Chapter 14 The Truth He Can’t Hide

Dorian's

The morning light bled through the cracks of the shutters, pale and unforgiving. My body ached, every wound burning, yet I forced myself to move as if nothing were wrong. I couldn’t let her see me falter, not Elara. Not when she had already risked herself for me.

She stirred behind me, her voice soft. “You should rest. You’re still hurt.”

I only smiled faintly, hiding the sharp sting that shot through my ribs as I reached for the kettle. “I’ve endured worse,” I lied, my tone too casual.

The truth was, every movement felt like fire. But pain was nothing compared to the storm in my chest. I had fought Kael and lived, barely but that wasn’t the battle tearing me apart. It was her.

Elara.

Every time she looked at me with those wary yet gentle eyes, I felt something tighten inside me. Something dangerous. I wasn’t supposed to let her close, wasn’t supposed to let her care. Because the moment she learned who I really was, she would hate me as much as she hated Kael.

I carried that truth like a blade pressed to my throat.

She asked me small things throughout the day. Where I came from. Why I lived alone. Questions that seemed harmless, yet each one felt like stepping closer to the edge of a cliff. I deflected with half-smiles, with silence, with meaningless answers.

But I could see the suspicion in her gaze. She wasn’t a fool.

Later, when she finally drifted to sleep, I slipped outside into the night. The forest was still, the sky heavy with stars. I pressed a hand to my chest, the ache not from wounds but from guilt that never left me.

Kael’s face haunted me. His words, his threats, his claim on her. And behind all of that the memory of fire, of screams, of Silverfang’s fall.

My pack. Her pack.

I swallowed hard, a tremor running through me. If she knew… if she ever found out what role I played, she would never forgive me.

The hours dragged until exhaustion won. I returned inside, slumping onto the bed. Sleep clawed at me, and I fought it, but the truth has a way of escaping when the mind weakens.

And in that half-conscious haze, I whispered the words I could never say aloud.

“Bloodmoon… forgive me… betrayal…”

I didn’t hear her wake. I didn’t see her eyes widen in the dark. But I felt the weight of her silence, pressing down even as dreams claimed me.

••

The forest was burning. Again.

I knew it was a dream the moment the first howl split the night, yet I couldn’t wake. My body carried me back into the fire, into that night I’d sworn to bury.

“Dorian!” Darius’s voice echoed, my brother, my Beta, my blood. His eyes glowed with the fury of a wolf torn between loyalty and survival. “We can’t get close! It’s a slaughter!”

I clenched my fists, the smoke stinging my lungs. Ahead of us, Silverfang’s land crumbled under the assault. Kael’s shadow moved like death itself, flames licking at the edges of the forest. Screams cut through the darkness, men, women, children. And we, Moonvale. We stood at the border, powerless.

“We have to try!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. “They’re our allies! They trusted us!”

I took a step forward, but Darius grabbed my arm, his grip iron. “You’ll doom us all. Bloodmoon will turn on Moonvale next if we interfere!”

“Then let him!” I spat, shaking him off. My heart was breaking. I could hear them, the cries, the terror. Among them… her. Elara’s voice, so small back then, hidden among the chaos.

But the Alpha’s order had been clear. Moonvale was to stand down. No interference. Survival over honor.

“Forgive me,” Darius whispered.

I remember screaming, cursing him, cursing all of us. We were wolves, bound by blood and pack, and yet we let them die. We let them burn.

The dream shifted.

The fire faded, leaving only ash. The bodies of Silverfang lay silent. And in the middle of it all, I saw her, Elara, small and trembling, eyes wide with a grief no child should bear. She didn’t see me, but I saw her.

“I should have saved you,” I whispered into the void.

Her gaze lifted, but when her lips moved, it wasn’t her voice. It was Kael’s. “You failed her once, Dorian. You will fail her again.”

I staggered back, claws digging into my palms. “No. Not this time. Not again.”

Another voice rose, sharp and accusing, my Alpha’s. “You chose obedience over courage. And now you carry the stain of betrayal.”

The ground split beneath me. I fell into endless dark.

And then, I heard her voice. Elara’s real voice. Gentle, wounded, but alive. “Why are you protecting me, Dorian? What debt are you paying?”

I reached for her, desperate, my throat raw. “Because I couldn’t protect you then. Because I’ve searched for you every day since. Because—”

The words broke before I could finish.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat, my breath ragged. The room was still. The fire in the hearth burned low. But the silence was heavy, too heavy.

Elara sat at the edge of the bed, her eyes fixed on me. Her expression unreadable.

“You were dreaming,” she said softly.

I swallowed hard, unable to speak.

Her gaze sharpened. “You said my name.”

The air froze between us. My heart pounded, and for a moment, I truly feared her reaction more than Kael’s wrath.