Secrets and Shadows

"You erased my memories?" Mira's voice shook with anger and confusion.

Rael took a step forward. "To protect you."

Draven moved between them, his eyes glowing yellow. "Stay back."

"We don't have time for this," Rael said, pointing toward the town. "The Eclipse Order brought troops. They'll find us soon."

Mira looked down at the burning village. More fires had sprung up. The fighting had spread.

"Why should we trust you?" she asked.

Something flashed in Rael's violet eyes—pain, maybe sorrow. "Because I'm the only one who knows what you really are, Mira Ravara Nightbane."

Mira gasped. "You know my full name?"

"I know everything about you," Rael responded. "Including why the Eclipse Queen wants you so badly."

Draven growled, his hands twisting into claws. "How do you know the Eclipse Queen?"

Rael's face hardened. "I worked for her. Until I learned what she really planned for Mira."

Shouts echoed up the hill. Flashlights bobbed through the trees below—hunters climbing toward them.

"Decide now," Rael pushed. "Trust me or face the Eclipse Order alone."

Draven turned to Mira. "Your choice."

Mira looked between them—the werewolf Alpha she barely knew and the strange man who claimed to know everything about her. Neither seemed trustworthy, but the hunters were getting closer.

"Lead the way," she told Rael. "But if you're lying, I'll burn you alive."

A small smile tugged at Rael's lips. "Your mother would be proud of that spirit."

Rael led them away from the village, higher into the mountains. They moved quickly through the forest, keeping to the shadows. Draven stayed close to Mira, his senses ready for danger.

After an hour of hard climbing, they hit a narrow cleft in the rock face. Rael slipped through, motioning for them to follow.

"Where are you taking us?" Draven demanded.

"Somewhere the Eclipse Order won't look," Rael answered. "My safe house."

The cleft opened into a hidden valley. A small cabin stood beside a waterfall that emptied into a clear pool. It looked peaceful, untouched by the chaos below.

Inside the cabin, Rael lit lamps and built a fire in the stone hearth. The space was simple—a table, chairs, a small kitchen area, and two doors leading to what Mira guessed were bedrooms.

"You'll be safe here," Rael said. "For now."

Draven prowled around the house, checking windows and doors. "How did you find this place?"

"I built it," Rael answered. "After I left the Eclipse Order."

Mira sat by the fire, exhaustion washing over her. "You said you'd explain. About my memories. About who I am."

Rael nodded, sitting across from her. "It's a long story."

"Start talking," Draven growled, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

Rael's violet eyes fixed on Mira. "You weren't born a Ruby Wolf. You became one."

"That's impossible," Draven interrupted. "Ruby Wolves are born, not made."

"Not Mira," Rael said. "She and her twin brother were... special."

"Twin brother?" Mira's heart skipped. "I have a brother?"

"Zephyr," Rael nodded. "You were both born human to parents who served the Eclipse Queen. But she saw something in you—potential. She had you both changed."

Mira felt sick. "Transformed how?"

"Blood rituals. Ancient magic. Things banned for good reason." Rael's face darkened with the memory. "I was there. I helped."

"Why would she do that to children?" Draven asked, disgust in his voice.

"The prophecy," Rael answered. "It speaks of twins born under the blood moon who would either save or destroy the magical world. She wanted that power for herself."

Mira's hand went to her ruby pendant. "And my parents?"

"They tried to stop her when they learned the truth," Rael said softly. "They died protecting you."

Tears burned in Mira's eyes. She'd always wondered about her parents. Now she wished she didn't know.

"What about my brother?" she asked. "Is he alive?"

"Yes," Rael answered. "But he was raised by the Eclipse Queen to believe you're his enemy. He's been trained to hunt you."

The news hit Mira like a physical blow. She had family—but he wanted her dead.

"And my memories?" she pushed. "Why take them?"

"To hide you," Rael explained. "If you didn't know who you were, your powers would stay dormant. You'd be harder to track." He leaned forward. "But they're waking now, aren't they? Especially around him." He nodded toward Draven.

Mira glanced at Draven, remembering the burning feeling when they touched.

"The mate bond," Draven said softly.

"Is that what you think it is?" Rael laughed, but there was no fun in it. "The Eclipse Queen doesn't want Mira for her skills alone. She wants to control who Mira bonds with."

"Why?" Mira asked.

"Because the Ruby Wolf's mate will gain unimaginable power," Rael said. "Enough to awaken an ancient werewolf god."

Silence fell over the cabin. Outside, wind whispered through the trees.

"You expect us to believe this?" Draven finally said.

"Believe what you want," Rael answered, standing. "But the heat you both feel when you touch—that's just the beginning. It will grow stronger until you either finish the bond or..."

"Or what?" Mira pressed.

"Or it consumes you both," Rael finished. "That's why the Eclipse Queen wants you. She plans to force you to bond with someone she controls."

Draven pushed away from the wall, his face grim. "We need to get back to my pack. They can protect her better than a house in the woods."

"Your pack?" Rael raised an eyebrow. "The one burning as we speak? The one with a traitor in its ranks?"

"What traitor?" Draven growled.

"Someone close to you is working for the Eclipse Queen," Rael said. "How else did they find your village so quickly? How did they know about the tunnel?"

Mira thought of Kieran's hate, his words: "Some might say she's not worth the cost."

"We can't trust anyone," Rael continued. "Not until we know who betrayed you."

Draven paced the small house, torn between returning to his people and protecting Mira.

"They need their Alpha," Mira said softly.

Draven stopped, looking at her with those focused gray eyes. "If what he says is true, the Eclipse Queen wants you to awaken some old god. I can't leave you unprotected."

"I'll watch over her," Rael offered.

"After you admitted to erasing her memories?" Draven scoffed. "Not happening."

"Then we all go," Mira decided. "To the pack."

"It's too dangerous," Rael warned.

"I'm tired of running," Mira said strongly. "If someone is abandoning Draven, we need to find out who. And if the Eclipse Queen wants me so badly, let her come for me where I'm surrounded by an entire pack of werewolves."

Draven smiled—the first real smile she'd seen from him. "Brave little ruby."

"Foolish," Rael mumbled.

"We'll leave at first light," Draven decided. "The pack will have pushed back the Eclipse Order by then."

Rael shook his head but didn't argue.

Later, Mira stood on the small porch, watching stars reflect in the pool. Draven joined her, his presence warm in the cool night air.

"Do you believe him?" she asked softly. "About the mate bond? About this god?"

"I don't know," Draven admitted. "But I believe something is happening between us." He looked down at her, his face unreadable. "I've never felt anything like it before."

"Me neither," Mira whispered.

Without thinking, she reached out and touched his hand. That now-familiar heat rushed through her body, stronger than ever. Draven's eyes glowed yellow as he gasped.

"We should be careful," he said, pulling away reluctantly. "Until we understand what this means."

Mira nodded, though part of her missed the connection as soon as it broke.

Inside the house, Rael watched them through the window, his violet eyes troubled. He slipped back to the small room where he kept his weapons and maps. Carefully, he pulled out a hidden communication device.

"It's Rael," he whispered. "I have them both. Yes, the bond has started." He paused, listening. "No, I haven't told them everything. They're not ready." Another pause. "We're heading to the Duskfang territory at dawn."

He switched off the device and tucked it away, unaware of the shadow that had moved away from his door.

Outside, Mira leaned against the porch railing, her mind racing with all she'd learned. A twin brother. Parents who died for her. A forecast that could destroy the world.

And a mate link with an Alpha werewolf she barely knew.

"What aren't you telling us, Rael?" she whispered to herself.

From the darkness of the woods, a pair of eyes watched the cabin—eyes that glowed neither yellow like a werewolf's nor red like Mira's.

They glowed ruby and sapphire, one of each color.

"Found you at last, sister," a voice breathed in the darkness.