Elara's POV
The silver light exploded from Elara's hands, slamming into the training dummy and turning it to dust.
"I'm sorry!" Elara stumbled backward, breathing hard. "I didn't mean to destroy it!"
"Don't apologize." Caelan stepped beside her, calm and steady. "Your power was locked away for twenty-six years. It's like opening a dam. The water rushes out all at once."
Elara stared at her shaking hands. Three days ago, Dante had rejected her and thrown her out. Three days ago, she'd almost died in the forest. Now her hair had silver streaks, her eyes glowed like stars, and she could destroy things with a thought.
She didn't feel like wolf royalty. She felt terrified.
"What if I hurt someone?" Her voice cracked. "What if I can't control this?"
Caelan moved closer, his storm-gray eyes gentle. "That's why I'm teaching you. You're not alone in this, Elara."
The kindness in his voice made her throat tight. Dante had never been patient like this. Dante had never looked at her like she mattered.
"Okay," Elara whispered. "Teach me. I want to learn."
"First lesson: bond sight." Caelan smiled encouragingly. "Silvermoon wolves can see the mate connections between people. They look like golden threads linking souls together."
"I can see that?"
"Try. Close your eyes and reach for your wolf. Then look deeper than normal sight."
Elara obeyed, finding her wolf easily. For six years with Dante, her wolf had been quiet and small. Now it was powerful and awake, humming beneath her skin like electricity.
She opened her eyes and gasped.
The world had changed. She could see golden threads connecting pack members—bright and beautiful, linking hearts together. A couple in the hallway had a strong, healthy thread. Two warriors outside had a fainter one, probably friendship.
"I see them," Elara breathed. "They're beautiful."
"Good." Pride warmed Caelan's voice. "That's your first gift. Your second is purification—you can heal damaged bonds and remove dark magic tangling connections."
"How do I practice without hurting people?"
"I asked volunteers who need help." Caelan gestured to the door. "A married couple whose bond weakened after a fight. A father and son who can't talk anymore. People who want healing."
Tears stung Elara's eyes. "You set this up for me?"
"Of course. You're under my protection." Something warm flickered in Caelan's expression. "I want you to feel safe here, Elara. Safe enough to heal."
When had anyone cared about her feelings? When had Dante ever made her feel protected?
"What's the third gift?" Elara forced herself to focus.
Caelan's face turned serious. "The most dangerous one. You can sever mate bonds permanently. Not rejection—true severance that destroys the connection forever."
Elara's heart pounded. "I could break bonds?"
"You could free people trapped in terrible relationships. You could punish those who abuse the mate bond." Caelan held her gaze. "But it's permanent. Once severed, nothing can fix it. Not magic, not time, not even the Moon Goddess."
The weight of that power settled over her. She thought about Dante—six years of being ignored and hurt. Six years of being told she wasn't good enough.
"I want to practice everything," Elara said firmly. "I want to be strong enough that nobody can hurt me again."
Pride flashed in Caelan's eyes. "Then let's begin."
For hours, Elara worked with pack members. She strengthened a couple's weakened bond, watching the golden thread between them brighten and pulse with new life. She healed the connection between a father and son, removing years of anger that had twisted their family bond.
Each success made her stronger. More confident.
By sunset, Elara was exhausted but happy. Her power didn't feel wild anymore—it felt like part of her. Like she'd found something that had always been missing.
"You're amazing," Caelan said as the last person left. "I've never seen anyone learn bond sight so fast."
"It feels right." Elara looked at her hands, still glowing faintly silver. "Like this is what I was meant to do."
"It is. This is your birthright." Caelan stepped closer, making her pulse quicken. "You're extraordinary, Elara. I hope you're starting to see that."
"I'm trying. It's hard when I spent six years being told I was worthless."
"Dante was a fool."
The fierce protection in his voice made warmth spread through her chest. But before she could respond, her bond sight suddenly flared without warning.
Golden threads appeared everywhere—hundreds of them spreading across the territory like a spider web. Most were healthy and bright.
But one thread pulsed with sick black-and-gold light. Corrupted. Wrong.
"Elara? What's wrong?" Caelan gripped her shoulders.
"There's a corrupted bond. Far away but I can feel it." Elara followed the thread south—toward Shadowpine Pack. Toward Dante.
Her vision sharpened. She saw Dante's bond clearly—the golden thread that should connect him to her, his true mate. But dark magic wrapped around it like poisonous vines, strangling their connection and forcing it toward someone else.
Toward Selena.
"No," Elara whispered, horror crashing over her.
"What did you see?"
Elara looked up at Caelan, her silver eyes wide. "Dante's bond is corrupted. Someone used dark magic to redirect it away from me and toward Selena." Her voice shook. "We were true mates, Caelan. But someone destroyed our bond on purpose."
Caelan's expression turned deadly. "Who could corrupt a mate bond?"
"I don't know. But they've been poisoning me for six years to keep my power from awakening and breaking their spell." Rage filled Elara's chest. "Selena didn't just steal my mate. Someone gave him to her with dark magic."
"We need to tell Dante—"
"No." Elara's voice turned cold. "First I find out who did this and why."
She turned away, mind racing. Who would want to destroy her bond? Who would poison her? Who would—
A terrifying thought struck her.
"Caelan, when did the last Silvermoon die?"
"Twenty-six years ago. Right after giving birth." His eyes widened. "Elara, your parents—"
"Died in a car accident when I was a baby. That's what I was told." Her heart pounded. "But what if someone murdered them? What if someone's been poisoning me my whole life to steal Silvermoon power?"
The door burst open.
Caelan's Beta Marcus stood there, face white with panic.
"Alpha! We have a problem. Dante Blackwood just arrived at our borders with fifty warriors. He's demanding to see Elara." Marcus swallowed hard. "And he's brought Selena with him. She says she's here to help Elara—that she has information about who killed the Silvermoon family."
Elara's blood turned to ice.
Selena was here. The woman who stole her mate, turned her son against her, and might have murdered her parents.
And she was claiming she wanted to help.