The world outside of Selene became a haze. The rogue's words echoed through her mind, syllable by syllable a gut blow. True heir. Lost Luna. Weeks spent piecing together pieces of her history, and this—this turned everything around.
Killian remained immobile. His jaw locked, his gold eyes burning with repressed fury. "You're playing at a game that will kill you sooner." His voice was lethal, low. "Lies will kill you sooner."
The older rogue didn't move, unwilling to take his eyes away from his own. "Then kill me."
A muscle worked in Killian's jaw. Warriors nearby prepared for his word. But Killian did not move.
Selene gulped. Her heart pounded in her chest against her ribcage, but she forced herself to speak. "If it's true, then I need to know."
Killian's gaze shifted to hers. There was something enigmatic in his expression—something she couldn't decipher. "And if it's a trap?"
Selene steeled herself. "Then I'll handle it."
The rogue exhaled. "You don't remember, do you?" He spoke softly as though he addressed a ghost. "Not your name. Not your people. Not where you're from."
Selene shook her head, the unbearable burden of her lack of knowledge strangling her. "No."
The rogue regarded her, then spoke the words that shattered the last remnants of her world.
"Your name is Selene Valeria."
The clearing was filled with absolute silence.
The name did not register with her. And yet, sent a shiver down the back of her neck, as if something about her recognized it.
Cassian's abrupt gasp broke the silence. "Valeria?" His eyes switched to Killian, horror written across his face.
Killian's fists were clenched. "That name is dead." His voice was locked, the entire body tense with rage. "That line was massacred years ago.".
The rogue's lip curled into a grim smile. "Not quite."
Selene gasped in harsh breaths. Her head spun, searching for something—anything—to make this so. "I don't understand."
The rogue's face softened. "You will."
Killian reacted quicker than a blink of the eye. A second, and he had the rogue against the wall, hand around the rogue's throat, holding him off the ground. "I should tear your tongue out." Poison dripped from his words. "You want me to think this? That she's—" He spoke no more. He couldn't.
For if it was true, then all he thought was a falsehood.
Selene moved forward before she was able to catch herself. "Killian."
He remained where he was. The rogue coughed but did not struggle. "I'm here for her," he wheezed. "Not to start a war. But if you want the truth—if she wants the truth—then let me speak."
Killian's hand flexed, his restraint coming apart at the seams. But with a slow, oppressive silence, he let the rogue slump to the ground.
"Talk."
The rogue choked, rubbing his throat. "Selene was taken as a child. Taken from her pack. From her family." His gaze locked on hers. "Your parents were the last of the Valeria line. The rightful rulers of the northern packs."
Selene stumbled.
She wasn't some wild wolf.
She was royalty.
And Killian—
He was the one who had destroyed her family's honor.
Selene's knees betrayed her. She searched Killian's face for a flash of denial, of doubt—but what she saw instead was worse.
He wasn't surprised.
His silence was worse than any admission.
The rogue sighed. "You knew, didn't you?" His voice wasn't sneering, but grimly comprehending. "You knew she was one of them."
Killian didn't say anything.
Selene's breath caught. "Killian?"
Nothing still.
Her heart pounded in her ears, her head whirling. A thousand things strained to be said, but there was only one that could struggle past her mouth. "Did you…?" She barely had the courage to say it.
Killian did look at her. His gold eyes were hard, his jaw carved out of granite. "Did I what?"
Selene's voice grew tight. "Did you murder them?"
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
For a moment, she thought he was going to utter something more. But then, barely above a whisper, he spoke.
"No."
The word would have comforted her. It did not.
Because behind it there was something. Something he wasn't saying.
Cassian shifted restlessly to either side of them, his quick mind deserting him. The warriors around them were just as taut, waiting—watching.
The renegade shook his head. "You did not spill their blood, but you benefited from it." His eyes moved to Selene. "He took their throne that was left to him."
Selene's stomach twisted.
The Silvercrest Alpha King.
The reputation Killian had borne for so long.
Did it belong to her?
Her heart ached as if what was inside of her already recognized the truth sooner than she had. "What happened to them?" she spoke softly.
The thief stopped. "You were a child. Five when they abducted them. Your mother—" He strained. "She tried to hide you. To shield you. But they found you."
Selene's throat tightened.
Recollections twirled at the edges of her brain, far and beyond reach. A woman's voice. Rain smell. The feeling of small fingers wrapped tightly around hard arms before being ripped free—
Pain cut through her head. She staggered.
"Selene—" Killian reached for her, but she backed away.
"Don't touch me." Her voice cracked.
He did not budge.
The rogue inched forward. "There is more."
Selene did not want to know. But she did.
"The individuals who abducted you," the rogue went on slowly, "they did not kill you. They wiped you."
Her heart pounded.
"The council," he continued. "The elders. They knew who you were. What you were. But instead of eradicating your bloodline entirely, they assigned another fate."
Selene's breathing was in harsh gasps. "What fate?"
The rogue's gaze held hers. "They took away your memories. They erased you."
The ground seemed to shift beneath her feet.
It wasn't lost time.
It was stolen.
Her entire life had been remade.
Killian drew a hard breath. "Enough." His voice was steel. "This doesn't change a thing."
Selene's eyes flashed to him. "How can you possibly say that?"
His golden eyes burned with something she couldn't quite identify. "Because it doesn't matter what you used to be," he told her. "It matters only who you are today."
Selene shook her head. "You don't get to make that decision."
Killian's expression grew darker. "Neither do you. Not yet."
The rogue cut in. "You don't want her to remember, do you?" His smirk was cold. "Because if she does, she might finally realize what you've done."
Killian didn't answer.
And that silence was all the confirmation Selene needed.
Her mate. Her enemy.
The man who held her fate in his hands.
The world felt unsteady beneath Selene's feet. Her pulse hammered against her ribs, each beat filled with growing realization.
Her life hadn't been lost; it'd been stolen. And the guy before her, the mate who'd sworn to keep her safe, had known the truth all along.
"Everything," she croaked, but there was no misinterpreting the command.
The rogue didn't pause. "Your mother was the real Luna of the Eclipse Pack. The council feared her heritage, feared what she bore. When she wouldn't comply with their demands, they killed her."
Selene's own breath was taken away.
"They came to the night," he continued. "Killed the pack. Your father fought to the end, but your mother offered him up more than any of them. Protected him—sent him away before they could take him. But they did."
Selene felt a chill run down her spine.
The memories still were out there in fragments, buried under whatever enchantment had consumed them. But inside her, something inside her knew it was so.
She turned to face Killian. "And you."
He said nothing.
Cassian released a harsh breath. "Selene—"
She shoved him away. Her eyes were fixed on Killian, burning with accusation. "You stole their throne."
His jaws clenched. "I took what was needed."
"Necessary?" She's voice imploded. "You've known all this time. Known who I am, and what they did to me. And you kept me in the dark."
His golden eyes burned with something unreadable. "I guarded you."
Selene was not laughing, though. "You entrapped me."
The rogue sneered. "The mighty Alpha King, guardian of the realm." He spun to face Selene. "He didn't just seize the throne. He did it so that nobody would ever challenge it."
Killian's shoulders contorted, but he did not speak.
Selene's blood ran cold. "Did you know?" She stepped forward. "Did you know who I was before I ever arrived at Silvercrest?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation was her answer.
Selene's stomach churned. The betrayal hurt more than anything she had ever experienced.
Her mate knew.
And yet, he had taken her.
But yet, he had held her captive.
She had been a pawn all along.
Selene's knuckles clenched. "You made a choice." Her voice trembled with rage. "You could have told me the truth. You could have left it to me to choose who I wanted to be."
Killian's bright gold eyes darkened. "I couldn't lose you."
The words sliced a burning, searing pain through her heart.
Because even though…
Even though the lies, the deceit, the betrayal…
Her heart still ached for him.
The mate bond still burned between them, relentless and cruel.
The rogue watched the tension unfold, amusement flickering across his face. "Looks like your king isn't as noble as he pretends to be."
Killian's gaze snapped to him, a dangerous warning flashing in his eyes. "You've said enough."
The rogue merely shrugged. "She deserved to know."
Silence stretched between them.
Selene's mind spun from everything she'd discovered, its weight suffocating her. But she wasn't the same woman who had entered Silvercrest the first time, looking for answers.
She had been broken before.
She would not be broken again.
Stiffening, she clenched her jaw and held Killian's eyes with unwavering resolve. "No more secrets," she said to him. "From this moment on, I will find the truth myself."
The faintest tick in his jaw. "And if you don't like what you discover?"
Selene's mouth opened, but no words emerged.
Because she already knew the answer.
She might not make it through it.