CHAPTER 3: THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS BLOOD

Luca followed Elias deeper into the forest.

He did not know where they were going, and Elias had given him no reason to believe that he should trust him. Still, Luca kept walking because there was nothing behind him except the pack that had rejected him, and there was something ahead of him that might finally explain why his entire life had felt wrong.

The trees grew taller as they moved.

Their branches reached across the path and blocked most of the moonlight, leaving only thin silver lines on the ground. The air was colder here, and the silence was so deep that Luca could hear the soft sound of his own footsteps.

Elias walked several steps ahead of him.

His movements were calm.

Almost too calm.

Luca watched him for a while before finally speaking.

“You knew.”

Elias did not stop.

“Knew what?”

“You knew what I was before you came to me.”

Elias continued walking.

Luca’s jaw tightened.

“You knew I was a Moonblood.”

After a few seconds, Elias stopped.

He turned slowly.

“I suspected.”

“That isn’t the same thing.”

“No.”

“Then what did you know?”

Elias studied Luca’s face.

“I knew your blood was different.”

Luca stepped closer.

“How?”

“Your scent.”

“My scent?”

“A normal wolf smells like a wolf.”

Elias’s eyes moved over him.

“You don’t.”

Luca frowned.

“What do I smell like?”

Elias gave him a long look.

“Something old.”

The answer made Luca uncomfortable.

He folded his arms across his chest.

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“It wasn’t meant to.”

Luca let out a frustrated breath.

“You keep doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Answering one question with another mystery.”

A faint smile appeared on Elias’s face.

“You ask many questions.”

“Because you refuse to give me answers.”

Elias looked away.

“Some answers have to be earned.”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“I’ve spent my entire life being told I wasn’t good enough. My father told me I was weak. My mate rejected me in front of three hundred wolves. Then I was thrown out like I meant nothing.”

His voice became quieter.

“And now you tell me that everything I believed about myself was a lie.”

Elias said nothing.

Luca stepped closer.

“So forgive me if I don’t have the patience to wait.”

Something in Elias’s expression softened.

“You have every right to be angry.”

Luca looked away.

“I don’t know what I have the right to be anymore.”

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then Elias turned and continued walking.

“Come.”

Luca followed.

They walked for another twenty minutes before the trees suddenly opened.

Luca stopped.

In front of them stood a large stone structure hidden between the trees.

It looked ancient.

Parts of the walls were covered in moss, and thick vines climbed over the entrance, but the stone itself was still strong. Strange symbols were carved around the doorway, and a large circle had been marked above it.

Luca stared.

“What is this?”

Elias walked toward the entrance.

“Home.”

Luca looked at him.

“Yours?”

“No.”

Elias placed his hand against the stone.

“Yours.”

The stone door slowly opened.

Luca’s heart began to beat faster.

He stepped inside.

The room beyond was larger than he expected.

Old torches lined the walls, although none of them had been burning for years. Strange carvings covered the stone from the floor to the ceiling.

There were wolves.

There were warriors.

There were women holding children.

And in the center of almost every carving was the same symbol.

A silver crescent surrounded by a circle.

Luca moved closer.

“I’ve seen this before.”

Elias looked at him.

“Where?”

Luca frowned.

He tried to remember.

“I don’t know.”

He reached toward the symbol.

The moment his fingers came close to the stone, a strange warmth moved through his hand.

Luca quickly pulled away.

Elias noticed.

“You felt it.”

Luca nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

“Good.”

“Why?”

“Because it recognizes you.”

Luca stared at the symbol.

“How?”

Elias walked past him.

“Because your blood came from here.”

Luca turned.

“What do you mean?”

Elias stopped beside an old stone table.

He reached beneath it and pulled out a small wooden box.

He placed it carefully on the table.

Luca watched him.

“What is that?”

“Something that belonged to your mother.”

Luca froze.

His eyes immediately moved to the box.

“My mother?”

Elias nodded.

Luca took a step forward.

“You knew her?”

“Yes.”

The answer came quietly.

Luca stared at him.

“You knew my mother?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Elias looked at him.

“You weren’t ready.”

Luca shook his head.

“There you go again.”

He moved closer to the table.

“Open it.”

Elias did not move.

“Open it.”

“You should do it.”

Luca looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because it belongs to you.”

Luca slowly reached toward the box.

His fingers trembled when they touched the lid.

For a moment, he couldn’t open it.

He had spent years remembering his mother through small pieces.

Her voice.

Her hands.

The smell of her clothes.

The way she used to hold him when he was afraid.

But he had almost forgotten her face.

Luca swallowed hard.

Then he opened the box.

Inside was a silver pendant.

It was small and simple, but the same symbol from the walls had been carved into it.

Luca stared at it.

His breathing became shallow.

“I remember this.”

Elias said nothing.

“My mother wore this.”

Luca picked it up carefully.

He turned it over in his hand.

There was a tiny mark on the back.

A letter.

Luca ran his finger over it.

“She used to wear this every day.”

His voice became softer.

“I remember holding it when I was little.”

He smiled faintly.

For the first time since he left Silver Moon, there was something gentle in his expression.

“She used to tell me it was important.”

Elias watched him.

“What did she tell you?”

Luca looked at the pendant.

“She said one day I would understand.”

His smile disappeared.

“I never did.”

A tear slipped down his cheek.

He quickly wiped it away.

“I thought she meant I was too young.”

Elias’s voice was quiet.

“She meant something else.”

Luca looked up.

“What?”

Elias took a breath.

“Your mother was a Moonblood.”

Luca stared at him.

He had heard the words before.

But hearing them connected to the woman who had raised him made them feel different.

His fingers tightened around the pendant.

“So it’s true.”

“Yes.”

“My mother was one of them.”

“Yes.”

Luca looked down.

“And I got this from her?”

“You got more than that.”

Luca’s eyes lifted.

“What?”

“Everything that is waking inside you.”

Silence filled the room.

Luca slowly sat on the edge of the stone table.

He looked at his hands.

All his life, he had hated them.

He had hated his weak wolf.

He had hated the fact that he could never keep up during training.

He had hated the way the others looked at him.

He had believed there was something broken inside him.

But now he was beginning to understand.

Maybe there had never been anything broken.

Maybe something had simply been hidden.

“Why did she hide it?”

Elias leaned against the wall.

“Because Moonbloods were hunted.”

“By who?”

“Other wolves.”

“Why?”

“Fear.”

Luca looked at him.

“They were afraid of us?”

“They were afraid of what Moonbloods could become.”

Luca frowned.

“What can we become?”

Elias’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“That’s what you need to learn.”

Luca stood.

“So teach me.”

Elias looked at him.

“You’re angry.”

“Yes.”

“Anger will make your power dangerous.”

“Then teach me how to control it.”

“You’re grieving.”

“I know.”

“You’re hurt.”

“I know.”

“You want revenge.”

Luca went silent.

Elias watched him carefully.

Finally, Luca answered.

“Yes.”

His voice was low.

“I want them to feel what I felt.”

Elias pushed himself away from the wall.

“And if you become powerful enough to destroy them?”

Luca looked at him.

“I don’t know.”

“That answer worries me.”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“They destroyed me first.”

“No.”

Elias stepped closer.

“They hurt you.”

Luca looked confused.

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is what you choose to become afterward.”

The words stayed in the room.

Luca looked away.

He wanted to argue.

But he couldn’t.

Elias walked toward the center of the room.

“If you want revenge, that is your choice.”

He pointed toward the stone floor.

“But if you want power, you must first learn control.”

Luca looked down.

“What do I have to do?”

“Stand there.”

Luca stepped onto the center of the floor.

Elias moved several feet away.

“Close your eyes.”

Luca did.

“Now breathe.”

Luca took a slow breath.

“Again.”

He breathed in.

Then out.

“Forget the pack.”

Luca’s jaw tightened.

“Forget Amara.”

His chest tightened.

“Forget your father.”

Luca’s hands curled into fists.

Elias’s voice became firmer.

“You cannot control your power while holding on to every wound.”

Luca opened his eyes.

“I can’t forget.”

“I didn’t ask you to forget.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Learn to remember without letting the memory control you.”

Luca stared at him.

Elias nodded toward the floor.

“Close your eyes.”

Luca obeyed.

He breathed again.

At first, nothing happened.

Then he remembered the ceremony.

Amara’s face.

Because I don’t want you.

His breathing became uneven.

He remembered his father’s voice.

You are banished from this pack.

His chest began to burn.

He remembered the wolves laughing.

His hands began to shake.

Elias noticed.

“Stay still.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

Luca clenched his teeth.

The pendant around his neck suddenly became warm.

He grabbed it.

A faint silver light appeared beneath his skin.

Elias’s eyes widened.

“Don’t fight it.”

Luca’s breathing became faster.

“I don’t know how.”

“Listen to your wolf.”

Luca closed his eyes again.

Inside his mind, everything became quiet.

Then he heard his wolf.

Not angry.

Not afraid.

Strong.

I am here.

Luca swallowed.

“I know.”

You have always been here.

Luca’s eyes filled with tears.

“Then why didn’t you help me?”

There was silence.

Then his wolf answered.

Because you were never meant to awaken there.

Luca’s eyes opened.

The silver light beneath his skin disappeared.

He looked at Elias.

“What did it mean?”

Elias studied him.

“You heard it?”

“Yes.”

“What did it say?”

Luca hesitated.

“That I was never meant to awaken in Silver Moon.”

Elias’s expression became serious.

“That is important.”

“Why?”

“Because it means your awakening was not an accident.”

Luca stared at him.

“What are you saying?”

Elias walked toward the old carvings on the wall.

He placed his hand against the symbol of the Moonblood.

“Your mother didn’t just give you her blood.”

He looked back at Luca.

“She gave you a legacy.”

Luca slowly touched the pendant around his neck.

“What legacy?”

Elias’s eyes remained on him.

“You’ll learn.”

Luca sighed.

“I hate those words.”

“I know.”

For the first time, a small smile appeared on both their faces.

It disappeared quickly.

Elias turned toward the doorway.

“Get some rest.”

Luca frowned.

“That’s it?”

“For tonight.”

“And tomorrow?”

Elias looked back at him.

“Tomorrow, we begin.”

“Begin what?”

“Your training.”

Luca looked at the ancient room around him.

Then at the pendant in his hand.

Then toward the darkness outside.

For the first time since leaving Silver Moon, he did not feel completely lost.

He was still hurt.

Still angry.

Still grieving.

But beneath all of it was something new.

Purpose.

Luca closed his fingers around his mother’s pendant.

“I’ll be ready.”

Elias gave him a quiet look.

“I hope you are.”

Then he walked out of the room.

Luca remained alone beneath the ancient symbols.

He looked at his mother’s pendant one more time.

A tear rolled down his cheek.

But this time, he did not wipe it away.

“I’ll find out who you really were, Mother,” he whispered.

His fingers tightened around the pendant.

“And I’ll find out why you were so afraid to tell me.”

Outside, the wind moved through the ancient trees.

Inside the sanctuary, the silver symbol above Luca’s head began to glow.

Luca didn’t notice.

But somewhere far away, beyond the forest and beyond Silver Moon, another wolf suddenly lifted its head.

It had felt the awakening.

And it was not afraid.

It was waiting.