All Chapters of Rejected Luna: Rise of an Omega Queen: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

For several seconds, nobody moved.I couldn't.My eyes remained fixed on the photograph in my hands.My mother.Alive.The woman I had cried for.The woman whose death had shaped every part of my life.The woman whose absence I had learned to live with.Alive.“No.”The word barely escaped my lips.Mara didn't move.My father looked as though someone had struck him.Liana tightened her grip around my arm.“She's lying,” I whispered.Mara's expression softened.“I wish I were.”I shook my head.“You said she disappeared.”“Yes.”“Then why did everyone tell me she was dead?”“Because that was the only way to keep you safe.”I looked at my father.“You knew?”His eyes met mine.“I suspected.”My heart cracked.“Suspected?”“I never saw her body.”I stared at him.“You never saw her body, and you let me believe she was dead?”His voice was quiet.“I was told she was dead.”“By who?”He didn't answer.I stepped toward him.“Dad.”He looked away.“By Victor.”My hands went cold.“So Victor

The words stayed with me long after the call ended.The room beneath the east wing.I looked at Mara.“You knew about it.”She didn't deny it.“Yes.”“And you never thought to mention it?”“I was following your mother's instructions.”I laughed once, but there was no humor in it.“Everyone keeps using my mother as an excuse for keeping secrets from me.”My father stepped closer.“She wanted you protected.”“I don't need protection anymore.”He looked at me carefully.“That's what she was afraid you'd say.”I ignored him.“Where's the east wing?”Mara pointed toward the far end of the estate.“It was sealed years ago.”“Can we open it?”Her expression tightened.“We shouldn't.”I looked at her.“That's not what I asked.”She sighed.“Yes.”--We walked through the estate in silence.The eastern hallway was darker than the rest of the house.Most of the windows had been boarded up.At the end stood a large wooden door.There was no handle.Only a silver crescent was carved into the cent

Nobody spoke after Victor's words.I could still hear them in my head.You're the reason the Ardens were hunted in the first place.I looked down at the pendant around my neck.It suddenly felt heavier.“What does that mean?”Victor didn't answer immediately.My father did.“It means you were born with something they wanted.”I looked at him.“What?”“Your blood.”I almost laughed“That's it?”“No.”His expression was grim.“Your mother believed your blood carried something that had disappeared from the Arden line generations ago."I frowned.“What disappeared?”“An inheritance.”Victor corrected him.“Not an inheritance.”My father looked at him.“Then what?”“A gift.”I stared at both of them.“A gift?”Victor nodded.“Your mother called it the First Mark.”The words meant nothing to me.“What is the First Mark?”Victor looked at the pendant.“That's what everyone has been searching for.”I touched the pendant.“And I have it?”“You carry it.”“Where?”He looked at me.“Inside you.”

“She's here.”The words echoed through the room.My heart slammed against my ribs.For a moment, nobody moved.Then my father grabbed the flashlight from the desk.“Stay here.”I shook my head.“No.”“Amara—”“You heard her.”“I know what I heard.”“Then why are you telling me to stay?”He looked at me.Because he knew I wouldn't listen.He sighed.“Stay behind me.”Liana moved beside us.“What about the other voice?”My father didn't answer.We stepped into the hallway.The estate was completely dark.Not even moonlight reached the corridor.Liana switched on her phone flashlight.The beam shook slightly in her hand.“Where did the voice come from?”I listened.Nothing.Then—A floorboard creaked downstairs.I looked at my father.He nodded.We moved toward the staircase.One step.Then another.The sound came again.Someone was walking through the main hall.Slowly.I reached the bottom of the stairs.A figure stood near the fireplace.A woman.Her back was toward us.Long dark hair

The northern forest looked different at night.During the day, it was simply a stretch of ancient trees and winding paths.At night, it felt like the forest was watching us.I sat in the passenger seat while my father drove.My mother sat beside me.Liana followed in the second car.Nobody spoke for the first twenty minutes.Then my mother broke the silence.“You should know something before we reach the sanctuary.”I looked at her.“What?”“The sanctuary may not be empty.”I frowned.“Who could be there?”“I don't know.”“You're my mother. You spent years hiding from these people. You must know something.”She gave me a tired smile.“Knowing something and knowing everything are very different things.”I looked out the window.“That sounds like something Dad would say.”She laughed quietly.It was the first time I'd heard her laugh in years.For a second, I forgot everything else.I looked at her.She noticed.“What?”“Nothing.”I turned away quickly.I didn't want her to see how much