Nora POV
"Elena, stop the car."
"What? Why?"
"STOP THE CAR!"
Elena slams on the brakes. We screech to a halt on the side of the empty highway.
I stumble out, falling to my knees on the gravel. My whole body is on fire. Not painful—powerful. Like lightning is running through my veins instead of blood.
"Nora!" Elena rushes to my side. "What's happening to you?"
"I don't know!" My hands are shaking. No—glowing. My skin is actually glowing with silver light. "Something's wrong. Something's—"
A memory hits me like a truck.
I'm five years old. My grandmother—a woman I barely remember—is holding my hands. Her eyes are the same silver color mine are now.
"You're special, little one," she whispers. "When you're ready, you'll understand what you really are. But until then, you must hide. Promise me you'll hide."
"I promise, Grandma."
She kisses my forehead, and I feel warmth spread through me. Then... nothing. The memory goes dark.
I snap back to the present, gasping.
"Nora, your eyes are getting brighter!" Elena sounds terrified. "We need to get you to a hospital—"
"No hospitals." I push myself up. "I need... I need to find my grandmother."
"You've never mentioned a grandmother."
"Because I forgot her. Completely forgot she existed until right now." My mind is racing. "Elena, what if Vanessa's curses didn't just make me weak? What if they made me forget things? Important things?"
Elena's face goes pale. "Memory suppression spells. They exist, but they're illegal. Forbidden. The kind of magic that gets witches executed."
"Vanessa's been dosing me for three years." I'm pacing now, energy buzzing through me. "What if she wasn't just weakening me? What if she was hiding me from myself?"
My phone—the new one Elena gave me—buzzes. Unknown number.
I answer without thinking. "Hello?"
"Isla Morven."
I freeze. "What did you call me?"
"Isla Morven. That's your real name, isn't it?" The voice is female, old, powerful. "Or did you forget that too?"
"Who is this?"
"Your grandmother, child. Moira Morven. I've been waiting three years for Vanessa's spells to break. I see they finally have."
My legs give out. Elena catches me before I hit the ground.
"How... how did you get this number?"
Grandmother—Moira—laughs softly. "Dear child, I'm the Matriarch of the Morven Pack. One of the three original shifter bloodlines. Did you really think I couldn't find my own granddaughter?"
The Morven Pack. One of the three original families. That means...
"I'm not nobody," I whisper.
"No, darling. You're the heir to the most powerful pack in the western territories. You're not a weak little wolf who married up. You married down."
My brain can't process this. "Why didn't you find me before? Why did you let me suffer—"
"Because you needed to choose yourself first." Moira's voice is gentle but firm. "The Morven bloodline only awakens in those who've been tested. Who've suffered. Who've survived. If I'd rescued you three years ago, you'd still be that scared girl in ugly cardigans. But now? Now you're strong enough to claim what's yours."
"What's mine?"
"Everything, child. Your power. Your birthright. Your true identity." She pauses. "And revenge, if you want it."
Revenge. The word tastes like honey on my tongue.
"Where are you?" I ask.
"Silver Moon City. Penthouse suite at the Crescent Hotel. Come to me, Isla. Let me show you who you really are."
She hangs up.
I stare at my phone, my mind spinning.
Elena is watching me with wide eyes. "Did she just say you're a Morven? Like THE Morvens?"
"Apparently."
"Nora—sorry, Isla—do you know what this means?" Elena grabs my shoulders. "The Morvens are royalty. Old money. Old power. They're one of the three founding families of all shifter society. If you're the heir..."
"Then Killian didn't just throw away his wife," I finish. "He threw away an alliance that would've made his pack untouchable."
Elena starts laughing. It's a slightly hysterical sound. "Oh, this is perfect. This is PERFECT. He thought he was marrying some nobody, and he actually got a secret princess."
I should feel happy. Vindicated. Powerful.
Instead, I feel empty.
"It doesn't matter," I say quietly. "Royal blood doesn't fix what happened. Doesn't change that my daughter doesn't want me. Doesn't make the last five years hurt less."
"No," Elena agrees. "But it does mean you have the power to make sure it never happens again. To anyone."
She's right.
I look down at my hands. The silver glow is fading, but I can still feel it humming under my skin. Power I never knew existed.
"Silver Moon City," I say. "Let's go meet my grandmother."
Elena grins and heads back to the car. "Road trip to meet the secret royal family. This night keeps getting better."
We drive in silence for a while. My mind is racing with questions. Why did my grandmother let me forget? Why did I end up with Killian? What else don't I remember?
My new phone buzzes again. This time it's a text from an unknown number:
Nice work tonight, Phantom. Heard you torched the Blackthorn Pack's systems. Impressive. Want a job? $10 million. Interested?
I stare at the message. Ten million dollars. That's more than I've ever been offered for a single job.
I text back: Who is this?
The response comes immediately: Someone who's been watching you for a long time. Someone who knows what you really are. And someone who wants to hire you to destroy your ex-husband completely.
My heart pounds. Why would you want that?
Because Killian Blackthorn is about to become Alpha Council Chairman next month. And I can't let that happen. Help me take him down, and I'll make you rich beyond your dreams.
I'm already rich.
Then how about this: Help me, and I'll give you information about your daughter. About what Vanessa really did to her. Things you don't know. Things that will make you want to burn everything to the ground.
I can't breathe.
What things?
Meet me tomorrow night. Silver Moon City. The Blue Moon Club. Midnight. Come alone. I'll tell you everything.
The message thread deletes itself before my eyes.
"Elena," I say slowly. "I think someone just offered to help me destroy Killian."
"What? Who?"
"I don't know. But they know about Mira. They say Vanessa did something worse than I know about."
Elena's jaw clenches. "You're not going alone."
"They said—"
"I don't care what they said. You're not going to a mysterious meeting alone in a city you've never been to." She glances at me. "We'll figure something out. But first, let's meet your grandmother. Maybe she can tell us what we're dealing with."
We drive for another hour. The city lights of Silver Moon City appear on the horizon—bright, glittering, alive. Nothing like the dark forest territories I've lived in for five years.
This is my new home. My new life.
My phone buzzes one more time. I'm almost afraid to look.
It's a video message. No sender name.
I press play.
The screen shows Mira's bedroom—the one in Killian's house. My daughter is crying into her pillow, and I can hear her voice:
"I want my real mommy back. Not Mommy V. My real mommy who sang to me. Where did she go? Why did she leave me?"
The video cuts off.
Below it, a single text appears:
She remembers you, Isla. The spell is breaking. But Vanessa knows. And she's planning something terrible. Midnight tomorrow. Don't be late.
Then that message deletes too.
I'm shaking. Mira remembers me. My baby remembers me.
"Elena, drive faster."
"Why? What happened?"
"Mira's in danger. Vanessa knows the curses are breaking, and she's going to do something." I clutch my phone. "We need to get to my grandmother NOW. I need to know what I am. What I can do. Because I'm going back for my daughter."
"And if Killian tries to stop you?"
I feel my eyes flash silver again. The power rises up, no longer frightening. Just... mine.
"Then he'll learn what happens when you throw away a Morven."
Elena floors the gas pedal.
Behind us, miles away in the Blackthorn Pack territory, I don't know that Killian is standing in my hidden office, staring at my computers.
He's found my notes. My research. My files.
And he's just discovered what I was investigating for the last six months.
Evidence that Vanessa isn't just a witch.
She's working for someone else. Someone dangerous. Someone who wants to destroy all three original bloodlines.
Starting with mine.