Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT THE MOUNTAIN CLOSED
The blast shook the estate.
Windows cracked.
People screamed downstairs.
Damian released Serena and ran toward the hall.
Aurelia caught my shoulder.
“You stay with me.”
“No.”
“Elara.”
“If they're here because of me, I'm not hiding.”
Something like pride flickered across her face.
“Then stay close.”
We ran.
Outside, Cross territory had become chaos.
Smoke rose from the northern gate.
Damian's wolves formed defensive lines across the courtyard.
Aurelia's armored convoy repositioned around the estate.
The attackers did not charge.
They waited beyond the broken gate.
Hundreds of wolves.
Silent.
Watching.
Damian stepped onto the stone balcony.
“This is Cross territory!”
His voice carried across the valley.
“Identify yourselves!”
A man emerged through the smoke.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Black coat.
A scar crossed his left cheek.
Aurelia stopped beside me.
I heard her whisper.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You know him?”
The man smiled.
“Aurelia.”
My mother's face had lost all color.
“Gideon.”
He looked at me.
My skin prickled.
“There she is.”
Damian moved in front of me.
Gideon laughed.
“Still pretending she's yours?”
Damian's wolf surfaced.
“She is under my protection.”
I stepped around him.
“No, I'm not.”
Damian looked at me.
That hurt him.
I could tell.
I didn't care.
Gideon raised his hands.
“We didn't come for Cross territory.”
“Then leave,” Damian said.
“We came for the heir.”
Aurelia moved beside me.
“You will never touch her.”
Gideon tilted his head.
“Still lying to the girl?”
My stomach tightened.
“What lie?”
Aurelia didn't answer.
Gideon smiled at me.
“Ask her why your father died.”
“Gideon.”
“Ask her who ordered Frost Hollow sealed before the fire.”
Aurelia stepped forward.
“Enough.”
“Ask her.”
I looked at my mother.
“Did you?”
“Elara, this isn't the place.”
“Did you seal Frost Hollow?”
Her silence was enough.
I stepped backward.
Gideon watched us with satisfaction.
Damian moved closer to me.
“Don't listen to him.”
I snapped toward him.
“You don't get to tell me who to trust.”
He stopped.
Behind us, Serena appeared in the doorway.
Her hands were restrained.
She looked at Gideon.
“You're late.”
Damian turned.
The courtyard went silent.
Gideon's smile disappeared.
Serena realized her mistake.
Damian walked toward her.
“You know him.”
She didn't answer.
“You brought them here.”
Serena lifted her chin.
“I did what was necessary.”
“For what?”
“To remove her.”
She pointed at me.
“She was never supposed to stay this long.”
My heart pounded.
“What are you talking about?”
Serena looked at me with pure hatred.
“I've been trying to get you out of this territory for four years.”
Damian stared at her.
“The accidents?”
She smiled.
The stable fire.
The broken bridge railing.
The herbs that made me sick for weeks.
Things I had dismissed.
Things Damian's guards had called coincidences.
Damian's voice dropped.
“You did those?”
Serena shrugged.
“She kept surviving.”
His eyes turned completely gold.
Aurelia stepped between them.
“Not now.”
Gideon raised his voice from beyond the gate.
“Send Elara to me.”
“No,” Aurelia said.
“Then people die.”
I looked at the hundreds gathered behind him.
Cross territory families were running toward shelters.
Children were crying.
Guards were preparing for battle.
All because I had pressed a pendant.
I stepped forward.
“I'll go.”
Three voices answered at once.
“No.”
Damian.
Aurelia.
And someone behind me.
I turned.
Councilman Orson stood at the edge of the courtyard.
He held an old sword.
But he wasn't looking at Gideon.
He was looking at my mother.
“Tell her the truth, Aurelia.”
My mother closed her eyes.
Orson looked at me.
“Gideon isn't hunting you because you're a Vale.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then why?”
May you like
“Because the blood inside you can decide who rules every northern territory.”
And suddenly everyone understood why an army had come for one scentless woman.
