His Historical Luna

Chapter Seven:Blood And Betrayal

Thelma's POV

The weight of my mother's journal felt like holding destiny itself. As I clutched it to my chest, I could feel Thalia's power coursing through my veins, making me stronger and more aware than I'd ever been in either of my lives.

"You want to know how they died?" I said, my voice carrying an otherworldly echo that made even Xavier's enforcers step back respectfully. "Then let's start with the truth."

Dad...no, not dad, I would never call him that again—opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand and felt my power slam into him like a physical force. His words died in his throat.

You don't get to speak, I commanded. "Not yet. First, you listen."

I turned to face the entire group assembled in the hallway, my enhanced senses picking up every racing heartbeat, every fearful breath, every drop of guilty sweat.

Twenty-three years ago, Alpha Jonathan Tee and Luna Sarah Tee ruled the most powerful pack in this region. They were beloved, fair, and strong. But their own family—their own blood—couldn't stand to see them prosper."

My gaze settled on Mom, who was pressed against the wall as if trying to disappear into it. "Margaret and Thomas Tee, the alpha's younger brother and his mate. They watched from the shadows as Jonathan's pack grew stronger while their smaller branch pack remained insignificant. And they grew jealous. Bitter. Murderous."

Tell them about the night it happened, Thalia urged. *"I can see it through the blood memory now that I'm fully awakened."*

I closed my eyes for a moment, and suddenly I could see it—flashes of memory inherited through my bloodline, as clear as if I'd been there myself.

It was the night of my birth,I continued, opening my eyes to see everyone hanging on my words. "While Luna Sarah was in labor, they struck. They poisoned the pack's food supplies during the birth celebration, weakening the guards. Then they let in the rogues—rogues they had hired and armed specifically for this purpose."

Gasps echoed through the hallway. Even some of the enforcers looked shocked, as if they were hearing this version of events for the first time.

But the rogues weren't just meant to kill my parents," I said, my voice growing colder. They were meant to kill me too. A newborn baby, murdered in her cradle to clear the path for Margaret and Thomas to claim the alpha position."

That's not,Margaret started to protest, but I turned my compelling power on her, and she froze mid-sentence.

"The only problem with their plan," I continued, "was that Luna Sarah was stronger than they anticipated. Even in labor, even dying, she managed to hide me and leave behind evidence of their betrayal. They thought I had died in the fire they set to cover their tracks, but Sarah had passed me to a loyal pack member who escaped with me.

Xavier stepped forward, his expression grim. "My father was that pack member. He brought you to the Leon pack, but by then, Thomas and Margaret had already claimed leadership of the 'survivors' and were being hailed as heroes who had rescued the alpha's 'orphaned' daughter from the devastation."

I nodded, the pieces finally falling into place. "So they took me back, not out of love, but because they needed the blood of the true alpha line to access the pack's power core. They couldn't risk anyone discovering I was still alive, so they decided to raise me themselves—under their control, weakened by poison, never knowing my true heritage."

And they would have succeeded if you hadn't died and been reborn,"* Thalia added grimly. Death broke their hold on us completely.

"But there's more, isn't there?" I said, turning to face Yvonne, who was still kneeling on the floor. "Tell them about your real parentage, sister."

Yvonne's face crumpled. "Please, Thelma—"

"Tell them!" I commanded, and my alpha power forced the words from her lips.

"I'm not their daughter," she sobbed. "I'm the daughter of rogues. My real parents were killed during a raid when I was five. Thomas and Margaret took me in because they needed another child to make their story believable—to make it seem like they had saved two orphans instead of murdering the real alpha family."

The silence that followed was absolute. Several pack members who had gathered in the hallway looked sick with shock and betrayal.

"So let me paint you the full picture," I said, my voice carrying to every corner of the area. "Two jealous relatives murdered my parents, burned down half the pack, adopted me to use my blood for power, and raised an orphaned rogue child as their own daughter. They poisoned me for years to keep me weak and compliant, then planned to have me killed so they could install their fake daughter as Luna with her chosen mate."

I turned to Neon, who was still frozen by my power, sweat beading on his forehead from his struggle against my compulsion.

And you,I said to him, were never my mate or even my friend. You were part of the conspiracy from the beginning, weren't you? Tell them the truth."

I released just enough of my hold on him to let him speak, and the words tumbled out as if they had been burning inside him for years.

Yes! he gasped. "Yes, I knew! Thomas promised me the alpha position if I went along with the plan. Yvonne was supposed to be Luna, and I would be alpha, and together we would rule the pack. But you... you kept getting in the way. You were supposed to be weak, controllable, but you had this strength that we couldn't break, even with the poison."

So you decided to kill me," I said matter-of-factly.

"It was supposed to look like an accident!" he protested. "The rogue attack, the ambush—we just wanted you out of the way so we could take control!"

The pack members who had gathered were murmuring now, their voices rising in anger and disgust. I could see the tide turning, their loyalty shifting away from the people who had lied to them for over two decades.

But Thomas wasn't finished fighting. I saw him reach for something inside his jacket—a small vial filled with silver liquid.

"You want the truth?" he snarled, his composure finally cracking completely. "Fine! Yes, we killed your precious parents! Yes, we've been planning this for years! But you're not going to live long enough to enjoy your victory!"

He lunged toward me with the vial, but Xavier moved faster than lightning, intercepting him and slamming him against the wall. The vial shattered on the floor, its silver contents eating through the wood like acid.

"Concentrated wolfsbane and silver," Xavier said grimly. "Enough to kill even an alpha."

He's been carrying that around, waiting for a chance to use it on us,"* Thalia growled. "They never intended to let us live, even if we had remained ignorant."*

I felt something cold and final settle in my chest. These people—my adoptive family, my former fiancé—they had never seen me as anything more than an obstacle to be removed.

You've all confessed, I said quietly, but my voice carried to everyone present. "In front of witnesses, you've admitted to murder, conspiracy, and treason against the rightful alpha bloodline."

I walked to the window and looked out at the pack grounds—land that had once belonged to my real parents, that should have been my birthright.

By the ancient laws that govern our kind, I continued, turning back to face them, "I, Thelma Tee, true heir to the original Tee pack, claim my birthright as Alpha Queen of this territory."

The moment the words left my lips, I felt a surge of power unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It was as if the very earth beneath the pack house was acknowledging my claim, responding to my call.

And my first act as Alpha Queen, I said, my voice now carrying the full weight of ancient authority, "is to pronounce judgment on the murderers of my parents and the traitors who have ruled in their stead."

Thomas, Margaret, Yvonne, and Neon all looked terrified now, finally understanding that their crimes had caught up with them.

But before I could pronounce their sentence, Marcus stepped forward with an urgent expression.

Your Majesty, he said, using the proper title for an Alpha Queen, "there's something else you need to know. We've discovered evidence that they weren't acting alone. There's someone else behind this conspiracy—someone who's been pulling the strings from the shadows for all these years."

I felt Thalia's attention sharpen in my mind. Ask him who,she urged.

" Who? I demanded.

Marcus's expression was grim. "Someone from within the Leon pack itself. Someone who's been feeding information to your adoptive parents, someone who knew about Xavier's mission here and has been working to sabotage it from the beginning."

Xavier's face went pale. That's impossible. I only told three people about this mission.

"And one of them," Marcus said quietly, "is standing in this hallway right now."

Every person present seemed to freeze as we all looked around at each other with new suspicion. Someone among Xavier's own people was a traitor.

The game had just become far more dangerous than any of us had realized.