Chapter 3 — My Mother Was Alive
1389 Words
“Stay away from my daughter.”
My mother's voice cut through the clearing.
I couldn't move.
She was alive.
For eighteen years, I had believed she was dead.
I had cried for her on birthdays. I had wondered what her voice sounded like. I had imagined what it would feel like to have her hold me.
And now she was standing in front of me.
Real.
Alive.
Looking at me as though she had never stopped loving me.
“Mom?”
The word came out as a whisper.
She took another step.
I wanted to run to her.
I wanted to throw my arms around her.
But my body was frozen.
Too many questions were fighting inside my head.
“Why did you leave me?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't leave you.”
“Then why did everyone tell me you were dead?”
“Because I needed them to.”
I stared at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I know.”
She looked older than I remembered from the few photographs I had seen, but there was no mistaking her face.
The same dark eyes.
The same long black hair.
The same small scar above her eyebrow.
My mother.
Behind me, Romeo spoke.
“Who are you?”
She looked at him.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then her expression became cold.
“You know who I am.”
Romeo shook his head.
“No.”
“You should.”
She stepped closer.
“You've been living with the consequences of my family's destruction for years.”
Romeo's face tightened.
“I don't understand.”
“Of course you don't.”
Her eyes moved toward Selena.
Selena looked terrified.
“You,” my mother said.
Selena took a step backward.
“Don't.”
My mother's voice was quiet.
“You told my daughter she was wolfless.”
Selena said nothing.
“You told her she was weak.”
Still nothing.
“You told Romeo she would never be worthy of standing beside him.”
Romeo looked at Selena.
“Is that true?”
Selena's lips parted.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Selena looked at me.
“From her.”
My mother's expression changed.
“Exactly.”
I frowned.
“Why is everyone afraid of me?”
Nobody answered.
I turned toward my mother.
“You said you were looking for me. Where have you been?”
“Watching.”
“For eighteen years?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“You watched me grow up without you?”
Tears ran down her face.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
The words came out harsher than I intended.
She flinched.
I immediately regretted them.
But I couldn't stop.
“You could have come back.”
“If I had,” she whispered, “you would be dead.”
The clearing went silent.
I stared at her.
“Why?”
She looked toward the hunters.
“Because they have been searching for you since the night you were born.”
I looked at the armed men.
“Who are they?”
“Hunters.”
“What do they want?”
My mother looked directly into my eyes.
“You.”
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“Because you are the last Blood Moon.”
I shook my head.
“I don't even know what that means.”
“You will.”
A growl suddenly came from the forest.
My mother looked up.
“It's time to go.”
Romeo stepped forward.
“Not yet.”
She turned toward him.
“Move.”
“No.”
Romeo's voice carried the authority of an Alpha.
Every wolf in the clearing stiffened.
My mother didn't move.
“Alpha command.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Try it.”
Romeo's expression changed.
He took a breath.
“Leave this pack.”
My mother remained exactly where she was.
Nothing happened.
No movement.
No obedience.
Nothing.
Romeo's face went pale.
His command had failed.
I looked at him.
He looked at me.
Then at my mother.
“What are you?”
My mother smiled sadly.
“Someone you should have feared long before tonight.”
A hunter suddenly raised his weapon.
“Enough!”
He fired.
Everything happened at once.
Romeo moved.
My mother moved.
But I was faster.
I didn't think.
I simply lifted my hand.
The bullet stopped in midair.
I stared at it.
Nobody breathed.
The bullet slowly fell to the ground.
Clink.
The sound seemed impossibly loud.
I looked at my hand.
“What did I just do?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“She's awakening.”
Selena whispered,
“No.”
The hunter shouted,
“Kill her now!”
Several hunters charged.
My body moved before my mind could react.
I heard a roar.
Not from outside.
From inside me.
The wolves surrounding the clearing suddenly attacked.
They didn't attack Romeo's enemies.
They attacked anyone who came near me.
One hunter raised his blade.
A wolf knocked him into the dirt.
Another tried to approach.
Three wolves surrounded him.
The entire pack had changed sides.
Romeo stared in disbelief.
“Why are they obeying her?”
My mother looked at him.
“Because they know their Queen.”
Queen.
The word echoed in my mind.
I turned toward her.
“What did you call me?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“What am I?”
Her lips trembled.
“You are the daughter of the last Blood Moon King.”
My breath caught.
“My father?”
She nodded.
“He is alive.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
My mother looked away.
I stepped toward her.
“You told me he was dead.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who killed his family were looking for him.”
I shook my head.
“You're saying my father is alive too?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Before she could answer, an arrow flew through the air.
It struck my mother in the shoulder.
“Mom!”
She fell.
I caught her before she hit the ground.
Blood covered my hands.
Something inside me snapped.
I looked toward the forest.
My vision changed.
For one terrifying second, everything became clear.
I could see every hunter.
Every wolf.
Every tree.
Every heartbeat.
I knew where everyone was without looking.
And then I heard them.
Not one voice.
Hundreds.
Wolves from deep within the forest.
All calling to me.
*Queen.*
My knees weakened.
I pressed my hands against my mother's wound.
The bleeding stopped.
The wound closed beneath my fingers.
My mother stared at me.
“You healed me.”
I pulled my hands away.
“I didn't know I could.”
She touched her shoulder.
Then she looked frightened.
Not of the hunters.
Of me.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Your father was right.”
“About what?”
“That your power would be stronger than ours.”
A slow clap came from behind us.
Everyone froze.
A man stepped out of the trees.
He was dressed in black.
His eyes were silver.
And every wolf in the clearing immediately lowered its head.
Even my mother.
I looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Her face lost all color.
“He shouldn't be here.”
The man smiled.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Hello, Daniella.”
I stepped backward.
“How do you know my name?”
His smile widened.
“Because I knew your father.”
My mother's hand grabbed mine.
“Don't listen to him.”
The man's eyes moved to her.
“You still haven't told her the truth?”
“What truth?”
He laughed softly.
“The truth about why your father disappeared.”
My heart pounded.
“What happened to him?”
The man looked at me.
“He didn't disappear.”
He took one step forward.
“He was taken.”
My mother closed her eyes.
Then the man said the words that made my blood run cold.
“And the man who took him…”
His silver eyes shifted toward Romeo.
“…was Romeo's father.”
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