CHAPTER 27: THE WOMAN WHO SURVIVED

CHAPTER 27: THE WOMAN WHO SURVIVED

AMBER’S POV

“Amber…”

My mother’s voice.

It came from somewhere beneath the stone floor.

Weak.

Shaking.

Alive.

My entire body went numb.

For twenty-two years, I had imagined what it would feel like to hear her voice again.

In my dreams, she was always smiling.

Sometimes she hugged me.

Sometimes she told me she was proud.

Sometimes I woke up before I could reach her.

But this wasn't a dream.

I could hear her.

She was crying.

“Mom?”

Steele immediately turned toward me.

“Amber, don't.”

I ignored him.

I dropped to my knees and pressed my hands against the stone.

“Mom!”

Nothing.

Then—

THUMP.

The second heartbeat returned.

My heart answered it.

THUMP.

THUMP.

A golden crack appeared beneath my fingers.

Steele grabbed my shoulder.

“Move.”

“She's down there.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

His jaw tightened.

“Yes.”

I stared at him.

“You knew?”

“Not where she was.”

“But you knew she survived.”

He didn't answer.

The stranger laughed.

“You see?”

His voice echoed through the chamber.

“Twenty-two years later, and Steele still can't tell her the truth.”

Steele turned toward him.

“Enough.”

The stranger smiled.

“You're still protecting secrets that aren't yours to keep.”

Steele's eyes turned completely gold.

“Who are you?”

The stranger tilted his head.

“You really don't remember?”

I stared at him.

Something about his face made my stomach twist.

A memory.

A little girl.

A burning plane.

A man's hand reaching toward me.

I couldn't see his face.

But I remembered his voice.

Run.

I stepped backward.

“You were there.”

The man's smile disappeared.

“Yes.”

Steele moved forward.

“What was your role?”

The man laughed.

“My role?”

His eyes turned black.

“I was the one who started it.”

My blood ran cold.

Steele attacked.

He moved so fast that I barely saw him.

The stranger raised one hand.

A shockwave exploded between them.

BOOM!

Steele was thrown across the chamber.

“Steele!”

He hit the wall and dropped to one knee.

The stranger didn't even move.

I raised my gun.

“Don't!”

He looked at me.

“You're still carrying that little weapon.”

I fired.

The bullet stopped in midair.

My eyes widened.

The stranger looked at it.

Then crushed it between his fingers.

“Still brave.”

I fired again.

He vanished.

A hand wrapped around my wrist.

I gasped.

He was behind me.

“Still reckless.”

I tried to elbow him.

He caught my arm.

Then—

A roar shook the chamber.

Steele.

His wolf form slammed into the stranger.

They crashed through a stone pillar.

I stumbled away.

Anna appeared beside me.

“Amber!”

“What is happening?”

She grabbed my hand.

“You need to listen to me.”

“I've been listening!”

“No.”

Her eyes filled with something I hadn't seen before.

Fear.

“You've been listening to everyone except yourself.”

I stared at her.

“What does that mean?”

“You are not simply carrying First Blood.”

She looked toward my glowing mark.

“You are the last living vessel of it.”

“What is First Blood?”

Anna swallowed.

“The first bloodline of the wolves.”

I frowned.

“Werewolves?”

“Older than werewolves.”

The room seemed to grow colder.

“The first creatures who could shift between human and wolf were born from that blood.”

I looked at my hands.

“So I'm a werewolf?”

Anna shook her head.

“No.”

That answer frightened me more.

“Then what am I?”

Before she could answer, Steele was thrown across the chamber.

He hit the ground hard.

The stranger walked toward him.

“You've grown weak.”

Steele slowly stood.

“You haven't changed.”

“No.”

The stranger smiled.

“I became something better.”

His claws emerged.

Steele growled.

The two charged.

This time, I saw everything.

Their movements were almost impossible to follow.

Claws.

Fangs.

Blood.

Stone shattered around them.

Anna pulled me backward.

“We have to leave.”

“My mother is underneath us.”

“I know.”

“Then we're not leaving without her.”

Anna looked at me.

For a moment, she looked exactly like my mother.

Then she whispered,

“She wanted you to live.”

“I've been living for twenty-two years without her.”

“And she has been living for twenty-two years without you.”

I froze.

“What?”

Anna looked toward the floor.

“She was trapped beneath this place.”

“Why?”

“Because she chose it.”

I shook my head.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“It will.”

Anna took my hand.

“When the plane went down, the shapeshifters weren't trying to kill everyone.”

I stared at her.

“What were they trying to do?”

“They were trying to find you.”

My breath caught.

“Me?”

“You were only six years old.”

“Why would they care about a six-year-old?”

“Because your blood had already awakened.”

I remembered the nightmares.

The golden eyes.

The strange voices.

The mark.

Everything.

Anna continued.

“Your mother knew what you were.”

“I don't even know what I am.”

“She did.”

A loud crash interrupted us.

Steele and the stranger stopped fighting.

The stranger wiped blood from his mouth.

Steele's shoulder was bleeding.

The stranger smiled.

“Tell her, Steele.”

Steele looked at me.

I knew immediately.

There was something he still hadn't told me.

“What?”

He remained silent.

The stranger laughed.

“Tell her who her father really was.”

My heart stopped.

“My father?”

Steele's expression changed.

The stranger stepped closer.

“Your father wasn't human.”

I felt the room spin.

“No.”

“He wasn't merely a werewolf either.”

“Stop.”

“You deserve the truth.”

I looked at Steele.

“Is he lying?”

Steele didn't answer.

“Steele.”

His eyes lowered.

“No.”

My chest tightened.

“My father wasn't human?”

“He was part of the First Blood.”

I couldn't breathe.

The stranger smiled.

“And your mother knew.”

The floor suddenly cracked.

A massive golden light erupted beneath us.

The entire chamber shook.

Everyone stopped.

The voice beneath the floor became louder.

“Amber…”

I dropped to my knees.

“Mom!”

The stone split open.

A staircase appeared.

Steele immediately moved toward me.

“Stay here.”

“No.”

“Amber—”

“You're not stopping me this time.”

I ran down the stairs.

“Amber!”

I heard Steele following.

Anna came behind him.

The stranger stayed above.

He didn't follow.

That frightened me more than if he had.

The staircase seemed endless.

Cold air rushed past my face.

Then I saw a door.

Old.

Black.

Covered in strange symbols.

And one symbol was identical to the mark on my neck.

I touched it.

The door opened.

Inside was a small room.

A chair.

A table.

A broken lantern.

And someone sitting in the corner.

A woman.

Her back was facing me.

Her hair was long.

Dark.

Her shoulders were trembling.

I stopped breathing.

“Mom?”

The woman slowly turned.

Her face was older than I remembered.

There were scars across her cheek.

Her eyes were tired.

But they were my mother's eyes.

She stared at me.

Her lips trembled.

“Amber?”

My knees nearly collapsed.

“Mom…”

She stood.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then she ran toward me.

I ran toward her.

She wrapped her arms around me.

I buried my face against her shoulder.

She smelled like something I had almost forgotten.

Home.

I cried.

Twenty-two years of anger.

Twenty-two years of loneliness.

Twenty-two years of wondering why she left me.

It all came out.

“You left me.”

Her arms tightened around me.

“I know.”

“You were alive.”

“I know.”

“You let me believe you were dead.”

“I had no choice.”

“You always had a choice!”

She pulled back.

Tears filled her eyes.

“If I had returned to you, they would have found you.”

“Who?”

She looked past me.

At Steele.

Her expression changed.

“You brought him.”

Steele stepped forward.

“She knows everything now.”

My mother stared at him.

“You promised.”

“I kept my promise.”

“You kept part of it.”

Steele's jaw tightened.

“I protected her.”

“You protected her from the truth.”

I looked between them.

“Stop.”

Both went silent.

I turned to my mother.

“Tell me everything.”

She shook her head.

“Amber…”

“No.”

I wiped my tears.

“I spent twenty-two years searching for answers.”

My voice hardened.

“I deserve them.”

She looked at me for a long moment.

Then she nodded.

“Your father was the last First Blood wolf.”

My heart stopped.

“He wasn't supposed to have a child.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

“Because the First Blood was dying.”

She touched my cheek.

“Until you were born.”

I stared at her.

“You're saying I inherited it?”

She nodded.

“And when you were six, your blood awakened.”

“That's why they came after the plane.”

“Yes.”

“Then why did the plane crash?”

Her expression darkened.

“Because someone betrayed us.”

Steele stepped closer.

“Who?”

My mother looked at him.

“You already know.”

Steele froze.

She whispered one name.

“Simon.”

The room went silent.

My eyes widened.

“Simon?”

Steele's expression became unreadable.

“That's impossible.”

My mother shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at me.

“He was the one who gave them your location.”

Steele's eyes turned gold.

“Simon was dead.”

My mother whispered,

“He wasn't.”

A sudden scream echoed from above.

Everyone froze.

The stranger's voice rang through the chamber.

“YOU'RE TOO LATE!”

The walls shook.

My mother grabbed my hand.

“No.”

“What?”

Her face turned pale.

“He found us.”

Steele immediately shifted.

“Who?”

My mother looked at him.

“The one who has been hunting you for twenty-two years.”

A roar thundered from above.

The ceiling cracked.

Dust rained down.

Then a voice echoed through the underground chamber.

Not the stranger's.

Not Steele's.

A voice I had never heard before.

Yet somehow…

my blood recognized it.

“Bring me my daughter.”

My mother went completely still.

Steele looked at me.

And Anna whispered the words that made my blood freeze.

“That's your father.”