The Father Beneath the Mountain
1309 Words
THE WOLF LUNA BURIED WAS NOT HER FATHER.
The words stayed on the page.
Luna read them twice.
Her mind refused them.
She remembered the grave—rain, bare branches, Ethan too young to look that broken, a white wolf wrapped in bloodstained cloth. Her small hands dropping flowers because no one told her what else to do.
She remembered asking when her father would wake.
She remembered Ethan crying when he thought she was asleep.
“That was him,” Luna whispered.
Ethan stood in the clinic doorway, the reflected Book shaking.
“I buried him.”
“I saw his body.”
Amara pushed upright.
Mara tried to stop her. “You’re too weak.”
“My husband is alive.”
“We don’t know that,” Mara said.
“The Book says—”
“It’s been wrong before.”
Amara’s face hardened. “Not that name.”
Black writing around her wrists twisted—Gabriel Vale burning brighter than the rest.
Luna crossed the room. “Mom… what does it mean?”
Amara looked at her, hope flickering, then fear returning.
“It means Lucian lied to me too.”
Ethan stepped in. “You said we buried him.”
“I believed I did.”
“Then who was in the grave?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan laughed once, empty. “Of course.”
Luna turned. “Ethan—”
“No.” His grip tightened on the Book. “Every answer becomes another lie.”
Amara flinched. “I didn’t lie.”
“You said he died.”
“I believed it.”
“You believed Lucian.”
“I had no reason—”
“You had every reason!”
The clinic shook with his voice.
Mara stepped back. Alden looked away. Even Cassian stayed silent.
Ethan stared at her. “He used you. And you still believed him?”
Amara’s voice broke. “I needed to believe your father was beyond him.”
The anger drained, leaving pain.
“Why?”
“Because if Gabriel lived…” she whispered, “Lucian would still have something to take.”
Silence fell.
“I survived by believing I had nothing left but my children.”
Luna sat beside her. “But there was.”
Amara nodded.
Luna took her hand. The names shifted under their touch.
“Tell us that night,” Luna said.
Ethan finally closed the door. “Yes.”
Rain hammered the Vale house.
Amara remembered the Order breaking in. Gabriel shifting into a white wolf, shielding them. Luna’s awakening—golden light tearing through her. Cassian catching her before it consumed her.
But there was more.
“Gabriel was still alive after the shooting,” Amara said.
Ethan froze. “What?”
“He crawled toward Luna.”
Cassian shifted outside the door.
“You remember,” Amara said.
He didn’t deny it.
“What happened?” Darius asked.
Cassian entered. “Gabriel attacked Lucian.”
“Lucian wasn’t there,” Amara said.
“He was. Through me.”
Luna stiffened.
“He used my face,” Cassian said.
Darius stepped closer. “He can do that?”
“Not fully. But enough.”
Amara stared. “The man in my home…”
“Was both of us.”
“You told me she would die.”
“That was true.”
“You took her memories.”
“To contain her.”
“And Gabriel?”
Cassian exhaled. “Lucian ordered me to kill him.”
Ethan moved fast. “Did you?”
“No.”
“Then who did I bury?”
“A soldier. Made to look like him.”
Silence.
“You faked his death,” Luna said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make Lucian stop searching.”
“And Gabriel?”
“He surrendered his name.”
Alden spoke quietly. “A true name binds soul and magic.”
Cassian nodded. “I erased him from records.”
Ethan looked at the Book. “But his name is here.”
“Because Amara spoke it with love.”
Alden understood. “Love restores what was erased.”
Luna looked at her mother. “You brought him back.”
“Into the record,” Cassian said. “Not the world.”
“Where is he?”
Cassian hesitated.
“You know,” Darius said.
“I gave him a route,” Cassian admitted. “He never reached it.”
Luna’s hope dropped.
“The White Fang intercepted him.”
Ronan entered. “My father confirmed it.”
“Who are they?” Darius asked.
“Jailers,” Maris said.
The Book went still.
Then it opened.
A map formed.
VARDEN.
“A prison,” Darius said.
“For monsters,” Maris replied.
Ethan looked at Cassian. “My father wasn’t one.”
“He carried something,” Cassian said.
“What?”
He looked at Luna. “Part of her power.”
Her mark flared.
“When she awakened, it was killing her. I sealed it, but needed an anchor.”
Luna’s voice went cold. “My father.”
“No. He volunteered.”
Amara froze.
“He knew,” Ethan said.
“He chose exile,” Cassian said.
Amara covered her mouth.
Luna stared at her wrist. Another sacrifice.
Darius knelt. “This isn’t your fault.”
“I cost him eighteen years.”
“He chose it because he loved you.”
“That doesn’t fix it.”
“No.” He took her hands. “But we find him.”
Luna looked at him. “You’d leave Blackwood?”
“Yes.”
Mason sighed. “That confidence is alarming.”
Evelyn squeezed his hand. “He means both of us.”
Serena nodded. “I’ll hold the estate.”
Ronan stepped forward. “I know the north.”
Ethan closed the Book. “I’m coming.”
Amara shook her head. “No.”
“You don’t decide.”
She nodded. “Then I ask you not to.”
“Why?”
“Because he may not be who you remember.”
“Neither are we.”
Luna said, “I’m going.”
Amara whispered, “I just got you back.”
“I’m coming back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.” Luna touched her face. “But I won’t disappear without choosing it.”
Amara closed her eyes.
“Bring her home,” she told Darius.
“I will protect her,” he said. “But I won’t control her.”
Amara nodded. “That’s why I trust you.”
They left at dawn.
The estate was quiet.
Luna packed. Darius removed half her clothes.
“You packed for me?”
“I tried.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“It was.”
At the door he said, “Stay close.”
“That’s controlling.”
“It’s fear.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you after finding everyone else.”
Luna softened. “I’m not leaving you behind.”
He kissed her.
Not gentle at first—then softer, certain.
When they broke apart, he said, “You are my home.”
“And you’re mine.”
A knock came.
Ethan: “We’re ready.”
Darius sighed. “I dislike your brother.”
“Join the club.”
At the gate, goodbyes were brief.
Amara held Luna tightly. “Don’t let the mountain take you.”
“It won’t.”
She touched Darius’s wrist. “Love her gently too.”
“I’m trying.”
“That’s enough.”
They drove north.
The Book opened.
Varden appeared.
Gabriel’s name burned.
Then another appeared.
Luna froze.
“Someone’s with him.”
A name formed.
SOLARA AURELIS.
Luna went still.
“That’s impossible.”
One final line appeared:
THE QUEEN DID NOT REINCARNATE ALONE.
- Writer
