Chapter Three
Mother's Confession
POV: Adelina McKenna
Two nights before I left for Aspen
Columbus, Ohio
The diner closed early that night. A power outage had shut down half the grid, and the manager didn't want to risk food spoilage or cranky customers. I didn't complain I was exhausted, sore, and more confused than I'd ever been in my life.
Because that day, I'd felt… wrong.
Hot, cold, jittery. Like my skin didn't fit. Like something was scraping to get out from the inside.
Now I know it was my wolf.
But back then? I thought I had a fever or the flu or maybe something worse. I even googled "sudden panic attacks" on my break, trying not to cry while flipping greasy fries on the grill.
I walked home under a sky bruised purple with storm clouds, clutching a tote bag filled with my sweaty uniform, a bottle of dollar-store orange juice, and three slices of pie the waitress had boxed up for my mom.
My mom, Laura McKenna, was waiting on the porch when I got there barefoot, arms folded tight across her chest, her gaze locked on the treetops like she expected something to leap out.
The porch light cast halos around her auburn curls. A half-burnt cigarette dangled between her fingers, forgotten.
"Hey," I said softly.
She startled like I'd slapped her, then exhaled hard.
"Jesus, Addie." Her voice trembled. "You scared the hell out of me."
I stepped closer, studying her face. "You okay?"
"No," she said flatly. "But I need you to come inside."
That was the first warning.
My mom never made demands.
She was soft-spoken, artsy, a bit too gentle for the world. She cried during commercials and once adopted a squirrel because it fell out of a tree.
She never raised her voice, never cursed.
But tonight? Her voice was sharp. Tense. And when I followed her inside, she locked the door behind us and pulled the curtains shut like we were hiding from the feds.
I dropped my bag on the kitchen chair. "Okay, what's going on?"
She didn't answer right away.
Instead, she walked to the pantry and pulled out a small wooden box the kind she usually kept old jewelry in. She carried it to the table like it weighed fifty pounds, then sat across from me with a sigh that didn't sound like her either.
"I was hoping we'd have more time," she whispered. "But I think… I think it's starting."
"What's starting?"
She slid the box across the table. "Open it."
Inside were folded papers, photographs, and a thick iron pendant shaped like a crescent moon with strange etchings along the edges.
My breath caught.
I picked up one of the papers and unfolded it. It wasn't in English. The script was ancient swirling and carved with what looked like claw marks through the ink. Another paper was a birth certificate with my name. But the father's name was blacked out.
And the photographs…
My heart slammed against my ribs.
A woman who looked just like me taller, regal, with eyes like silver glass stood between two men in wolf leathers. She wore the pendant I now held in my hand.
"Mom… what is this?"
She took a shaky breath and reached for my hands.
"I've lied to you, Addie."
I blinked.
"Your father wasn't some drifter who vanished before you were born. He didn't die in a car accident. He wasn't " she paused, her voice catching. "He wasn't human."
I froze.
"What?"
She nodded slowly, eyes brimming with tears. "You're not just a normal girl. You never were. And it's my fault you didn't know sooner. I wanted to protect you."
My mouth went dry. "Mom, what are you saying?"
She took the pendant from my hand and held it up to the light.
"Your father was a werewolf," she said. "And not just any werewolf. He was a Bloodborne. One of the Moon Matron's sworn one of the last of their line."
I stared at her.
Then laughed.
It was sharp and panicked and very, very fake.
"No," I said. "No. That's not this isn't real."
"Addie "
"You expect me to believe you slept with some mythical wolf warrior and just decided to keep it a secret for twenty-five years?"
She didn't flinch. "Yes."
"You're serious."
"Dead serious."
I stood, pacing. My legs felt weak.
She followed me with her eyes.
"I loved him," she said, so quietly I almost missed it. "He wasn't a monster. He wasn't wild or violent. He was kind. Gentle. He protected people. He saved me when I was attacked outside of Asheville back when I was in school. And when I found out I was pregnant… he was gone. Taken. Vanished. His pack never answered me. I tried to warn them, to ask them what would happen if you inherited his blood."
Her voice cracked.
"They never responded."
I collapsed into a chair.
The words made sense but they didn't.
Because they couldn't.
Because if they did, it meant everything I thought I knew about myself was a lie.
"Why now?" I asked. "Why are you telling me now?"
She swallowed. "Because your scent is changing. Because I woke up this morning and I smelled your wolf."
I stared at her.
"You knew?"
"I always knew it was possible," she said. "But I thought… maybe if I kept you away from it kept you safe you'd never shift. You'd be human. You'd have a normal life."
I clenched my fists.
"I shifted last night," I whispered.
She inhaled sharply.
"I was alone," I added. "I almost died."
Tears spilled from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I yelled. "Why did you let me grow up thinking I was crazy when I felt things? When I saw things? Why did you lie to me?"
"Because I was scared," she choked. "Because I didn't know if I'd survive losing you like I lost him."
I left the room before I said something unforgivable.
Locked myself in the bathroom and stared at my reflection, searching for something I'd never seen before some trace of a wolf behind my eyes.
And I saw it.
A flicker.
A spark.
It had always been there.
Buried.
Sleeping.
Waiting.
When I came out, my mother was waiting with a sealed envelope in her hand.
"This came for you today," she said, eyes red and hollow. "It was hand-delivered."
It was the summons.
The same letter I'd opened two days later in the black SUV.
She gave it to me in the kitchen, with the same kind of dread I imagined mothers must feel when sending their daughters off to war.
"I don't know who they are, Addie. But they knew where to find you. And if the name on that paper is real…"
She hesitated.
"Daxon Reyes," I said, reading it.
She nodded.
"I've heard of him," she whispered. "He's not just powerful. He's the kind of wolf that changes the world."
I didn't know what to say.
But the silence said everything.
We stayed up that night.
She told me about the first time she met my father. About the golden light in his eyes. The way he moved like shadows and storms. How he'd healed wounds with just his presence. How his pack had been hunted for years wiped out by those afraid of the Matron blood.
"They said the Moon Matrons were too strong," she whispered. "Too old. Too wild. That no woman should be born with that kind of power."
She looked at me like she was seeing him again.
"You have it in you."
By the time dawn broke, I'd made my decision.
I was going to Aspen.
Not because I wanted to meet Daxon Reyes.
Not because I cared about the summons.
But because I wanted answers.
If my father was part of something powerful and old and wild if I carried that legacy inside of me then I needed to know who I really was.
I needed to know why they'd hidden it.
Why they were afraid.
Why they summoned me like a threat.
I needed to stand in front of Daxon Reyes and see with my own eyes whether he was the answer…
Or the next question.