Dark mist clung to the receding horizon as Killian paced back and forth in his bedroom. Scent of rain hung with the breeze, and foreboding thunder rumbled in the distant reaches over Silvercrest territories. His wolf hungered, strobing beneath his flesh, yearning for answers-desiring Selene.
He clenched his teeth, struggling to shake the pull. She'd been with him for days and yet the connection still wouldn't shatter. If anything, it seemed stronger. His head warned him she was trouble. But his gut warned him otherwise.
There was a knock on his door. "Come on in," he growled, his voice biting.
Lysandra came in, flowing silk dress, moon-silvered. She'd been with him so long, queen of Luna. Tonight, she did nothing to soothe him. "Killian," she said, tension creeping into her voice. "The council are upset. They demand that she be overthrown."
He released a breath. "I know."
"So why wait?" Lysandra moved closer, her hand on his arm. "She is not safe. You heard what happened when she disobeyed you. The guards speak of her power. Of what she might be."
Killian's jaw snapped shut. He'd felt it himself—Selene close to him sent his wolf into madness. And when she looked at him, he knew she knew him as no one else ever had. "She is not leaving," he said to her.
Lysandra dug claws in deeper. "Ziyan guards her?"
He glared at her with an impenetrable face. "I defend this kingdom."
A flicker of something—anger, fear—passed across Lysandra's face. She smiled, however, and stepped back. "Very well. But don't waste time. The council won't stand for this any longer."
She left, but the weight of what she'd said remained.
Killian raked his fingers through his hair. He needed to know things. And he knew only one being could tell him.
Selene.
---
Selene lay out in the dark space, battered wrists throbbing with the silver cuffs removed for hours. Her body ached, but it wasn't the pain that consumed her—it was the emptiness.
Pieces of memory danced in her head, but they refused to coalesce. A voice in her mind with the sole word—Killian. But when she looked at him, all she felt was confusion.
The door creaked open and her heart skipped a beat. Killian was standing there, his presence dominating the room.
She steeled herself against his cold glare. "Here to toss me into shackles again?"
He walked in and closed the door. "No."
The air was heavy with tension between them and it was oppressive for a foul, interminable moment.
"You don't trust me," Selene spoke finally.
"You haven't given me a reason to."
She breathed away, past the rage. "I don't know, Killian. But I do know this—I was supposed to come for you."
His face went hard. "You really believe that makes a difference to me?"
"It should." She stepped closer to him, her voice low but completely unyielding. "Because no matter how much you try to deny it, you feel it too."
For a moment, a flicker of uncertainty passed over his face. And then it was gone.
"Tell me what you are," he snarled. "And don't lie."
Selene's throat constricted. "I don't know."
He barked at her, his wolf fighting to be unleashed. Then finally, he said, "Then we're going to find out."
A shiver crept down the length of Selene's spine.
She had no way of knowing that was a threat—or a promise.
Killian's words lingered in the air, heavy with unspoken meaning. His piercing eyes locked with Selene's, searching for something—truth, terror, maybe even recognition. But she had nothing to give.
She stood firm, fighting the pull between them. "And how do you intend to do that?" she asked, her voice cutting through a storm brewing inside her.
His teeth were coming together. "The council has called for explanations. If you are not prepared to provide them with them, they will discover means of taking them from you."
Selene's stomach hardened and chilled. She did not recall everything, perhaps, but one thing she was sure of—she could not be in their mercy. "And you?" she asked. "What do you think?
Killian's eyes turned black. He advanced, his bulk looming. "I don't believe in fate. And I don't believe in luck. But I do know one thing." He was gasping. "You shouldn't be here."
There was something in the way that he said it that made her skin crawl. "But I am."
A muscle in the jaw tightened. Between them hung a thick tension, electrified with something neither of them could bear.
He had no time to respond when the door was suddenly flung open.
Beta Cassian came in, frowning, with a twist in his face. "Killian, we've got a situation."
Killian turned around. "What's it?"
"The east border," Cassian responded. "We brought in two rogues who were trying to cross over. They were inquiring about her." His eyes flicked toward Selene.
She was sprinting, heart pounding. Rogues? Had they come to take her?
Killian's expression cut. "Take me to them."
Cassian slowed. "That is not all."
Killian's patience thinned. "Tell me."
Cassian's voice lowered. "One of them says he knows who she is."
Silence fell over the room. Selene's heart pounded. Could this finally be the answer she was searching for?
Killian's gaze snapped back to her. "You're coming with me."
Selene swallowed hard. Whatever reality awaited at the border, she wasn't sure she was ready for it.
But she had no choice.
The journey to the eastern border was tense. Selene sat astride Killian's black horse, her arms wrapped around his saddle. Her skin tingled with the coolness of night air, yet the cold had nothing on the tempest churning inside of her.
Killian hadn't said a word since they left, his body wound up in bottled tension. Cassian rode impassively, his horse bringing up the rear. The only sound was the thud of hooves on the ground road as they rode into the unknown, one step further.
When they came to the border, torches were lit in the clearing where the rogues were bound. Two dozen guardsmen stood, hard, unforgiving faces. Two men knelt among them, wrists bound behind them.
Selene's gut had curled up to regard them. There was this older man, his weathered face scarring being a merciless relief to his unsympathetic gray eyes that seemed not to have an inch of give in them despite as coarse as he appeared. There was this younger man, barely older than a kid, his wasted face from famine.
Killian had arrived first, the crunch of boots on the ground authoritative as they hit the earth. His gaze was icy as he moved towards them. "Who are you?"
The older rogue raised his chin. "We mean no harm." His voice was rough but firm. "We have come for her."
Selene tensed as all eyes fell on her.
Killian's face darkened. "And why is that?"
The man stopped short, his gaze snapping to hers. "Because she doesn't belong here."
Selene caught her breath. "What are you talking about?"
The rogue took a harsh breath. "You don't remember, do you?"
A shiver crept down her spine. "Remember what?"
The man shot a look at Killian, then returned it to hers. "Who you are."
The room spun round and round. A thousand silent questions swirled inside Selene's mind, but before she could say a single word—
A warrior stepped forward, his sword shining. "We must kill them, Alpha. Rogues can't be trusted."
Killian raised a hand, stopping him. His eyes never left the rogue. "Speak."
The man swallowed hard. "She's more than your mate, Alpha." His voice was a growl. "She's the key to everything."
Selene's heart thrashed. The tension was a blanket that covered them.
Killian stepped forward, his voice icy. "Explain."
The text changed everything.
"She's. The rightful heir of the lost Luna bloodline."
A silence descended upon them.
Selene's mind was reeling. Rightful heir? Lost Luna?
Killian's granite-forged face did not
soften. "Lies."
The rogue's head. "You know it's not."
Selene's legs. She collapsed.
Her history. It had not been forgotten.
It had been stolen.