Chapter 8:Bloodline Secrets
1114 Words
The house felt different that night.
Too quiet.
Elara stood outside the front door for a long moment, her hand hovering over the handle. Her heart pounded—not from fear of wolves this time, but from something else.
The truth.
She pushed the door open.
Inside, the lights were dim. The familiar scent of home wrapped around her, but it didn’t comfort her like it used to. Not anymore.
“Elara?”
Her mother’s voice came from the living room. Calm. Expecting.
Like she knew.
Elara stepped inside slowly, her eyes locking onto her mother, who stood by the window, arms folded.
They stared at each other.
Silence stretched.
“You went back to the forest,” her mother said finally.
It wasn’t a question.
Elara’s chest tightened. “You knew I would.”
Her mother sighed softly. “I hoped you wouldn’t.”
“Well, I did,” Elara shot back. “And I need answers.”
Her mother didn’t respond immediately. She just watched her—carefully, like she was seeing something new.
Elara stepped closer, her frustration rising.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she said. “Like I’m some stranger.”
Her mother’s voice was quiet when she spoke.
“You’re not a stranger.”
A pause.
“But you’re not just my daughter anymore, either.”
The words hit hard.
Elara shook her head. “No. Don’t do that. Don’t say things like that and then stay silent. Tell me what’s going on!”
Her voice cracked slightly.
“I’m changing,” she continued, her breathing uneven. “I saw things—I felt things—and there was this wolf, and then Kael said—”
Her mother’s expression changed instantly.
“Kael?”
Elara froze.
“You know him?”
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Anger flared inside her. “So it’s true,” she said. “You’ve been hiding this from me my whole life!”
Her mother looked away, guilt flickering across her face.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?!” Elara demanded.
“From this!” her mother snapped suddenly, her voice rising for the first time.
The room fell silent again.
Elara’s heart pounded. “From who I am?”
Her mother’s eyes softened—but there was pain in them now. Deep, old pain.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
Elara staggered back slightly, shaking her head. “So it’s true… I’m not normal.”
“No,” her mother said. “You never were.”
The words hung in the air.
Elara let out a shaky laugh. “Wow. That’s… great to hear.”
Her mother stepped closer. “Elara—”
“No!” she snapped, backing away. “No more half-truths. No more secrets. Just tell me everything!”
A long pause followed.
Then her mother nodded slowly.
“Alright,” she said. “You deserve the truth.”
Elara held her breath.
Her mother took a deep breath, as if preparing herself.
“Our family…” she began, “is not like the others in Lunaris.”
Elara crossed her arms, her pulse quickening.
“We come from an old bloodline,” her mother continued. “One tied to the first werewolves.”
Elara’s stomach dropped.
“The first?”
Her mother nodded. “Before the curse spread… before it became something uncontrollable… there were a few who were different.”
Elara’s voice was barely a whisper. “The Moon’s Chosen…”
Her mother’s eyes widened slightly. “He told you?”
“Kael did,” Elara said.
A shadow passed over her mother’s face. “Then it’s happening faster than I thought.”
Elara stepped closer again. “What am I?”
Her mother hesitated—but only for a second this time.
“You are part of that original bloodline,” she said. “The Moon’s Chosen doesn’t happen often. Generations can pass without one.”
Elara’s heart pounded harder.
“And now it’s me,” she said.
Her mother nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Elara tried to process it, but it felt too big. Too unreal.
“So all this time…” she said, her voice shaking, “you knew this would happen to me?”
Her mother’s eyes filled with regret.
“I hoped it wouldn’t.”
“That’s not an answer!”
“I didn’t know when,” she said quickly. “Or if. But I knew the possibility was there.”
Elara turned away, running a hand through her hair.
“So you just… waited?”
“I watched you,” her mother said softly. “I protected you as much as I could.”
Elara spun back around. “Protected me? The Alpha knows about me!”
Her mother froze.
“What?”
Fear flashed across her face for the first time. Real fear.
“He came to the forest,” Elara said. “He said I belong to him. That I’ll go to him.”
Her mother’s expression hardened instantly.
“No,” she said.
Elara blinked. “What?”
“You don’t belong to him,” her mother said firmly.
The air in the room seemed to shift.
Something powerful.
Something Elara had never seen in her before.
Her mother stepped closer, her voice steady now.
“The Alpha may lead the pack,” she said, “but he does not control the Moon’s Chosen.”
Elara’s chest tightened.
“Then why does he want me?”
Her mother’s gaze darkened.
“Because if he can’t control you…”
A pause.
“He’ll try to destroy you.”
Silence filled the room again.
Elara swallowed hard.
“So what do I do?” she asked.
Her mother looked at her—really looked at her. Not as a child. Not as someone to protect.
But as something more.
“Now,” she said,
“You stop running.”
Elara’s breath caught.
“You learn who you are,” her mother continued. “You master it.”
A small, determined spark ignited inside Elara.
“And if I don’t?”
Her mother’s voice was calm—but firm.
“Then he will take everything from you.”
Elara stood there, the weight of everything pressing down on her.
The truth.
The power.
The danger.
But beneath it all… something else began to rise.
Not fear.
Not anymore.
Determination.
She lifted her chin slightly.
“I won’t let that happen,” she said.
Her mother studied her for a moment—then nodded.
“Good,” she said.
“Because this war…”
A pause.
“Has already begun.”
- Writer
