Part 2
“And your mother was the last Queen of the Moon Court.”
Mara stared at Adrian as if he had spoken another language.
The cathedral had become unnaturally quiet.
Only the rain continued outside.
Her hand was still inside his.
Warm.
Steady.
Impossible.
“My mother?” Mara whispered.
Adrian nodded.
“Lyra Vale.”
Mara’s throat tightened.
“You knew her?”
The king’s expression darkened.
“I knew of her.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No,” Adrian said softly. “It isn’t.”
Mara pulled her hand free.
She took two steps backward.
The silver mark on her wrist burned.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrian didn’t chase her.
He simply watched.
That frightened her more than if he had.
For years, Mara had been told her mother abandoned her.
She had been told Lyra was weak.
A traitor.
A runaway.
A woman who had chosen freedom over her own child.
Mara had grown up believing those stories because there had been no one left to contradict them.
But now the most powerful wolf in the world was standing before her and saying her mother had been a queen.
A queen.
“No,” Mara said.
Her voice cracked.
“You’re mistaken.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“I wish I were.”
Elias suddenly stepped between them.
“You need to leave.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You still believe you have authority here?”
“This is my pack.”
“For another few minutes.”
Elias’s eyes flashed gold.
His wolf pushed forward.
“You don’t get to threaten me in my own home.”
Adrian smiled.
It wasn’t a pleasant smile.
“Threaten?”
He stepped closer.
“I haven’t threatened you.”
The king’s eyes turned silver.
“I’ve warned you.”
Elias stopped breathing.
Everyone knew what that meant.
The Lycan King was offering him one final chance.
Selene stepped forward.
Her wedding veil trembled.
“Elias.”
He turned.
She looked terrified.
“You’re not going to let him take her, are you?”
Mara looked at Selene.
For the first time, she noticed something strange.
The bride wasn’t angry.
She was afraid.
Not of Mara.
Of Adrian.
Adrian turned toward Selene.
“You should be more concerned about your own situation.”
Selene went pale.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian said nothing.
Mara frowned.
“What situation?”
Before he could answer, the cathedral doors exploded inward.
A dozen armored wolves rushed inside.
Their uniforms bore the red crescent of the Bloodfang Legion.
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
He stepped in front of Mara.
“Stay behind me.”
The wolves raised weapons.
A voice shouted from the doorway.
“By order of the Council, the Lycan King is to surrender!”
Adrian’s wolf emerged.
The transformation was terrifying.
His eyes became molten silver.
His claws lengthened.
His body seemed to grow larger as ancient power rolled through the cathedral.
The attackers froze.
Mara couldn’t move.
She had never seen anything like him.
Then Adrian spoke.
“Who sent you?”
No answer.
His gaze moved across the soldiers.
“You have five seconds.”
The first soldier attacked.
Adrian disappeared.
There was a flash of silver.
The soldier hit the wall.
The rest charged.
Mara screamed.
“Adrian!”
He turned toward her for half a second.
That was enough.
One attacker slipped around him.
A blade flashed toward Mara.
She raised her arms.
The blade stopped inches from her chest.
Not because Adrian caught it.
Because a wall of silver light erupted around her.
The attacker stumbled backward.
Mara stared at her hands.
“What…?”
Adrian stared too.
His expression was not fear.
It was recognition.
“Your blood,” he whispered.
Another soldier lunged.
The silver light exploded outward.
Every attacker was thrown across the cathedral.
Silence.
Mara looked at Adrian.
“What am I?”
He approached slowly.
“Something someone has spent twenty years trying to hide.”
“Who?”
Before Adrian could answer, an old man stepped from the shadows near the altar.
He was wearing the robes of the Moon Priest.
His face was pale.
“Mara.”
She turned.
“Father Oren?”
The old priest looked at Adrian.
Then at Mara.
And dropped to his knees.
“Your Majesty.”
Mara’s stomach turned.
“What are you doing?”
Father Oren bowed his head.
“To the Queen.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
The priest’s eyes filled with tears.
“You were never abandoned, child.”
“Then where was she?”
Silence.
Mara’s voice rose.
“Where was my mother?”
Father Oren looked at Adrian.
Adrian’s expression became unreadable.
“She was hiding you.”
“From whom?”
“The Council.”
“Why?”
“Because they believed you would inherit the Moon Court.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“This is insane.”
“No,” Adrian said.
He stepped toward her.
“It’s worse than that.”
Mara looked at him.
“What could possibly be worse?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“They didn’t want you dead.”
She waited.
“They wanted you controlled.”
Mara felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because your blood can command the ancient wolves.”
Her knees weakened.
Adrian caught her before she fell.
The moment his arms surrounded her, something inside her settled.
Her wolf.
The wild creature she had always felt was strangely distant.
It lifted its head.
And purred.
Mara pulled away.
“Don’t.”
Adrian released her immediately.
“I won’t force you.”
“You keep saying things like you know me.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why do you look at me like that?”
His expression softened.
“Because my wolf has known you longer than I have.”
Mara’s breath caught.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your scent was hidden from me.”
“Why?”
“Because someone powerful wanted to make sure I never found you.”
Mara glanced at Elias.
He had been silent for too long.
“Did you know?”
Elias looked away.
Her heart cracked.
“Elias.”
He closed his eyes.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“What?”
“I knew the bond between us wasn’t normal.”
Mara stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I felt it.”
“And you rejected me anyway?”
His face twisted.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“By marrying her?”
Elias had no answer.
Selene stepped forward.
“I can explain.”
Mara turned toward her.
“You?”
Selene swallowed.
“There are things you don’t know.”
Mara laughed.
“Apparently, I’m the only person who doesn’t.”
Selene’s eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother saved my life.”
Mara froze.
“What?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Selene looked toward the stained-glass windows.
“The Moon Court fell.”
Father Oren lowered his head.
“Your mother was betrayed.”
Adrian’s voice was cold.
“By the High Council.”
Selene nodded.
“They hunted her.”
Mara stared at her.
“And you knew?”
“I was a child.”
“You knew about me?”
Selene hesitated.
“Yes.”
The word hit harder than a slap.
Mara looked at Elias.
“And you?”
Elias whispered, “I found out six months ago.”
Mara’s heart shattered.
Six months.
Six months ago, he had known she was connected to something bigger.
And he still rejected her.
Still chose Selene.
Still let Mara believe she wasn’t enough.
“Why?”
Elias stepped forward.
“Because if I stayed with you, the Council would use you against me.”
Mara stared at him.
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You could have trusted me.”
“I was afraid.”
She shook her head.
“You weren’t afraid for me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You were afraid of losing your position.”
Elias didn’t answer.
And that silence was an answer.
Adrian stepped beside Mara.
Not touching her.
Just there.
A silent wall between her and everyone who had betrayed her.
Then a voice echoed from the balcony.
“You’re all wasting time.”
Everyone looked up.
A hooded figure stood above them.
Adrian’s face hardened.
“Show yourself.”
The figure laughed.
“You really don’t remember me, do you?”
Adrian went still.
The hood fell.
Mara gasped.
The face beneath it belonged to a man she had seen only once before.
In an old photograph.
Her mother’s brother.
Her uncle.
Darius.
Mara whispered his name.
“Darius?”
The man smiled.
“Hello, little moon.”
Adrian moved instantly.
But Darius raised his hand.
A black mark appeared on Mara’s wrist.
She screamed.
The silver bond between her and Adrian ignited.
Adrian staggered.
Darius smiled.
“Now you understand.”
“What did you do?” Adrian growled.
“I awakened the blood.”
Mara fell to her knees.
Images flooded her mind.
A palace beneath the moon.
Her mother holding her.
A baby crying.
Fire.
Wolves attacking.
A silver crown.
And a man standing over her mother.
Darius.
Her mother screamed.
“Take Mara and run!”
The vision vanished.
Mara gasped.
“My mother…”
Darius’s expression changed.
“She was never dead.”
Mara looked up.
“What?”
Darius smiled.
“She has been waiting for you.”
Adrian’s face went pale.
“Where?”
Darius stepped backward.
“Come find her.”
The walls shook.
A portal opened behind him.
Mara instinctively reached for Adrian.
He caught her hand.
Darius laughed.
“The Queen’s daughter has finally awakened.”
Then the portal collapsed.
Silence.
Mara looked at Adrian.
“Take me to her.”
His eyes hardened.
“I will.”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what.”
“Even if it’s dangerous?”
“Especially then.”
Mara nodded.
Then Adrian’s expression changed.
He looked at the moonstone pendant around her neck.
“There’s one problem.”
“What?”
“That pendant isn’t just a keepsake.”
Mara touched it.
“What is it?”
Adrian swallowed.
“It’s a key.”
“To what?”
He looked toward the ruined cathedral.
“To the place where your mother has been imprisoned for twenty years.”
Mara’s heart stopped.
Then a terrible howl echoed from somewhere beneath the earth.
Adrian pulled her close.
And for the first time, the king looked genuinely afraid.
Because beneath the cathedral, something ancient had awakened.
Something that had been waiting for Mara.
And it knew her name.
“Mara.”
She turned.
A voice whispered from the darkness.
“Come home, little Queen.”
The floor beneath her feet cracked open.
Adrian grabbed her waist.
Too late.
A silver hand emerged from the darkness and seized Mara’s ankle.
She screamed.
Adrian roared.
The entire cathedral exploded with moonlight.
And when the light vanished, Mara was gone.
Only her moonstone pendant remained in Adrian’s hand.
He stared at it.
Then his wolf spoke inside his mind.
Find her.
Adrian closed his fist around the pendant.
“I will.”
His eyes turned silver.
“Even if I have to tear the Moon Court out of the earth.”
LIKE or COMMENT “MOON” if you want Part 3. 🌙
When the comments reach the promised number, Part 3 reveals where Mara was taken, what truly happened to her mother, why Adrian was destined to find her, and the secret that could destroy—or unite—the entire wolf kingdom.
