9. Elara

Elara sits at the dinner table, home for the weekend to please her mother. Ever since she was injured and had an extended stay here, her mom's been complaining about missing her and not hearing from her enough.

Elara, grateful for the good food—her mother's famous eggplant parmigiana—digs right in as soon as the plate is set in front of her, nearly forgetting the true reason why she's braving her hovering parents to be here. Kade"s mention of needing to find out her lineage has been strong in her mind, and the only solution to her problems and to get answers is finding out what line she descends from. That could hold the key to the reason she was able to survive the change despite the fact Kade mentioned most everyone had died.

"Wow, you"re hungry tonight," her father says with a chuckle.

"Mhmm," Elara says between bites. Something about being a werewolf has made her appetite heightened, and it"s hard to have good meals in her dorm. It isn"t exactly equipped for large, home-cooked meals.

"Maybe she just misses my cooking that much," her mother jokes.

Elara grins as she dabs at her face with a napkin. "I actually have an ulterior motive for being here beyond just this awesome dinner."

"Oh?" her mother asks.

"So, we had a surprise lecture in anthropology. They want us to do this project on genealogy. Do you know anything about the family?"

Her mother frowns. "No, I don"t know much, to be honest." Her cheeks are a little red. "It's never been my thing, but you know, if you want to really dig deep with that, you should talk to Nana. She's kept up with all of our family tree."

"Is she home this weekend?" Elara asks. Her grandmother loves to travel, even at her age. Always flitting around and sending postcards or bringing back cool trinkets from her trips.

"Oh, I believe she is. I"m sure she'd love to see you."

Elara nods, knowing she has a trip to make first thing in the morning. She"s due for a visit with her grandmother, anyway. She hasn"t seen her at all since starting college.

Elara"s father clears his throat, adjusting in his seat after eating more than one serving of seconds. "I can give you up to my great grandparents" names. I'm sorry I can"t be much help beyond that."

"Thanks, Dad," Elara says, acknowledging his attempt to help. Neither of her grandparents on his side of the family are alive, so if any anomaly comes from them, she may never know.

A little disappointed but full, Elara heads to her old room, sighing at the sight of the magical color-changing curtains before plopping down on her bed. She's just a little closer to answers now.

Elara pullsout of the parking spot, her nerves jittering with anticipation. She might finally have her answers today. At least some of them.

She takes the road leading out of town, away from the bustle of the city. Just like Laith, Nana lives on the outskirts, though her house isn"t as grand. She calls it home base, a launching pad for all her travels. Really, the place is full of collectibles over the years. Artwork from foreign galleries, some signed by the artists. Souvenirs and pictures from museums. She even visited Giza once when she was younger. She sometimes tells the story of a boyfriend she had who was an aspiring archaeologist and took her there.

In a way, Nana's a woman after Elara"s own heart. Though a little more sentimental in nature. And she's hard to pin down in one spot. Even when she's home, she likes to go shopping, go on nature walks, and have card and game nights with her friends. Sometimes the family jokes she has more of a social life than her grandchildren. Truly, she does.

As soon as Elara pulls up to the one-story brick house and puts the car in park, Nana opens the door. Elara gets out of the car and heads into her grandmother"s outstretched arms. Instead of smelling like mothballs or things other elderly people smell like, she smells of perfume and leather.

"Your mother told me you"d be coming to see me this morning. I must admit, even though it"s for schoolwork, I'm still very happy to see you."

The two embrace and Elara's led inside. The living room is decorated in various shades of brown and accents of a warm orange color. The brown leather couch is the same one that"s been there for years, well taken care of, and as comfortable as ever.

On one end of the couch sit some leather-bound volumes—albums of photographs and hopefully family tree information.

A thrill of excitement peaks in Elara as she sits down on the opposite end, allowing Nana to take the middle. Tea with lemon and honey waits for them both on the wooden coffee table, a favorite of her grandmother"s.

"I got these ready just for you. It"s been a while since I"ve looked at them, so I had to dust them off. It"s kind of fun looking at the past, though. Seeing where we came from." Nana smiles warmly and sets one of the volumes on her lap. Flipping it open, Elara leans over to see some notes on one side and the other side holds a tree going back five generations. Probably not long enough to reach back into ancient history, but a start.

Nana begins to describe each person Elara doesn"t recognize, telling fun and interesting stories. All of them, though, are from the United States. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not until she points to a very faded photo at the top of the tree. A man in some kind of military uniform, but not much else because of the age of the photo.

"Now, he is quite the mystery," Nana explains, tapping her finger beside the faceless image. A tingle runs down Elara's spine. This is important. She can feel it. There's something about this unknown man. "Only known as Colonel Hartford and no first name. I do know he came from overseas. Ireland or England. Somewhere like that." Nana runs her hand over the picture. "He met his wife escaping something, though I don"t know what. And of course, these are only stories my parents used to tell me."

Elara nods in understanding. It"s been passed down by word of mouth so not all reliable, but so many important things get passed down that way and never put inside of a book. Her own studies have taught her that.

"The rumor goes that he actually comes from an ancient royal line, though I don"t recall which one."

An ancient royal line… That"s the exact kind of thing Elara is looking for. "Is there any way for us to find out more about that or him?" She points to the faded picture with no face.

"There were books I researched when I was younger. Lots of them. My parents kept a whole library, but shortly before I moved into this house, they were all stolen." Nana frowns, and Elara"s stomach drops. Stolen? What good would it do to steal family books and heirlooms like that? They're worth nothing to anyone outside their family. "What I have here is all that"s left," Nana says.

Well, that's a problem for another day. The bloodline, though, could be something.

"Thank you, Nana," Elara says, giving her a squeeze. The two of them have been there for hours, the last dregs of tea going cold. "I have to start on my project, and this was so helpful."

"You come by anytime, Elara," Nana says, smiling softly.

Elara walks out the door with a smile and a wave, distracted as she pulls out her phone. She needs to tell Kade about this. Maybe he'll be able to help her find more, or at least validate that this is the clue they"ve been looking for.

I need to talk to you. Where can we meet? I'm outside of town.

Elara sits in her car, awkwardly waiting in her grandmother"s driveway for a reply. She wouldn"t blame Kade if he didn"t answer. Here she is, using him after telling him to stay away. She's probably confusing him as much as he's confusing her.

Finally, a reply comes through.

The edge of the woods. The ones where you had me kidnapped.

Kidnapped; he's being dramatic, but Elara acknowledges it was a nasty trick. Even though he'd left her no choice.

We both know you could've left at any time. I'll see you soon.

See you soon.

Elara pulls out of the driveway and heads for the woods, which aren't far from her grandmother"s house. She parks in the parking lot yet again, not wanting her car to just be hanging out next to the woods and walks over to wait for Kade. Her body is on fire with the idea of seeing him again and no matter what she does, she can"t seem to shake it.

Get it together, Elara, she tells herself as she approaches the tree line.

Tucking herself just inside up against a tree, she senses nothing and no one. At least nothing human or wolf. Crossing her arms over her chest, she tries to be patient, but the longer he takes, the more nervous she becomes.

Elara paces on the edge of the forest as she waits for him…Kade. For someone who told him to stop stalking her and she wanted nothing to do with him, meetings with him are becoming increasingly commonplace.

Maybe it"s time to admit that I still need him and I can"t just push him away, she thinks as a tiny shift in the sounds coming from the forest alert her to Kade"s approach. Elara didn"t used to be able to notice such things, but now, as a wolf, all her senses are heightened. She can literally hear a pin drop, probably even in a loud and crowded room.

Kade comes into view. Dark hair and guarded eyes, shirtless, a pair of shorts hanging off his hips. Elara blushes, her eyes lingering on his chest a little too long for comfort. Despite the theatrics, he looks like he"s part of the woods. Like he could have been born out of it, possibly living in it. Rugged and strong. Elara's never seen him much anywhere else or with anyone else. He"s the definition of a lone wolf. He must like it that way. Though, sometimes the way he follows Elara around and looks at her makes her wonder otherwise.

"It"s interesting that you called on me this time," Kade smirks, leaning up against a tree opposite her.

"Well, I need to talk to you." She shakes her head, looking at the forest floor. All of her conviction is lost in telling him she needs him, but the message is there hanging between the two of them. Even if it goes unspoken.

"Well?" Kade asks, working an eyebrow and sticking his hands in his pockets.

Elara bites her lip, gaining her composure again before she speaks. "I just came from my grandmother"s house. My mother sent me there when I asked about genealogy. I figured it was time to try to figure out who I descend from." She shrugs, kicking around some dirt below her feet. "If I can."

"Were you able to find anything out?" Kade pushes himself off the tree, his focus making her skin heat.

Elara shakes her head. "Not exactly, but she had all these stories. Stories about our family, one guy, in particular, someone named Colonel Hartford. He comes from England or somewhere over there. They used to have more on him and his family, but an entire library of family history was stolen years ago before my grandmother bought the house she lives in now."

Kade seems taken aback by the information, his eyes going a little wide. "Some odd things to steal. It sounds like a lead to me. Did she tell you anything of use at all?"

The excitement in his voice has Elara looking at him, allowing herself to indulge for the first time in a while. They"re on the same side of things, even after everything he"s done. She shouldn"t see him as her enemy, but he has a funny way of showing that he"s not. Again, she finds herself torn between sticking to her principles and starting over with Kade. Forgiving him.

"She said we descend from some special royal bloodline, but she doesn"t remember which one. That"s all I got. Do you think that"s why I survived the turn?"

Kade steps closer, now only a foot away. It makes Elara's heart pound in her chest. "I guess that would make sense. That could definitely be the reason why, but also that bloodline is why you were chosen in the first place. It's the only way to defeat the enemies closing in on us."

Elara's eyebrows shoot up, surprised Kade for the first time is going more in-depth about the whole thing. Maybe he's done playing games with her.

"By enemies, do you mean the shifters?" she asks, remembering Denzel"s explanation of them. Just the thought makes her shiver.

"Yes, the shifters are enemies, but they"re only one arm of the darkness that threatens to bite at the wolf community. Pun intended." He flashes his teeth to get his point across. If it wasn"t for the danger in his words, Elara would have just thought it was cute.

"So, there"s more?" she whispers to herself.

"Elara, I can"t stick around long, but please be careful around Denzel and the pack. Remember what I warned you." His eyes are pleading, and Elara"s gut wrenches. Why does he always have to show up and disappear?

Elara frowns. She doesn't want him to leave yet. She tells herself it's because she wants more information. "Do you know what line you"re descended from?"

He gives her a crooked grin. "Yeah, I figured it out."

Elara waits, wondering if he's going to tell her. So far, Kade's drip fed her information, then promptly disappeared afterward.

He digs his hands a little deeper in his pockets, making his pecs flex. "I"m descended from Merlin."