Chapter 2. THE SECRET
639 Words
“Who?”
Lena followed her aunt through the back door.
Elara locked it.
Then locked it again.
Lena stared at her. “You’re scaring me.”
“Good.”
“What?”
Elara turned to face her.
“You need to understand that what I’m about to tell you changes everything.”
Lena folded her arms. “Then tell me.”
Elara took a shaky breath.
“Your parents weren’t ordinary wolves.”
Lena frowned. “I know.”
“No.”
Elara shook her head.
“You don’t.”
She walked to the old wooden cabinet in the corner. From behind it, she pulled out a small metal box.
Lena had never seen it before.
Elara placed it on the table.
“This belonged to your mother.”
Lena reached toward the lid but stopped.
“What’s inside?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Elara opened the box.
Inside was an old photograph.
Lena picked it up.
Her mother stood beside a man Lena had never seen before. Both were dressed in black ceremonial clothing, and behind them stood a massive stone marked with a strange symbol.
“What is this?”
“Your mother’s clan.”
Lena looked at her.
“What clan?”
“The Moonborn.”
Lena gave a nervous laugh.
“That doesn’t exist.”
“It did.”
Elara took the photograph from her.
“More than a hundred years ago, the Moonborn were hunted almost to extinction.”
“Why?”
“Because their bloodline carried an ability other wolves feared.”
Lena’s expression changed.
“What ability?”
Elara looked directly into her eyes.
“They could command the wolves of other bloodlines.”
Lena went silent.
“That sounds impossible.”
“That’s what everyone wanted to believe.”
Elara’s hands trembled as she looked down at the photograph.
“Your mother was one of the last Moonborn.”
“And my father?”
“A Moonborn too.”
Lena stared at her.
“So I’m…”
“Yes.”
Elara’s voice broke.
“You are the last known Moonborn.”
Lena stepped backward.
“No.”
“Lena—”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That’s why Damian rejected me?”
Elara looked away.
Lena understood immediately.
“You knew.”
“I knew he knew.”
“How?”
“Because his father came to me eighteen years ago.”
Lena’s eyes widened.
“What did he want?”
“To find your mother.”
“Why?”
Elara hesitated.
“Because the Black family believed your bloodline was responsible for a war.”
Lena stared at her.
“My family started a war?”
“No.”
Elara’s voice became firmer.
“They blamed your family.”
Lena looked at the photograph again.
“Where are my parents?”
Elara’s eyes filled with tears.
“They disappeared.”
“When?”
“The night you were born.”
Lena’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“You said they left.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised your mother.”
Lena swallowed.
“Promised her what?”
Elara opened her mouth.
A howl interrupted them.
This one was closer.
Then another.
Lena’s senses sharpened.
There were wolves outside.
Elara grabbed the photograph.
“We have to go.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere that isn’t here.”
The back window shattered.
Lena screamed.
A dark figure landed inside the house.
Elara pushed Lena backward.
“Run!”
The figure growled.
Lena froze.
The stranger’s eyes glowed silver.
Not normal wolf eyes.
Something older.
Something terrifying.
Then a second figure appeared behind him.
Elara whispered,
“They found us.”
Lena’s heart hammered.
“Who are they?”
Elara looked at her.
“Your mother’s killers.”
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