Nova sat in her stepfather's study, hands clenched around the mug Ethan had given her. The crescent-shaped mark on her wrist pulsed faintly beneath her sleeve. The silence in the room was loud — louder than she could stand.
Across from her, Ethan watched her carefully, like she might bolt or break.
She finally whispered, "What are the Moonborn?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he opened one of the old cabinets — the one with the lock no one was allowed to touch. From it, he pulled a flat black case and placed it on the desk between them.
"I was hoping you'd never have to know," Ethan said quietly. "But now… it's too late."
He unlatched the case. Inside lay an old silver emblem — shaped exactly like the mark on her wrist. Beneath it, a faded document sealed with wax. And a photograph.
Nova's hands trembled as she picked it up.
It was of a woman who looked exactly like her. Same hair. Same eyes.
"She's your biological mother," Ethan said. "Her name was Aelira. And she wasn't human."
Nova blinked, stunned. "Then what—?"
"She was Moonborn," Ethan said softly. "A bloodline of beings tied to the moon's power — rare, hunted, feared. Some call them gods, others monsters. But they were real. Are real. You are the last of her line."
Nova stared at the picture.
"I don't understand. Why hide this? Why let me grow up thinking I was… normal?"
"Because the Moonborn are hunted," he said. "There's a prophecy tied to your blood. A child of Aelira would return during the Red Eclipse — and that child would either end the curse of the feral wolves… or lead them."
Nova's voice broke. "So Kane—he's after me because of that?"
Ethan nodded. "He's an Alpha. To him, you're not just some girl. You're power. You're legacy. You're a threat... or salvation."
Nova stood, heart racing.
"So what now? I wait around while they fight over me?"
"No," Ethan said. "You need to know how to fight back. There's a place, hidden in the cliffs outside the city — a sanctuary built by the last Moonborn before they vanished. Your mother made sure you'd be able to find it when the time came."
He handed her a folded map. On the back was the same silver crescent.
"I'm coming with you," Ethan added. "But this path… it's yours. The truth has been chasing you since the day she died. It's time you start chasing it back."
Nova looked down at the mark on her wrist. It shimmered again, faint and silver. This wasn't some curse.
It was a call.
And she was finally ready to answer.