Chapter 12 - WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT FROST HOLLOW
At sunset, Aurelia finally told me everything.
We sat alone beside the river.
No guards.
No Damian.
No council.
Just mother and daughter.
“I ordered the gates sealed.”
She didn't soften it.
“Gideon told the truth.”
I waited.
“Why?”
“Because enemy wolves had entered Frost Hollow disguised as refugees.”
She stared across the water.
“Your father discovered explosives beneath the council hall.”
My chest tightened.
“He tried to remove them.”
“He failed.”
“The gates?”
“I sealed them to prevent the attackers from escaping into neighboring settlements.”
Her voice broke.
“I believed we had time to evacuate.”
“You didn't.”
“No.”
“How many died?”
“Two hundred and thirteen.”
I closed my eyes.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
“Why did you leave me?”
Aurelia looked at me.
“Because one of the survivors identified you.”
“Gideon?”
“No.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Cassian.”
I stood.
“My cousin?”
“He was fourteen.”
“He didn't understand what he was doing.”
“Gideon found him first.”
“He convinced Cassian that your father caused the explosion.”
I thought of Cassian refusing to force me to kneel.
“He believed him?”
“For years.”
“And now?”
“I don't know.”
A twig snapped behind us.
Cassian stepped from the trees.
Aurelia immediately stood.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“She is telling the truth.”
I stared at him.
“You remember?”
“I remember your father carrying children toward the river.”
His eyes filled with shame.
“I remembered years ago.”
“Then why stay with Gideon?”
“Because I needed evidence.”
He handed me a small leather journal.
“His?”
“Yes.”
I opened it.
Gideon's handwriting filled the pages.
Payments.
Names.
Territories.
Plans.
Then one entry stopped me.
ELARA VALE LOCATED IN CROSS TERRITORY.
OBSERVATION TO CONTINUE.
DO NOT REMOVE UNTIL BOND WITH DAMIAN CROSS FAILS.
I looked at Cassian.
“They wanted Damian to reject me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if your bond completed naturally, the First Moon authority would have joined with Cross territory.”
Aurelia understood first.
“They were afraid of an alliance.”
Cassian nodded.
“Serena was sent to prevent it.”
My stomach turned.
“Sent?”
“She wasn't simply ambitious.”
Cassian looked toward the estate.
“She was working for Gideon before she ever met Damian.”
Every insult.
Every manipulation.
Every rumor.
Planned.
But Damian had still made his own choices.
That mattered.
I closed the journal.
“This can break the coalition.”
“Maybe.”
Cassian's expression darkened.
“But there's another problem.”
“What?”
“Gideon knows I took it.”
A distant howl sounded.
Then another.
Cassian looked toward the trees.
“They're coming.”
Aurelia grabbed my hand.
We ran.
The first arrow struck the tree beside my head.
The second hit Cassian's shoulder.
He fell.
“Cassian!”
“Go!”
Three wolves emerged from the forest.
Then five.
Then ten.
Aurelia shifted.
For the first time, I saw my mother's wolf.
Silver.
Massive.
Terrifying.
She placed herself between me and the attackers.
But more wolves appeared behind us.
We were surrounded.
I gripped my pendant.
Then a black wolf crashed through the trees.
It struck the nearest attacker.
Another followed.
Cross wolves.
And behind them, pale from blood loss but standing anyway, was Damian.
He looked at me.
“You have a terrible habit of leaving without guards.”
I stared at him.
“You have a terrible habit of ignoring healers.”
May you like
He almost smiled.
Then Gideon's wolves attacked.
