The Lost Beta 3 - Whispers of the past

Like a death sentence, the scout's words lingered in the atmosphere.

"Tell the girl her father is waiting."

Silence fell over the room.

Emily's breathing became labored. She wavered a little, fear and bewilderment encircling her like a noose. "My father?" she muttered. “That’s not possible. He’s dead.”

Alexander’s jaw clenched. He didn’t trust this. The rogues wouldn’t lie without reason. If they said her father was waiting, then someone out there wanted her to believe it.

Damien was watching her too closely. The Alpha had been hiding something and now, the truth was slipping through the cracks.

Emily’s hands trembled. She didn’t recall her past life, but deep in her gut, she knew this wasn’t just a threat. It was a warning.

And if Lucien was truly alive...

Then everything they thought they knew about her past was a lie.

---

The room was thick with tension as Damien finally spoke. “You’re not leaving.” His voice was cold, final.

Emily’s head snapped up. “But if my father…”

“If he’s alive,” Damien cut in, “then he’s a danger to this pack. And I won’t risk a war over a rogue girl with a lost past.”

Alexander growled low in his throat. “She’s not just a rogue girl.”

Damien’s gaze flickered between them, sharp and knowing. “She’s your mate, yes. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a risk.”

Emily swallowed hard. She was losing control of herself. "I need answers," she uttered as she forced her voice to remain steady and added, "I must leave."

Damien’s eyes darkened. “Then you go as bait. Because if Lucien really wants you, he won’t stop hunting until you’re in his hands.”

Alexander stepped forward, his wolf bristling. “You want to use her?”

Damien's face remained unwavering. "I want this to stop before it ruins us all."

Emily balled her fingers into fists. She didn't want to play a supporting role in their war. But if this was the only way to uncover the truth…

The danger would have to be hers.

 ---

Emily sat on the edge of the bed that night, gazing at the mark on her shoulder as the moon rose high over the packhouse.

Alexander was pacing. “We shouldn’t do this.”

She looked up. “Then how do I find out who I am?”

Something raw and unsaid was in his golden eyes when they met hers. "I wish to avoid losing you once more."

The words struck something deep inside her.

She didn’t remember him. Didn’t remember what they had shared. However, it felt like a memory attempting to elude him when he gazed at her in that way.

For a short while she hesitated and then touched his hand. "I won't leave you."

His fingers curled around hers, as if testing if she was real. “Then we do this together.”

Her heart stuttered.

She wasn’t alone in this. And maybe, just maybe, she never had been.

---

By dawn, they were moving.

It was a simple plan: track the rogues’ path, discover who sent the message, and reveal the truth.

The woods were unsettlingly quiet as they followed the smell, the atmosphere heavy with an anxious calm. Emily sensed an unusual tug in her chest, as if something was leading her ahead.

Then she saw it.

A body.

Lying in the dirt, throat torn open.

She staggered back, her stomach twisting. The rogue was dead, fresh blood still pooling around him. But carved into the tree beside him were four words that sent ice through her veins.

“Welcome home, my daughter.”

Emily’s breath hitched. Her pulse pounded.

Alexander’s growl rumbled beside her. “It’s a trap.”

She knew he was right.

But the worst part?

A part of her wanted to walk straight into it.

---

Emily's skin pricked with familiarity the farther they ventured into the trees. Although her body remembered this place, she did not.

Suddenly she laid eyes on him.

A figure stood at the edge of a clearing in the silver moonlight.

Tall. Strong. His presence was suffocating. And when he turned, his blood-red eyes locked onto hers.

Something inside her snapped.

Memories buried deep rushed to the surface.

Fire. Screams. A man reaching for her with those same red eyes.

She staggered back, shaking. “No...”

The man smiled. “You do remember me.”

Alexander was already in front of her, his body tense with rage. "Who the hell are you?"

The man cocked his head with laughter flickering in his eyes and then he replied. "I go by a lot of names. But once... she called me Father.”

---

Emily’s lungs locked. Her entire body froze.

No. This wasn’t possible.

“I can see you enjoy telling lies,” she whispered.

Lucien smirked. “I do?”

A thousand questions clawed at her mind, but all she could do was stare at the man who claimed to be her father. The monster who had haunted her fragmented dreams.

Alexander’s growl vibrated through the air. "You are completely mistaken if you believe that we will simply hand her over."

Lucien laughed, as though the thought itself made him laugh. “I don’t need you to hand her over, Beta.” His eyes gleamed as he took a step closer. “I just need her to remember.”

And before either of them could react, he lifted his hand.

And Emily’s world shattered.

---

Fire consumed her vision.

She felt like a child once more standing in the rubble of a burning village. People screamed. Blood painted the ground.

And in the center of it all, Lucien stood with his crimson eyes, holding out his hand.

"Come with me, little one, you never belonged here.”

She had trusted him.

Had gone with him.

Because once before everything fell apart he had been her father.

Emily’s breath came in ragged gasps as she stumbled back into reality. Tears burned her eyes.

Lucien smiled. “Now you understand.”

She did.

And that was the worst part of all.

---

Alexander grabbed her arm, steadying her. “Emily, don’t listen to him.”

Lucien’s expression didn’t change. “She doesn’t have to listen. She knows.”

Emily’s mind reeled. If this was true, if she was really his daughter then what did that make her?

A rogue. A traitor. The enemy.

Lucien extended his hand. “Come home, my child.”

Alexander’s grip tightened. “She is home.”

Emily looked between them, her heart pounding.

One man was her mate.

The other was the key to her past.

And she had no idea which one she could trust.

---

Emily's true identity is uncovered; she is the daughter of Lucien. Now, confronted with a decision between her former life and her destiny, she must determine where she genuinely fits.