The Moon Chose Me Twice

Chapter Four — He Knew My Name Before We Met

"Your second bond wasn't created tonight."

Lila's words echoed through the cabin.

I stared at her.

Then at Lucian.

He hadn't moved.

His face had lost all color.

"What does that mean?"

Lila's lips trembled.

"Amara..."

"What does it mean?"

She looked at Lucian.

"He knew about you before you ever knew about him."

I turned toward him.

"Is that true?"

Lucian didn't answer.

"Lucian."

His eyes met mine.

"Yes."

My stomach twisted.

"How long?"

He looked away.

"Since the night you were born."

The room seemed to spin.

"You were there?"

"No."

"Then how?"

"My father told me about you."

I stared at him.

"What did he tell you?"

Lucian's jaw tightened.

"That one day, the Moon would call me to you."

"That's it?"

"No."

His voice became quieter.

"He told me never to find you."

"Why?"

"Because if I did, they would find you too."

I shook my head.

"Who are 'they'?"

"The Blood Moon."

Darius stepped forward.

"They aren't a normal pack."

He looked at the symbol carved into the wall.

"They are an ancient order of wolves who believe the Moon Goddess's power belongs to them."

"Why?"

"Because they believe your blood is the key to awakening the First Moon."

I frowned.

"What is the First Moon?"

Nobody answered.

I looked from one face to another.

"Why does everyone keep talking as if I'm supposed to understand things I've never heard before?"

Darius sighed.

"Because you were raised to forget."

My heart stopped.

"Forget what?"

"Everything."

I shook my head.

"That's impossible."

Mrs. Elara had taught me everything.

How to read.

How to fight.

How to control my wolf.

How to survive.

But suddenly, I wondered how much of my childhood had been real.

I turned toward her.

"Did you erase my memories?"

Her eyes filled with tears.

"No."

"Then what?"

She looked at Darius.

He nodded.

Mrs. Elara finally spoke.

"Your mother did."

My breath caught.

"My mother?"

"She knew the Blood Moon would come for you."

"How?"

"Because she saw the prophecy."

I swallowed.

"What prophecy?"

Mrs. Elara walked to an old wooden cabinet.

She opened it with trembling hands.

From inside, she pulled out a small black box.

She placed it on the table.

My eyes immediately went to it.

"What is that?"

"Something your mother left for you."

She opened the box.

Inside was a silver pendant.

Two crescent moons intertwined around a small dark stone.

My heart began pounding.

"The Moonstone."

Darius nodded.

"Your father stole it from the Blood Moon."

I reached for the pendant.

The moment my fingers touched it, pain shot through my body.

I screamed.

The cabin disappeared.

I was no longer standing beside the table.

I was somewhere else.

Somewhere from eighteen years ago.

I saw a woman running through a forest.

She was young.

Beautiful.

Her dark hair was covered in blood.

She was carrying a baby.

A baby wrapped in white cloth.

Me.

My heart stopped.

"Mama..."

The woman looked behind her.

Men in black cloaks were chasing her.

She ran faster.

Then a man appeared in front of her.

My father.

Alpha Adrian.

He looked younger than the photographs I'd seen.

He was holding a sword.

"Run!"

My mother shook her head.

"I can't leave you."

"You have to."

"I won't."

He grabbed her face.

"Listen to me."

His voice broke.

"They'll kill you."

"They'll kill you too."

He smiled sadly.

"Then we'll die together."

A howl echoed through the forest.

My mother looked down at me.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"She has the mark."

My father looked at my wrist.

Two tiny crescents glowed beneath my skin.

"The prophecy has begun."

My mother shook her head.

"No."

She looked terrified.

"We were wrong."

My father frowned.

"What?"

"The prophecy doesn't say she'll unite the packs."

She looked toward the moon.

"It says she'll choose."

"Choose what?"

My mother looked at me.

"Between the wolf..."

She swallowed.

"...and the Moon."

The vision suddenly changed.

I saw my mother placing the silver pendant around my tiny neck.

Then she looked at someone.

Mrs. Elara.

"Take her."

Elara was crying.

"I can't."

"You must."

"What about you?"

My mother smiled.

"I'll buy you time."

Then she kissed my forehead.

"Tell her I loved her."

The vision shattered.

I screamed.

I fell to the floor.

Someone caught me.

Lucian.

His arms were around me.

"Amara."

I pushed away.

My breathing was ragged.

"My mother..."

He looked at me.

"What did you see?"

"She knew."

I looked at Elara.

"She knew everything."

Elara's eyes filled with tears.

"Yes."

"She knew I had two marks."

"Yes."

"She knew about the prophecy."

"Yes."

I felt betrayed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she made me promise."

"Promises don't matter anymore!"

My voice cracked.

"She's dead!"

Elara flinched.

"I know."

"And I spent eighteen years believing she died because she couldn't protect me."

Elara began crying.

"She died because she did."

I froze.

"What?"

"Your mother didn't abandon you."

She wiped her tears.

"She sacrificed herself."

---

A loud crash came from outside.

Kael shifted back into human form.

"We need to leave."

Darius nodded.

"Now."

"Why?"

"The Blood Moon found us."

Lucian stepped toward me.

"Come."

I hesitated.

Then I remembered what Lila had said.

Lucian wasn't telling me everything.

But neither was anyone else.

I followed him anyway.

We escaped through the back of the cabin.

The forest was chaos.

Wolves fought between the trees.

Screams echoed through the darkness.

Kael fought beside Lucian.

For the first time, I saw them working together.

Two powerful Alphas.

Two completely different wolves.

One black.

One silver.

And somehow...

both were protecting me.

A Blood Moon wolf suddenly appeared behind me.

I didn't see him.

But Kael did.

"AMARA!"

He lunged.

The wolf knocked me to the ground.

Kael attacked him.

The two wolves crashed into the trees.

I crawled backward.

Another wolf appeared.

He raised his claws.

I froze.

Then Lucian appeared.

He tore the wolf away from me.

His claws were covered in blood.

He turned toward me.

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head.

"No."

He reached for me.

I hesitated.

Then took his hand.

The moment our skin touched, my mark burned.

Lucian gasped.

His eyes changed.

For one second, I saw something in them.

Not desire.

Not attraction.

Recognition.

Pain.

"Lucian?"

He released me.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You felt it."

He didn't answer.

I stepped closer.

"You felt something."

He looked away.

"I felt the bond."

"But you already knew about it."

"Knowing isn't the same as feeling."

His voice was low.

I stared at him.

"What does that mean?"

He looked back at me.

"It means I have been dreaming about you since I was sixteen."

My heart skipped.

"What?"

"Every night."

He swallowed.

"You were always there."

"In your dreams?"

"Yes."

"What happened in them?"

He hesitated.

"You were standing beneath a red moon."

My skin prickled.

"What else?"

"You always had two marks."

I stared at him.

"And?"

"You were always crying."

My heart tightened.

"Why?"

Lucian's eyes darkened.

"Because I was always killing someone."

I stepped back.

"Who?"

He didn't answer.

"Lucian."

His eyes met mine.

"You."

The world went silent.

"What?"

"In every dream..."

He took a slow breath.

"...I was the one who killed you."

I couldn't breathe.

"You said you were searching for me."

"I was."

"Why would you search for someone you were destined to kill?"

"Because I didn't believe the dreams."

"Do you now?"

He looked at my mark.

"I don't know."

A cold feeling spread through me.

Before I could say anything, Darius shouted from behind us.

"Lucian!"

We turned.

Darius was staring at the sky.

The moon had changed again.

A dark ring surrounded it.

Lila gasped.

"The eclipse."

Darius's face went pale.

"No."

"What?"

He looked at me.

"The first moon has awakened."

I looked at my wrist.

The two crescents were glowing brighter than ever.

Then I heard a voice.

Not the Moon Goddess.

Not my wolf.

A man's voice.

Inside my head.

You finally remember me.

I froze.

"Who are you?"

The voice laughed.

Ask your guardian what happened the night your father died.

I turned toward Elara.

She had gone completely pale.

"What happened?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

"Amara..."

"What happened?"

She looked at Darius.

Darius closed his eyes.

Then he said quietly,

"Your father didn't die eighteen years ago."

My heart stopped.

"What?"

"He disappeared."

"That's what you told me."

"No."

Darius looked at me.

"He disappeared because he was trying to find someone."

"Who?"

Darius's gaze shifted toward Lucian.

Lucian's face changed.

"What?"

Darius looked at his son.

"Your mother."

Lucian went still.

"My mother died."

"Yes."

"Then why was Adrian searching for her?"

Darius didn't answer.

I looked between them.

Something was terribly wrong.

Then the voice inside my head returned.

Because your mother wasn't the only one who survived that night.

I gasped.

Everyone looked at me.

"What happened?"

I couldn't speak.

The voice whispered again.

The second moon remembers everything.

My mark suddenly burned.

The world went black.

And when I opened my eyes...

I was standing beneath a red moon.

A woman was waiting for me.

She had my eyes.

My face.

My mother's smile.

She reached toward me.

"Amara."

I couldn't move.

"Mama?"

She smiled.

Then she whispered:

"Don't trust the Alpha you think you know."

Her eyes shifted toward someone standing behind me.

I turned.

Lucian was there.

His hands were covered in blood.

And behind him...

stood Kael.

Holding a knife.

The vision shattered.

I screamed.

When I opened my eyes again, everyone was staring at me.

Lucian was kneeling beside me.

"Amara."

I pushed him away.

He looked shocked.

"What happened?"

I stared into his eyes.

For the first time, I was afraid of him.

Because the Moon had shown me something.

Something I couldn't explain.

Something I couldn't forget.

And one question wouldn't leave my mind.

Which Alpha was my mother warning me about?