The air in the grand foyer of the Thorne mansion was thick with the copper tang of old secrets and the clinical scent of the paramedics who had just rushed Silas Thorne to the private medical wing. My mother stood by the fountain, her hands shaking so violently that her diamond bracelets clattered like bone. The elite world she had fought so hard to join was crumbling around her, and she looked at me with a mixture of terror and blame.
What did you do, Elara? she hissed, her voice a jagged whisper. Silas saw you with Killian on that balcony. He saw the way he was looking at you. And then the lawyers... that file...
I didn't do anything but survive, Mother, I replied, my voice cold.
I stood tall, the midnight-blue silk of my dress rustling against my legs. I felt the heat of Killian behind me, a silent, predatory shadow that refused to leave my side. The strong heart Killian had cultivated in me didn't flinch.
The file, Helena, Killian growled, stepping forward. His Alpha presence filled the room, making the high ceilings feel suffocating. Where is the bloodline analysis?
In the study, she whimpered, pointing toward the heavy mahogany doors. But you can't go in there. The board of directors... they're already calling.
Killian didn't listen. He grabbed my hand, his palm searing against mine as the mate bond hummed in my blood, and pulled me into the lion's den.
The study was dimly lit, smelling of old paper and the expensive cigars Silas favored. On the desk lay the folder I had seen earlier. Confidential: Bloodline Analysis. Killian snatched it up, his eyes scanning the pages with a fiery intensity.
What does it say, Killian? I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs.
He went silent, his jaw tightening until a muscle leaped in his cheek. He turned the folder toward me.
It says you aren't a Vance, Elara, he whispered, his voice a low roar of disbelief.
Your mother lied. Your father wasn't that poor scholarship man who died. Your father was a Thorne. Silas's older brother, the one who disappeared twenty years ago. The world tilted on its axis. The economic status I had been bullied for, the Miss Nobody title I had worn like a shroud, it was all a lie orchestrated by the man now dying in the next room.
That means... I choked out, the air leaving my lungs. Killian, that means we're...
"Cousins," he finished, his eyes dark with a deep obsession that didn't flicker even at the news. "Legally, we are kin. Biologically, the Thorne blood is thick in both of us. But that's why the bond is so strong, Elara. The Alpha blood seeks its match. It doesn't care about the laws of men."
This is a scandal that will burn the Thorne name to the ground, I whispered, looking at the door where my mother stood eavesdropping. If the Board finds out Silas stole his brother's heir to keep the company... if they find out about us...
Let it burn, Killian snapped.
He walked around the desk, pinning me against the heavy leather chair. He placed his hands on either side of my head, his body a wall of erotic heat that made me forget the chaos outside.
"Do you think I care about the company? Do you think I care about Silas's reputation?"
Killian, the world will call this a sin, I breathed, my fingers digging into the silk of my dress.
"Then we will sin together," he murmured, his lips grazing my forehead. I felt the mate bond long before I saw this paper. My wolf chose you when you were still that overlooked girl in the rain. Your rare healing ability didn't come from the Vances; it's the Thorne legacy. You are the rightful Alpha Queen of this house, Elara. Silas didn't adopt you out of charity; he kidnapped you into his life to keep you from the throne. He leaned down, his kiss desperate and obsessive. It wasn't the kiss of a relative; it was the kiss of a man claiming his destiny. The forbidden nature of our blood only seemed to heighten the electricity between us.
Killian, stop, I gasped, though I was pulling him closer. We have to think. The lawyers... Sarah's father is the head of the legal board. If she finds out, she'll use this to destroy me.
Let her try, Killian growled against my neck. I'll rip her world apart before she touches a hair on your head. You aren't that girl who gets bullied anymore. You are a Thorne. You are my Thorne.
He lifted me onto the desk, pushing aside the legal documents that tried to define us. In the moonlight filtering through the study window, he looked like a god of war and desire. His hands moved with a familiar, erotic confidence, sliding the silk straps of my dress down my shoulders.
Killian, someone will come in, I whispered, even as I arched my back, seeking his touch.
Let them watch, he replied, his voice a dark promise. "Let them see what happens when an Alpha finds his mate."
The mate bond reached a boiling point. I felt my healing power flare, a golden light shimmering beneath my skin, reacting to the intensity of his touch. It was as if our souls were being welded together, a connection so deep that no law or scandal could break it.
Just as the tension reached a breaking point, the study doors burst open.
Killian! The doctors... they say Silas is awake. He's asking for Elara," my mother cried out, then froze as she saw us.
The shame I expected to feel didn't come. Instead, I felt a cold, strong heart settle in my chest. I sat up, adjusting my dress with the grace of the princess I now knew I was.
"Tell him I'm coming," I said, my voice steady and commanding. "But tell him he isn't speaking to his step-daughter. He's speaking to the woman who's taking his crown."
Killian stood by my side, his hand resting possessively on my shoulder. "I'm going with her."
Killian, you can't!" my mother sobbed. "The scandal"
The scandal is the only thing keeping you relevant, Helena, Killian snapped. "Move."
We walked down the hallway toward the medical wing. The amazing transformation that had started with my body was now complete in my mind. I wasn't a Miss Nobody from the scholarship wing. I was a Thorne, and I was coming for everything they owed me.
As we reached Silas's room, the head lawyer for the Academy board, Sarah's father, was standing outside.
"Miss Vance, or should I say, Miss Thorne?" he said, his eyes narrow. "The board has questions about your sudden... change in status. And about your relationship with the heir apparent."
"The board can wait," I said, walking past him without a second glance. "I have a dying man to forgive. Or maybe, I'll just watch him repent."
I stepped into the room. Silas looked frail, hooked up to machines that beeped in a rhythmic, haunting cadence. He looked at me, his eyes wide with fear.
"Elara..." he wheezed. "The blood... I did it to save the company... your father was weak..."
"My father wasn't weak," I said, leaning over his bed, the golden light of my healing power flickering in my eyes. He was a healer. And you are a thief.
I reached out and touched his hand. I could feel his pain, the sickness rotting him from the inside. I could have healed him. I could have used my power to give him years.
Instead, I pulled my power back.
I won't kill you, Silas, I whispered, so only he could hear. But I won't save you either. You'll live just long enough to see me marry Killian and take every cent you stole. Silas's heart monitor began to race. He looked at Killian, who stood at the foot of the bed like a grim reaper.
"You... you can't," Silas gasped. "The bloodline..."
The bloodline is exactly why it has to be her, Killian said, his voice cold. Now, sign the papers, Silas. Relinquish the chair to Elara, or I'll make sure the last thing you see is the Thorne name being dragged through the mud. Silas looked between us, the two forbidden lovers who held his fate in our hands. With a trembling hand, he reached for the pen.
Just as Silas's pen touched the paper, the door flew open again. Sarah stood there, her face twisted in a mask of pure, unadulterated scorn. She wasn't alone. She had a camera crew from the local news and the school's dean with her.
"Wait!" Sarah screamed, pointing at us. "Don't sign anything! I have proof that Elara Vance isn't a Thorne at all. I have the real DNA results, and they prove she's a fraud who's been sleeping with her 'brother' to steal an empire!"
I looked at Killian, my heart dropping. The revenge had just hit a wall of fire.