The Alpha Who Rejected The Moonborn

The TruthThey Buried

The forest erupted with howls.

They came from every direction.

Left.

Right.

Behind us.

Ahead.

The sound rolled through the trees until it felt like the entire forest was alive.

I couldn't move.

My mind had stopped processing everything except one sentence.

Your mother didn't disappear.

She was taken.

My mother's face flashed through my memory.

Her smile.

Her voice.

The warmth of her hands when I was little.

For years, I'd believed she had simply vanished.

I'd spent countless nights wondering whether she had wanted to leave me.

Whether she had found another life somewhere.

Whether she had forgotten me.

Now a stranger was standing in front of me, telling me that wasn't what happened.

I looked at Kael.

He looked just as stunned.

"What did you say?"

The stranger's smile disappeared.

"Your father took her."

Kael's face hardened.

"Watch your words."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be."

The stranger laughed.

"That's the difference between you and your father."

He looked toward me.

"You still believe the stories they told you."

I stepped forward.

"Where is my mother?"

Kael grabbed my wrist.

"Lyra."

I pulled away.

"Don't."

He released me.

I faced the stranger.

"Where is she?"

He studied me for a moment.

Then he said quietly,

"Alive."

My knees nearly gave out.

Alive.

The word hit me harder than everything else that had happened tonight.

"You're lying."

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen her."

My throat tightened.

"When?"

"Three months ago."

I stared at him.

Three months.

Three months ago, my mother had been alive.

And I had been sitting in that tiny house, looking at her old photograph, wondering if she even remembered me.

"Where is she?"

The stranger glanced at Kael.

"Ask him."

I turned.

Kael's expression had gone completely blank.

"Kael."

He said nothing.

"Tell me."

"Lyra—"

"Tell me!"

My voice echoed through the forest.

Kael closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them, something had changed.

He looked tired.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

"Your mother was taken to the northern territory."

My heart stopped.

"By your father?"

Kael hesitated.

"Yes."

Ryder stepped forward.

"Kael."

Kael raised a hand.

"I'll explain."

The stranger laughed.

"Now you want to explain?"

Kael's eyes flashed.

"Leave."

"No."

"I won't ask again."

"You don't have to."

The stranger lifted two fingers.

The wolves behind him moved forward.

Kael immediately shifted his stance.

Ryder drew his silver blade.

I stepped backward.

The strange energy beneath my skin began stirring again.

The stranger noticed.

His eyes dropped toward my collarbone.

"The Moonborn is awakening."

Kael moved in front of me.

"Don't look at her."

The stranger smiled.

"Still protecting her."

Kael's jaw tightened.

"She's not yours."

"No."

The stranger's gaze moved to me.

"She belongs to herself."

Something about the way he said it made me pause.

Then he looked back at Kael.

"And that's exactly what your father fears."

Kael's hands curled into fists.

"You don't know my father."

"I know him better than you do."

The stranger stepped forward.

"He has spent years hunting your mother's bloodline."

My heart pounded.

"Why?"

The stranger looked at me.

"Because your mother discovered the truth."

"What truth?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at Kael.

"Ask your father about the First Covenant."

Kael's expression changed.

I noticed.

"You know what that is."

He didn't respond.

I turned toward him.

"Kael."

"Not here."

"Where, then?"

He looked at the wolves surrounding us.

"Somewhere safe."

The stranger laughed.

"There is nowhere safe anymore."

A deep growl came from the trees.

Something huge moved between the shadows.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Everyone move."

The first wolf attacked.

Kael shifted instantly.

His body transformed with terrifying speed, dark fur replacing skin as his wolf emerged.

The creature that stood before me was enormous.

Black fur.

Silver eyes.

Power radiating from him.

He launched himself at the attacking wolf.

The two collided.

Ryder shifted beside him.

I stumbled backward.

More wolves emerged from the darkness.

Too many.

I couldn't even count them.

My body reacted before my mind could.

The silver mark burned.

I raised my hand.

A wave of energy exploded outward.

Several wolves were thrown backward.

The forest went silent.

I stared at my palm.

Again.

I'd done it again.

But this time, I felt something else.

A whisper.

Not in the air.

Inside me.

Remember.

I froze.

Images flashed through my mind.

A woman running through a forest.

My mother.

She was younger.

Terrified.

She was carrying something.

A baby.

Me.

Behind her, men in black cloaks were chasing her.

One of them shouted:

"Don't let the child reach the border!"

My mother's face twisted with fear.

She looked down at me.

Then she whispered:

"Forgive me."

The vision disappeared.

I gasped.

Kael returned to human form several feet away.

"Lyra?"

I couldn't answer.

My hands were shaking.

"Lyra."

"My mother."

Kael approached carefully.

"What happened?"

"I saw her."

His expression changed.

"What?"

"I saw my mother."

He stopped.

"Tell me."

"She was running."

I looked toward the forest.

"She was carrying me."

Kael's face tightened.

"What else?"

"Men were chasing her."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

I closed my eyes.

Then another image appeared.

A silver door.

A stone chamber.

My mother kneeling beside it.

She placed her hand against the door.

The same crescent symbol appeared beneath her palm.

Then a voice spoke.

The child must never know.

The vision vanished.

I opened my eyes.

Kael was staring at me.

"What?"

"You saw the chamber."

"What chamber?"

He looked toward Ryder.

Ryder's face had gone pale.

"You know it too."

Ryder nodded.

I looked between them.

"Someone explain."

Kael sighed.

"The chamber is beneath Blackthorn territory."

My stomach dropped.

"My mother was there?"

"Maybe."

"You said she was taken to the northern territory."

"I said that's what my father told me."

I stared at him.

"So you don't know where she is."

"No."

"Then you've been lying to me."

"I've been trying to keep you alive."

"That isn't an answer."

Kael looked away.

I stepped closer.

"You rejected me because your father ordered you to."

"Yes."

"You knew my mother was connected to the Moonborn."

"Yes."

"You knew she might still be alive."

"I suspected."

"And you said nothing."

His silence was answer enough.

I felt something inside me c***k.

"You don't get to decide what I deserve to know."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

My voice shook.

"Everyone keeps telling me they're protecting me."

I pointed toward the forest.

"Your father."

Then toward Ryder.

"You."

Then at the stranger.

"Everyone seems to know something about my life except me."

Kael didn't defend himself.

For once, he simply stood there and listened.

"I spent ten years thinking my mother abandoned me."

My eyes burned.

"Ten years."

Kael's expression softened.

"Lyra..."

"I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity."

"Then what?"

He hesitated.

"Regret."

That word stopped me.

Kael looked down.

"I should have told you."

"Yes."

"I was afraid."

I stared at him.

"The Alpha heir was afraid?"

"Of what would happen if I did."

He stepped closer.

"My father isn't the only person searching for you."

I frowned.

"Who else?"

"The Bloodfangs."

The stranger stepped from the shadows.

"They are not the only ones."

Kael turned.

"You're still here."

"Unfortunately for you."

The stranger looked at me.

"My name is Ronan."

I studied him.

"Ronan what?"

"Just Ronan."

"Very mysterious."

He almost smiled.

"You're more like your mother than I expected."

I stiffened.

"You knew her?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Ronan glanced toward Kael.

"She saved my life."

That caught me off guard.

"She did?"

"Years ago."

"What happened to her?"

His expression became serious.

"She discovered something she wasn't supposed to."

"The First Covenant?"

He nodded.

"What is it?"

Ronan looked at Kael.

Kael looked at me.

Then finally said,

"The First Covenant was the agreement that created the Alpha hierarchy."

I frowned.

"Created it?"

"Yes."

"I thought Alphas were naturally chosen."

"That's what everyone believes."

Ronan continued.

"They weren't."

Silence.

"The first Alphas were given authority by the Moonborn."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

"To protect the packs."

"And what happened?"

Kael's voice was quiet.

"The Alpha families kept the power."

Ronan nodded.

"They turned a responsibility into a throne."

My stomach twisted.

"So my ancestors gave them power?"

"Your ancestors gave them permission."

Ronan's eyes hardened.

"And your mother's bloodline has the ability to take that permission away."

I looked at my hands.

The silver glow had faded.

"That's why they fear me."

"Yes."

A horn sounded in the distance.

Ryder looked toward the eastern border.

"More wolves."

Kael's expression changed.

"How many?"

Ryder listened.

"Too many."

Ronan stepped backward.

"We have to leave."

Kael looked at him.

"You're coming with us?"

"No."

Ronan looked at me.

"I'm going after Selene."

My heart jumped.

"You know where she is?"

"I know where she was taken."

"Then take me to her."

Kael immediately shook his head.

"No."

I turned toward him.

"Why?"

"Because you don't know what's waiting there."

"I don't care."

"I do."

His words were quiet.

But they carried more weight than I expected.

I stared at him.

He stepped closer.

"Your mother may be alive, Lyra."

My breath caught.

"But if you rush into Blackthorn territory without knowing what you're walking into, you may never get the chance to find her."

I looked toward the darkness.

For the first time that night, I realized something.

I had spent years wishing for answers.

Now the answers were finally coming.

And they were much more terrifying than I had imagined.

Ronan turned toward the forest.

"Choose quickly."

I looked at Kael.

Then at Ryder.

Then at the path leading into the darkness.

My entire life had been built around one belief:

My mother was gone.

Now I knew she wasn't.

And if she was alive, I wasn't going to sit quietly while everyone else decided what happened next.

I tightened my grip around the silver pendant.

"I'm going."

Kael stared at me.

"Lyra—"

"I'm going to find my mother."

His jaw tightened.

"Then I'm coming with you."

I looked at him.

"Why?"

He didn't answer immediately.

Then he said the one thing I wasn't prepared to hear.

"Because I rejected you once."

His eyes held mine.

"I'm not going to abandon you twice."