Chapter 13
2705 Words
Romona’s POV
I jolted awake, my breath catching in my throat as the violent rumble of thunder shook the wooden beams of the cottage.
Rain lashed against the windowpanes in relentless waves. My chest heaved, my skin cold and slick with sweat.
It was that same nightmare again. The one that had been haunting my sleep for weeks. I was standing completely alone in a dark, endless downpour, surrounded by fallen bodies, my hands drenched in blood as my evolving magic consumed everything around me. Cold. Terrifying. Uncontrollable.
Pushing the heavy blankets aside, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. I needed to check on Noah.
I tiptoed down the dimly lit hallway toward his room, pushing the small wooden door open softly.
The bed was empty.
A sharp spike of panic shot through my chest. "Noah...?" I whispered, my heart hammering against my ribs.
I scanned the dark room before quickly stepping back out into the corridor. As I walked further down the hall, I noticed a faint sliver of warm light spilling from beneath the door of one of the guest rooms.
I approached silently and pushed the door open just a few inches.
Sitting against the headboard was Rheyna, holding an open storybook in her lap. Next to her, tucked safely under the heavy quilt, was Noah—fast asleep, his small hand loosely gripping the edge of her silk sleeve. Rheyna had also drifted off, her head tilted slightly to the side, her long platinum white-blonde hair spilling over her shoulders like liquid silver.
A sudden, quiet stillness washed over me.
Despite her sharp, self-involved exterior, she had taken the time to read my son to sleep.
Gently, so as not to disturb either of them, I reached into the room, clicked off the bedside lamp, and pulled the heavy door shut until it latched softly into place.
I walked toward the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water, my mind racing. I still didn't fully know if I could trust Tony or Rheyna. Rheyna was sharp and guarded, and Tony had her own bitter history with me. But the nightmares were getting worse. The magical pulses in my blood were becoming too intense to handle alone, and I desperately needed answers.
As I rounded the corner into the sitting room, the faint, bitter scent of tobacco smoke hit my nose.
Tony was sitting by the stone hearth, draped in a heavy velvet robe. A half-empty glass of amber liquor sat on the table beside her, and a thin trail of smoke curled upward from the cigarette between her fingers.
I paused near the archway, arching an eyebrow. "You still do that?"
Tony took a slow, deliberate drag from the cigarette, exhaling a soft cloud of smoke before looking up at me with tired, dark eyes. "What? Are you here to lecture and judge me now, Romona?"
"No," I replied softly, walking past her toward the counter. "I'm not judging you."
I poured a cool glass of water from the pitcher, taking a slow sip as the silence stretched between us.
Tony swirled the liquor in her glass, her sharp gaze tracking my movements. "So... are you going to discuss with me why you sent Gideon to fetch me in the first place?"
I set the glass down on the wooden counter, turning around to face her directly. "Is Rheyna like me?"
Tony’s expression hardened slightly. "No. She isn't."
"Does she have powers?" I pressed, stepping closer. "Which pack does she belong to?"
Tony let out a low, weary sigh, tapping the ash from her cigarette into a stone tray. "She has no powers, Romona. And she doesn't belong to any pack. She is a wolf by blood, yes... but she has never turned."
I blinked, taken aback. "Never turned?"
"No," Tony said quietly, her voice dropping into a rare tone of quiet sadness. "We tried when she was nineteen. We did everything to trigger her first shift, but nothing happened. She couldn't break through. So she made a choice never to speak of it again. It's a deeply sensitive topic for her, Romona. Don't go bringing it up."
A sudden pang of sympathy pierced my chest. Never turned...
I knew how sacred the first shift was for our kind. To carry wolf blood and never be able to run with the pack—to be trapped in that halfway space—must have felt suffocating for someone as proud as Rheyna.
"Oh..." I murmured softly, looking back down the hallway. "She must feel so terrible about herself."
"Yes," Tony admitted flatly, taking another sip from her glass. "She does. Now, is that what you sent Gideon across the territory to ask about?"
I took a deep breath, leaning my back against the counter. "I was looking for my biological parents because... I wanted to know if they were full wolves."
Tony frowned, her brows drawing together. "What are you talking about? Your parents were wolves. You are a wolf. You belong to their bloodline."
"No, Tony," I said firmly, my voice trembling slightly as I looked down at my hands. "Over the past few years, I've been developing certain abilities. Powers. They've become so much more intense... so much stronger."
Tony froze, her eyes widening just a fraction. "You mean... those strange, unnatural things you used to do when you were little? The things that stopped before you ran away?"
"Yes," I confessed, holding her gaze. "They came back a few years ago... right after I gave birth to Noah. And every single month, they become more intense. I'm terrified, Tony. A normal wolf cannot have abilities like this. I was already born different, but this... this is beyond anything normal. I need to know what these powers are, and I need to know where my parents came from."
Tony stared at me for a long, heavy moment. The harshness in her posture slowly melted away, replaced by the tired, weathered frame of the woman who had raised me.
"I can't promise that I can find your biological parents, Romona," Tony said quietly, stubbing out her cigarette in the stone tray. "I don't even know if they are still alive. But... we will try."
A heavy knot of tension in my chest snapped.
Before I could stop myself, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms tightly around Tony's shoulders, burying my face into her neck. "Thank you... thank you, Tony."
Tony stiffened in surprise for a fraction of a second, before her arms came up to wrap around my back, holding me tightly.
"Ah, Romona..." Tony murmured softly, resting her chin against my shoulder. "Regardless of our arguments... regardless of how much we fought... you have always been my daughter."
I closed my eyes, a faint, genuine smile touching my lips as a wave of warmth spread through my chest.
Tony pulled back gently, reaching up to press a soft, affectionate kiss against my forehead. "I'm going to bed. Get some sleep, little bird."
She picked up her glass, offered me a small nod, and walked down the quiet corridor toward her room, the soft click of her door signaling she was gone.
I stood alone in the quiet sitting room, listening to the rain beat against the roof.
My mind was spinning. There was a sense of relief knowing that Tony finally understood what I was facing—and a deep, aching sadness for Rheyna and the silent burden she carried.
Maybe I can help her, I thought, staring into the flickering embers of the hearth. Maybe my evolving magic can help unlock her wolf side.
I leaned against the wooden counter, tracing the rim of my water glass. Renner had broken my heart years ago, tearing away my trust and forcing me to build thick, unyielding walls around myself to survive. Ever since then, I had refused to let anyone truly in.
But looking down the dark hallway where Rheyna and Tony slept, I realized something.
I couldn't stay isolated forever. I needed to learn to open my heart again—to let family in. Tony and Rheyna were the only real family I had left in this world alongside Noah.
And if we were going to survive the dark storm gathering around Ash River, we were going to have to face it together.
Cassandra’s POV
The early morning sunlight broke through the heavy grey clouds, illuminating the grand kitchen of the packhouse.
I took extra care adjusting my pastel silk gown, smoothing down my hair before turning to the two high-ranking pack guards standing near the doorway.
"Go down to the border cottage and bring young Noah here to the main dining hall for breakfast," I instructed softly, placing a frail, gentle hand over my heart. "And make sure to tell Romona that I simply want to practice how it feels to be a mother... since my own child will be arriving soon."
The guards bowed respectfully and departed.
I sat down at the head of the dining table, watching the servants lay out a lavish spread of fresh fruit, warm pastries, and sweet honeyed porridge.
I need to work quickly, I thought, my pulse quickening. Before Romona realizes what I'm doing.
Twenty minutes later, the double doors opened. The guards returned, leading three-year-old Noah into the room.
"Luna Cassandra," one of the guards reported, bowing low. "The boy is here. Lady Romona stated that she will join you shortly, and requested that you wait for her before beginning breakfast."
My jaw tightened imperceptibly, but I forced a sweet, warm smile onto my face. "Of course. Thank you. You may leave us."
Once the guards backed out and closed the doors, I patted the cushioned chair right next to mine.
"Come sit down, sweet boy," I cooed, keeping my tone as gentle as honey.
Noah looked at me with his bright, intelligent eyes. He climbed up onto the oversized wooden chair, his tiny hands resting on the table as he looked at the spread of food.
"Do you like it?" I asked, pushing a small bowl of strawberries and cream toward him.
Noah tilted his head, his sharp little brows drawing together in thought. "Yes. But back home, in the kingdom where we used to live, my mommy was like a royal princess. We used to have so many friends, and my mommy used to bring me so much food every day!"
My heart gave a sudden, violent thud against my ribs.
A royal princess...? Kingdom...?
I leaned forward, resting my chin on my hands, keeping my expression entirely non-threatening. "Is that so? And... what about your daddy? Did your daddy bring you food too?"
Noah shook his head innocently, picking up a strawberry. "No. I've never met my daddy. It’s always just been my mommy."
I froze. A strange, sharp inconsistency caught in my mind.
Wait.
When Romona first arrived at Ash River with this boy, Renner had questioned her about him. Romona had explicitly stated to the pack council that she was a gifted warrior healer who had adopted the child—that she took him in two years ago after winning a battle against an invading rogue clan.
My eyes narrowed as I looked at the boy's sharp, familiar facial features.
"Wait..." I murmured, my voice dropping lower as I tested him. "But you only met your mommy two years ago, right? Didn't she adopt you and take you in after the war?"
Noah blinked, looking up at me with absolute confusion written across his face.
"Huh?" Noah scowled slightly, shaking his head. "No! My mommy... I've known her since I was born!"
The world seemed to stop moving.
My breath hitched in my throat. My eyes widened in complete, blinding shock as the realization hit me like a physical blow.
He's known her since he was born.
Romona lied. She didn't adopt this child two years ago. She didn't rescue him from a war zone.
She gave birth to him.
Romona is Noah’s biological mother!
My mind raced at lightning speed, horror and triumph tangling violently in my chest. If Romona had been hiding a three-year-old child... a boy with white hair and sharp, noble features... a boy who was conceived right around the exact time Renner rejected her and kicked her out of the territory—
"Wait—" I gasped aloud, my hands trembling violently against the mahogany table.
Before I could ask another word, the heavy double doors were thrown open with a deafening BANG!
Romona stood in the threshold, her eyes blazing with raw, terrifying fury.
"How dare you, Cassandra?!" Romona snarled, her voice vibrating with such power that the crystal glassware on the table rattled.
She marched across the dining hall in sharp, predatory strides. Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Noah’s chair, pulling it back from the table, and wrapped her arms around her son, pulling him securely against her hip.
I stood up abruptly, stumbling back a step as I pressed a hand to my chest. "What?! Why are you so angry, Romona?! We were just having a pleasant breakfast!"
"I do not want my son anywhere around you!" Romona spat, her tone flat, deadly, and dripping with venom. "Especially not alone! It is incredibly manipulative and rude for you to pull a stunt like this!"
"I was just trying to be friendly—"
"This child's safety and health are in my hands," Romona interrupted coldly, her dark eyes pinning me to the spot. "I will not allow just anyone to have breakfast with him, or subject him to your rude, probing conversations."
I straightened my posture, trying to regain my authority as Luna, though my heart was hammering against my ribs. "Well... I was just getting to know him. What are you so afraid of, Romona? What are you hiding?!"
Romona stepped closer, her aura darkening so intensely that the air in the dining hall grew suffocatingly cold.
"Mind your business, Cassandra," Romona whispered, her voice laced with a lethal promise. "You know as well as I do... I can ruin your whole entire life with just a snap of my fingers."
I flinched, the air locking in my throat.
Romona didn't say another word. She adjusted Noah in her arms, looking down at him softly. "Let's go, sweetie."
She turned on her heel and swept out of the grand dining hall, the heavy oak doors slamming shut behind her, leaving me standing completely alone in the echoing room.
I stood frozen, staring at the closed doors as cold sweat broke out across my forehead.
She is his birth mother.
The pieces fell into place with devastating, terrifying clarity. Romona hadn't just left three years ago with a broken heart. She had left carrying Renner's child.
My breath came in short, panicked gasps as I gripped the edge of the table to steady my trembling legs.
If this was true... if that boy was Renner's blood... my position as Luna, my marriage, my unborn child's heirship—everything I had lied, cheated, and used dark magic to build—would be completely destroyed in an instant.
I need proof, I thought frantically, my dark eyes flashing with desperate resolve. I can't just accuse her. I need undeniable proof before I speak to Renner.
I needed a DNA match. I needed a blood sample from that boy to confirm what my gut already knew.
Noah was Renner’s son... and I had to destroy the truth before the truth destroyed me.
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