The Hidden Heir

Chapter 12

Lyra sat upright in bed.

Her heart hammered against her ribs.

The room was dark.

Silent.

Yet Queen Selene's final words echoed inside her head.

The Council murdered the Moonborn.

A conspiracy centuries old.

Not years.

Centuries.

The realization terrified her.

Because if Selene was telling the truth, then someone had spent generations hunting her bloodline.

And they were still hunting it now.

A knock sounded at her door.

Three sharp taps.

Ronan.

She recognized the rhythm immediately.

"Come in."

The Rogue King entered.

One look at her face and his expression hardened.

"You saw another vision."

It wasn't a question.

Lyra nodded.

"I spoke to Selene."

For the first time, genuine surprise crossed Ronan's face.

"You spoke to her?"

"I think so."

She quickly explained everything.

The palace.

The attack.

The betrayal.

The Council.

When she finished, Ronan remained silent.

Too silent.

"You already suspected this, didn't you?"

His jaw tightened.

"Yes."

Anger flared inside her.

"You knew?"

"Not all of it."

He paced toward the window.

"But there have always been rumors."

"What kind of rumors?"

Ronan stared into the darkness beyond Shadow Hollow.

"That the Moonborn weren't wiped out by war."

His voice became colder.

"They were erased."

The word sent a chill down her spine.

Erased.

Not defeated.

Not lost.

Erased.

As if someone had deliberately removed them from history.

Suddenly the burned archives made perfect sense.

The assassins.

The lies.

The conspiracy.

Someone was still trying to erase the truth.

The next morning, Seer Elara summoned Lyra to a hidden chamber beneath the mountain.

The room was unlike anything she had seen before.

Ancient symbols covered the walls.

Silver candles burned with steady flames.

And at the center stood a circular stone platform.

"What is this place?"

Elara smiled faintly.

"The Chamber of Echoes."

Lyra wasn't sure she liked the sound of that.

The old woman gestured toward the platform.

"Stand in the center."

Reluctantly, Lyra obeyed.

The moment her feet touched the stone, the symbols surrounding the chamber began glowing.

Softly at first.

Then brighter.

Much brighter.

Power surged through the room.

The air itself seemed alive.

Lyra's pulse quickened.

"What is happening?"

Elara's eyes widened.

"Impossible."

Ronan stepped forward.

"What?"

The Seer's voice trembled.

"The chamber is responding."

"Isn't it supposed to?"

"No."

The old woman stared at Lyra.

"Not like this."

The glowing symbols suddenly shifted.

Ancient silver light spiraled around Lyra's body.

Faster.

Faster.

Faster.

Then—

A single symbol appeared on the floor beneath her feet.

A crescent moon surrounded by a crown.

The exact symbol she had seen in her visions.

The Moon Queen's crest.

The room fell silent.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Elara slowly dropped to one knee.

Mara immediately followed.

Then another warrior.

Then another.

Soon everyone in the chamber was kneeling.

Everyone except Ronan.

Lyra stared at them in horror.

"What are you doing?"

Elara lifted her gaze.

Tears shimmered in her ancient eyes.

"The Chamber has spoken."

A strange feeling settled inside Lyra.

One part fear.

One part disbelief.

One part destiny.

"No."

Her voice shook.

"This isn't real."

The old woman smiled sadly.

"It is."

Then she delivered the words that changed everything.

"You are the last living heir of the Moon Queen."

The world stopped.

No.

No.

No.

This couldn't be happening.

She was Lyra Blackwood.

Rejected mate.

Banished wolf.

Outcast.

Not royalty.

Not a queen.

Not an heir.

Yet the chamber's silver light continued glowing around her.

As if confirming the truth.

As if it had waited centuries for her return.

Miles away, inside a hidden fortress, Alpha Magnus stood before a massive window.

The morning sun illuminated his cold features.

A messenger rushed into the room.

Breathless.

Terrified.

"My lord."

Magnus didn't turn around.

"What is it?"

"The Shadow Fang has reported back."

A slow smile appeared.

"Good."

The messenger swallowed.

"He confirmed it."

For the first time, Magnus turned.

Danger gleamed in his eyes.

"What did he find?"

The messenger lowered his head.

"The girl survived."

Magnus expected that.

It annoyed him.

But it wasn't surprising.

"What else?"

The messenger hesitated.

Fear filled his face.

Magnus immediately noticed.

And suddenly—

He wasn't smiling anymore.

"What else?"

The man took a shaky breath.

Then whispered the words.

"The heir has awakened."

There was silence,

Deadly silence.

For several terrifying seconds, nobody moved.

Then Magnus exploded.

His desk shattered beneath a single blow.

Wood scattered across the room.

Rage twisted his features.

"Impossible."

The messenger flinched.

"My lord—"

"Impossible!"

Magnus's eyes burned with hatred.

Because after centuries of hunting.

After centuries of killing.

After centuries of lies.

The one thing he feared most had happened.

The Moon Queen's bloodline had survived.

And now...

It was waking up.

And for  the first time in centuries...

He was afraid. 

End of Chapter