Elowen's POV
I wake up screaming.
My body jerks upright in bed, and pain explodes through every nerve. Hands grab my shoulders—gentle but firm—pushing me back down.
"Easy! You're safe!" An unfamiliar female voice cuts through my panic. "You're going to tear your stitches!"
Stitches? I try to focus, but my vision swims. Where am I? This isn't my guest room at Silvercrest. This isn't anywhere I recognize.
The last thing I remember is collapsing in the forest. Blood. Darkness. Eyes watching from the shadows.
Am I dead?
"Breathe, child," the voice says again, calmer now. "In and out. You're alright."
I force myself to breathe, and slowly the room comes into focus. I'm lying in a bed—a real bed with clean white sheets that smell like lavender and pine. Sunlight streams through a window. And beside me sits an old woman with kind eyes and silver hair.
She's definitely not Vesper.
"Who are you?" My voice comes out like sandpaper, rough and broken.
"I'm Elder Rowena." She offers me a cup of water, helping me sip. "You're in Ironclaw Pack territory."
I choke on the water. "Ironclaw? No—no, I can't be here! You're rivals with Silvercrest! If they find out—"
"Silvercrest threw you away, dear," Rowena interrupts gently. "They exiled you. Remember?"
The memories crash over me like a tidal wave. The poisoned children. The false evidence. The council meeting. Thaddeus turning his back as they dragged me to the border.
"The woman who loved you just died," I whisper, repeating my last words before I collapsed.
"You almost did die," Rowena says quietly. "Alpha Corwin found you three days ago in neutral territory. You were bleeding out, poisoned, starving. He brought you here."
Three days. I've been unconscious for three days?
"Why?" The question bursts out of me. "Why would Ironclaw's Alpha save me? Thaddeus is his rival. This could start a war—"
"Alpha Corwin isn't Thaddeus," a deep male voice says from the doorway.
I turn my head—too fast—and the room spins. When my vision clears, I see him.
He's tall, broad-shouldered, with tawny hair and the most intense golden eyes I've ever seen. Power radiates from him like heat. This is an Alpha, no question. But unlike Thaddeus, who always seemed to fill a room with dominance, this man's strength feels... steady. Controlled.
He walks to my bedside, and I instinctively shrink back. He stops immediately, holding up his hands.
"I won't hurt you," he says, and something in his voice makes me believe him. "I'm Corwin Ashford. Alpha of Ironclaw Pack."
"Why did you save me?" I ask again, my voice shaking. "I'm your rival's Luna—"
"Former Luna," he corrects, not unkindly. "And you're not my rival. You're a woman who was left to die. That's all I needed to know."
Tears burn my eyes. I don't deserve kindness. Not after failing my pack. Not after being so weak that Vesper destroyed me.
"I'm nothing now," I whisper. "No pack. No mate. No purpose. You should have left me there."
Corwin's eyes flash with something fierce. "Don't say that. You survived exile. Survived poison. Survived three days alone in rogue territory. That's not nothing. That's strength."
"I'm not strong. I'm weak. That's why Thaddeus chose her over me. That's why the pack believed her lies. I couldn't even shift to defend myself—my wolf is gone!"
"Your wolf isn't gone," Rowena interrupts. "She's just been suppressed. Heavily."
I look at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
Rowena exchanges a glance with Corwin, then turns back to me. "Child, I need to examine you more thoroughly. To understand what was done to you. May I?"
I nod, too exhausted to argue.
Rowena places her hands on my chest, and warm healing energy flows into me. It feels like sunshine after weeks of darkness. My body relaxes despite my fear.
But then Rowena gasps. Her eyes fly open, wide with shock.
"What?" I ask, my heart racing. "What's wrong? Am I dying?"
"No," Rowena breathes. "You're... this is impossible."
"What is?" Corwin demands, moving closer. "What did you find?"
Rowena pulls her hands back slowly, staring at me like I'm some kind of miracle. Or monster. I can't tell which.
"The poison in her system," Rowena says carefully. "It's wolfsbane, yes. But not just any wolfsbane. It's been mixed with other herbs specifically designed to suppress certain types of wolves."
"What types?" I whisper.
Rowena's next words make no sense.
"Alphas," she says. "This poison suppresses Alpha wolves. Someone has been dosing you with it for months, maybe longer. They were deliberately keeping your Alpha nature dormant."
The room goes silent. I shake my head. "That's impossible. I'm not an Alpha. I'm a Luna. I'm a healer—"
"You're both," Rowena interrupts, her voice filled with awe. "Elowen, you're a Healer Alpha. A dual-nature wolf. That's why the poison was so specific. Someone knew what you were and made sure you never discovered it."
"Dual-nature wolves are myths," Corwin says, but he's staring at me with something like wonder. "They don't exist."
"She exists," Rowena insists. "I can feel it now that I know what to look for. Her Luna gifts for healing, yes. But underneath, suppressed by poison—pure Alpha dominance. She's been living as half of what she truly is."
I can't breathe. Can't think. This can't be real.
"If this is true," Corwin says slowly, "then Silvercrest didn't just exile a Luna. They exiled one of the rarest, most powerful wolves alive."
"Vesper," I breathe, the pieces clicking together. "She knew. She had to know. That's why she poisoned me—not just to weaken me, but to keep me from ever discovering what I really am."
"If you had discovered your Alpha nature while you were still in Silvercrest," Rowena says grimly, "you could have challenged anyone. Defended yourself. Maybe even challenged Thaddeus himself for leadership."
"She made sure I stayed weak," I whisper. "Kept me as just a Luna. Just a healer. Just someone to be thrown away."
Rage builds in my chest—real, burning rage. Not the heartbroken despair I felt before, but something fiercer. Hotter.
"How do we fix it?" I demand. "How do we get rid of the poison?"
"Treatment will take time," Rowena warns. "Weeks, maybe months. The wolfsbane is deep in your system. We'll have to flush it out slowly—"
"Then start now," I interrupt. "Please. I've been half-alive for too long. I want to be whole."
Corwin steps closer, his golden eyes locked on mine. "Once the poison is gone, once your Alpha nature emerges, everything will change. You'll be powerful. Dangerous. Silvercrest will see you as a threat."
"Good," I say, and I mean it. "Let them be afraid. They tried to destroy me. They failed. Now I want them to understand exactly what they threw away."
A slow smile spreads across Corwin's face. "Then welcome to Ironclaw, Elowen Frost. We'll help you become everything you were meant to be."
Rowena begins preparing medicines, muttering about treatment plans. But I barely hear her.
My mind is racing. A Healer Alpha. Dual-nature. Power I never knew I had, deliberately hidden from me.
Vesper didn't just want me gone. She wanted me broken, weak, erased. She went to elaborate lengths to keep me suppressed.
Why? What am I capable of that scared her so much?
"There's one more thing," Rowena says, interrupting my thoughts. She's holding up a vial of my blood, examining it in the sunlight. Her expression is troubled.
"What now?" I ask.
"This poison—it's not just suppressing your Alpha nature. It's also..." She trails off, peering closer at the blood. "It's bonded to something. Like it's tied to a specific magical signature."
"Meaning?" Corwin prompts.
Rowena looks at me with concern. "Meaning whoever created this poison has a connection to you through it. They might be able to track you. Sense when the poison starts leaving your system. Know when you're getting stronger."
My blood runs cold. "Vesper will know I'm still alive."
"Not just alive," Rowena says grimly. "She'll know the moment you start becoming powerful. And something tells me she won't let that happen without a fight."
Through the window, dark clouds gather on the horizon.
A storm is coming. And this time, I'll be ready for it.