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Chapter 18
~Valerie’s POV~
The mont the words left my mouth, all three girls stared at like I had just sprouted a second head.
"Is that even a question you should be asking as a werewolf citizen?" Erald scoffed.
I shrugged, still looking at them expectantly. "I’m just asking to clarify things, you know. I always wondered and unlike you all, I didn’t go to school with them."
Erald groaned and facepald. "Seriously, this keeps getting worse. Even I know all about your history."
I ignored the aning behind her words. "What? I just feel like it’s a rumour started by so people to make them seem more mysterious."
Isla, however, just arched a brow before shaking her head. "He is my cousin for Goddess’s sake. And speaking from experience, yes. I have seen it. I have seen them all."
"All?" I echoed, watching her carefully. "Like all of them?"
Sothing shifted in Isla’s posture. Her fingers twitched slightly against the counter, her jaw locking, shoulders going stiff. Anger. Or maybe sothing deeper.
I lifted my hands quickly in surrender. "Don’t get wrong. I’m not doubting you."
Isla exhaled, tilting her head slightly. "Then what?" I could see the anger in her eyes and I knew I couldn’t afford to make her an enemy. She was one of the closest thing I had to a friend since I ca here.
Astraea, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke. "Yeah, what exactly are you getting at?"
I hesitated for a second before asking, "What about the Southern heir?"
Silence. Not just a pause. A heavy, suffocating silence that fell over the room like a curse. I frowned. "What?"
Astraea was the first to try and answer. "You do know it’s forbidden to speak about the Southern heiress and what happened—"
"Shhh!" Erald cut in sharply, silencing her. Her gaze flickered toward , calculating. "Since we are already on the topic, we might as well answer her since it seems like Valerie grew up under a rock."
I couldn’t entirely argue with that.
Even though my uncle Zade was the alpha of the Golden Claw pack, I was literally hidden all my life. I was training and getting drilled in ways I could never expect.
To him, it was like sothing hereditary. In the past, my grandfather had been killed, and our pack had been destroyed. To survive, my grandma’s brothers took him in and diligently and thoroughly trained him.
Like he used to say, my training wasn’t up to half of what he endured. Still, as his sister’s only child, that ant he couldn’t over-drill since he doted on my mother and .
Aside from my cousin and his Gamma, I did not interact with most people in the pack. I was more of a shadow, non-existent like the world made into.
"What about her?" I blinked when Erald spoke.
I lifted a brow at her sudden change of deanour but continued. "I ant, has Isla or anyone ever seen her powers?"
Isla’s expression turned unreadable. "No." She leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms. "No one has. No one knows since she, you know..." Isla casually dragged a thumb across her throat, the universal sign of death.
The air in the room felt colder suddenly, and when I stilled briefly, sensing whose energy it was, I noticed it ca from Isla.
A dark, cold aura emanated from her like a perfu.
"But that’s that," she added quickly, snapping out of the eerie mont. "As for the other heirs, yes. I’ve seen their abilities firsthand."
"Now, before you start asking specifics," Erald began, taking control of the conversation, "each of the Alpha Kings’ heirs was blessed with elental powers. That’s how their fathers were chosen to rule their regions. They are the true kings who will one day unite the werewolf kingdom and protect us from all threats."
I nodded, keeping my face neutral even though my mind was spinning. They spoke as if they were reciting history or a fable tale, yet they had no idea they were talking about .
"Alpha Dristan was blessed with the power of lightning," Erald continued.
"Alpha Axel, water," Isla added.
"Alpha Kai..." Erald trailed off, waiting for my response.
"Fire," I muttered before I could stop myself.
Erald arched a brow. "Correct. How’d you guess?"
I shrugged. "Figured with his personality, he’d get sothing destructive. Besides, I have heard the rumours."
Erald shrugged. "Who knows if the rumours you heard didn’t turn Axel or Dristan into mind-controlling monsters or fire-breathing dragons."
I resisted the urge to laugh and teased instead. "Are they?"
"Urgh, Valerie, be serious."
Isla smirked but nodded. "And Xade has air. Which leaves the Southern heiress with..."
"Earth," I finished absentmindedly, my voice softer.
They nodded, but my mind was no longer in the conversation. If I was the Southern heiress, how co I had never manifested any powers? Was the prophecy wrong? Or had sothing gone wrong with ?
Uncle would have told ... right?
I tried to think back, searching my mories for any sign—any indication—that I had sothing more inside . But no matter how much I searched, nothing ca to mind.
For the first ti, a strange pang of jealousy settled in my chest. They had their gifts. They had power. And I? I had... nothing.
"Valerie," Astra’s voice finally echoed in my head, quiet but firm.
I scowled internally. "Fancy you showing up now after abandoning with the heirs."
Astra remained silent.
I huffed. "No response? Fine. Have it your way."
I forced myself to focus back on the conversation, but the more they spoke, the more my mind spiralled. I was still drowning in thoughts when the sharp ring of the school bell cut through the air, signalling the end of the senior break.
Astraea stretched her arms. "Gosh, it’s already an hour? How long have we been talking?"
I turned, ready to head into my room to change for class, when Erald’s voice stopped .
"Valerie."
I stiffened slightly before glancing over my shoulder. "Yes?"
Erald’s gaze was unreadable, but her next words sent a chill down my spine.
"Stay out of trouble. And stay away from the Alpha Kings’ heirs."
I narrowed my eyes at her warning. She knew sothing.
I smirked, tilting my head slightly before turning away and walking into my room.
Erald just made herself a target and a mystery I needed to solve.
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