The stranger's red eyes burned in the darkness as his words echoed in Asha's mind. Princess Asha Blackwood. Your real life is about to begin.
"You're crazy," Asha whispered, backing away from him. "I'm not a princess. I'm nobody special."
"That's what they wanted you to believe." His voice was smooth as silk, but something dangerous lurked underneath. "Tell me, what do you remember about the night your sister died?"
Asha's breath caught. "How do you know about Selene?"
"I know many things. Like how you've blamed yourself for ten years for something that never happened." He stepped closer, his pale skin almost glowing in the moonlight. "What if I told you that your sister didn't die that night by the river?"
"Stop." Asha's voice cracked. "Don't you dare talk about her. You don't know anything."
"I know that Lyra has been calling you sister. I know that she looks exactly like Selene would if she had lived. And I know that you've felt something familiar about her from the moment you saw her."
The words hit Asha like physical blows. She had felt something when she first saw Lyra. A strange recognition that she had pushed down because it was impossible.
"Selene is dead," she said firmly. "I watched her drown."
"Did you? Or did you watch her being taken?"
Asha's world tilted sideways. "What are you talking about?"
The stranger smiled, showing those sharp teeth again. "Why don't we go find out? I believe Lyra and Damon are still on the porch. Perhaps it's time you heard the whole truth."
Before Asha could protest, he grabbed her hand. Power surged through her, different from anything she had ever felt. It was like ice and fire mixed together, making her skin tingle.
"What are you?" she gasped.
"Someone who has been waiting a very long time for you to come home," he said cryptically. "Now be quiet. We're going to get closer."
He led her through the shadows with impossible silence. Asha couldn't hear his footsteps at all, like he was floating over the ground. Within minutes, they were back near the main house, hidden behind the same oak tree where she had been caught before.
Damon and Lyra were still on the porch swing, but now they were talking in hushed, serious tones.
"Are you sure she doesn't remember?" Damon was asking.
"Positive," Lyra replied, twisting her new engagement ring around her finger. "The memory spell worked perfectly. She has no idea who I really am."
Asha's blood turned to ice. Memory spell?
"Good," Damon said. "It would ruin everything if she figured out the truth now."
"I still feel bad about it sometimes," Lyra admitted. "She's my sister, Damon. My own flesh and blood. And I'm helping you destroy her."
The world exploded into silence around Asha. She couldn't hear anything except the roar of blood in her ears. Lyra had just admitted it. She was Selene. Her baby sister was alive.
"She's not your sister anymore," Damon said coldly. "Asha Blackwood died the night we took you from that river. The girl calling herself Asha is just a broken rogue with stolen memories."
"But—"
"No buts." Damon's voice turned hard. "You are Lyra now. You have been for ten years. Asha is the enemy. She always has been."
"I know, but sometimes I dream about her. About when we were little. She used to braid my hair and tell me stories about brave princesses."
Asha's heart shattered into a million pieces. She remembered those moments too. Selene sitting cross-legged on her bed while Asha worked flowers into her golden hair. Her little sister's laugh filling their bedroom like music.
How could this be real? How could Selene be alive and not remember her?
"The dreams are just echoes," Damon said, pulling Lyra closer. "They'll fade completely once we finish the bonding ritual tomorrow night."
"What bonding ritual?" Lyra asked.
Damon was quiet for a long moment. "The one that will transfer all of Asha's power to you. Once it's complete, you'll be the strongest Luna who ever lived. And Asha will be nothing but an empty shell."
The stranger beside Asha tensed, his red eyes flashing with anger. But he stayed silent, letting her hear the rest.
"Will it hurt her?" Lyra asked softly.
"Does it matter?"
"I... I guess not. She's the enemy, right? She would destroy us if she could."
"That's right." Damon kissed the top of her head. "She's a Blackwood. Violence and destruction are in her blood. We're doing the world a favor by stopping her."
Asha couldn't take any more. She stumbled backward, her vision blurring with tears. Everything she had believed about her life was a lie. Her sister was alive but had been turned against her. Her mate wanted to steal her power and kill her. And somehow, she was the villain in their story.
The stranger caught her arm as she swayed. "Steady," he whispered. "We're not done yet."
"I can't," Asha choked out. "I can't listen to any more."
"You have to. Look."
He pointed toward the porch, where Damon was now standing. He pulled a small silver pendant from his pocket and handed it to Lyra.
"Wear this tomorrow," he said. "It will help channel Asha's power during the ritual."
Lyra held the pendant up to the light, and Asha's heart stopped completely.
It was a silver wolf with emerald eyes. The exact same necklace her mother had given her on her eighth birthday. The one she had been wearing the night Selene disappeared.
"Where did you get this?" Lyra asked, studying the pendant closely.
"I took it from Asha's mother before I killed her," Damon said casually, like he was discussing the weather.
The words hit Asha like a physical blow. She doubled over, gasping for air. Her mother hadn't died in an accident. Damon had murdered her.
"You never told me you killed her personally," Lyra said.
"There are a lot of things I haven't told you. The Blackwood family didn't just disappear, Lyra. They were eliminated. Every man, woman, and child. It took months of planning and years of execution."
"But why? What did they do that was so terrible?"
Damon's expression turned dark. "They were going to expose us. The whole supernatural world was going to learn the truth about what we really are."
"What we really are?"
"Not just werewolves, my love. So much more than that."
The stranger's grip on Asha's arm tightened. Through their connection, she felt his shock and rage.
"The Blackwood family discovered that certain Alpha bloodlines weren't pure wolf," Damon continued. "They found out that some of us carry demon blood. Ancient, powerful demon blood that makes us stronger than any normal werewolf."
Lyra gasped. "Demon blood? Is that why your eyes sometimes turn black when you're angry?"
"Yes. And it's why I could never let them live. If the werewolf world knew the truth, there would be war. Pure wolves against the demon-touched. Millions would die."
"So you killed them all to prevent a war?"
"I killed them all to protect our secret. And to protect my position as the strongest Alpha in the world."
Asha felt like she was drowning. Her entire family had been slaughtered to keep Damon's demon heritage secret. And her sister had been brainwashed into helping him.
"What about Asha's father?" Lyra asked. "Alpha Kieran. I thought he was your ally."
Damon laughed bitterly. "Kieran Blackwood was the biggest threat of all. He was gathering evidence against the demon bloodlines. Planning to present it to the High Council. I had to break him completely before I could kill him."
"How?"
"By making him watch as I drowned his youngest daughter. By letting him think it was his fault that Selene died. He never recovered from the guilt."
"But you didn't really kill me," Lyra said, confused. "You saved me."
"I saved you because you were useful. A young, malleable child who could be shaped into the perfect Luna. Plus, having a Blackwood by my side sends a message. Even their own blood chooses me over them."
Asha's knees gave out. The stranger caught her before she hit the ground, his red eyes blazing with fury.
"Enough," he whispered. "You've heard what you needed to hear."
But Asha couldn't move. The truth was too big, too horrible to process. Her family had been systematically murdered. Her sister had been kidnapped and brainwashed. Her father had been psychologically tortured before being killed.
And Damon planned to steal her power and finish what he started ten years ago.
"I have to save her," Asha whispered, staring at Lyra through her tears. "She's my sister. I have to make her remember."
"You will," the stranger promised. "But not tonight. Tonight, we need to get you somewhere safe so you can learn to use your true power."
"What true power? I'm just a rogue wolf."
The stranger's smile was sharp as a blade. "No, Princess. You're the last of the Blackwood bloodline. And Blackwood wolves don't just carry the blood of ancient Alphas."
"Then what do we carry?"
His red eyes met hers, and she saw something that made her soul tremble.
"Angel blood," he said softly. "Pure, devastating angel blood. The one force in this world that can destroy demons completely."
Asha stared at him in shock. "That's impossible."
"Is it? Haven't you wondered why your power felt different when you faced Damon? Why he was so terrified of your bloodline?"
She had wondered. The power that had flowed through her earlier hadn't felt like normal wolf strength. It had been something else entirely. Something that had made Damon step back in genuine fear.
"The war between angels and demons has been raging for thousands of years," the stranger continued. "Most people think it's just mythology. But some bloodlines carry the old power in their veins. Yours carries the light. His carries the darkness."
"And tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow night, he plans to corrupt your angel blood with demon magic. If he succeeds, the last weapon capable of stopping him will be gone forever."
Asha looked back toward the porch, where Damon was kissing Lyra goodnight. Her sister looked so happy, so completely unaware that she was living a lie.
"We have to stop him," Asha said firmly.
"We will. But first, you need to remember who you really are. And you need to learn to control the power that's been sleeping inside you for ten years."
"How?"
The stranger's smile turned predatory. "By going home, Princess. It's time you saw what's left of the Blackwood estate."
As he spoke, clouds rolled across the moon, plunging them into darkness. But his red eyes continued to glow like embers.
"What's your name?" Asha asked suddenly.
"Elias," he replied. "And I've been guarding your family's secrets for a very long time."
"Why would you help me?"
"Because," Elias said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "I made a promise to your mother before she died. A promise to protect her daughters and help them reclaim their birthright."
"You knew my mother?"
"I loved your mother," he said simply. "And she loved me. Which is why Damon Thorn made sure she died screaming my name."