THE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN MATE

Chapter seven: The man in the vision

Seraphina couldn't stop shaking.

Kael still had his hands on her shoulders, but she barely noticed.

Her mind was trapped inside the vision.

The red moon.

The black forest.

The wolves kneeling.

And the man who had called her daughter.

Come home.

She swallowed hard.

"Who was he?"

Kael's expression remained unreadable.

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"You said he might be my father."

"I said I believed he might be."

"And now I have seen him."

Kael's jaw tightened.

"You saw someone."

"I knew him."

"You've never met him."

"I knew him!"

Her voice echoed through the hall.

Everyone became silent.

Seraphina wiped the tears from her face.

"He knew my name."

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Did he tell you his?"

"No."

"Did you see his face?"

She hesitated.

"No."

"Then you don't know who he was."

"I know what I felt."

Kael stared at her for a long moment.

Then his expression softened slightly.

"Tell me everything."

Seraphina closed her eyes.

"The forest was dark. There was a red moon above us. Wolves were everywhere."

Kael listened without interrupting.

"They bowed to him."

"How many?"

"I don't know. Hundreds."

Kael's expression changed.

"What?"

"Why?"

"Because no ordinary Alpha could command that many wolves."

Seraphina continued.

"He called me his daughter."

Kael went still.

"And then he told me to come home."

A cold silence followed.

Rhea appeared at the entrance.

"Alpha."

Kael turned.

"What?"

"We need to speak."

"Later."

"It's about the attack."

Kael's eyes hardened.

"Then speak."

Rhea entered the hall.

"We found something on the western wall."

She held out a small piece of black metal.

Kael took it.

His face changed instantly.

Seraphina noticed.

"What is that?"

Kael didn't answer.

She stepped closer.

"Kael."

He closed his fist around the object.

"A weapon."

"Whose?"

"The Hollow Moon."

Seraphina frowned.

"Why does it scare you?"

"It doesn't."

"You're lying again."

His eyes met hers.

Then he sighed.

"That metal was used twenty years ago."

Her heart sank.

"For my mother?"

Kael nodded.

"Yes."

Seraphina stared at the weapon.

"Why would they come after me now?"

Kael looked toward the dark sky outside.

"Because they know you're awake."

"And what happens now?"

His gaze returned to her.

"They'll keep coming."

"Then I need to leave."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because that's exactly what they want."

Seraphina frowned.

"They want me to leave?"

"They want you away from Nightfang."

"Why?"

Kael stepped closer.

"Because this fortress is the only place strong enough to protect you."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"You really expect me to trust you?"

"No."

His answer surprised her.

"I expect you to survive."

Something in her chest tightened.

Before she could respond, a howl rose from the valley.

Then another.

Then dozens.

Kael turned sharply.

"Lock down the fortress."

Rhea nodded.

"Already done."

Kael looked at Seraphina.

"You're staying with me."

Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't remember agreeing to that."

"You don't have to."

He walked away.

Seraphina stared after him.

She should have been furious.

Instead, she found herself wondering why his voice sounded frightened.

Not for himself.

For her.

---

Hours later, Seraphina stood alone in Kael's library.

She had discovered it while wandering the fortress.

It was enormous.

Books filled every wall.

Ancient records.

Pack histories.

Maps.

Old journals.

She pulled one dusty book from a shelf.

The title made her blood run cold.

THE BLOODLINES OF THE FIRST WOLVES.

She opened it.

Most of the pages were written in a language she couldn't understand.

Then she reached the final page.

A drawing stared back at her.

A crescent moon.

Three black lines beneath it.

The exact mark on her wrist.

Her breath caught.

Below the symbol were four words.

THE MOONBLOOD WILL RETURN.

She turned the page.

Nothing.

Then a voice spoke behind her.

"You shouldn't be reading that."

Seraphina spun around.

Kael stood in the doorway.

"Why?"

"Because some truths are dangerous."

"That's becoming your favorite excuse."

He walked toward her.

She held up the book.

"Why is my mark here?"

Kael looked at the page.

His face hardened.

"I was hoping you'd never find that."

"Why?"

"Because now I have to tell you the part of the story your mother spent twenty years trying to hide."

Seraphina's heart pounded.

"What part?"

Kael looked directly into her eyes.

"The Moonblood wasn't created to protect the Hollow Moon."

He paused.

"It was created to destroy it."

Seraphina stared.

"And my family?"

"Your family was supposed to finish what the first Moonblood started."

She looked at her wrist.

"Then why is the Hollow Moon looking for me?"

Kael's voice dropped.

"Because if they can't control you..."

His eyes darkened.

"They'll have to kill you."

---

That night, Seraphina dreamed again.

But this time, she wasn't alone.

She saw a woman standing beside a river.

Dark hair.

Silver eyes.

A baby in her arms.

Her mother.

Seraphina tried to reach her.

"Mom!"

The woman looked up.

Her eyes filled with tears.

Then she whispered:

"Don't trust the Black Wolf."

Seraphina stopped.

"Why?"

Her mother looked behind her.

Fear crossed her face.

"Because he knows what your father did."

The vision shattered.

Seraphina woke gasping.

And someone was standing outside her bedroom door.

A shadow.

Watching her.

Then it disappeared.

Seraphina sat frozen in the darkness.

Her mother's final words echoed in her mind.

Don't trust the Black Wolf.

And for the first time...

she wondered if Kael had been protecting her.

Or keeping her exactly where he wanted her.

.