The Luna Who Lied About My Birth
1042 Words
The first lie my parents ever told me was my name.
I just didn’t know it yet.
The moment I crossed back into Silver Mist territory, the bond between Kael and me stretched like an invisible chain around my heart.
I could still feel him.
His rage, fear and determination to stand alone against an army so I could escape.
The Beast of Shadow Moon should have terrified me.
Instead, the thought of him bleeding in that forest made my chest ache.
A stranger.
An enemy.
My mate.
No.
I refused to accept it.
I had spent my entire life hearing stories about Alpha Kael Draven—the monster who drowned his enemies in blood.
Monsters did not look at women like they were miracles or say they had spent years mourning someone.
And monsters certainly did not smile before walking toward death.
So why did mine?
Something is wrong.
My wolf’s voice trembled.
I looked down.
My wrist was burning.
Again.
“No…”
I pulled back my sleeve.
The Silver Mist mark I had carried since childhood was disappearing.
Dark silver lines spread across my skin, forming an ancient symbol that seemed to breathe with every beat of my heart.
I rushed toward the Moonstream.
The sacred water that had blessed every Silver Mist wolf for generations.
If there was a curse on me, the Goddess would wash it away.
She had to.
I plunged my arm into the freezing water.
The stream glowed.
Then hissed.
And turned black.
I stumbled backward.
Horror crawled through my veins.
The Moonstream had never rejected a Silver Mist wolf.
Never.
Until me.
A whisper brushed against my ear.
"The hidden heir has awakened."
I spun around.
“Who’s there?”
Nothing.
No scent.
No heartbeat.
Only the forest watching me.
Waiting.
Hunting.
I ran.
Because for the first time in my life, I understood what fear truly felt like.
Not the fear of dying.
The fear of discovering that I had never belonged anywhere.
The healer’s tent was filled with the scent of herbs and desperation.
Luna Lyla looked smaller than I had ever seen her.
Weaker.
And guilt stabbed through me.
Whatever I was.
Whatever secret my birth carried.
She was still the woman who held me when the other children called me cursed.
She was still the one who wiped away my tears.
She was still my mother.
Even if she had lied.
“You found it.”
Alpha Rowan’s voice cracked.
The strongest Alpha I knew looked like a broken mate.
I held out the Moonshade.
“Yes.”
The lie tasted bitter.
Because I had found far more than a flower.
I had found a past someone had buried.
A mate who was willing to die for me.
And enemies who wanted me dead.
But none of that mattered if Lyla died.
I crushed the petals.
Silver light spilled into the bowl.
The magic answered me instantly.
Too instantly.
The water rose.
Not in waves.
In obedience.
As if it recognized its queen.
I froze.
So did everyone else.
Riven stepped forward.
His expression became dark.
“That should not be possible.”
My heart pounded.
“What?”
“The Moonshade only responds like that to one bloodline.”
The room became silent.
A terrible silence.
“What bloodline?” I whispered.
Riven looked directly at me.
“The Moonborn royals.”
The bowl shattered.
Silver water splashed across the floor.
Lyla's eyes flew open.
Her body jerked violently.
“Lyla!”
Rowan grabbed her.
But she did not look at him.
She looked at me.
And the love in her eyes was drowned by terror.
“No…”
Her voice broke.
“You were never supposed to awaken.”
The words cut deeper than any blade.
“What did you say?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“My daughter…”
My breath stopped.
For a moment, hope filled me.
Then she whispered the words that destroyed it.
“You were never my daughter.”
Silence.
No.
No.
No.
The woman who kissed my forehead every night.
Who taught me how to heal.
Who promised I was loved.
Was admitting it was all a lie.
“You lied to me?” I whispered.
Her tears fell.
“Every day.”
Riven stepped forward.
His face was filled with shame.
“I was there the night you were born.”
I looked at him.
The warrior who taught me to fight.
The man who protected me like a brother.
Another person I trusted.
Another liar.
“The Elders ordered your death,” he said.
My knees almost gave out.
“But I could not kill an innocent child.”
“So you saved me?”
“Yes.”
For one heartbeat, relief filled me.
Then his expression changed.
“But I made another promise.”
Dread swallowed me.
“What promise?”
His eyes dropped to my wrist.
“That the moment your power awakened…”
His claws extended.
“…I would deliver you to the Elders.”
A growl exploded through the tent.
Not from Rowan or Riven but from me.
For the first time in my life, my wolf took control.
My eyes burned.
The ground cracked beneath my feet.
Everyone stepped back.
Afraid.
Afraid of me.
Just like they always had been.
Then the howls began.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Hundreds.
The Shadow Moon Pack had arrived.
But beneath their voices was something older.
Something that made every wolf in the room tremble.
Riven’s face lost all color.
“No…”
I looked at him.
“What is it?”
His lips shook.
“The First Alpha.”
The torches outside died.
The sky darkened.
And a voice echoed across the entire valley.
A voice I would recognize anywhere.
Kael.
But this was not the voice of the man who had looked at me with love.
This was the voice of a king who had come to claim what was his.
“Silver Mist.”
The walls of the tent shook.
“Return my mate…”
A terrifying silence followed.
Then the Alpha who had once been called a monster gave them a promise.
“Or I will turn your pack into nothing but a memory.”
- Writer
