Chapter 3

OCTAVA

Light.

It hurt to open my eyes. The world was a blur of white and gold, sterile light bleeding through gauzy curtains, the faint hum of machines nearby, the clean scent of antiseptic mixed with something softer… lavender.

My head throbbed when I tried to move. For a second, I couldn’t remember where I was or how I got here. Then the pain came rushing back, his face, her smirk, the cold in his voice. It all came back like a wave swallowing me whole.

“Oh, thank the Goddess… you’re awake.”

The voice was gentle, trembling. I turned slowly to the side, and there she was, an older woman with silver hair that shimmered even in the dim light. Her eyes were the color of sunlight through amber, wet with tears. She reached out, brushing a strand of hair from my face with trembling fingers.

“Who are you?” I rasped, my throat dry.

Her lips trembled as though she wanted to speak but couldn’t yet find the words. “You don’t know me,” she said softly, “but I’ve been looking for you your whole life.”

I frowned, wincing as I tried to sit up. “My whole life? I don’t understand. Where am I?” I asked, looking around in confusion.

“You’re safe,” she said quickly, pressing a hand to my arm. “You fainted at the hotel. You’ve been asleep for a day.”

The word safe felt foreign. I wasn’t sure I even knew what that meant anymore.

Suddenly, panic surged in me. My hands flew to my stomach. “The baby…my baby, is he…”

“He’s fine,” the woman said, her eyes softening with relief. “Perfectly fine.”

The air left my lungs in a shaky exhale. I sagged back into the pillows, clutching my abdomen protectively. For a second, I thought I might cry from sheer relief.

Then the door opened and a man in a white coat entered, his scent sharp and clean. The doctor.

He smiled politely, clipboard in hand. “Ah, Mrs. Jakeson. I see you’re awake.”

“Is my baby okay?” I asked immediately, my heart pounding.

He nodded. “More than okay. He’s strong, remarkably strong for a fetus this early in development. It’s almost unheard of.” He looked between me and the older woman. “To be frank, Luna, I’ve never seen a human carry such a powerful Alpha pup without complications.”

“Human?” The woman gave a faint, knowing smile.

I blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

The doctor hesitated, then adjusted his glasses. “Mrs. Jakeson, your baby is extraordinary. His heartbeat, his regenerative ability, he’s already healing small ruptures in your womb. It’s… not possible for a human to carry a child like this unless she possesses certain genetic strengths.”

He paused, watching my reaction carefully. “Lycan strengths.”

I laughed weakly, though it sounded hollow even to my own ears. “That’s impossible. I’m not a Lycan. I’m human, I don’t even have a wolf.”

“Maybe that’s what you’ve been told,” the woman said softly, her voice breaking the silence. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached for mine. “But it isn’t the truth.”

I looked at her, confused, terrified. “What are you talking about?”

The doctor gave a polite nod and left, as if sensing the conversation wasn’t meant for him. The door clicked shut, leaving the soft hum of machines and my pounding heart.

The woman moved closer, her gaze locked on mine. “Octava,” she whispered, her voice trembling with emotion, “I am your mother.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she smiled. A trembling, heartbroken smile. “My baby girl. My lost moon.”

I stared at her, shaking my head. “No, no… my mother died. The pack found me near the border when I was a child. They said I had no scent, no family.”

“You had a scent,” she said quietly. “But your Lycan was asleep. You were injured so badly during the war… your powers, your bond, everything about your Lycan side went dormant. We thought you were dead.”

My mouth went dry. “War?”

She nodded slowly. “The war between the Crescent Moon Lycans and the Northern Pack. Our pack. I was the Luna of the Lycan Kingdom. You were only three when the enemy pack attacked. They wanted to destroy every bloodline connected to the throne. We hid you with your nanny, but she was killed before she could reach safety. You must have wandered to the Lakewood border.”

Her voice cracked, and her hands cupped my face gently. “We searched for you for years, Octava. I never stopped. And then… your power awakened. That’s how I found you.”

“My… power?” I repeated, numb.

She smiled through her tears. “Your baby healed you, my love. The Lycan blood in you reawakened because your child carries both his father’s Alpha blood and your royal Lycan blood. It unlocked what had been sleeping inside you.”

“No.” I shook my head, tears burning my eyes. “This can’t be true. I’ve been human my entire life. I can’t be a Lycan.”

“Look at your hand,” she said quietly.

I hesitated, then turned my palm over. For the first time, I noticed something faintly glowing beneath my skin, a silvery mark shaped like a crescent moon intertwined with a wolf’s paw. My breath caught.

The woman, my supposed mother, lifted her sleeve, revealing the exact same mark on her wrist. “This is the seal of the Lycan Luna,” she said softly. “It’s been passed down through generations of our bloodline. It appears only when two Lycans share a bond by birth.”

My hand trembled as I pressed my fingers to the mark. It was warm and alive. A pulse of power hummed faintly under my skin, sending shivers down my spine.

“This can’t be happening,” I whispered. “I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

She pulled me into her arms then, her embrace warm and trembling. I didn’t know whether to push her away or hold on. My body chose for me, I broke down, sobbing into her shoulder like a child who’d just realized the whole world had lied to her.

When she finally pulled back, her eyes were red but steady. “Your brother will be here soon,” she said softly. “He’ll take us home. Back to where you belong.”

Home.

The word echoed in my mind. I thought I already had one, a house, a husband, a life. But now I realized I’d only been living in the ruins of something broken.

“What about…” I stopped myself, but the name still burned on my tongue. “Jakeson.”

Her expression darkened. “That man left you, hurt you, made you believe you were less than what you are. You owe him nothing.”

“I’m carrying his child,” I said quietly.

She nodded, her gaze softening again. “Yes. And that child will be loved and cherished, far more than you ever were in that pack. You both deserve better, Octava. Come with me. Let me take you home.”

I looked down at my stomach, feeling the faint stir of life inside me. My child. My miracle. My second chance.

Tears slipped down my cheeks again, but this time they weren’t from heartbreak. They were from the ache of something new, a fragile hope, trembling and raw.

Maybe this was the universe’s way of saving me… by breaking me first.

I looked at the woman, my mother, and nodded. “I’ll go.”

Her face broke into a trembling smile, and she pulled me close again. “You won’t regret it, my love. You’ll see who you truly are soon enough.”

As she held me, I glanced once more at the faint moon-shaped mark on my hand. It pulsed softly, like it had been waiting for this moment all along.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel human.

I felt powerful.

And for the first time… I wasn’t afraid.