The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 261

The place chosen for me

Clem

I moved closer to the table. Several Alpha Kings were listed among the names, along with healers and wolves from territories I didn’t recognize. They had all known what the divided circle meant. It had never been meant for everyone to understand.

“Why would a Celestial need to hide?” I asked.

“Because being powerful doesn’t make someone impossible to hurt.”

I thought about the wolfsbane chains in Ashcrest.

I knew that better than anyone.

Elara continued. “Celestial children needed time to understand what they were.” She turned another page and pointed to several names. “Silvermere provided somewhere they could grow without other packs trying to control them.”

“And my mother wanted that for me?”

“Both of your parents did.”

I looked at Darius’s name again.

“What were they afraid of?”

“Someone had already learned Lyrienne was carrying a Celestial.”

Caius looked at Elara.

“Before Isla was born?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“We never discovered that.”

I didn’t like that answer, but I didn’t interrupt. Elara had already given us more than the journals had. Whoever had learned about me had done so before I could protect myself. My parents had known there was danger before I was born.

“What did they do?” I asked.

“They contacted Silvermere.”

“And you agreed to take me?”

“Immediately.”

Clan

The place chosen for me

“Why?”

“Because that is what this territory was created to do.”

Elara turned another page. My mother’s name appeared beside my father’s, followed by a date. Beneath their names was the divided circle. I reached toward it but stopped before

touching the page.

“This was arranged before I was born.”

“Yes.”

“Who knew?”

“Very few wolves.”

Caius looked at her.

“How few?”

“Your parents, the Keeper at the time, two wolves chosen to bring Isla here, and several others needed to protect the journey.”

“Cael?”

“He knew part of it.”

I looked at her.

“But he wasn’t supposed to bring me.”

“No.”

“Then what was his part?”

“He was supposed to help hide the records after you arrived.”

That explained why Cael had known about the map. He hadn’t been responsible for getting

me to Silvermere. His job had begun after I was supposed to be safe.

“But I never arrived.”

“No.”

Elara closed the book.

“Someone learned enough about the plan to stop it.”

The place chosen for me

“Before my parents could bring me here?”

“Yes.”

I thought about Derek and Helene.

“How did I end up in Ashcrest?”

“We have part of that answer.”

I looked at her.

“Tell me.”

Clatro

Elara returned to the wooden box and removed another page. Unlike the older records, this one contained only a few lines. She placed it in front of me.

“A message reached Silvermere after you disappeared.”

“From who?”

“We don’t know.”

I read the first line.

The child has been placed where no one will search.

My eyes moved to the next.

Her name will be changed. Her blood will remain hidden.

I looked at Caius.

“They knew exactly what they were doing.”

“Yes.”

Elara nodded.

“Your disappearance wasn’t an accident.”

I looked back at the message. Someone had taken me knowing exactly what I was. They had changed my life before I was old enough to understand any of it. Ashcrest hadn’t been some random place where I’d ended up.

“Derek and Helene knew?”

“We don’t believe they knew everything.”

Clases

The place chosen for me

“What did they know?”

“They were told a child needed a family.”

I stared at her.

“That’s it?”

“According to what we found.”

Caius looked at the message.

“Who gave Isla to them?”

“That name isn’t here.”

“So Cael might know.”

“He might.”

That gave us another reason to question him ourselves. Cael had spent years protecting names and hiding records. Whatever loyalty kept him quiet had already cost Isla enough. I wasn’t allowing it to continue.

I looked at Elara.

“Did Derek know I was Celestial?”

“Not when you were placed with him.”

That made sense with what I remembered. Derek had treated me as though I was nothing once I appeared wolfless. If he’d known what I truly was from the beginning, he would have treated my existence differently.

“When did he find out?”

“We don’t know.”

I looked at Caius.

“Cael might.”

“He’ll answer that when we return.”

I nodded.

Elara reached for the map again. This time she turned it so I could see the land beyond Silvermere. Her finger stopped at the location she’d shown me earlier. A name had been

The place chosen for me

written beside it.

“Your mother went here.”

I read the name.

“Evercrest.”

“It lies beyond the northern ridge.”

“Is that where her last message came from?”

“Yes.”

Clams

I looked at the distance between Silvermere and Evercrest. It was farther north, but not impossibly far. My mother had gone there searching for me. Years later, she’d sent word that she was still looking.

“Is she still there?”

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