Chapter 6

AURORA'S POV 

Elder Miriam's cottage was located at the edge of pack territory.

I knocked on her door at nearly midnight with my heart pounding hard.

My mind flew back to how I got here.

“The test results are back,” Lyra had said as she closed the office door.

She has come up to me and spread several papers across my desk. 

“Your instincts were right. There is magical residue in Asher's hair sample and in the herbs from that sachet.”

I leaned over the documents with my heart thundering in my chest.

“Dark magic?”

“Yes but I have no idea how dark it is. One of the doctors said it's similar to a technique specifically designed to create dependency and transfer loyalty from the original bond to the caster.” 

“A bond?” I asked with wide eyes. 

She nodded.

“But he is not sure. You'll have to take the papers to Miriam, the pack elder. She is in the best position to help you.”

I swallowed.

Was it that bad?

“What if she…”

“I'll speak to her,” Lyra interrupted me. “You just go there in person to meet her.”

Tears filled my eyes.

What would I do without Lyra? I stood and embraced her, taking her off guard with my sobs.

“Oh dear, come on now,” she said while patting my back. “It's fine.”

“I love you, Lyra.”

“I love you too,” she mouthed as I released her.

Lyra's finger traced a line of data. 

“But whoever made this knew exactly what they were doing.”

“Seraphina.”

“We need to document everything.” 

Lyra opened my top drawer and pulled out a fresh notebook and my pen.

“I will need dates of when the symptoms started and times she was alone with Asher alongside any unusual behavior from Alaric.”

I nodded.

“We are building a case here. But we have to be careful because without solid proof, this could easily look like jealousy.”

I spent the next hour detailing everything I could remember from both lives. 

Lyra took notes, with her expression growing grimmer with each entry.

“This is enough to start,” she said finally. “But Aurora, you need to be careful. If she realizes we are investigating her…”

“I know.” 

I gathered the papers and tucked them into my bag. 

“Thank you for believing me.”

She had given me everything I needed to come here, and here I was.

When the door opened, Miriam stood there in her nightgown with her silver hair loose around her shoulders. 

She took one look at my face in utter disbelief and stepped aside.

“Come in, child.”

Her living room was cluttered with books, and dried herbs hung in every corner. 

She offered me a seat, and I sank into her worn-out sunshine yellow sofa.

I pulled out the sachet when she demanded it and the carved charm I had taken from Seraphina's room during the night.

“Where did you get these?” 

Miriam's voice was sharp as she examined the objects under her lamp.

I told her everything I had observed, and her expression grew darker with each word. 

She set the objects down on the table between us when I was finished.

“This is a forbidden binding magic technique.”

I gasped.

The words hung in the air like a death sentence.

Everything that I  thought I knew swirled around me and scattered.

“Can it be broken?” My voice came out as a whisper.

“Yes.” 

Miriam leaned forward with her sharp gray eyes boring into mine. 

“But it will take time and proof. And you will also need to awaken your true Luna power, something you have been suppressing for all these years.”

I didn't ask how she had known.

After all, she was the eyes of the oracle who could see both ancient and present.

“How long will it take?”

“Weeks. Maybe longer.” 

Miriam picked up the sachet and sniffed it. 

I watched her movements.

“The illness in your son isn't natural. It's a curse designed to make him dependent on the caster's presence. The more he needs her, the more your Luna bond with him weakens.”

I thought of my countdown. 

Twenty-one days until the divorce, and I could walk away from this marriage and never ever look back.

But how could I leave knowing what Seraphina was doing to my son?

I had to save him and expose her for good.

“I don't know if I can do this,” I admitted. “I'm not certain that I am strong enough.”

Her brows rose in question.

“Then you must become strong enough because if you run, that woman will consume your son completely.” 

My eyes widened as I realized that she really did know everything possible.

I wondered why I was even surprised.

Her hand reached out across the space between us and covered mine. 

“And when she is done with him, there will be nothing left of the boy you love.”

When she let go, I simply sat in her cluttered cottage, surrounded by the smell of dried herbs and old magic, and faced the question that would determine everything.

Run or fight?

My hands clenched into fists.

I had run once before in my own way. 

I had made myself small and weak and harmless with the hope that it would be enough to keep my family together.

It had gotten me killed.

This time, I would fight.

“How do I fight her?” I asked Miriam.

She smiled.

“Come child, I'll help you.”

The light of the moon bathed the forest clearing the moment I stepped into it.

I met Miriam standing in the centre of the clearing with her silver hair braided into two cornrows and her eyes closed in meditation, waiting for me as we had agreed.

She would teach me to fight Seraphina using my Luna powers.

But first, I had to be stronger.

“You're late,” she said without opening her eyes.

“I had to wait until everyone was asleep,” I explained as I joined her in the circle of ancient stones. 

The agreement had been midnight, but this should be about an hour after.

“Alaric has been watching me.”

Miriam's eyes opened. 

“Then we begin now.”

I nodded.

“Sit,” she ordered as she herself stood.

I lowered myself onto the damp sand. 

“Your Luna power has been dormant for three years.” 

Miriam circled me slowly. 

“Do you know why?”

“No.”

I did.

“It is because you made yourself smaller to appear weaker just so you could try to fit into Alaric's shadow. You lowered your standards instead of standing beside him.” 

She stopped in front of me. 

“A true Luna is not a follower. She is a force of nature. You need to remember who you were meant to be.”

I sighed softly.

“But I don't know how to.”

“Close your eyes.” 

Miriam's voice softened. 

“Find your wolf. She's been waiting for you.”

I closed my eyes and reached inward, searching for the presence that had been almost silent since my rebirth. 

At first there was nothing. 

But then, it was as if there was a small flicker in my subconscious, and I saw a silver shape moving through the darkness.

“I see her,” I whispered.

“Good. Now listen to the pack bonds. You need to feel every thread that connects you to every member of Shadowpine.”

The forest was alive with the humming of birds calling out to each other and wind rustling through leaves as I worked.

“I see the threads.”

“Good, now find theirs, your mate, and your child,” she directed me.

Energy began to pulse around me as I searched through hundreds of golden threads stretched out in all directions. 

But three threads finally stood out. 

One of them was connected to Alaric and pulsing with purple corruption. 

The other one, which was weak and fraying, was attached to Asher. 

And the last one was held by Seraphina, a sickly black tendril that shouldn't exist.

It was dark purple, its darkness strong and raging, surging through the others.

“I see her, the corruption. She had attached herself to my pack bonds,” I breathed. 

“That is how she is controlling them,” Miriam said as her hand touched my shoulder.

Suddenly, my body buckled.

Blood rushed up my throat and gushed out of my mouth, onto the sand.

“You're not strong enough.”

I wanted to tell her 'I told you so,' but I was suddenly too tired, drained deep.

“Luna, you must learn to sever those dark attachments. But first, you must strengthen your own power.”

I nodded.

“Your training begins, and there is no excuse for you.”

We trained for two hours. 

The sweat dripping down my back by the time the sun rose fully in the sky was a testament to her words.

Every single muscle in my body trembled with exhaustion, but I could feel it now, the Luna power flowing through my veins.