THE ALPHA'S REBORN

Chapter Four: The Secret Beneath the Pack House

Aria’s POV

I stared at the woman standing in front of me.

My heart was pounding so hard that I could barely breathe.

“You…”

Her smile widened.

“Surprised, Aria?”

I took a step backward.

“No. This isn't possible.”

It couldn't be.

I remembered watching her die.

I remembered the funeral.

I remembered Damien telling me that Isla, the former healer of Moonridge Pack, had been killed during the Blood Moon War.

Yet she was standing in front of me.

Alive.

And she remembered me.

“How are you alive?” I demanded.

Isla walked closer.

“That's the question you should be asking yourself.”

“What does that mean?”

She stopped a few feet away.

“You were never supposed to be reborn.”

My blood ran cold.

“What?”

She smiled.

“Damien wasn't supposed to be reborn either.”

I stared at her.

“Then how—”

“The Moon Goddess doesn't give second chances freely.”

Her voice became quieter.

“Someone interfered with your deaths.”

I swallowed.

“Who?”

Before she could answer, the door behind me slammed shut.

I spun around.

The two warriors who had dragged me here were gone.

I rushed toward the door and tried the handle.

Locked.

“Let me out!”

Isla didn't move.

“There's no point.”

I turned toward her.

“You brought me here.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you're about to make the same mistake again.”

My chest tightened.

“What mistake?”

“Trusting Damien.”

I shook my head.

“I don't trust him.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

The answer came too quickly.

Isla noticed.

She smiled.

“You still love him.”

“No.”

“You're lying.”

I looked away.

I hated that she could see through me.

I hated even more that part of her was right.

I had spent years loving Damien.

Even after everything he had done.

Even after he had watched me die.

A part of me still remembered the man who used to hold me at night and promise that nothing would ever hurt me.

But that man had disappeared long before my death.

“I don't love him anymore,” I whispered.

Isla stepped closer.

“Then why did you run into a burning building when you heard him scream?”

I had no answer.

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small black box.

She placed it on the table.

“Open it.”

I hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Something Damien never told you.”

I slowly approached the table.

The box was old.

A strange silver symbol was carved into its lid.

The same symbol I had seen on the Nightfang warriors.

My fingers trembled.

I opened it.

Inside was a necklace.

A black stone hung from a silver chain.

The moment I touched it—

Pain exploded through my head.

I gasped.

Images flashed before my eyes.

Damien standing in a dark room.

Selena crying.

My father kneeling before someone.

A silver dagger.

Blood.

Then—

A man standing behind Damien.

I couldn't see his face.

But I heard his voice.

“When the Luna dies, the Alpha will fall.”

I screamed and dropped the necklace.

Isla caught me before I hit the ground.

“What did you see?”

I struggled to breathe.

“Someone…”

“Who?”

“I don't know.”

I looked at her.

“But he was standing beside Damien.”

Isla's expression changed.

“That means the seal has awakened.”

“What seal?”

She didn't answer.

“Tell me!”

She looked toward the door.

“We don't have much time.”

“Why?”

“Because Damien is coming.”

My heart jumped.

“How do you know?”

Isla smiled sadly.

“Because he has been searching for you since the moment you disappeared.”

Damien’s POV

“Find her!”

My command shook the entire pack house.

Warriors spread through the ruins.

I searched every room.

Every corridor.

Every tunnel.

Nothing.

Aria was gone.

My chest felt like it was being crushed.

I knew this feeling.

I had felt it once before.

The day she died.

I refused to experience it again.

“Alpha!”

A warrior ran toward me.

“We found this.”

He handed me a piece of black fabric.

I recognized it immediately.

Nightfang.

My claws came out.

“They took her.”

The warrior nodded.

“We found a trail leading beneath the pack house.”

I didn't wait.

I shifted.

My wolf tore through the corridor.

I followed the scent through the underground passage.

The deeper I went, the stronger Aria's scent became.

Then I heard voices.

I stopped.

One belonged to Aria.

The other—

Isla.

My wolf growled.

Impossible.

I pushed the door open.

Aria turned.

Her eyes widened.

“Damien.”

I rushed toward her.

“Are you hurt?”

She pulled away.

“I'm fine.”

I looked at Isla.

“You.”

She smiled.

“Hello, Alpha.”

“You died.”

“So did you.”

I froze.

She stepped toward me.

“But apparently death isn't as permanent as we once believed.”

My eyes narrowed.

“What are you doing here?”

“Protecting Aria.”

“I can protect her.”

Isla laughed.

“No.”

She looked at Aria.

“You failed to protect her once.”

The words struck me like a blade.

Aria looked away.

I swallowed the pain.

“I won't fail again.”

Isla's expression became serious.

“You already have.”

“What?”

She pointed toward the necklace on the table.

“She's seen the memories.”

My heart stopped.

“What memories?”

Aria looked at me.

Her expression was different now.

Suspicious.

“What aren't you telling me?”

I couldn't answer.

Because there were things I had discovered before my death.

Things I had never told Aria.

Things about her family.

Things about my father.

Things about Selena.

And the truth was more dangerous than either of us realized.

“Damien.”

Aria stepped closer.

“Tell me.”

I looked into her eyes.

“I don't know everything.”

“But you know something.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

Before I could answer, a deafening explosion shook the underground chamber.

The walls cracked.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Isla screamed.

“Get down!”

I grabbed Aria and pulled her against me.

Another explosion.

Then silence.

I looked toward the entrance.

A figure stood in the smoke.

A black cloak covered his body.

His face was hidden behind a silver mask.

But I recognized his voice.

The same voice I had heard before.

“You were warned, Alpha.”

I moved in front of Aria.

“Who are you?”

The masked man slowly removed his hood.

My blood turned to ice.

Because beneath the mask was a face I had known my entire life.

A face I had buried with my father.

A face that should have been impossible.

Aria whispered behind me.

“Damien…”

I couldn't move.

The man smiled.

“Hello, son.”

My heart stopped.

My father was alive.

And he was standing beside Selena.