Chapter 151 – Past
–LIA’S POV–
My eyes slowly opened, tired and sore from crying.
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I was on soft ground, but blades of grass and twigs poked my skin.
My neck still hurt, the feel of Blake’s teeth lingering in my flesh.
What had he done to me?
I sat up, my head pounding.
I was in a forest again, still in the red dress I wore for prom.
It didn’t look like the woods in town or the trees behind Zane’s house. This felt foreign, older. Like I’d stumbled into some hidden part of the world where time didn’t work the same.
I pushed myself to my feet, the world tilting slightly. I stepped forward, grabbing the rough trunk of a tree to steady myself.
My heartbeat was calm. Almost too calm for the situation.
I blinked hard, hoping to clear my vision. The air smelled like rain, but the ground wasn’t wet. Had it already passed? Was it coming? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I had to move.
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Taking a deep breath, I started walking, searching for anything familiar around me. A plant, a tree, a rock, a face. Anyone or anything would help.
But the entire vibe of this place was off. I couldn’t figure out why.
A soft sound caught my ear, and I looked around, trying to find the source. It wasn’t a rustle, or the cry of an animal. It sounded human.
“Is anybody here?” I called out.
No one answered.
I made my way deeper through the forest, and heard the sound again—this time, undeniably a whisper.
There was someone here. They were talking, voice hushed.
My eyebrows furrowed as I went in its direction, wondering why they didn’t hear me when I called. Maybe they did and ignored it?
After a few minutes of dragging myself over the dirty floor, I was close enough to know they were past the bushes in front of me. carefully approached, staying hidden, pushing the plants aside
I to see who it was.
There were two people standing in a small clearing.
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A man and a woman.
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My eyes fixated on her, widening. She had long hair and gentle features—and she looked so much like me that my stomach dropped. It wasn’t just a little resemblance. Like… mirror–image kind of similar. My eyes. My mouth. Her hair was longer, darker, but still. It was freaky.
Was she…?
She was holding a baby.
The man beside her was crying softly. His shoulders were hunched, and he kept glancing at the child like it was breaking him.
“Why do we have to do this?” he choked out. “Please, Selene, let us stay with her. She’ll be safe with us. You can protect her.”
Selene.
The name rang through my ears, sounding oddly familiar. But I didn’t know any Selene.
The woman looked down at the baby, her expression
unreadable. “We can’t. No one can know about her, or what she is,” she said quietly, “We must leave her with someone who will care for her. Somewhere she’ll be safe.”
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“But why with humans?” the man sobbed, shaking his head. “If you want to leave her with humans, why can’t we give her to my parents?”
“Because everyone knows you’re my husband. Everyone will understand who she is,” Selene replied gently. “I’m sorry, Pete. I’m doing this for her protection. To make sure she can have a normal life before the prophecy comes true. She’s our child. She deserves something better than what I had.”
She gazed at the baby with so much love that my heart tightened in my chest.
Prophecy?
The inside of my nose tickled, and before I could suppress it, a loud sneeze rang through the air.
The man and woman both went silent, their heads turning towards the bushes.
Shit!
I ducked, holding my breath, heart racing. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for them to come find me, to pull me by the arm and begin the interrogation. Maybe the woman would ask why we looked alike. I didn’t know what I’d tell her.
But nothing happened for a long moment. No footsteps. No voices. Just silence.
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When I finally dared to peek again, the clearing was gone.
In its place was a house. My house.
Relief flooded me. I’d somehow reached home.
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I took a step towards it, but then froze, noticing the paint looked different. When I looked down, the same baby from the forest lay on the doorstep. She was wrapped in a soft white blanket, and it seemed like she’d just been left.
A young woman walked down the street, carrying a bag of groceries. I stayed at a distance, watching her carefully. Why did she look—oh my God. That was Mom.
Younger. Prettier. Aged back at least fifteen years.
But it was definitely her.
Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she looked somewhat pissed.
She stopped when she saw the baby. Froze, just staring for a second. Then she looked around the street, cautious, confused. Her gaze landed on me, and I sucked in a breath. But it seemed like she saw right through me.
She set the bag down and walked to the baby, gently picking her
- up.
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She held her for a moment. Her eyes scanned the street again, making sure no one was watching.
Then she took the baby inside.
My knees gave away, and I sank into the grass.
Mom’s words echoed in my head.
“I found you on the doorstep of where I was staying.”
That baby was me.
I was seeing… my past. My real past.
That woman, Selene—she looked like me because she was my birth mother. She had to be. And Pete… he was her husband. Maybe my dad?
What was this? A memory? A vision? A dream?
I couldn’t breathe. My throat burned.
I turned away from the house, closing my eyes, trying to calm the chaos in my head. This wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real. But it felt real. Like I’d just watched the truth of everything unravel in front of me.
I pressed my hands to my face, sucking in sharp breaths. I was
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losing it.
Then the air shifted again.
When I opened my eyes, everything had changed.
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I was no longer in a forest. I was sitting on something high—like a raised platform, made of earth and stone. It looked ancient. Sacred.
A throne?
My heart trembled in my chest, and I slowly pushed myself to my feet, my legs uncharacteristically steady.
Below me, stretched out in all directions, were werewolves.
Hundreds of them.
Some were in their human forms, some in full wolf form, but they were all looking at me. Whispering Pointing. Bowing.
The sky above was red, like it had been painted in blood. The moon hung low and full, casting an eerie light across the scene.
And they were all staring at me like I was something impossible.
I stepped back, overwhelmed, my hands trembling at my sides.
What the hell was going on? Was I stuck in a dream? It had to
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- be. This couldn’t be real.
But it was. Somehow, I knew it was.
The werewolves kept whispering.
I managed to make out a few words.
“She’s returned… the moon’s lost daughter…”
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Then darkness rushed in from every direction, and everything went black.
I blinked, looking around in the void. I thought of yelling, of screaming. But I didn’t have the ability to. As if I wasn’t in my body, just floating like a spirit.
In the dark, I then heard a voice, mystical, soft, echoing like it came from everywhere at once.
“The Moon’s Lost Daughter shall return. Marked by two, bound by one, her choice will decide the fate of all.”
–ZANE’S POV–
She wouldn’t wake up.
Not when I shook her. Not when I begged her. Not when I
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stopped her bleeding.
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Lia was out cold, her pulse faint, skin turning pale and cool to the touch.
I lifted her into my arms and left Blake’s house, stepping over the bodies of some of his wolves, glaring at the ones who were still alive. It was an open challenge. They could come at me if they dared.
None tried. Simply watched me leave with her, holding onto their wounded limbs.
I had to take her to Emerald. She would know what to do.
This couldn’t be the end. This couldn’t be how I lose her.
There had to be a way to reverse the mark. There had to be a way I could still save her from belonging to him.
He didn’t deserve her. Maybe I didn’t either. But he definitely didn’t.
I would find a way to free her again. No matter the cost.
I would free Lia from him.
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