Chapter 127
Lily POV
The world seemed to stop spinning for a moment as I stared at my uncle, his words echoing in my mind like distant thunder. My mouth felt dry, and I struggled to find my voice.
“Uncle Tobias, I—” I swallowed hard. “You don’t have to worry. It’s just you and me who know about this… this side of me. And I have no intention of revealing it to anyone else.” I managed a weak smile. “In fact, as far as I’m concerned, that part of me doesn’t even exist p>
I rose to my feet and started to pace
“Since I arrived here, I’ve felt a warmth I’ve never experienced before,” I admitted, turning back to face him. “It’s like… like I finally found a place where I belong. I don’t need those powers. I don’t want them p>
Uncle Tobias’s face softened, but there was something in his eyes—a sadness that made my heart clench.
“Lily,” he said gently, motioning for me to sit beside him on the worn leather couch. “There’s more you need to understand p>
I sat down, my hands folded tightly in my lap.
“All these years, I’ve been searching for you,” he continued. “My travels finally took me to Golden Moon pack p>
My breath caught. Golden Moon—the pack my adopted father – Alpha Gregory lived with my sister – Vanessa.
“That’s where Luna Eleanor lived,” he said, his voice dropping to almost a whisper. “I learned that she died nineteen years ago and that you’ve been living there until recently when you ran away from the pack according to Alpha Gregory p>
My eyes widened in protest but before I could defend myself, my uncle raised his hand as if to placate. “Don’t worry, I didn’t believe him, don’t worry but I gathered Luna Eleanor died protecting you, Lily p>
The garden air suddenly turned hot. I stopped pacing and came to sit back down on the bench
“What are you saying?” I whispered, though deep down, I already knew.
“Eleanor– your adopted mother died while protecting you. Although Alpha Gregory didn’t specify but a group most have followed her down to the pack and she fought them off and made Gregory promise to raise you as his daughter p>
‘The child that killed its mother’. That’s what they had always called me at Golden Moon. The whispers that followed me everywhere, the cold stares, the way the pack elders would cross themselves when I passed by.
“I always wondered why they hated me so much,” I said, my voice sounding strange to my own ears. “They called me the child that killed its mother, but no one would ever told me what happened p>
Uncle Tobias reached for my hand, but I pulled away, needing space to process this revelation.
“Harriet was extraordinarily powerful, Lily. Like you, she had abilities beyond what most werewolves possess. When she discovered she was pregnant, she knew her child—you—would inherit those powers p>
I pressed my palm against the cool glass of the window, watching my breath fog the pane.
“There were those in the pack who feared what that could mean,” he continued. “They wanted to… to terminate the pregnancy p>
A chill ran down my spine.
“But Harriet refused. She fled into the forest when she went into labor, determined to protect you at all costs. The birth was difficult, but she was not alone. Eleanor was there p>
Tears blurred my vision as I imagined my mother—a woman I’d never known—fighting to bring me into the world, knowing it might cost her life.
“By the time Alpha Gregory found her, it was too late. She was hemorrhaging severely but from fighting the people after her and from still recovering. Eleanor – his mate had managed to protect you while also fighting and wrapped you in her cloak and hide you among the roots of an ancient oak tree. With her dying breath, she made him promise to care for you like his daughter p>
“But he hated me,” I whispered, the memories of Alpha Gregory’s cold, distant treatment washing over me. “He barely acknowledged my existence p>
Uncle Tobias sighed heavily. “Gregory believed you carried a curse that would lead the entire pack to disaster. The circumstances of your birth, Eleanor’s death—it all fed into his superstition. He kept his promise to care for you, but he never embraced you as his daughter p>
I sank back onto the garden bench feeling the weight of eighteen years of rejection and misunderstanding crushing down on me.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me the truth p>
“Fear,” he said simply. “Fear of what you might become if you knew your true heritage. Fear of the power you might discover within yourself p>
I thought of the strange energy that had surged through me in moments of extreme emotion, the way animals responded to my presence, how I could sometimes sense things before they happened. All the things I had suppressed and denied for years.
“There’s something else you need to know, Lily,” Uncle Tobias said, his expression grave. “It’s possible that others have sensed your powers too. Including Alpha Gregory p>
My blood ran cold. “What are you saying p>
“I’m saying you might be in danger. If Gregory believes you’re beginning to access your abilities, he might see it as confirmation of his fears. He might try to p>
“To hurt me,” I finished, understanding dawning with terrible clarity. I remembered how difficult it was for me to shift in the pack but how it had immediately changed after I came to Royal Hunters through Kai’s help and Celeste.
“Maybe he had something to do with my inability to shift into my wolf when I was in the pack. But it changed when I came here p>
“He did something to your wolf p>
“I don’t know but I heard Kai – the alpha of this pack and Celeste’s brother say that my wolf was been suppressed p>
“That means he has an idea that there’s something in you and maybe just doesn’t know yet what it is p>
I continued nodding. “The timing of my banishment from Golden Moon, your decision to seek me out—it might not have been coincidence. Your instincts may have been warning you to warn me about something p>
I thought back to the night that I was chased out and how rogues had been sent after me. Now I understood why Alpha Gregory was so desperate to have me killed. If he believed I could destroy pack and bring disaster, that means it was an attempt to remove me from the picture entirely. I’d dismissed it at the time, but now p>
“What do I do?” I asked, fear warring within me.
Uncle Tobias took my hands in his, his grip firm and reassuring.
“First, you accept who you are, Lily. All of who you are. Then, we prepare p>
I looked down at our joined hands, then up at the man who had shown me more care in a few hours than my adopted father had in eighteen years.
“I’m tired of running,” I said, my voice stronger than I expected. “I’m tired of hiding parts of myself away p>
A small smile touched my uncle’s lips, pride glimmering in his eyes.
“Then don’t,” he said simply.The wind picked up, rustling the leaves of the forest. Something stirred inside me in response—ancient, powerful, waiting to be acknowledged.For the first time in my life, I didn’t push it away.