The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 258

The names offmy parents

The names of my parents

(Isla)

Clari

Orin led us through Silvermere while Caius kept hold of my hand. Zeron and Raith came with us as we passed wolves standing outside their homes. I tried not to stare back, but marry of them seemed to know something about me. Vaela watched them through my eyes.

‘They know us,’ she said.

‘Or they know what we are.

‘There is a difference.’

‘We’re about to find out.’

The buildings became larger as we reached the center of the territory. Children played near one of the homes while several older wolves stopped talking when they saw us. Every wolf we passed lowered their head to me. None of them did the same for Caius.

Orin stopped in front of a large stone building near the river. Two wolves stood outside, but both moved aside when they saw him approaching. He looked at me before reaching for the door. “The Keeper has waited a long time for this day.”

“For me?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“She should answer that.”

He opened the door and allowed us to enter ahead of him. Shelves filled with books and records covered two walls. A large table stood near the center of the building. An older woman stood at the other end.

She turned toward us.

Her eyes found me before anyone else. She studied my face without saying anything. Then she walked toward me.

“Isla Thorne.”

I stopped.

“You know my name?”

“I do.”

“How?”

She looked at me again.

“Because we’ve been waiting for you.”

Into the north

“So we found the road.”

Looks like it.”

Vaela moved inside me.

I stopped.

Caius noticed immediately.

“What?”

I didn’t answer him at once.

Something had ch

It wasn’t fear

It wasn’t

It felt

said.

n here?’

oming from Vaela.

er came without hesitation.

what is it?’

ela became quiet.

ooked toward the path again.

Trees covered most of what waited ahead. The road curved out of sight before reaching the mountains. There was no way to know how far Silvermere remained.

‘Vaela?’

She finally answered.

‘Someone knows

I looked at

“We’re

Vale

The names of thy parents “You knew them?”

Elara nodded.

“I know who both of them were.”

Clasex

For a moment I couldn’t think of what to ask first. We had spent so much time searching for pieces of my mother’s name. We had found nothing about my father. Now Elara claimed to know them both.

“My mother’s name begins with Lyr.”

“Lyrienne.”

I stared at her.

“Lyrienne?”

“Lyrienne Vale.”

Vaela repeated the name inside me.

‘Our mother.’

I looked at Caius. He was watching me, waiting for whatever I needed from him. I turned back to Elara.

“And my father?”

Elara walked to one of the shelves. She removed a wooden box and brought in to the table. After opening it, she took out a folded parchment. She placed it in front of me.

Two names were written near the top.

The first was Lyrienne Vale. Beneath it was another name I had never seen before. I read it twice before looking at Elara.

“Darius Rowan.”

“Your father.”

“Who was he?”

“A wolf of Silvermere.”

Mooked down at his name.

now about me?”

Existed?”

at answer brought another question immediately. If Darius had known about me. I needed to Understand why he’d never found me. The same question remained about Lyrienne. I looked at Elara

Welcome to Stivermere

“Yes.”

Raith glanced toward the vehicles.

“We keep going?”

“We do.”

+25 Points

I folded Cael’s map and returned it to Zeron. There was no reason to remain here waiting for hidden wolves to show themselves. They knew we’d found the road. We needed to see where it led.

We returned to the vehicles. Isla climbed into the passenger seat beside me while the two warriors got into the back. Zeron and Raith returned to the vehicle behind us. I started the engine and turned onto the narrow path.

Trees grew close on both sides of the road. The path had clearly been used, though not enough to make it look like a normal route. Tire marks crossed the dirt in several places. Someone had also cut back branches that would have blocked vehicles.

“They use this road,” Isla said.

“They do.”

“So Silvermere isn’t completely separated from everything outside.”

“No.”

That told me something important. The wolves of Silvermere weren’t trapped beyond the mountains. They could leave whenever they wanted. Remaining hidden had been a choice.

The path began climbing. The trees opened enough for us to see the mountains ahead. We had traveled beyond anything on Pryor’s current maps. From here, Cael’s map was all we had.

“How much farther?” Isla asked.

I glanced at the map.

“If the distance is accurate, not long.”

“Do you trust it?”

“I trust that Cael had a reason to hide it.”

She looked at me.

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No.”

We continued until the path narrowed between two high walls of rock. There was enough space for one behicle at a time. I checked the mirror and saw Zeron following behind us. There was nowhere to turn

ind

the warriors behind me spoke.

The journey-affead

returned. Maybe I’d finally know the names of both wolves who had given me life.

Caius came beside me.

“Nervous?”

“A little.”

“About what?”

I thought about the question.

“Finding out som

He waited.

“What if

‘t want to know.”

“The

est on purpose?”

did it.”

er we learn about my parents?”

with the truth when we have it.”

t was all we could do.

We would cross the northern mountains and travel toward a place that had been hidden from the rest of the wolf world for generations. Somewhere there could be wolves who knew my mother’s full name and the identity of my father.

By morning, we would be on our way.

princess jody

I hope you’re s

et me know what you think so far. Ed

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< The names of thy parents “What happened to her?”

“We know where she went.”

“Where?”

“I’ll show you.”

Cars

Elara reached into the box again. She removed another record and placed it beside the others. I wanted to read it immediately, but another question had been waiting since the moment she gave me his name. I needed the answer just as much.

“And my father?”

“We know what happened to him too.”

“Is he alive?”

Elara looked at me.

“I have an answer for that.”

I stared at her.

“And my mother?”

“For that as well.”

Caius took my hand again. I looked down at the names of the two wolves who had given me life. Lyrienne Vale and Darius Rowan were no longer nameless wolyes from a past I couldn’t remember.

They had known I existed.

They had wanted me protected.

And they had believed I was dead.

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<She never stepped searching

She never stopped searching

(Isla)

Clason

I looked at Elara and waited for the answer. She had already given me my father’s name, something I hadn’t expected to learn so soon after arriving in Silvermere. Now I needed to know what had happened to him. I needed to know what had happened to my mother too.

Elara looked down at the record.

“I’ll start with your father.”

“Is he alive?”

“No.”

The answer hurt more than I expected. I had only known Darius Rowan’s name for a few minutes, yet some part of me had already wondered what it would be like to meet him. Vaela became quiet inside me. I kept my eyes on Elara.

“How did he die?”

“He remained in Silvermere after you disappeared.”

“For how long?”

“Many years.”

Elara opened the record in front of her. Darius had helped search for me after I vanished, even after Cael sent word that I was dead. He refused to accept the message without proof. No proof ever came.

“He kept looking?” I asked.

“For years.”

“Even after Cael told him I was dead?”

“Yes.”

I looked down at his name. Darius hadn’t forgotten me or chosen to leave me behind. He had searched until there was nowhere else he knew to look. I wished I could have known him.

“What happened to him?”

“He eventually returned to Silvermere.”

“And he stayed here?”

“Until his death.”

“Did he ever believe I was dead?”

Elara considered the question before answering. “I don’t think he ever completely accepted it.” She touched the record with one finger. “According to the Keeper before me, Darius always believed there was

<Into the north-

“You and Pryor have authority over daily matters until I return.”

She nodded.

“It will be done.”

$25 Points

There was no long farewell. Caius wasn’t leaving his kingdom for months. We were going north to find answers and returning when we had them. Still, looking back at the pack house before getting into the vehicle felt different.

I climbed into the passenger seat beside Caius. There had been a time when I hadn’t even known what to do when faced with one of these vehicles. Now I got in without giving it another thought. So much of my life had changed since th

The gates opened.

I looked through

arrived there b

Now I was

we drove out. Wraithbone disappeared behind us little by little. I had d already been decided by everything Ashcrest had done to me.

at came before it.

ed Vaela.

‘Do you

‘Not

re.”

n?’

keep going.’

or me.

urs passed without trouble. Roads Irecognized became roads I’d never traveled before. cker as we moved farther north. The temperature qutside dropped as the land began to

rough the window.

etting closer.”

ow much farther?”

A few hours before we reach the mountains.”

I nodded and looked through the window again.

The mountains becanic

from the one we we

centuries ago. T

We stopped

Pryor’s r

rose ahead of us, separating the territories I knew

them was a hidden pack that had expected me

me over with the map while Caius spread beside them and studied the mountains

She never stepped-searching

“Where is she?”

“That answer is more difficult.”

“You said you know where she went.”

“I do.”

I waited.

Elara opened another record.

“Lyrienne left Silvermere before word came that you were dead.”

“Because she was searching for me.”

“Yes.”

“Where did she search?”

“Every territory where anyone reported seeing a child who could have been you.”

My mother had been searching while I was being raised in Ashcrest. I tried to imagine how close she might have come without knowing it. Someone had hidden me well enough that even a Celestial couldn’t find me. That couldn’t have happened by accident.

“Did she ever search Ashcrest?”

“Not that we know.”

“Why?”

“Because every record connected to your disappearance pointed elsewhere.”

Caius looked at Elara.

“Someone sent her in the wrong direction.”

“Yes.”

“On purpose?”

“That is what we believe.”

7

I looked down at the documents. Whoever had taken me hadn’t simply placed me with Derek and Helene They had made sure the wolves searching for me looked somewhere else. My mother could have spent years following information created to keep her away from me.

“Where did the false trail lead?”

“South at first.”

“And after that?”

“Across several territories.”

<The names of my parents

Vaela moved inside me.

Clair

Caius didn’t interrupt. He knew I needed to hear whatever this woman had to say. Orin remained near the door.

The woman looked toward him.

“You may leave us.”

Orin lowered his head.

“Keeper.”

He left and closed the door.

The woman turned toward us again. “My name is Elara, and I am the Keeper of Silvermere.” She walked toward the table and gestured for us to join her. “My family has protected this territory’s history for generations.”

I remained standing.

“What does that have to do with me?”

“More than you know.”

“Then tell me.”

Elara looked at Caius.

“Your ancestors protected pieces of the same history.

“The journals,” he said.

“Yes.”

“You know about them?”

“We know why they were written.”

I looked between them. Everything we’d discovered in Wraithbone had led us here. The divided circle, the birth record, and the hidden map were all connected to Silvermere. Elara seemed to know how.

“You knew a Celestial child was supposed to come here,” I said.

“We did.”

“Why?”

“Because her parents wanted her protected.”

I took a step closer.

“My parents?”

“Yes.”

Welcome to Stivermere

+25 Points

Welcome to Silvermere

(Caius)

I looked toward the path Isla had been watching. Nothing moved between the trees, but I trusted her and Vaela enough not to question what she felt. Zeron and Raith turned their attention toward the woods.

“Where?” I asked.

Isla shook her head.

“Vaela doesn’t know.”

“But she feels someone?”

“Yes”

I looked at the four warriors. They understood and began watching the land around us. I didn’t want anyone going into the trees after wolves we couldn’t see. Whoever lived here knew this land better than we did.

“Nobody leaves the road,” I said.

Zeron looked toward the trees.

“You think they’re watching us?”

“I would be.”

Raith nodded.

“If strangers found Wraithbone through a hidden road, we’d watch them too.”

That was exactly what I was thinking. We had entered land that had been kept away from the rest of the wolf world for generations. Whoever lived here had every reason to wonder how we’d found them. I wanted them to see we weren’t hiding our arrival.

‘Anything?’ I asked Vorak.

‘Wolves’

‘How many?’

‘I cannot tell.’

That confirmed Vaela was right. I looked farther into the trees but saw nothing. Whoever watched us knew how to remain out of sight. They had probably known we were coming before we stopped.

“There are wolves out there,” I said.

Zeren looked at me.

“Vorak?”

She never stepped cearching We have to find her.

“We will.

I looked at Caius.

He didn’t need me to explain.

“We’ll go,” he said.

I turned back to Elara.

“Tell me where my mother is.”

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The names effry parents

He used several names.”

“Caius looked over the record.

“And every one was false?

“That is what we believe.”

I looked at Elara.

“Was he the one who took me?”

“We believe he arranged it.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Chasin

I hated hearing those words. Still, this was already more than we’d known before coming here. My parents had wanted me. They had known about me.

“What happened after I disappeared?”

“Wolves from Silvermere searched for you.”

“For how long?”

“Until Cael sent word that you were dead.”

I looked at the names again.

“Where were my parents?”

“Your father was here when the message arrived.”

“And my mother?”

“She had already left Silvermere.”

“Why?”

Elara looked at me.

“She was searching for you.”

I stared at her.

“She looked for me?”

“For years”

Vaela became quiet.

I looked down at Lyrienne’s name. For years I had believed Derek and Helene were my parents because ! had known nothing else. Now I was leaming that my real mother had been searching for me while I was growing up in Ashcrest.