<h4>Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Whispers of the True Luna</h4>


    Darkness swirled around ra like hungry shadows. The poison burned through her veins, turning her blood to fire. She could hear Kael and Ronan arguing, their voices fading as she sank deeper into the void.


    Then a new sound cut through—a high, eerie note from Ronan’s bone whistle. It vibrated in her bones, calling to something ancient inside her.


    "Will it work?" Kael’s voice seemed far away.


    "It has to," Ronan answered. "She’s dying."


    ra tried to speak, but her lips wouldn’t move. The poison had reached her heart, each beat slower than thest.


    Suddenly, the darkness shifted. ra found herself standing in a beautiful garden she’d never seen before. Moonflowers bloomed all around, their silver petals glowing softly.


    "Hello, little moon child."


    ra turned. A woman stood among the flowers—tall and graceful with kind eyes that looked exactly like Kael’s. She wore a simple white dress and a silver crown of twisted branches.


    "Luna Evelyn?" ra whispered. "The real Luna Evelyn?"


    The woman smiled sadly. "What remains of her."


    ra stepped closer. "Am I dead?"


    "Not yet," Luna Evelyn said. "You’re caught between worlds. The poison traps you here while your body dies."


    Fear gripped ra’s heart. "I need to go back! The skin-walker queen—"


    "I know," Luna Evelyn interrupted gently. "I’ve watched her wear my face for eighteen years, unable to stop her."


    "How are you here? She said she killed you."


    Luna Evelyn gestured around them. "This garden exists in the space between life and death. My spirit was trapped here when she took my body."


    She reached out and took ra’s hands. Her touch was warm, solid—nothing like a ghost’s.


    "We don’t have much time," Luna Evelyn said urgently. "The poison will im you soon, and she will control your power as she’s controlled mine."


    "How do I stop her?" ra asked.


    "First, you must survive." Luna Evelyn reached up and unsped the ne she wore—a delicate silver chain with a crescent moon pendant, different from ra’s broken one.


    "This was meant for you," she said, cing it around ra’s neck. "Your mother gave it to me the night the Moonstone Pack fell. ’For my daughter,’ she said, ’when she’s ready to know the truth.’"


    The moment the ne touched ra’s skin, warmth spread through her chest, pushing back the poison’s chill.


    "What is it?" ra asked, touching the crescent moon.


    "A key," Luna Evelyn answered. "And a weapon."


    She led ra to a small pond in the center of the garden. The water’s surface showed not their reflections, but scenes from long ago.


    "Watch," Luna Evelynmanded. "Learn what the skin-walker doesn’t want you to know."


    The water rippled, showing a young woman with silver eyes—like ra’s—standing before a pack of wolves.


    "The first Luna with silver eyes," Evelyn exined. "She was born an omega, like they told you that you were. The packughed when she imed she could lead."


    The scene changed, showing the same woman facing a monster with too many teeth—a skin-walker.


    "They didn’tugh when she drove back the darkness," Luna Evelyn continued. "When she bound the skin-walkers beneath the earth with her silver fire."


    The water shifted again. Now it showed a line of women, generation after generation, each with the same silver eyes.


    "For centuries, the daughters of the silver bloodline protected the packs," Luna Evelyn said. "Until the skin-walkers found a way to break free, eighteen years ago."


    A final image appeared—a woman holding a baby, running through a burning forest. ra recognized her mother from the diary’s sketch.


    "They targeted your mother first," Luna Evelyn whispered. "The strongest silver-eyed Luna in generations. After killing her, the queen came for me."


    The water went dark, and Luna Evelyn’s face tightened with pain.


    "Why didn’t she kill me too?" ra asked. "I was just a baby."


    "The prophecy," Luna Evelyn said. "It stated that killing a silver-eyed child would destroy the killer’s power. So instead, she bound your abilities and hid you as an omega."


    Understanding dawned on ra. "She’s been waiting for me to grow up. To im my power for herself."


    Luna Evelyn nodded. "And now she has poisoned you to make you vulnerable. When your will is broken, she’ll take control of your mind and your silver fire."


    "How do I stop the poison?" ra asked desperately.


    "The ne will help," Luna Evelyn said. "But you need more. You need the strength of all three bonds."


    "But Darian—"


    "Is alive," Luna Evelyn finished. "My youngest son lives, hidden where even the skin-walker queen cannot find him."


    Hope bloomed in ra’s chest. "Where?"


    "I cannot say the words aloud, even here," Luna Evelyn nced nervously at the shadows creeping closer around the garden. "She might hear. But this will show you."


    She pressed her palm to ra’s forehead. Images shed through ra’s mind—a cave behind a waterfall, a hidden valley, a throne made of bones.


    "The bone throne," ra gasped. "That’s where they’re keeping him?"


    Luna Evelyn nodded grimly. "The skin-walkers’ domain. Their prince guards him."


    "Their prince?"


    "The fake Darian was the queen’s son," Luna Evelyn exined. "The prince of skin-walkers. He’s held my true son prisoner since the night he took his ce."


    The garden began to darken, moonflowers closing as shadows pressed in.


    "She’s found us," Luna Evelyn said urgently. "Listen carefully. To defeat the queen, you need all three true brothers. The one who loves with his heart—"


    "Ronan," ra said.


    "The one who loves with his mind—"


    "Kael."


    "And the one who loves with his soul—"


    "Darian," ra whispered. "The real Darian."


    Luna Evelyn squeezed her hands tightly. "When the three bonds are whole, your power will beplete. Only then can you face the queen."


    The garden trembled, moonflowers wilting as darkness poured in.


    "She’s here!" Luna Evelyn cried, pushing ra toward the pond. "Go back now! The ne will fight the poison until you can find my son."


    "Come with me!" ra begged.


    Luna Evelyn shook her head sadly. "I cannot leave this ce while she wears my body. But when you destroy her, I will be free."


    The shadows formed a terrible shape—the skin-walker queen in her true form, reaching for them with wed hands.


    "Onest thing," Luna Evelyn said quickly. "Trust Tobias. He was your mother’s most loyal guard. He’ll help you find Darian."


    She ced her hands on ra’s shoulders and pushed her into the pond. As ra fell backward into the water, Luna Evelyn called out:


    "Remember! Heart, mind, and soul united! That’s how you’ll break the curse!"


    Cold water closed over ra’s head. She sank deep, lungs burning, the new crescent ne glowing brightly against her chest.


    Then, with a violent gasp, she woke.


    Kael and Ronan hovered over her, faces tight with worry. Behind them stood Tobias, his hands glowing with strange green light that he was pressing to her poisoned shoulder.


    "She’s back," Tobias said, relief evident in his voice. "I wasn’t sure we could pull you back from the edge."


    ra clutched the silver crescent ne that now hung around her neck—solid and real, not just a dream.


    "Luna Evelyn," she gasped. "The real Luna Evelyn gave me this."


    Kael stared at the ne, his face pale. "That’s my mother’s. She wore it every day until—"


    "Until the skin-walker took her ce," ra finished. She struggled to sit up, wincing as Tobias continued drawing poison from her wound. "She’s trapped between worlds, but she’s alive."


    Ronan looked skeptical. "You’re saying you met our real mother? How?"


    "The poison sent me somewhere else," ra exined. "A garden with moonflowers. She was waiting for me."


    "Moonhaven," Tobias said quietly. "The spirit realm of Luna guardians."


    He removed his hands from ra’s shoulder. The wound was clean now, no longer spreading ck poison through her veins.


    "Only a true Luna can enter Moonhaven," he continued. "Even at the edge of death."


    Kael’s expression hardened. "That thing wearing my mother’s face—she said Darian was dead."


    "She lied," ra said firmly. "The real Darian is alive. Luna Evelyn showed me where to find him."


    Hope shed across the brothers’ faces.


    "Where?" Ronan demanded.


    "The bone throne," ra answered. "In the skin-walkers’ domain."


    Tobias cursed under his breath. "That’s deep in their territory. No wolf has ever gone there and returned."


    "Then we’ll be the first," Kael dered, his eyes burning with determination.


    ra tried to stand but swayed dangerously. Though the poison was gone, its effects lingered.


    "You’re too weak," Tobias cautioned. "The ne protected you from death, but you need time to recover."


    "We don’t have time," ra insisted. "The skin-walker queen knows I survived. She’lle back stronger."


    As if summoned by her words, a howl cut through the night—not a wolf’s cry, but something twisted and wrong.


    "Shadow wolves," Ronan growled, peering out the window. "Dozens of them."


    Tobias moved quickly, pulling herbs and powders from a pouch at his belt. "I can make a barrier, but it won’t hold them for long."


    "How long?" Kael asked.


    "Until dawn," Tobias answered. "Six hours at most."


    ra clutched the crescent ne, remembering Luna Evelyn’s urgent face. "We need to find Darian before then."


    "You can barely stand," Kael argued.


    "I don’t need to stand to use this," ra said, touching her temple. "Luna Evelyn showed me how to find him through our bond."


    The brothers exchanged nces.


    "You can track him?" Ronan asked.


    ra nodded. "Through the mate bond. It’s faint, but it’s there."


    Outside, the shadow wolves howled closer. Tobias finished creating a circle of strange powder around the room.


    "It’s your call," he told Kael. "Stay and fight, or run and search."


    Kael looked at ra, then at his injured brother. His expression shifted from doubt to resolve.


    "We find Darian," he decided. "Tonight."


    "There’s something else," ra added quietly. "Something Luna Evelyn told me."


    All three men turned to her.


    "The fake Darian—he wasn’t just any skin-walker. He was the prince." She met Kael’s eyes directly. "And he’ll be guarding the real Darian personally."


    Ronan’s face darkened. "So we’re not just facing shadows. We’re facing their prince."


    "And eventually their queen," Tobias added grimly.


    ra’s hand tightened around the crescent ne. "Luna Evelyn said I need all three true brothers to defeat her. Heart, mind, and soul united."


    Outside, the first shadow wolf threw itself against the house with a thunderous crash.


    "The barrier won’t hold them all," Tobias warned.


    Kael helped ra to her feet. "Then we leave now. Back door, through the forest."


    As they prepared to flee, ra caught sight of herself in a mirror—her eyes glowing silver, the crescent ne shining against her skin. For the first time, she didn’t see a helpless omega. She saw what Luna Evelyn had shown her: a warrior born to fight darkness.


    "Ready?" Kael asked, his hand steady on her arm.


    ra nodded. "Ready."


    As they slipped out into the night, the shadow wolves howling behind them, ra thought about the line of silver-eyed women she’d seen in Luna Evelyn’s vision—omegas who became leaders, fighters who changed everything.


    Now it was her turn.