Chapter 8 — The Alpha’s Lie
1025 Words
Sleep was impossible.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the figure made of moonlight and blood. I heard its voice — calm, powerful, cruel. “He lied to you.”
Those words echoed in my mind like a curse.
Kael hadn’t said much after the altar incident. He had taken me back to his territory in silence, walking ahead as if lost in thought. When we reached the pack house, he had given me a single order: “Stay in your room tonight. Don’t open the door for anyone.”
Then he disappeared.
But how could I sleep knowing something ancient had called my name? That the moon itself had claimed me as its own?
I stared out the window. The moon hung low and red, bleeding across the sky like a wound. I touched the mark on my wrist — still faintly glowing.
“What are you trying to tell me?” I whispered.
Silence.
Then a soft knock echoed through the room.
I froze.
Kael had told me not to open the door, but what if it was him? Slowly, I approached, every nerve in my body on edge.
“Kael?” I whispered.
No answer.
Another knock, louder this time.
Something cold brushed against the back of my neck, and I spun around — but no one was there. The candles flickered wildly.
Then I heard it again. Not a knock. A whisper.
“Aria…”
The voice wasn’t coming from the door. It was coming from inside the room.
I turned toward the mirror above the dresser — and froze.
My reflection was moving before I did.
She smiled faintly, her eyes glowing silver. “He lied, Aria. He always does.”
“Who are you?” I breathed.
“You already know.”
My heart pounded. “My mother?”
The reflection tilted her head, the same way my mother used to. “The truth is hidden in his blood. Find it, before it’s too late.”
The mirror cracked — once, twice — and the image shattered into darkness.
I stumbled back, gasping for air. The mark on my wrist flared again, burning so hot I could barely breathe. Then it faded, leaving me trembling and alone.
⸻
When Kael returned at dawn, he looked exhausted. His shirt was torn, and there was blood on his knuckles.
“You didn’t sleep,” he said quietly, noticing my eyes.
“Neither did you.”
He sighed. “You weren’t supposed to.”
“Because you knew something would happen?” I shot back. “Because you knew that thing in the forest wasn’t gone?”
He froze.
“So you did know,” I said. “You’ve been hiding something from me.”
“It’s not what you think—”
“Then tell me!” I shouted. “Because the mark is getting stronger, the visions are worse, and I keep hearing things that shouldn’t be possible. Tell me the truth before I lose my mind.”
He ran a hand through his hair, jaw tight. “Fine. You want the truth? Here it is. The fire that killed your mother — it wasn’t an accident.”
The world tilted. “What?”
“It was the Blood Moon’s curse,” he said. “And I’m the one who triggered it.”
I stared at him, unable to move. “You… what?”
He looked away. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I was young, untrained. My father — he forced me to take part in a ritual meant to bind the curse to our bloodline. But something went wrong. The magic backfired. Your mother was the one who stopped it. She saved everyone else… except herself.”
My throat tightened. “You’re saying you killed her?”
“No!” His voice cracked. “I didn’t want to. She… she shielded me. She took the curse’s blow meant for me. That’s how the mark was passed to you.”
Tears blurred my vision. “You’ve been lying to me since the beginning.”
“I was protecting you,” he said, voice low. “If you’d known what I did, you’d never have trusted me.”
“You’re right,” I whispered. “I never would have.”
I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm gently. “Aria, listen—”
“Don’t touch me.”
The air around us shifted. The silver mark on my wrist glowed again, reacting to my anger. Wind stirred inside the room though the windows were closed.
Kael stepped back. “Aria, stop.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to control it.”
“I can’t!”
The light burst from me like a storm — glass shattered, furniture rattled, and the mark on his neck flared in response. For a moment, I saw pain flash across his face, and I realized the bond between us was real, dangerous, alive.
When the light dimmed, Kael was on his knees, gasping for air.
I stood there trembling, terrified of myself. “What’s happening to me?”
He looked up slowly, his golden eyes dimming. “You’re awakening.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the curse has chosen you as its vessel,” he whispered. “And if we don’t break it soon… it will destroy us both.”
⸻
Later that night, I found myself standing outside again, under the same blood-red moon. My thoughts spun with everything he had said.
My mother had died protecting him. The curse had bonded to both our bloodlines. And now… it wanted me.
Somewhere deep in the forest, I heard the faint sound of a howl — long, mournful, familiar.
Kael’s wolf.
Even after everything, part of me wanted to run to him. But the reflection’s words haunted me still:
He lied to you.
Maybe Kael wasn’t the only one keeping secrets.
Maybe my mother had too.
As the wind picked up, I looked at the moon one last time and whispered,
“I’ll find the truth — even if it kills me.”
- Writer
