Chapter Two

Mona's POV

The burning under my skin kept me awake all night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that phoenix symbol glowing on the pack stone, and Derek's storm-gray eyes boring into mine.

*A caged phoenix.*

By dawn, the house was in chaos. Father had called an emergency pack meeting, and through my thin walls, I heard him raging about "threats to the pack" and "dark magic."

"Mona!" Mother's sharp voice cut through my thoughts. "Get down here!"

I found them in Father's study - him, Mother, and Selena. Leon stood by the window, my older brother's expression unreadable.

"You did this," Father snarled the moment I entered. "That symbol appeared right after you humiliated your sister."

"I was in the kitchen—"

His hand wrapped around my throat, slamming me against the wall. "Don't lie to me, you little witch. What dark magic are you playing with?"

"Marcus." Grandmother's voice came from the doorway, quiet but firm. "Release her."

"Stay out of this, old woman."

"Release. Her." Grandmother stepped into the room, and despite her age, power radiated from her small frame. "Or I'll remind this pack who their Luna was before you married into the bloodline."

Father's hand loosened, and I gasped for air. He'd never backed down from Grandmother before.

"The girl had nothing to do with last night's... incident," Grandmother continued. "I've checked. No magic signature, no spell residue. Someone else sent that message."

"Who?" Selena demanded. "Who would dare threaten me? I'm going to be Luna!"

Grandmother's eyes found mine, and something passed between us. "Perhaps someone who knows the truth about bloodlines and birthrights."

The room went deadly quiet.

"What truth?" Leon spoke for the first time, his voice careful.

"Nothing," Father said quickly. Too quickly. "The old woman speaks in riddles. Mona, you're confined to your room until the engagement ceremony next week. No meals with the family, no leaving except for chores."

"But—"

"GO!"

I fled, but not before catching Grandmother's subtle nod toward my window. Tonight. She wanted me to sneak out tonight.

The day crawled by. I watched from my window as investigators from the Pack Council examined the glowing symbol, which still hadn't faded. Derek was among them, his presence commanding even from a distance. Once, he looked up directly at my window, as if he knew I was watching.

When darkness finally fell, I slipped out through the loose board in my wall that I'd hidden for years. The packhouse was quiet, everyone exhausted from the day's drama.

Sophie waited at the old oak tree, bouncing with nervous energy. "Finally! Come on, Grandmother's waiting."

We ran through the forest to a cottage I'd never seen before, hidden by ancient magic that made my skin tingle. Inside, Sophie's grandmother sat by a fire, her blind eyes somehow seeing straight through me.

"Mona Blackstone," she said. "Or should I say, Mona Bloodmoon?"

"What?" I sank into a chair. "My name is—"

"The name they gave you, yes. But not your true name." The old woman leaned forward. "Your mother, Elena, is not your birth mother."

The world tilted. "That's impossible."

"Your true mother was Lyra Bloodmoon, the last Phoenix Wolf born to our kind. She died giving birth to you, but not before binding your power to protect you."

"Phoenix Wolf?" My voice cracked. "Those are myths."

"Myths that your father went to great lengths to hide." She pulled out an old photograph. A woman with my exact face stared back, her crimson hair like living flames. "Lyra was Marcus's first mate. When she died, he took Elena as his chosen mate and claimed you were theirs. But Leon and Selena are only your half-siblings."

My head spun. "Why? Why hide this?"

"Because Phoenix Wolves are born to rule. Their power exceeds any Alpha's. Marcus knew that when you shifted, you'd have a stronger claim to the pack than him, than Selena, than anyone."

"But I can't shift!"

"Because he's been poisoning you." Sophie gasped beside me. "The tea he makes you drink every morning for your 'health.' It contains wolfsbane. Small doses, just enough to suppress your wolf."

Rage flooded through me, and with it came heat. Real heat. My hands burst into flames.

Sophie screamed. I jerked back, but the fire didn't burn. It danced across my skin like it belonged there.

"The binding is breaking," the old woman whispered. "Your eighteenth birthday approaches, and not even wolfsbane can hold back what you truly are."

"I need to go," I stammered, panicking as the flames spread up my arms. "I need—"

"Control." Derek emerged from the shadows, and my fire responded, flaring brighter. "You need to learn control."

"You were following me?"

"Protecting you." He moved closer, unafraid of my flames. "The Academy has been watching your family for years. We suspected Marcus was hiding something. A Phoenix Wolf... I never imagined."

"I can't be—"

"Your fire says otherwise." He held out his hand. "The Academy can teach you. Away from here, away from them."

"She can't leave yet," Sophie's grandmother interrupted. "The blood moon comes in three days. If she doesn't shift properly during the ceremony, the power could consume her."

"Then we prepare," Derek said firmly. "I'll train her."

"You can't!" Sophie grabbed my burning hands, gasping when they didn't hurt her. "If her father finds out—"

A howl split the night. Then another. And another.

"Rogues," Derek snarled, his body tensing. "Too many. This is an attack."

Through the window, we saw them. Dozens of wolves, eyes glowing red with bloodlust, surrounding the cottage.

"They're after her," the old woman said calmly. "Someone else knows what she is."

Derek shifted instantly, a massive black wolf with silver markings. He looked at me once, and I heard his voice in my mind: *Run.*

But as the first rogue crashed through the window, my fire exploded outward. Not just flames - phoenix fire, white-hot and alive. It consumed three rogues instantly, turning them to ash.

"Impossible," Sophie breathed. "You haven't even shifted—"

"MONA!" Father's roar echoed through the forest. The pack warriors had arrived, drawn by the fighting.

I stood there, wrapped in flames, surrounded by ash, with Derek's wolf form standing protective beside me. Father's eyes went wide with shock, then narrowed with fury.

"You," he snarled at Sophie's grandmother. "You awakened it."

"I awakened nothing. I merely told the truth."

"Kill her," Father ordered his warriors. "Kill the old woman and contain my daughter."

"No!" I stepped forward, but Derek blocked me.

The warriors hesitated, torn between orders and the display of power they'd just witnessed.

Then Selena appeared, and in her hands was something that made my blood freeze.

A collar. Ancient, covered in runes, gleaming with dark magic.

"For you, dear sister," she smiled viciously. "We've had it ready for years, just in case you ever became... problematic."

The collar pulsed with power, and my flames began to flicker and die.

"Did you really think we didn't know?" Selena laughed. "We've always known what you are. And we've always had a plan to make sure you never become it."

Father moved toward me with the collar, and I found I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't—

Derek's wolf slammed into Father, sending him flying. *Run!* his voice screamed in my mind. *NOW!*

But as I turned to flee, Leon appeared from nowhere, and something sharp pierced my neck.

A dart. Filled with concentrated wolfsbane.

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was my grandmother falling to the ground, blood pooling beneath her still form.

And Selena's triumphant smile.