Maya's words echoed in Asha's head like thunder. Damon Thorn is the one who destroyed your family.
"You're lying," Asha whispered through the window. "That can't be true."
But Maya was already gone, disappearing into the shadows like she had never been there at all. Only the tray of food proved their conversation had really happened.
Asha's hands shook as she picked up a piece of bread. How could Damon have killed her family? She would have been only eight years old ten years ago. Just a child.
Unless...
Her heart stopped. What if her parents hadn't died in an accident like she had always believed? What if they had been murdered?
The mate bond pulsed weakly in her chest, but now it felt different. Tainted. How could the Moon Goddess pair her with the man who had destroyed everything she had ever loved?
A sound outside made her freeze. Car doors slamming. Voices laughing.
Asha crept to the barred window and peered out. Her heart dropped into her stomach.
Damon was walking toward the main house, his arm wrapped around Lyra's waist. But Lyra looked different now. Her golden hair was perfectly styled, flowing down her back like silk. She wore an expensive blue dress that hugged her curves and made her eyes sparkle like diamonds.
She looked like a princess. Like everything Asha was not.
"The shopping trip was perfect," Lyra was saying, her voice sweet as honey. "Thank you for taking me to the city, Damon. I felt like Cinderella."
Damon smiled down at her - a real smile, warm and gentle. Asha had never seen him look at anyone that way. Certainly not at her.
"You deserved to be spoiled," he said, pressing a kiss to Lyra's temple. "My Luna should have only the best."
My Luna. The words stabbed through Asha's heart like a silver knife.
"I love you," Lyra whispered, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"And I love you," Damon replied without hesitation.
Asha's legs gave out. She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, gasping for air. The mate bond was screaming in agony, but the emotional pain was even worse.
Damon loved Lyra. Really, truly loved her. Not the forced connection of a mate bond, but real love. The kind Asha had dreamed of finding someday.
Through the window, she watched them disappear into the house together. Damon's hand was on the small of Lyra's back, guiding her like she was made of precious glass.
Asha buried her face in her hands and finally let the tears come.
She cried for the parents she barely remembered. For the sister she had lost. For the ten years of loneliness and guilt. For the family that might have been murdered while she was too young to save them.
But mostly, she cried for the mate who would never love her.
How could you do this to me? she asked the Moon Goddess silently. How could you make him my other half when he destroyed my world?
The goddess, as always, didn't answer.
Asha wiped her eyes and stood up. Crying wouldn't change anything. She needed answers, and she wouldn't get them locked in this room.
The window bars were old but strong. She tested them with her hands, but they didn't budge. The door was solid wood with no give at all.
But Maya had said she was good at picking locks...
Asha searched the small room until she found what she was looking for - a hairpin that had fallen behind the bed. It was bent and rusty, but it might work.
She had never picked a lock before, but desperation made her creative. After twenty minutes of twisting and prodding, she heard a soft click.
The door opened.
Asha poked her head out carefully. The guard Maya had mentioned was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he had gone to get dinner, or maybe Maya had distracted him somehow.
Either way, this was her chance.
She slipped out of the guest house and into the night. The pack territory was huge, with dozens of buildings scattered through the forest. But the main house was easy to find - it was the biggest building, with warm light glowing from every window.
Asha crept closer, staying in the shadows of the trees. She needed to find out more about her family, about what had really happened ten years ago. And she needed to understand why Lyra kept calling her sister.
Voices drifted from the main house's back porch. Asha recognized Damon's deep tone and Lyra's musical laugh.
"...so beautiful tonight," Damon was saying. "The moonlight makes your hair look like spun gold."
"You're such a poet," Lyra giggled. "Who would have thought the big, scary Alpha had such a romantic side?"
Asha's stomach twisted with jealousy. She crept closer, hiding behind a large oak tree where she could see them clearly.
They were sitting on a porch swing, Lyra curled up against Damon's side like a contented cat. He was stroking her hair with gentle fingers, his face soft with affection.
"I have something for you," Damon said, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket.
Asha's heart stopped. No. Please, no.
Lyra gasped as Damon opened the box, revealing a ring that sparkled like captured starlight. "Damon, is that...?"
"Will you marry me?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion. "Will you be my Luna, my wife, my everything?"
"Yes!" Lyra threw her arms around his neck. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"
Asha watched in horror as Damon slipped the ring onto Lyra's finger. The mate bond felt like it was being ripped apart with claws, sending waves of agony through her entire body.
But she couldn't look away as they kissed under the moonlight, lost in their perfect moment.
"I can't wait to tell everyone," Lyra whispered against his lips. "When should we have the ceremony?"
"As soon as possible," Damon replied. "I don't want to wait another day to call you my wife."
"What about that girl? The one who claims to be your mate?"
Damon's expression hardened. "Asha won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean she won't be alive to cause any more trouble."
Lyra pulled back, her eyes wide. "You're going to kill her?"
"I have to. You don't understand what she represents. What her bloodline could do to everything we've built here."
"But she's so young. So innocent."
Damon's laugh was cold as winter wind. "Innocent? She's a Blackwood, Lyra. There's nothing innocent about that cursed bloodline. They're all monsters, every last one of them."
"Even her?"
"Especially her. You didn't feel the power that came off her earlier. She nearly knocked me flat, and she doesn't even know what she is yet. Imagine what she could do if she ever learned to control it."
Asha's blood turned to ice. Damon wasn't just rejecting her. He was planning to murder her.
"When?" Lyra asked softly.
"Tomorrow night. I'll make it look like a rogue attack. No one will question it."
"And then we can finally be together without any complications."
"No complications," Damon agreed, kissing her again.
Asha backed away from the tree, her mind reeling. She had to get out of here. Tonight. Before Damon realized she had escaped from the guest house.
But as she turned to run, her foot caught on a root. She crashed to the ground with a loud thud, sending dead leaves scattering everywhere.
"What was that?" Lyra's voice was sharp with alarm.
Footsteps pounded across the porch. Asha scrambled to her feet and ran, branches tearing at her clothes and hair.
"There!" Damon's voice roared behind her. "In the trees!"
Light flooded the forest as pack members poured out of buildings with flashlights and lanterns. Asha ran harder than she had ever run in her life, her heart hammering against her ribs.
But she could hear them gaining on her. Wolves were faster than humans, and she was already exhausted from her escape.
Just when she thought they would catch her, a hand grabbed her arm and yanked her sideways into a thick cluster of bushes.
"Don't move," a voice whispered in her ear. "Don't even breathe."
Asha found herself pressed against a man's chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her. She couldn't see his face in the darkness, but his scent was unfamiliar. Not pack, but not entirely human either.
The search party ran past their hiding spot, flashlight beams sweeping back and forth through the trees.
"She couldn't have gone far," Damon's voice carried through the night. "Find her. Now."
"Yes, Alpha," came the chorus of replies.
The man holding Asha didn't release her until the voices faded into the distance. When he finally let go, she spun around to face him.
He was tall and lean, with pale skin and black hair that fell across his forehead. But it was his eyes that made her gasp. They were red as blood, glowing softly in the moonlight.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
He smiled, revealing teeth that were just a little too sharp. "Someone who's been waiting a very long time to meet you, Princess."
"Princess?"
"You really don't know, do you?" His red eyes studied her face intently. "You have no idea what you are. What you're capable of."
"I don't understand."
"You will." He stepped closer, and power rolled off him in waves - not wolf power, but something else entirely. Something ancient and dangerous. "But first, we need to get you somewhere safe. Damon Thorn isn't the only one who wants you dead."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean there are forces at work here that go far beyond a simple mate rejection. Your return has set events in motion that have been building for decades."
Asha's head was spinning. "My return? But I never left. I've been living in the mountains all this time."
The stranger's smile widened, showing more of those sharp teeth. "Oh, my dear girl. You've been living a lie your entire life. You're not just some rogue wolf who lost her family."
"Then what am I?"
"You're the lost heir to the most powerful werewolf dynasty in history. And tomorrow, when the moon is full, you're going to remember exactly who you really are."
His red eyes blazed brighter, and Asha felt something shift deep inside her mind. Like a door that had been locked for years was finally starting to open.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Princess Asha Blackwood. Your real life is about to begin."