The Blessed Reborn Lycan

Chapter Eleven

“Hey,” he said, raising a hand in a hesitant wave. “Happy almost birthday.”

Asha stopped in her tracks. The warmth that had built inside her from Farah’s touch and George’s steady presence evaporated in a flash.

She didn’t answer. She didn’t even acknowledge him. Her eyes slid right past him like he wasn’t there.

George’s reaction was instant, a guttural growl rumbled from his chest, sharp and protective. His eyes burned gold as he stepped forward, muscles coiled tight.

Farah reached out and gripped his arm quickly. “Not now,” she whispered urgently, tugging him back.

Rowan took a few steps toward Asha. “I just thought… maybe when midnight hits, it’ll be real and we’ll finally feel it. You and me, we were meant to be, Asha.”

Her eyes cut toward him, now making eye contact but with ice in her expression. “Were we?”

Rowan’s smile faltered. “I made mistakes, I know. I didn’t know what to do when...”

“Why are you here?” she asked coldly, cutting him off. “You’ve had days, days now I’ve been awake, healing. And now suddenly when you think a bond might fix everything, you show up?”

Rowan’s mouth opened, but no words came.

Jason stepped in with a sharp laugh, sarcastic and cruel. “You really think this is your redemption arc? That the moon’s gonna throw you a lifeline and she’s gonna swoon into your arms?” He turned to Asha. “If anything, you’re gonna reject him at midnight just to make sure the goddess knows he’s not worth a second chance.”

Rowan stiffened. “You don’t know...”

“No, I do,” Jason snapped. “You abandoned her when she needed you most. You didn’t even ask how she was. That bond didn’t form because it was never meant to survive you.”

“I was scared,” Rowan said, louder now. “I thought I felt something but I”

“Then why run?” Asha demanded, her voice rising. “Why vanish for three days and show up tonight acting like this moment belongs to you?”

Rowan’s eyes darted between them. “Because I thought… maybe… if tonight’s the night… I needed to be here.”

Jason scoffed. “No, you needed to be here three days ago. She doesn’t need you now.”

Asha turned away from him fully, the sting of disappointment only confirming what she already knew. She tilted her face to the sky, searching for a sign, anything.

But the sky remained calm. The wind was still. No pull. No shift. No fire igniting her blood.

George looked down at his phone, the glow casting shadows across his clenched jaw. “Midnight.”

Nothing.

Asha exhaled, slow and controlled, but inside, something cracked.

“Guess that’s it,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Farah moved to her side, looping an arm through hers. Jason stepped closer, posture stiff with anger on her behalf. George took one final look at Rowan, who now stood alone at the edge of the yard, stunned and wordless, before turning and guiding Asha back toward her room, no resistance or emotion as she laid down to end this hopeless filled night.

***

In the Gammas room, the morning sun lit the edges of the curtains in soft gold, but Amy sat in the shadows. Her gaze was fixed on the window overlooking the backyard where, just hours ago, her daughter had stood beneath a cloud-covered sky, waiting for something that never came.

Her hand clenched slightly around the mug of tea she hadn’t touched. The warmth had long since faded, like her own sense of peace.

The door clicked softly as Ned stepped in, closing it gently behind him. He crossed the room without a word and took the seat beside her near the window. For a while, neither of them spoke.

They didn’t need to.

“She didn’t cry,” Amy finally whispered. “Not one tear. She just stood there. I watched her face, Ned, I saw the exact moment her hope shattered.”

Ned rubbed a hand over his face, jaw clenched tight. “Rowan showing up didn’t help.”

“No, but that wasn’t what broke her.” Amy turned to him now, eyes glistening but unreadable. “It was the silence, the waiting, the shift never came. For her, that was confirmation she’s not enough.”

“That’s not true,” Ned said, voice low.

“I know that. And you know that. But she doesn’t.”

She finally stood, pacing slowly, then paused near her dresser. Her hand hovered over a small, carved wooden box. “She thinks the goddess ignored her. But the truth is, the goddess already chose her. The moment she was born.”

Ned looked up, brow furrowing. “Amy…”

“She deserves to know.” Amy’s voice was stronger now, steadier. “She deserves the truth, before she starts believing the lies her silence tells her.”

Amy swallowed hard, her voice barely above a whisper. “It’s my fault. I should’ve told her. About the night she was born.”

Ned shifted forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Still believe it would’ve helped?”

“I don’t know,” Amy admitted. “But at least she would’ve known something was different. That she wasn’t broken. That maybe the reason her wolf hasn’t come… is because she didn’t arrive like the others. You weren't there when they found me in the field, I was so close to death that night.”

“Edgar turned his back on the bond. The moment I needed him most, he was with her. The betrayal didn’t just wound me, it unbalanced the bond so violently that my heart nearly stopped, and Asha....” her voice broke, and she reached for the edge of the dresser to steady herself. “Asha did stop breathing. She was gone. I held her in my arms, and she was so still. So silent. And then…”

Her eyes lifted to the window again, as if she could still see it. “Then the clouds parted. For just a moment. And the moonlight, so pure, silver, and divine. It poured onto the field of flowers, then it touched her. Just her, and she gasped.”

“She was chosen,” Ned murmured, realization blooming in his eyes again, like it had all those years ago. “Brought back by the moon itself, but not her wolf.”

Amy nodded. “And I’ve kept that secret all this time because I didn’t know what it meant. Because I thought the goddess would show her in her own time. But now… now she walks around thinking she’s broken. That she isn’t normal, especially with her dreams and her powers that manifested when she was a child. She remembers nothing except for those eyes in her dreams, the eyes that we saw her have.”

“She needs to know soon. Maybe not everything, not yet. But the truth about her birth. That the moon goddess chose her. That she was wanted even before she could take her first breath.”

She turned back toward him, fire returning to her eyes. “Because tonight… something is coming. I can feel it in my bones, Ned. The moon will shine again, and Asha will no longer be able to pretend she’s ordinary.”

Ned was silent, mulling over the weight of his sister’s words. Amy stood at the window, still and quiet now, her fingers brushing the curtain’s edge like she could coax the moonlight back herself.

A knock interrupted the moment, brief and polite.

“Come in,” Ned called.

Garrett stepped inside, dressed in formal black, the silver thread of the Miravael crest glinting at his collar. He gave a respectful nod to both siblings, but his eyes lingered just a second longer on Amy.

“The Lycan King was spotted not too far from here,” Garrett announced, his voice calm and steady as always. “He’s bringing his Royal Beta and a Royal Elder. Soon, they will start preparing the sacred ground. Ned, they’ll be looking for you, you must be ready and not make them wait when they arrive.”

Ned nodded and started toward the door, but paused, glancing back at Amy. “I’ll find George, he’ll want to know he’s here.” Amy gave a small nod, lips pressed together.

Ned leaves the room and walks down the hall to find the future Alpha, but Garrett remained in the doorway. For a moment, he seemed unsure. Then he stepped forward, slowly, until he was close enough that Amy had to lift her gaze.

“I remember the night she was born,” he said softly, his voice lowering like it was meant for only her. “After what happened in the clinic, after what we found out, you were so pale, I thought we were going to lose you. I’d never seen Ned cry like that before.”

Amy looked down, her voice barely audible. “I barely remember it myself. Just… the pain. Then light.”

“I never left your side,” Garrett said. “Not until you opened your eyes. Ned had to force me to eat. I....I couldn’t leave you like that. Not after…”

His words trailed off, but Amy looked up sharply, her breath catching slightly.

“You’ve always been there,” she said.

Garrett’s lips quirked into a soft, almost apologetic smile. “So have you. Even when you were trying to hold everything together. Especially then.”

The moment hung there, quiet and delicate.

Amy’s fingers twitched slightly against the windowsill. She looked up at him fully, and for the first time in years, her expression softened. Not with grief or weariness, but something warmer. A tentative opening.

“I’m glad it’s you,” she whispered.

Garrett blinked, surprise flickering across his face, but only for a second. Then his expression turned gentle, reverent, as if he heard the unspoken truth beneath her words. I trust you. I see you.

He nodded once, the corner of his mouth lifting just enough to hint at something deeper. “I always will be.” Another knock came from downstairs, calling him back to duty. He dipped his head respectfully, and left.

Amy stood there for a long moment after, her fingers resting over her chest, then her neck, right where her old bond had once pulsed but already faded away.

And for the first time in years… something stirred.

***

Asha POV

I can hear the people buzzing around the pack lands. Alphas, Betas, Gammas, and others from all around the country, here at our once quiet, normal pack of Miravael.

Things have changed over the last few years, and the sudden attacks on our pack must be the reason why the Lycan King is here.

A shiver crawls up my spine when I think of him. I haven't even seen him yet, but the soldiers on the border did. They said you could feel his presence emanating from the carriage. He radiated with power, ancient, yet full of life.

Farah went to go help George finish his tie, I just cant seem to get the strap on my dress right on my shoulder, and I am NOT taking this off to put it back on.

I go to my mothers room and find her still in there staring out the window. She looks so beautiful in her silver gown.

I step inside, soft steps and clicking of heels against the wooden floor. “You look beautiful,” I say to my mother gently.

Amy gave a faint, brittle smile in the mirror. “Thank you, as do you my little girl, all grown up in this magnificent dress. That I see is giving you some trouble?” She plays with the loose strap I had tangled, and with a pout I tell her “Mommy help” My mom starts to shake her head and laugh, no doubt thinking about how I survive without her.

There was a pause.

“I wanted to give you something,” Amy said, her voice unsteady, but not from nerves. From memory. She walked to a carved wooden chest and pulled out a tiny wrapped bundle, old cloth tied in faded ribbon.

I’ve always seen that box, but never knew for sure what was inside, maybe some old photos but... “What is it?”

Mom sat, motioning for me to join her. “The blanket you were wrapped in, the night you were born.” She unfolded the cloth slowly, reverently, revealing tiny stitching, “Asha” in silver thread.

I stared down at it, silent, waiting.

Mom’s eyes glistened. “There’s something I’ve never told you. Something I never wanted to burden you with until I thought you were ready.”

Unsure I ask her “What is it?”

“The night you were born, I lost you,” Amy said, voice barely above a whisper.

“Your father… Edgar, he betrayed me that night. The bond shattered, and I collapsed before I could even finish delivering you. You took one breath, and then it was silence. No cries.” Her hands trembled slightly as she gripped the edges of the cloth.

Shocked, my breath caught. “He... what? You said you both agreed to break the bond, that it wasn’t enough to love each other?”

Amy gave a pained smile before continuing, “I didn't know then. I didn’t feel the break until it was too late and my body gave out.”

I began to cry and pull away when Amy held on tighter. “Please, let me tell you everything that happened that night.” I nodded, and mom told me her story in detail. Everything that she, Ned, and Garrett remembered about that day.