The Alpha's Forbidden Luna

The Healer's Secret

By morning, the entire pack knew something was wrong.

No one knew exactly what had happened at the river, but rumors moved faster than truth.

Some said an enemy had entered Nightfall territory.

Others whispered that the Moon Ceremony had awakened an ancient curse.

And a few had already begun calling Aria the forbidden Luna.

She heard the whispers everywhere.

She ignored them.

There was something more important on her mind.

Her mother.

Aria stood outside the old healer's quarters, staring at the abandoned building.

She hadn't been inside since childhood.

After her mother died, the room had been sealed.

Damon had ordered the guards to open it that morning.

Cassian stood beside her.

"You shouldn't do this alone."

"I'm not alone."

He gave her a small smile.

"Fair enough."

They entered.

Dust covered almost everything.

Shelves were filled with dried herbs and old medical books.

Aria walked slowly through the room.

Memories returned.

Her mother sitting beside the fireplace.

Her gentle voice.

The smell of herbs.

A lullaby Aria could barely remember.

She stopped beside a wooden cabinet.

"My mother kept important things here."

Cassian opened it.

Empty.

Aria frowned.

"That's strange."

"What?"

"She never left it empty."

Cassian examined the cabinet.

Then he noticed something.

"There's a false panel."

He pressed against the back wall.

A small section moved.

Behind it was a narrow compartment.

Inside lay an old leather pouch.

Aria reached for it.

A photograph fell out.

She picked it up.

Her breath caught.

Three people stood together in the picture.

Her mother.

A man Aria had never seen before.

And a little girl.

The girl looked about four years old.

Aria stared at her face.

She knew her.

Not personally.

But from the vision.

"Lyra."

Cassian took the photograph.

"That's her."

Aria turned it over.

There were words written on the back.

Silvermoon, winter of the twenty-second year.

Cassian frowned.

"There's something else."

He pointed to the corner.

A second sentence had been written beneath the date.

She must never meet her sister.

Aria's hands began to shake.

"Why?"

Cassian didn't answer.

A sound came from outside.

Both of them froze.

Footsteps.

Someone was approaching.

Cassian quickly put the photograph into his pocket.

"Stay behind me."

The door opened.

Damon stepped inside.

His eyes moved between them.

"What did you find?"

Aria stared at him.

"Something you didn't tell me."

Damon's expression changed.

"Show me."

Cassian handed him the photograph.

Damon stared at it.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he looked at Aria.

"Your mother knew Lyra."

"Apparently."

"She was helping her."

Aria's eyes narrowed.

"Helping her do what?"

Damon looked at the photograph again.

"I don't know."

"You always say that."

"Because it's the truth."

"Then find the truth."

Damon looked at her.

"I will."

A crash sounded from the other room.

Everyone turned.

Cassian immediately drew his weapon.

Damon moved in front of Aria.

"Stay here."

They entered the next room.

A window was broken.

The curtains moved in the wind.

Cassian inspected the floor.

"Someone was here."

Damon's gaze sharpened.

"Recently?"

"Very."

Aria noticed something near the broken window.

A small silver object.

She picked it up.

It was a ring.

Engraved with the crescent and three stars.

Damon took it from her.

His expression changed instantly.

"What?"

He stared at the ring.

"Where did you get this?"

"By the window."

Cassian looked at it.

"That's not a Silvermoon symbol."

Aria frowned.

"What?"

Cassian shook his head.

"Silvermoon used a single crescent."

He pointed at the engraving.

"The three stars belong to an older bloodline."

Aria's stomach tightened.

"Which bloodline?"

Damon answered.

"The first Luna bloodline."

Silence.

Aria looked down at her wrist.

The same symbol.

"So whoever left this knows about me."

"Yes."

"And they know about Lyra."

Damon nodded.

A sudden voice came from outside.

"Alpha!"

They rushed out.

A warrior stood near the courtyard.

"What happened?"

The warrior pointed toward the forest.

"We found this."

He held out a folded piece of paper.

Damon opened it.

Only one sentence was written inside.

One sister belongs to the Moon.

He turned the paper over.

Nothing.

Then Aria noticed faint writing underneath.

"There's another message."

Damon held it closer.

The letters slowly became visible.

The other belongs to the Alpha.

Aria looked at Damon.

Neither spoke.

Cassian's face tightened.

"That could mean Lyra."

Aria shook her head.

"No."

They looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because whoever wrote this isn't talking about where we belong."

She looked toward the forest.

"They're talking about who will choose us."

Damon's expression darkened.

"Choose you for what?"

Aria didn't know.

But her wolf did.

A low growl rose inside her.

And then, for the first time, she heard a voice that wasn't her own.

A woman's voice.

Soft.

Familiar.

Aria...

She froze.

The voice came again.

Find me before they do.

Aria's eyes widened.

"Lyra."

Damon stepped toward her.

"What did you hear?"

Aria looked at him.

"She's alive."

Cassian's expression hardened.

"Where?"

Aria closed her eyes.

The voice whispered one final word.

Blackwood.

Her eyes snapped open.

"The answer is inside the Alpha's family."

Damon went completely still.

Because if Lyra was telling the truth...

Then the greatest secret of his father's reign wasn't hidden in Silvermoon.

It had been hidden inside Blackwood territory all along.