Chapter 31
My horse galloped through the dense woods, hooves pounding against the earth as I raced toward Silver Moon Pack.
The cold wind bit at my skin, but I barely felt it. My mind was a storm. A hurricane of questions. I hadn’t slept all night. Not after what Killian told me.
“You’re not the real daughter of your father.”
What the hell did that even mean? Did it mean my mother cheated on my father? That the man who walked out on us wasn’t even my real father?
Then who was? Had my whole life been a lie? The betrayal was suffocating, curling around my chest like a vice. And no one told me. Not my mother. Not my so-called father. Not my brother, Alex. Not even Arla.
Instead, I had to find out from Killian. Killian, of all people. The man I was forced to marry. The man I had given myself to in order to save my mother’s life.
Enough.
If Killian didn’t have the answers, I was going straight to the source.
My mother.
I would make her tell me the truth—all of it.
The walls of Silver Moon Pack rose before me, towering and strong, a place I once called home.
Two guards stepped forward, their hands gripping their weapons as my horse skidded to a halt.
“Luna Aurora,” one of them said stiffly. “We didn’t receive a notice that you were coming.”
I clenched my jaw. “I don’t need a notice.”
The second guard frowned. “What is your business here?”
I stared him down, my voice sharp and unwavering.
“I need to speak to my mother. Now.”
The guards hesitated, exchanging wary glances before stepping aside. “You may enter,” one finally said. I didn’t thank them. I didn’t even acknowledge them. I just rode through.
I found my mother standing in the garden, her delicate hands brushing over the petals of a blooming rosebush.
She looked so… peaceful. So unbothered. So…healthy. As if she’d never been sick. As if she hadn’t spent my entire life lying to me. My blood boiled. I dismounted my horse, stalking toward her, my boots crushing the gravel path beneath me.
She turned just as I approached, her warm brown eyes softening when she saw me.
“Aurora, you’re here. Look, I’m much better, I think the curse–” she didn’t finish.
I clenched my fists, stopping a few feet away. My voice came out like a hiss. “Save it, mother. You’ve been lying to me all my life.”
Her smile faltered.
Good.
She blinked, her brows drawing together. “What are you talking about?”
A humorless chuckle slipped past my lips.
“Oh, don’t do that,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t stand there and pretend like you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about.”
She flinched, guilt flickering in her gaze.
“Aurora—”
“No,” I cut her off, my voice sharp, cold, unforgiving. “You knew. You knew, and you never told me.”
She sighed, looking away. That was enough of an answer. She knew. She’d always known.
I let out a hollow laugh. “There are so many things you haven’t told me. And you know where I had to find out? From Killian.”
Her head snapped up, her lips parting. “Killian told you?”
“Not even my own family,” I went on, ignoring the way her face paled. “No, I had to find out from the man I was forced to be with. The man I chose to save you.”
I took a step closer, my voice dropping lower, filled with pure, raw betrayal. “Do you know how humiliating that is?”
Her lips trembled. “Aurora, listen—”
“No, you listen!” My voice cracked. “Everyone—Tyler, Killian, even the damn council—knows more about me than I do! You all claim you wanted to protect me, but no one even had the decency to tell me the truth!”
She shook her head. “I only did what I thought was best.”
“Best for who?” I whispered, my chest tightening. “Because it wasn’t best for me.”
Silence. Then, she sighed. And for the first time, she looked truly tired. Like she was carrying a burden too heavy for one person to bear.
She stepped back and lowered herself onto a stone bench, her fingers twisting together in her lap.
Then she looked up at me.
“You’re right,” she murmured. “It’s time you learn the truth.”
She patted the space beside her.
“Sit, Aurora.”
