Chapter 21

Alpha Killian

POV: Kyra

The words ripped through me, tearing open wounds I hadn’t dared touch. Memories of my father’s betrayalhis torchlight face, his demand to choose flashed like fire in my mind.

Damon growled, stepping forward. “Enough. If this is some sick attempt to get in her head, it won’t work.”

But Killian ignored him. His look pinned me like a blade. “Tell me, Kyra. Have you ever wondered why your dog was ignored for so long? Why has your power never emerged until now? Because someone bound it. Someone feared what you would become if you ever learned the truth.”

My knees weakened. I shook my head, but the seed was set, digging deep, taking root.

“No…” My voice cracked. “You can’t”

“You carry her face,” Killian cut in. His hand clenched into a fist. “And her blood runs in your veins. That makes you mine. My blood. My kin.”

The word kin struck something raw in me. Family. I had craved it, mourned it, fought for it. And now, here it was tainted, twisted, dragged from the mouth of a stranger who felt too close.

“Why now?” Damon commanded, his words like steel. “Why reveal this now?”

Killian’s expression darkened. “Because fate has a cruel sense of humor. You arrive on my steps, chased by hunters, marked by him…” His eyes flicked to Damon. “And yet bound to me in ways you don’t even understand. Tell me that isn’t destiny.”

I stumbled back, my breath ragged. Damon caught me, his hand steady at my waist, but his jaw was tight, his eyes stormy.

“Don’t listen to him,” he mumbled. “He wants to use you. Twist you.”

But I could barely hear him over the chaos inside my head. My father’s betrayal. My mother’s claimed death. My repressed wolf. And now… this.

Killian stepped closer, his presence overwhelming, smothering. “You are mine by blood. And if you stay, I will show you the truth. But if you leave…” His eyes narrowed, his voice dropping into a deadly growl. “I will hunt you down myself.”

Damon pulled me back, baring his teeth. “You’ll touch her over my dead body.”

Killian’s smirk returned, cruel and knowing. “That can be arranged.”

Killian’s words rang in the chamber like a death sentence, and as the guards drew their blades, I realized with horror that this was no longer about survival. It was about blood and which side of it I would choose.

“You’re not who you think you are.”

The words fell from Killian’s lips like a curse, sharp and heavy, and they struck me harder than any blade could. My pulse raced, my breaths shallow. I wanted to deny it, scream at him to stop but part of me couldn’t look away.

I swallowed hard. “Stop playing games with me. I know who I am.”

“Do you?” Killian’s voice was low, calm, as if he held all the solutions I had never dared to ask. His eyes burned into mine. “Because everything you were told, every scar you carryit’s built on lies.”

Damon stepped in front of me, his voice a warning growl. “She doesn’t need your poison.”

Killian ignored him. His attention was bound to me, as if Damon didn’t exist. “Your mother wasn’t just another weak wolf. She was born into the royal line. My line. She was my aunt, Kyra. That makes you my cousin.”

The ground seemed to tilt beneath me. My knees wobbled, and Damon’s hand at my waist was the only thing keeping me standing.

“No,” I whispered. My voice cracked. “That can’t be true.”

Killian’s smile faded. His tone eased, almost pitying. “I saw the locket around your neck the moment you stepped into my hall. The symbol cut into it belongs to my family. To your family. You carry royal blood, Kyra. Not the dirt you were told you came from. Not the omega trash they tried to make you believe you were.”

I gasped, my hand flying to the necklace. The small metal locket had always been my only memory of my mother. I’d clutched it through nights of pain, through Ethan’s punishments, through endless reminders that I was nothing. And now it burned in my palm like the truth.

Damon stiffened. “You’re twisting history.”

But doubt gnawed at me. I remembered the strange marks inside the locket I had never understood. I remembered the way Ethan had once tried to tear it from me.

“Why… Why didn’t anyone tell me?” My voice broke.

Killian’s eyes flashed. “Because if they had, Ethan would have lost control. You’re not his stuff. You were never meant to kneel to him. You were meant to rise.”

Tears stung my eyes. Rage and sadness warred inside me. For years I had carried shame, believing I was born weaker, believing I deserved the bands they wrapped around me. And now this.

“I don’t believe you,” I choked out.

Killian stepped closer, his voice like silk and steel. “Then let me show you.”

He led us deeper into the fortress. The walls were carved with old symbols, drawn with fights long forgotten. My chest tensed with every step, the air thick with dust and secrets. Damon stayed close to me, his hand never leaving mine, his jaw tight with doubt.

Killian stopped at a huge stone door. With a push, it creaked open, showing a room lit by candles. At the middle stood a tapestry, worn but royal, its cloth stitched with wolves topped in flame.

I held my breath.

The crest. The same one carved on my ring.