Chapter 35
ELENA
The air in the amphitheater still carried the weight of last night’s Alpha Ball. It had been a triumph of an evening–everything that the Alpha Council had hoped it would be and more. But I couldn’t enjoy my achievement.
The glow of candlelit lanterns had long since faded, the laughter and music now only echoes in my mind, but I felt no satisfaction in its success. My thoughts were elsewhere- on the weight of Logan’s hand at my back, the way my family beamed at him with approval, and the unmistakable look in Derek’s eyes as he watched from across the crowd.
I had played my part well. Smiled at the right moments. Nodded at the right times. Let my family’s warmth toward Logan settle around me… like a cage.
But Derek had been there, watching.
The tension between us had been palpable, unspoken but undeniable, lingering in the charged air long after he’d been forced to walk away.
And Logan-
I saw him as my closest friend, not the mate I would spend my life with. And he had accepted it without question, without argument. He had been kind and understanding, the same way he always was.
But he hadn’t done anything to stop the momentum of the engagement.
Not publicly. Not even to our families.
The whispers of our upcoming wedding had only grown louder since last night. It left a knot in my stomach, an uneasy awareness curling in my ribs. Did he think I would change my mind? Or was he waiting for something else?
I found myself unsettled, restless. My future felt like it was being decided for me and my
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past was slipping through my fingers like sand. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the truth- my truth–was buried somewhere just out of reach.
I exhaled sharply.
I couldn’t dwell on that now.
Today, preparations for the masquerade ball consumed my attention.
Unlike the Alpha Ball, which had been an open display of power in the amphitheater, this event was meant to be more intimate, more elusive. The playhouse beside the amphitheater had been chosen for its old–world charm, its dramatic balconies and
shadowed alcoves that made it ideal for whispered confessions and stolen glances.
It was an event for those looking for their fated mates—or for those who had lost them and were desperate for a second chance.
I was neither.
And yet, I would be attending.
Not as myself. Not as the Moonstone Alpha’s daughter. But as a stranger in a mask, slipping between conversations, searching for the truth.
“Miss Elena?”
I turned, blinking back my thoughts as a woman in an event coordinator’s uniform approached me, her clipboard clutched tightly in her hands. “We’re finalizing the seating arrangements for the VIP section. Do you want us to keep Silverclaw’s ranking members separate from Moonstone and the others?”
The question was a careful one. The tensions between Silverclaw and Moonstone had been
unspoken but ever–present since my return.
It was that anonymity that I planned to use to my advantage.
“No,” I said after a moment. “Keep the seating neutral. This is supposed to be about
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connection, not division.”
The woman nodded and wrote something on her clipboard.
“It’s a night of anonymity,” I finished, and she smiled at me and hurried off.
I scanned the playhouse once more.
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The space had been transformed in less than a day. Ornate candelabras were being positioned along the stone walkways, their golden light flickering against the rich, red velvet drapes that framed the stage. The scent of fresh–cut roses and aged wood filled the
air, mixing with the distant sounds of workers setting up the dance floor.
It would be a beautiful event.
It would also be the perfect place to get answers.
My fingers tightened around the edge of my sleeve.
I needed to know.
The past wasn’t just a collection of memories lost to me—it was a puzzle missing its most important pieces. And the biggest, most jagged hole in that puzzle was the night of the
rogue attack.
The night I had been thrown from the cliff.
I had spent years pretending that it didn’t matter. That I was content with the life I had
now, with the family that had welcomed me back.
But I would never be settled until I remembered what had happened to me.
If Silverclaw was involved–or even if they weren’t–I needed to know.
I turned on my heel and slipped out the back entrance before anyone could stop me.
The woods were different than I remembered.
I had no clear recollection of the night I was attacked–only flashes, fragments–but even
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those had never been enough to lead me back here.
I had studied old maps, retraced old paths, piecing together the most likely location. And now, as I stood at the edge of a dense tree line, staring out at the overgrown clearing, I
knew I had found it.
A slow breath filled my lungs.
The leaves rustled overhead, the late afternoon light filtering through the branches in fractured golden rays. It should have been peaceful. But I felt it the moment I stepped forward—the weight of something lingering in the air, something unseen.
The past was here. Waiting.
J
I moved carefully, the soft crunch of leaves beneath my boots the only sound in the stillness. My pulse quickened.
There had been a struggle here.
Not one that the earth still bore signs of–not after six years–but one that my body
seemed to recognize.
I reached out, brushing my fingertips against the rough bark of a tree, the sensation sending a prickle up my spine. Something about it felt… familiar.
A flash of movement. A voice–low, urgent.
“Run!”
I sucked in a sharp breath, stumbling back.
It was just a memory. Just a whisper from the past.
But it had been real.
I had been here.
And then I had fallen.
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My gaze lifted to the edge of the cliff just beyond the clearing.
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The drop wasn’t sheer–there were jagged rocks jutting out along its side, a brutal descent.
that would have been near impossible to survive. And yet, I had.
I stepped closer, my heart pounding. I should have died that night. Someone had wanted
me dead.
I closed my eyes, willing the memories to come, but they remained locked away, buried beneath six years of nothingness.
Frustration burned in my chest.
Why had I survived? Who had wanted me dead? And had Silverclaw been behind it?
I exhaled sharply and turned away from the cliff.
If there were answers, they weren’t here.
But tomorrow night, I might finally get some.
I would go to the masquerade ball.
I would blend into the shadows, become just another masked figure among the crowd.
And I would find someone–anyone–from Silverclaw who had been around six years ago.
Someone had the answers I needed.
And I was done waiting for them to come to me.
DEREK
I knew she would be there.
Even if I hadn’t been watching her these past few days, even if I hadn’t memorized the way her shoulders tightened whenever I got too close, I still would have known.
Elena had organized the masquerade ball. She wouldn’t miss it.
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And neither would I. Not when Logan and her family had kept her tucked safely out of reach, circling her like guards protecting a queen.
But tomorrow night, none of that would matter.
T
Tomorrow night, everyone would wear a mask.
And for the first time since she had returned, she wouldn’t see me coming.
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