Secrets Written In Blood

Aurora couldn’t breathe.

The room seemed to shrink around her as Elyra’s words echoed in her mind.

“Your mother was murdered.”

“No…” Aurora whispered, shaking her head. “You’re lying.”

Elyra’s face softened with sorrow.

“I wish I were.”

Aurora staggered backward until her legs hit the sofa. She sank onto it, her eyes glistening with tears.

“My mother died in a car accident.”

“That’s what the human authorities were made to believe.”

Selene looked between them, her face pale.

“You mean…”

“The accident was an illusion,” Elyra replied. “A powerful spell erased the truth from everyone’s memory.”

Aurora’s hands trembled.

“Why?”

“Because your mother was protecting you.”

Silence settled over the room.

“The night she died,” Elyra continued, “Morgana came looking for the Moon’s Daughter.”

Aurora frowned.

“But… I was only twelve.”

Elyra nodded.

“The prophecy had already revealed your existence.”

Aurora felt her stomach twist.

“My mother knew?”

“She knew from the day you were born.”

⸻

Twenty-One Years Earlier…

Rain poured relentlessly over a small cottage hidden deep within the Silverwood Forest.

Inside, a young woman cradled a newborn baby wrapped in a soft ivory blanket.

She kissed the infant’s forehead.

“My beautiful Aurora…”

A silver crescent shimmered briefly on the baby’s tiny chest before disappearing beneath her skin.

The cottage door burst open.

Elyra rushed inside, soaked by the rain.

“They’ve found you!”

Aurora’s mother looked up calmly.

“How much time?”

“Minutes.”

A distant howl echoed through the forest.

Then another.

And beneath them…

The unmistakable cry of vampire ravens.

“They’re coming.”

Aurora’s mother looked down at her daughter with tears in her eyes.

“No one will take her.”

She gently placed a silver pendant around the baby’s neck—a crescent moon wrapped around a glowing crystal.

“This will hide her power until she’s ready.”

Elyra stared at the pendant.

“The Moonstone…”

“It belonged to the Goddess herself.”

She looked into Elyra’s eyes.

“If anything happens to me…”

“Protect her.”

⸻

Present Day

Aurora instinctively reached beneath her shirt.

Her fingers found the necklace she’d worn every day since childhood.

She had never taken it off.

“You mean…”

Elyra smiled sadly.

“Your mother left it for you.”

Aurora removed the necklace and stared at it.

For years, she’d believed it was nothing more than a family heirloom.

Now…

It began to glow.

A soft silver light filled the room.

The crescent mark beneath Aurora’s collarbone responded, pulsing in perfect rhythm.

Elyra gasped.

“The seal is weakening.”

“What does that mean?”

Before Elyra could answer—

Crash!

The living room window exploded inward.

Glass scattered across the floor.

A dark figure landed gracefully inside the apartment.

Tall.

Elegant.

Dressed in black.

Crimson eyes glowing in the darkness.

Lucien.

Aurora jumped to her feet.

“What are you doing here?”

Lucien ignored the question.

His gaze was fixed on the glowing pendant.

“So… she finally gave it to you.”

Elyra narrowed her eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here, Vampire King.”

“I wasn’t invited.”

His expression remained calm.

“But neither were the assassins outside.”

The room fell silent.

Aurora’s heart skipped a beat.

“Assassins?”

Lucien turned toward the shattered window.

“They’ve surrounded the building.”

Almost on cue, a deafening howl echoed from outside.

Then another.

Kael burst through the apartment door, breathing hard.

“There are Shadow Hunters everywhere.”

His eyes landed on Lucien.

“You got here first.”

“Barely.”

Kael stepped beside Aurora without taking his eyes off the vampire.

“They’re after the Moonstone.”

Elyra’s expression darkened.

“They cannot have it.”

Aurora looked from one face to another.

“Can someone please tell me why everyone wants this necklace?”

Elyra took a deep breath.

“Because it doesn’t just hide your power.”

She looked directly into Aurora’s eyes.

“It is also the key to opening the Moon Goddess’s Sanctuary.”

“A place hidden from the world for over six hundred years,” Lucien added.

“A sanctuary that holds the truth about the prophecy,” Kael said.

“And a power,” Elyra finished quietly, “great enough to save every supernatural kingdom… or destroy them all.”

Before Aurora could process the revelation, an explosion rocked the apartment building.

The lights went out.

Smoke drifted through the broken windows.

From somewhere in the darkness came a familiar, chilling voice.

“Bring me the girl.”

Morgana.

Lucien stepped in front of Aurora.

Kael shifted into a defensive stance.

For the second time, vampire and werewolf stood side by side.

This time…

They were preparing for war.