The Unwilling Luna and her Three Mates

The Secrets We Inherit

I hated being watched.

It wasn't something I had noticed when I was younger because I had grown up surrounded by people who already knew my story.

The Beta's family.

The pack members.

The elders who whispered when they thought I wasn't listening.

I was used to their eyes.

But the way the wolves of Silver Ridge looked at me was different.

They weren't looking at Iris.

They were looking at the daughter of Alpha Rowan Thorn.

The murderer's daughter.

The girl who carried a name that had once meant power and now meant shame.

I sat alone in the guest room Alpha Cedric had offered me, staring out the window at the unfamiliar territory.

Silver Ridge was beautiful.

The kind of place people would dream of calling home.

Tall mountains surrounded the pack, protecting it from outside threats. The forests were thick and ancient, filled with the scent of wolves who had lived there for generations.

It reminded me of my own pack.

Of home.

Except I knew better than anyone that beautiful places could hide ugly secrets.

My mother had taught me that.

Not through words.

Through her absence.

I still remembered the day I was told she was gone.

I was too young to understand death.

Too young to understand why everyone suddenly looked at me with sadness.

I only understood that my mother, the woman whose scent had always made me feel safe, was no longer there.

And my father was missing.

Everyone else accepted the story.

I never did.

A knock sounded at the door.

I immediately reached for the dagger beside me before relaxing when I sensed the familiar presence.

"Come in."

The door opened, revealing Alpha Cedric.

He looked older than he had the day before.

Not physically.

Something about the conversation we had shared seemed to weigh on him.

"You should be resting," he said.

"I should be finding answers."

His lips almost curved.

Almost.

"You sound exactly like your father."

I looked away.

"I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment."

"Neither."

He stepped further inside.

"That is why it worries me."

I turned toward him.

"Why?"

"Because Rowan Thorn was a man who refused to stop searching once he believed something was wrong."

My expression changed.

"What do you mean?"

Alpha Cedric was silent for a moment.

Then he sighed.

"Your father was not the kind of Alpha who ignored problems. He investigated everything. Every strange movement. Every unusual attack. Every threat against his pack."

"That sounds like a good thing."

"It was."

His voice lowered.

"Until he started investigating something even I knew nothing about."

I leaned forward.

"What?"

He looked at me carefully.

"I don't know."

I frowned.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to understand that powerful people often hide things from each other."

I hated that answer.

Because it sounded too much like everyone else.

Half-truths.

Warnings.

People telling me I was close to something but refusing to tell me what.

"What did my father find?"

"I told you. I don't know."

"But you know something."

His silence confirmed it.

I stood.

"Alpha Cedric."

He looked at me.

"If you know something about my parents, you need to tell me."

For a moment, he didn't look like an Alpha.

He looked like an old man carrying a burden.

"Your mother was not just a Luna."

I froze.

"What does that mean?"

"She was more important than most people realized."

I waited.

But he didn't continue.

My patience disappeared.

"Everyone keeps doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Giving me pieces of information and expecting me to be satisfied."

My voice sharpened.

"My mother died. My father disappeared. My entire life was destroyed because of something nobody wants to explain."

Alpha Cedric watched me quietly.

Then he said something I didn't expect.

"Maybe because the truth is more dangerous than the lie."

——-

Later that evening, I walked through the pack archives.

Every pack had one.

A place where history was kept.

Birth records.

Treaties.

Wars.

Deaths.

Secrets.

Especially secrets.

The librarian, an elderly wolf named Mara, looked at me suspiciously when I requested information about my parents.

"You're searching for Rowan Thorn."

"Yes."

She frowned.

"Many have searched for him."

"And?"

"They never found him."

I ignored the warning in her voice.

"I'm not looking for him because I want forgiveness."

"Then why?"

I looked down at the old records in front of me.

"Because I want the truth."

Something changed in her expression.

Not fear.

Recognition.

"You really are your mother's daughter."

I looked up.

"What does everyone mean when they say that?"

Mara hesitated.

"Your mother questioned everything."

"She was curious."

"No."

The old woman shook her head.

"She was brave."

I studied her.

"You knew her well?"

"Everyone knew Liana Thorn."

The way she said my mother's name was different from the way people spoke about my father.

With warmth.

With respect.

"She was loved."

My chest tightened.

"Then why was she killed?"

Mara looked away.

"I don't know."

Another person who didn't know.

Another dead end.

Except something about her reaction bothered me.

She wasn't lying.

She was afraid.

Before I could question her further, a book slipped from the shelf behind her.

Mara immediately moved to pick it up.

But I was faster.

I caught it before it hit the ground.

The cover was old.

Dust covered the surface.

But there was something carved into it.

A symbol.

A crescent moon surrounded by three lines.

I stared at it.

I had never seen it before.

But somehow…

It felt familiar.

"What is this?" I asked.

Mara went completely still.

Then she reached for the book.

Too quickly.

"Nothing."

I held it tighter.

"Nothing doesn't usually make people look afraid."

Her eyes met mine.

And for the first time since arriving at Silver Ridge, someone looked at me like they knew exactly who I was.

Not because of my father.

Because of something else.

"Where did you find that?"

I looked down at the symbol again.

"It fell from the shelf."

Mara's expression turned serious.

"Iris."

It was the first time she had said my name.

Not Thorn.

Not Alpha's daughter.

Iris.

"Whatever you are searching for…"

She lowered her voice.

"Make sure you are ready for what you find."

That night, I placed the book on the table in front of me.

I had learned one thing since leaving home.

The truth was not hidden because it was unimportant.

It was hidden because someone didn't want it discovered.

I traced my fingers over the strange symbol.

Three lines.

Three paths.

Three unknown answers.

I didn't know what it meant yet.

But I knew one thing.

My parents had left behind more secrets than I ever imagined.

And I was going to uncover every single one.

No matter who tried to stop me.