… sitting in class… laughing?”
“He skipped a lot,” Selene added.
Jenna looked faint. “I need to sit.”
“You are sitting,” Cariel said.
“Oh.”
Cariel turned back to Selene slowly. “So let me get this straight. The terrifying Alpha of Montclair Pack was… your friend?”
“Yes.”
“And he’s been hiding this the entire time?”
Selene shrugged. “He likes his privacy.”
Jenna whispered, “That explains so much.”
Cariel leaned closer. “Does he treat you like this… always?”
Selene paused.
“Yes,” she said honestly.
The room went quiet again.
Then Cariel grinned.
“Oh this is bad,” she said happily.
Selene frowned. “Bad how?”
“Bad for everyone else,” Cariel replied. “Do you know how many hearts just broke today?”
Jenna nodded. “At least half the pack.”
Selene sighed. “This is going to cause trouble.”
Cariel waved her hand. “Let it. It’s about time something interesting happened.”
Selene laughed quietly.
“But seriously,” Jenna said, sobering. “You should be careful.”
Selene looked at her. “I know.”
Cariel nodded. “People will talk.”
“They already are,” Jenna added.
Selene leaned back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Cariel softened. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Jenna nodded. “You just exist.”
Selene smiled faintly.
However, Cariel realizes something and suddenly froze mid-grin.
“Wait,” she said slowly, lifting a finger as if something finally clicked. “Wait, wait—go back.”
Selene blinked. “Go back to what?”
Cariel turned fully toward her, her earlier excitement shifting into confusion. “University,” she repeated. “You said… university.”
“Yes,” Selene replied carefully.
Cariel frowned. “But… the Alpha didn’t go to school.”
Jenna, who had been sitting quietly, straightened at once. “She’s right.”
Both pairs of eyes turned to Selene.
“The Alpha has always been gone,” Jenna continued, her tone thoughtful now. “He disappears for weeks. Sometimes months. Everyone said it was because of missions. Or council matters. Or pack business.”
Cariel crossed her arms. “No one ever mentioned school. Not once.”
The room felt suddenly smaller.
Selene’s fingers curled into the blanket beneath her. Her heart began to beat faster—not from fear exactly, but from something heavier. Anticipation. Hesitation. A familiar pressure she had lived with for years.
This moment had always been waiting for her.
She just hadn’t known when it would arrive.
“I…” Selene started, then stopped.
Cariel noticed immediately. “Selene?”
Jenna leaned forward slightly. “Is something wrong?”
Selene swallowed.
For a brief moment, she considered brushing it off. Saying it was complicated. Saying it didn’t matter. Saying anything that would delay this truth just a little longer but she had already crossed a line.
Ryzen had laughed with her in front of the entire pack.
The whispers had already started.
And more importantly—She was tired of hiding.
Her chest tightened as memories surfaced. The first time she learned to lie carefully. The first time she learned to smile while holding a secret. The first time she learned that honesty could cost her everything.
Her aunt’s warnings echoed faintly in her mind.
Never reveal who you are unless you’re ready to lose people.
Selene looked at Cariel and Jenna.
They weren’t cruel. They weren’t threatening. They were shocked, yes—but they had been kind to her when she had nothing to offer in return.
That mattered.
Her hands trembled slightly.
“I need to tell you something,” Selene said quietly.
The tone alone made both women stiffen.
Cariel’s excitement vanished completely. “Okay,” she said slowly. “You’re scaring me a little.”
Selene took a deep breath.
“What I’m about to say…” she continued, “…you might not like.”
Jenna nodded once. “We’re listening.”
Selene’s eyes dropped to her lap.
“For days,” she said softly, “I’ve been wondering when this would happen. When someone would finally ask the right question.”
Her throat felt tight.
“I didn’t come here planning to lie,” she admitted. “But I also didn’t come here planning to tell the truth so soon.”
Cariel shifted uneasily. “Selene…”
Selene lifted her head.
“If I tell you,” she said, “it’s up to you what you do with it. You can ignore it. You can pretend you never heard it. Or you can walk out of this room and never speak to me again.”
Jenna’s eyes widened. “Why would we—”
“Please,” Selene interrupted gently. “Let me finish.”
Silence fell.
Even the air felt tense.
Selene closed her eyes for a brief second.
She remembered falling.
The river.
The cold.
The second time she almost died.
I won’t hide anymore, she told herself.
When she opened her eyes again, they were calm—but resolved.
“Before I say anything else,” Selene said quietly, “I need you to promise me one thing.”
Cariel hesitated. “What?”
“No shouting,” Selene said. “No running out of the room. And please… don’t interrupt me.”
Jenna nodded immediately. “Okay.”
Cariel took a breath. “…Okay.”
Selene exhaled slowly.
“You’re right,” she said. “Ryzen didn’t go to school the way you think.”
Cariel frowned. “Then—”
“He went under a different identity,” Selene continued. “And I met him there because I was also a student.”
Jenna blinked. “That still doesn’t explain—”
“I wasn’t studying under Montclair territory,” Selene said.
The words landed softly.
Too softly.
Cariel tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
Selene’s fingers tightened.
“I wasn’t studying here,” she repeated. “And I wasn’t raised here either.”
A long pause followed.
Jenna’s voice was careful. “Selene… where are you from?”
Selene felt her heartbeat in her ears.
This was it.
She looked at Cariel—who had defended her, laughed with her, fussed over her.
She looked at Jenna—quiet, observant, kind in ways that didn’t demand attention.
“I need you both to understand something first,” Selene said slowly. “I never came here to hurt anyone. I never came here to spy. I never came here with bad intentions and you both know how I get here.”
Cariel swallowed. “Selene…”
Selene’s voice trembled just a little. “I didn’t choose where I was born.”
The silence grew heavier.
“I didn’t choose the blood I carry,” she added.
Jenna’s eyes widened slightly.
Selene took one last breath.
“I’m not from Montclair Pack,” she said.
Cariel’s breath hitched.
“I’m not from any allied pack,” Selene continued.
The air felt like it cracked.
“I’m from—”
She stopped.
Not because she was scared.
But because once she said it, there was no going back.
Cariel leaned forward without realizing it. “From where?”
Selene met their eyes.
“The West Pack.”
The world stopped.
Cariel’s face drained of color.
Jenna’s mouth fell open.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them moved.
The name alone was enough.
The enemy pack.
The one whispered about in strategy meetings.
The one blamed for border fights, losses, bloodshed.
The one children were warned about.
Cariel’s knees buckled slightly as she sank back into the chair.
“…The West Pack?” she whispered.
Jenna stood up abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. “That’s not—” She stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
Selene stayed still.
She didn’t defend herself.
Didn’t explain.
Didn’t beg.
She simply waited.
Cariel stared at her, eyes wide, lips trembling. “You’re… you’re telling us…”
“Yes,” Selene said softly. “I am.”
Jenna shook her head slowly, disbelief written across her face.