Elias looked utterly baffled, his eyes shifting back and forth between me and the woman in front of us–my mother.


    “I thought your mom was dead,” he said slowly, clearly unsure of what he was witnessing.


    “Yeah, so did I,” I replied, my voice t with disbelief.


    “Lyra… is it really you?” she asked, her voice trembling.


    “What the actual hell?” I shouted, and she flinched just slightly at the sound.


    “Okay, you’re angry. I get it. You have every reason to be,” she said, trying to stay calm.


    “Oh really? You think so?” I snapped sarcastically. “I thought Dad’s Beta had killed you,” I added, bitterness dripping from my words.


    “No, that’s not what happened. He took me to the border and told me to vanish. I had to renounce the pack so the connection would break. Your father believed I was dead. But the Beta spared me. He said to go as far away as I could. This was the only ce I knew toe,” she exined.


    “You’ve been here all this time–for sixteen years?” I demanded.


    “Sixteen years?” she repeated, looking genuinely surprised.


    “Yeah. It’s been that long,” I confirmed.


    “I’ve been alone for <i>so </i>many years now. I lost track of time,” she said softly.


    “You’ve been alive the entire time. You had the chance toe back for me–anytime you wanted,” I said, voice rising.


    “I really believed you’d be safer staying in the pack,” she replied, still sounding convinced.


    “Are you serious? Do you even know what Dad is like? How could you possibly think I’d be better off with him? He was a violent monster. You think that stopped after you left? No, it got worse. I have royal blood too, remember?” I shot back angrily.


    “I’m so sorry, Lyra, I never wanted you to be hurt. But I couldn’t return. If I had, he would have killed me. And then I wouldn’t have been able to help you at all,” she said.


    <i>“</i><i>So </i>instead, <i>you </i>just hid out here. Pretended nothing was happening. Like Dad wasn’t out there torturing your only daughter. Do you even know what he’s doing now?” I asked.


    < CHAPTER 58


    “No… I don’t,” she said quietly.


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    “Well, for your information, he’s hunting me down, trying to steal my powers, working hand in hand with some ck witch, and if I’m not mistaken, something about world domination was tossed in too. Honestly, I’ve lost track of his madness. All I know is, he needs to be stopped- like, yesterday,” I said.


    “That’s why you came to the castle. Because it’s protected,” she said.


    “Exactly,” I answered.


    “But how did your pack manage to cross the barrier?” she asked.


    “I removed it,” I told her simply.


    “You got rid of the barrier? By yourself?” she asked, astonished.


    “Yeah, and?” I replied, clearly unimpressed.


    “I’ve never been able to do that. I never had enough magic or strength to pull it off,” she admitted. I turned to look at Elias.


    “Seems like your daughter’s the one who inherited the real power,” Elias said with a grin.


    “Hey, Alpha? Luna? Where are you guys? I can hear the shouting but can’t find the room,” Luke’s voice called out yfully from somewhere outside. Elias moved to the library door.


    Soon enough, Luke wandered in and finally saw the woman standing beside me.


    “Who’s this?” he asked, puzzled.


    “This here is Lyra’s mother–apparently alive and well,” Elias said.


    “Well, she might as well be dead, far as I’m concerned,” I muttered bitterly, storming out of the room without another word.


    Elias ran after me–I could sense how worried he was, and I could feel the concern radiating from him. He was afraid I’d regret the words I had just thrown at my mother.


    I made my way back to the entrance of the castle, flipping through the royal book again, trying to figure out how to erect a new barrier spell–this time one that only allowed werewolves to pass through. But this version looked a lot moreplex.


    “I know you didn’t really mean what you said to your mom,” Elias said gently.


    “Right <i>now</i>, I absolutely meant it,” I replied firmly. “She had every chance toe back for me. Dad wasn’t always around when I was little–he’d leave for days. She had so many


    < CHAPTER 58


    More Regends


    opportunities. But instead, she chose to save herself. Meanwhile, I spent my entire childhood locked in an attic, treated like garbage. Whipped with silver chains. Poisoned so I couldn’t defend myself. Told over and over that I was worthless, that I’d be a ve forever because my mate would reject me the second he saw me,” I said, my voice shaking with fury.


    “But your mate didn’t reject you. I found you and got you out of there,” he said quietly.


    “Yeah, well, that doesn’t erase everything else I went through,” I muttered.


    “I know<i>. </i>But your mom is here now. And this is your chance to get something back. Most people don’t even get that much,” he said.


    “You know what? I honestly don’t care right now. I need to get this new barrier working. What I need from you is to gather the warriors and start figuring out which other packs we can recruit to fight my father,” I instructed.


    “You’ve already worked out the n,” he noted.


    “Pretty much. Just take care of that while I handle this,” I said.


    “Maybe your mom could help,” he offered.


    “She said she couldn’t even bring down thest one. So how the hell is she supposed to create a new one that only lets werewolves through?” I shot back.


    “Alright,” he said, dropping the subject.


    I walked down to the base of the staircase and reached out with my senses, trying to feel the space around the castle.


    There was lingering energy from the old barrier–probably because it had been there for so long. I tapped into that energy and merged it with my own, channeling everything into the same magical space.


    I had to focus with every fiber of my being to bring the barrier back. It drained me more than anything I’d ever attempted alone.


    I felt Noir stir inside me–offering strength, lending support. <fnd2cf> Fresh chapters posted on findnovel</fnd2cf>


    She reminded me that I had the power to do it. And soon enough, a glowing blue shield began to rise, wrapping around the castle. Once it had fully sealed the perimeter, I felt its hold


    stabilize, and I let my arms fall before copsing to the ground.


    Arms wrapped around me–I instantly recognized Elias.


    “I’m fine,” I managed to say, out of breath.


    < CHAPTER 58


    “You don’t look fine,” he replied, concern thick in his voice.


    “That took everything out of me,” I admitted.


    “I could tell. Is the barrier in ce?” he asked.


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    “Yeah. It’s done. We can see out, but no one can see in. Humans and other creatures are


    locked out entirely,” I said.


    “You never stop amazing me,” Elias murmured, gently pulling me against him.


    “That was extraordinary. The power in the barrier is overwhelming,” my mother–Rowan–said from nearby.


    “No one asked you,” I snapped without even looking at her.


    I heard her footsteps as she turned and walked back up the staircase, but Elias didn’tment. He knew there was nothing he could say right now that would change how I felt.


    All I felt was betrayal. My mother had stayed away all those years, fully aware that I was suffering.


    A mere apology wouldn’t make up for the trauma I endured at my father’s hands.


    All because she was too afraid toe back for me.


    I knew one thing for sure–I would never abandon my child the way she did.


    Not for anything.


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