The Truth

**Meanwhile, back at Ravenlaw Pack...**

Asher sat alone in his office, with a glass of whiskey in his hand that he hadn't touched. The alcohol wouldn't help anyway because nothing helped.

The door opened without a knock, and his beta, Kazel, walked in. Kazel took one look at him and sighed.

"You look like hell, Ash."

"Thanks for the observation," Asher muttered, staring at the amber liquid in his glass.

Kazel dropped into the chair across from the desk. "How long has it been since you slept?"

Asher didn't answer.

"You know what's causing this," he continued. "The bond..."

"Don't." Asher's voice came out sharper than he intended. "Just... don't."

"I told you rejecting her was a mistake." Kazel leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "I told you the Moon Goddess doesn't make errors but you wouldn't listen and now look at you."

Asher's grip tightened on the glass. He wanted to argue, to tell him that he had done what was right for the pack. I mean, that's what he has been telling himself for three months even though it was getting harder to believe.

His wolf had been restless from the moment Rhea accepted the rejection. Not just restless, agonized. It was like having an open wound that wouldn't heal, a constant ache that no amount of alcohol or distraction could numb and it was getting worse.

"Alpha," Kazel said quietly, "your wolf is dying."

Asher's head snapped up. "What?"

"You have to know it's true. You're weaker every day. Your shifts have become even more painful and you can barely hold your alpha command anymore." he shook his head.

"Rejecting your true mate has consequences. Usually, they're manageable if the rejection isn't mutual but she accepted it. She severed the bond completely and now your wolf is... fading."

"I made my choice," Asher said slowly.

"A choice that's killing you." he stood. "Look, I understand why you did it. The pack needed a strong luna, and Rhea seemed... inadequate but Vivienne isn't the answer either. She's power-hungry, manipulative, and half the pack can't stand her."

Asher knew all of this. He'd known it a week after claiming Vivienne as his chosen mate. She was beautiful, well-connected, from a powerful pack, everything he'd thought he needed but she was also cold and manipulative.

She didn't love him, didn't even particularly like him. She just wanted the title of luna, and the status and power that came with it and he'd given it to her because he was too proud to admit he'd made a mistake.

"Where is Rhea now?" Kazel asked softly.

"I don't know." Asher whispered. "She left that night, took nothing but a backpack and Maya hasn't heard from her since. It's like she just... vanished."

"She probably wanted to vanish. I mean you humiliated her in front of the entire pack."

Guilt twisted in Asher's gut. He took a drink of the whiskey, hoping it would burn away the feeling but it didn't.

"I did what I thought was right," he said, but the words didn't sound right even to his ears.

"And now you're dying because of it." Kazel headed for the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, Ash, I hope you find a way to fix this because if you don't... the pack's going to need a new alpha."

He left, closing the door softly behind him and Asher sat alone in his office, the whiskey finally reaching his lips. It burned going down, but it didn't touch the real pain which was the emptiness where the mate bond used to be.

"Rhea," he whispered to the empty room but there was no answer.

*****

The sanctuary wasn't what I expected.

I had imagined some dark cave or hidden bunker, somewhere a rogue Lycan would hide from the world.

Instead, Mira led me to a beautiful cabin hidden deep in the mountains, surrounded by ancient trees and protected by talismans I could feel in the air even in my human form.

"It's warded against detection," Mira explained as we approached. "No wolf, witch, or vampire can find this place unless I allow it. We'll be safe here while you learn."

The interior was warm and inviting and Mira handed me clothes when we got inside and pointed me toward the bathroom. "You need to clean up, then we'll talk."

Twenty minutes later, I sat across from her at a wooden table, a cup of tea warming my hands. I'd showered, dressed, and tried to process everything that had happened in the last few hours.

I had shifted into a giant white wolf that forced three rogues into submission and apparently, I was part of some nearly extinct bloodline that made me... what? Special? Dangerous?

"You have questions," Mira said, sipping her own tea. "You can ask them."

"All of them?" I laughed, but it came out shaky. "I don't even know where to start."

"Start with what's bothering you most."

I took a breath. "You said I was never weak and that my mother suppressed my wolf to protect me but... I grew up believing I was an omega. The weakest rank in the pack. Everyone treated me like I was fragile, worthless. If I was this powerful all along, why didn't anyone notice?"

"Because your mother was very good at what she did." Mira set down her cup. "White wolves are born with immense power, but that power needs to be awakened. Your mother bound your wolf before you were even old enough to shift, wrapped it in layers of magic so deep that even you couldn't feel what you really were. To everyone else, including you, you appeared to be exactly what she wanted them to see. A normal, unremarkable omega."

"But why?" The question came out more desperate than I intended. "Why would she do that to me?"

Mira's expression softened. "Because she loved you and she knew what would happen if anyone discovered the truth."

"How many of us are left?" I whispered.

"Truthfully? I don't know. Your mother was the last white wolf I knew of besides myself, and she died fifteen years ago. I've searched for others but found none. For all I know, Rhea, you and I might be the last of our kind."

"But that's why your mother did what she did," Mira continued gently. "She knew that if anyone discovered what you were, you'd either be killed or enslaved. So she hid you in plain sight and made you appear weak. It was the greatest gift she could give you."

"That's some gift," I scoffed, thinking of all those years of being bullied, overlooked, treated as less than nothing.

"Which kept you alive," Mira pointed out. "Would you rather have grown up in a cage?"

She did have a point.

"So what changed?" I asked. "If the suppression was so strong, why did my wolf emerge now?"

"Trauma." Mira closed the book. "The rejection, the severing of the mate bond, it was a shock so intense that it shattered the bindings your mother placed. Your wolf had to emerge to save you. She couldn't stay hidden anymore, not when you were in mortal danger."

Mira leaned forward. "But that's also why you're in danger now. A white wolf can't hide, Rhea. Your presence, your power, it's like a beacon to anyone sensitive enough to feel it and there are those who would do anything to possess that power."

I felt afraid and this time it was different. "What do I do?"

"You have to learn to control it and shield your presence when necessary, to fight when you must, and to never, ever let anyone put you in chains."

Mira's eyes changed colour. "I'm going to train and teach you everything your mother would have taught you if she'd lived. It won't be easy, and it won't be fast but by the time I'm done, you'll be strong enough to face whatever comes."

"How long will it take?"

Mira tilted her head, considering. "To master your basic abilities? It could be a year, maybe two but to reach your full potential? That could take decades so we'll start with the essentials. The rest will come with time and practice."

It seemed like forever, but also... I had nothing else. No pack, no home, no life to return to.

"Okay," I said. "Teach me."

Mira smiled, and for the first time since I'd met her, she looked almost pleased. "Good. We start tomorrow at dawn. Tonight, you rest. Your body has been through significant trauma so you need to recover."

She stood and gestured toward a doorway. "There's a bedroom there and it's yours for as long as you need it."

I wanted to protest, to say I could start training immediately but the moment she mentioned sleep, exhaustion crashed over me like a wave. I'd been running on adrenaline and fear for months so the idea of actually being safe, of not having to look over my shoulder every second, was almost overwhelming.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "For all of this. For helping me when you don't have to."

I watched her expression soften. "Your mother saved my life once, many years ago. I owed her a debt I could never repay but perhaps I can repay it by keeping her daughter alive." She paused. "Besides, I've been alone for a very long time. It's... nice to have company again especially another white wolf."

"Get some rest," Mira said, as she stood to leave. "Tomorrow, your real training begins."