Chapter 4
The Secret She Carried
Elara had always known there was something unusual about her family.
Her mother had refused to discuss her ancestry.
Whenever Elara asked about her father, the subject was immediately changed.
She had been told only one thing.
"Never reveal the mark."
Elara had never understood what that meant.
Until that evening.
While changing clothes, she noticed a faint silver symbol on her shoulder.
It had always been there.
But now it was glowing.
Elara stared at it in disbelief.
The moment she touched it, a vision flashed through her mind.
A white wolf stood beneath a blood-red moon.
Behind it was the royal palace.
Then she heard a woman's voice.
"When the lost blood returns, the kingdom will stand between unity and ruin."
Elara stumbled backward.
The vision disappeared.
Someone knocked on her door.
She quickly covered the mark.
It was Kael.
"I need to speak with you."
Elara opened the door.
Kael's eyes immediately fell toward her shoulder.
His expression changed.
"That mark..."
Elara stepped back.
"You know it?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"My father has the same symbol in an ancient royal record."
Neither of them knew that the mark belonged to a bloodline the kingdom had believed extinct.