Chapter 13 – Whispers Through the Flame

Elena's POV

The forest smelled like pine and promise.

For the first time in weeks, I woke up without the weight of dread pressing into my chest. The air in the Eastern Wilds was crisp, clean—untainted by secrets. No faint trace of Vivian's perfume, no whispered lies echoing through stone halls. Just birdsong, wind, and the quiet rhythm of my baby's growing heartbeat within me.

I pulled a loose sweater over my belly, which had started to show more prominently now. It was strange, the way motherhood anchored me—like even though everything else was falling apart, this little life was holding me together.

Mornings had become a sort of sacred ritual. I helped in the communal kitchens, cutting roots, stirring stews, learning new herbs from an older warrior woman named Talia who had lost her mate years ago. She didn't talk much, but the way she moved—with precision and grief molded into grace—taught me more than words could. She didn't look at me like I was broken. She didn't look at me like I was anything at all—just Elena, someone trying.

And for once, that was enough.

I was scrubbing my hands after a long morning in the kitchen when I saw it again: a raven, perched on the old fence post near the garden.

Its feathers shimmered like oil under sunlight. Clutched in its talons was a strip of black ribbon.

It dropped the ribbon at my feet, let out one low caw, and disappeared into the trees.

I bent down, heart thudding, and turned the ribbon over in my hand. There—etched in silver threading—was the crest of Damien's Beta. My stomach twisted.

Maddox found me minutes later, eyes dark with concern.

"They're watching," he said. "But not to find you. They're hoping to catch a shadow. Something they can drag back and twist into their story."

"What story?" I asked, voice tight.

He didn't answer. Just looked at me the way soldiers look at graves.

That afternoon, I went with Ronin into the edge of the forest to gather herbs. We walked in silence, but the peace shattered when I sensed it—movement.

Someone was nearby. Close.

"Don't move," Ronin muttered, his hand tightening around his blade.

Then a figure stepped from the trees, cloaked in grey, hood low over their face. I took a breath, ready to defend myself, when the person raised a hand.

"I mean no harm," he said. His voice was hoarse. "I'm a rogue from the Southern Ridges. I've been following her… Vivian. I was told to find you. To tell you something."

Ronin stepped in front of me, but I pushed gently past him. "Say it."

The rogue looked straight at me.

"She was never who she claimed. Ask her about Red Hollow. Ask Damien if he's ever seen the scars on her back."

My breath caught.

And before I could ask more, the rogue slipped back into the woods like smoke.

That night, I sat with Maddox by the fire. The flames flickered between us, casting shadows against the tent walls.

"She's still trying to erase me," I whispered. "But I don't think she's just playing innocent anymore. She's hiding something worse."

Maddox nodded slowly. "When you're ready, you won't go back to beg. You'll go back to burn down what was broken."

I turned to him.

"You want revenge?"

"No," he replied. "I want justice. And maybe… a Luna who knows what it means to survive."

His words settled into my bones. I wasn't ready to answer yet. But the fire in me had begun to stir.

The next morning, a courier arrived from neutral territory. A young woman with a messenger's badge and tired eyes.

"This is for you," she said, handing me a sealed envelope.

My hands trembled as I took it. The wax bore the sigil of the Culinary Council. My breath caught.

Inside was a letter from the Royal Kitchens—an official offer to come abroad and open a restaurant under the Alpha Dominion. A chance to start fresh.

But tucked behind it was another note. Smaller. Handwritten.

Miriam's looping cursive stared up at me:

> "Catherine is moving to have Ember Flame legally reassigned. You need to act, Elena. Before they steal even your name."

I gripped the letter until my knuckles turned white.

They hadn't just betrayed me.

Now they were trying to erase me.

But I'm still here.

Still breathing.

Still burning.

And I wouldn't let them win.