Elaria's POV.
"Cursed blood."
That was the first thing I heard as I stepped onto the open ground, carrying a clay bowl filled with crushed herbs and steamed meat.
A meal for my mother.
"I wish she'd just leave already," someone muttered nearby and I smiled.
Such a lovely greeting, it almost brings a tear to my eye.
I didn't stop or look. I just smiled like I didn't hear it, like I hadn't been hearing it every damn day since I grew old enough to understand hate.
They never get tired of saying it, I just wish I could say the same about hearing it.
A group of young warriors leaned lazily against the fence, their eyes tracking me like I was some bug that had forgotten its place, a cockroach walking upright.
"Did she dig that from the graveyard?" one muttered. "Or did the herbs grow from her father's bones?"
"Wonder if poison tastes sweeter coming from traitor hands," another added with a grin.
I stopped, turned my head slightly, and smiled sweetly. "If you'd like to test the poison theory, I'm happy to stir it into your next drink."
They blinked and I walked on.
The scent of the stew rose with the warm morning breeze, it was barely enough, just softened roots and dried meat stolen from the scraps but it would help.
My mother hadn't eaten since yesterday, and the last time she went too long without food, she tried to strangle a broomstick, calling it the Alpha, her mind wasn't what it used to be.
Some called her mad but I just called her broken.
Maybe today, she'd remember my name... I couldn't meet her yesterday because of my workload, I should be grateful the Alpha's family took me in and raised me...but my mother hates them, even in her state, she refuses their food, I don't know how she always knows.
Someone flicked something at my back, a tiny rock and it bounced off my shoulder but I ignored it.
The wind was dry today, the sky above was soft and gold, but this place had never felt colder.
I've stopped trying to make sense of the past to them, I'll always be the daughter of a traitor, marked by a man I never met, a man they executed before I was even born.
I was almost at the fence that marked the broken side of the grounds where the grass was dry and the huts leaned like they were tired of being upright when I heard it.
A cry so high ,sharp and real which made me turn quickly.
A small pup was lying near the edge of the training pit, body twitching, leg bent in the worst angle possible, blood pooled under it and warriors walked past him without slowing, one even stepped over him with a bored grunt.
I didn't think as my healing instincts immediately activated and I rushed to him.
I dropped beside the pup, balancing the bowl beside me on the dirt.
"Shhh... It's okay," I murmured, brushing back his fur.
My hands began to glow, a soft gold flickering beneath my skin.
He whimpered once, then stilled.
The leg straightened and the bleeding stopped.
He blinked up at me like he didn't understand how he was suddenly whole.
Then his tongue darted out and licked my hand.
I smiled, just a little.
"Well, you're welcome, Your Majesty," I whispered.
And then, of course, a familiar scoff broke the moment.
"Too bad your healing can't fix your cursed blood," a cold voice snapped behind me. "Or raise the wolves your father put in the ground."
I rose slowly, turning toward the voice.
A Crescent warrior stood there, arms crossed, face twisted with disgust, she always had something to say, I just never cared enough to learn her name.
"Good morning to you too," I said, "you know, I was thinking the same thing about your attitude. Sadly, no cure for that either."
Her brows lifted. "Keep running that mouth, and you'll join him soon."
I smiled wider. "Sweetheart, if you're going to threaten me, at least try to make it original, you lot repeat insults more than pups repeat bedtime tales."
Someone nearby choked on a laugh and the warrior's jaw tightened.
I bent, picked up my bowl, and dusted off my skirt, the pup yipped once and ran off, his little legs working just fine now.
"You're nothing here, Elaria," the warrior said and I turned back one last time.
"Then why are you still watching me like I matter?"
She didn't answer, they never do.
This is who I am, isn't it?
Reviled, mocked and feared.
And yet still choosing to save them when other healers failed.
Still choosing to stay.
The thought clung to my ribs as I stepped over the crooked fence and neared the small secluded hut hidden beneath the shadows of the old trees, my mother's hut, the one no one dared go near, unless they were drunk or cruel.
I paused at the door and took a breath, the scent of earth and crushed leaves lingered in the air, then I pushed the door open.
The room was dark, musty, with curtains that hadn't been washed in moons, herbs hung in wilting bunches across the ceiling, the bed was just a pile of hay and tattered sheets sat in the corner and curled within them like a wounded animal was my mother.
She hadn't looked up at me in days but today… her eyes met mine and she smiled.
"Elaria," she whispered, voice hoarse. "My little moonlight."
My heart paused.
She never said my name, not in years, not like she remembered it.
"Hi, Mama," I said softly, trying not to cry as I walked in, I set the bowl down and knelt beside her, brushing her wild silver strands behind her ear. "I brought your favorite. Crushed moonroot and dried meat."
She sat up slowly, still watching me with eyes that flickered between lucidity and fog and then, to my shock, she reached for me, pulled me into a trembling hug.
I froze.
Her arms wrapped around me tight, her lips brushed my ear.
"Don't trust them," she whispered. "Betrayal... blood... Your powers will awaken. It's coming."
I stiffened.
"What?"
She pulled back, blinking rapidly, and confusion returned.
I smiled like my heart wasn't racing. "Eat first," I said gently. "We'll talk after, okay?"
I helped her eat, slowly and carefully, like I was feeding a child, she smiled between bites, told me I looked like my father, told me the Alpha's house smelled like rotting milk, I didn't know what that meant, but I laughed anyway, I wish she'd allow me to take care of her more but if I show I care too much, she'll chase me out.
When she finished, I laid her down and covered her with a worn blanket.
I was about to rise when her thin fingers wrapped around mine.
"Happy birthday, my wild little healer," she whispered, eyes glassy, voice frayed. "Born of light… touched by ruin."
I froze.
My heart stumbled, her voice was faint, fragile, yet clear.
Tears burned behind my eyes before I could stop them.
"You… remembered?" I whispered.
She gave the softest smile, her eyes glassy but peaceful, and in the next breath, she drifted off to sleep.
I stayed there, staring, silently breaking and highly overwhelmed.
"I love you, Mama," I murmured, brushing her hair back gently. "And soon... soon I'll have enough power to fix this, to fix you."
She didn't stir, I kissed her forehead, then stood and quietly gathered the empty bowl and spoon.
Outside, the air had shifted, the wind carried a different form, thick and strange, like it knew something I didn't.
I took the quiet path back to my borrowed room behind the Alpha's house, it was granted out of pity or politics...I could never tell.
I set the washed bowl aside and sat before the cracked mirror, brushing out my hair slowly. Tonight, I will shift.
Tonight, my wolf will rise and my powers, my true ones...would awaken and maybe then, just maybe, they'd stop seeing me as a shadow of my father's sin.
A soft knock tapped at the window, my heart skipped at first but calmed down cause I knew that knock.
I opened the wooden frame quietly.
Kaelen stood there, half-shadowed, his smile gentle, eyes filled with warmth only I ever saw.
"You missed training," he whispered, slipping inside like he always did.
"I was with my mother," I said, stepping back to give him room.
"Have you learned those words I teached you yesterday?" He asked and I nodded, I still don't know why I had to learn some ancient complicated shit but for him, I'll do anything.
He reached for me, "Happy birthday, my sweet one," he murmured, pulling me close, his forehead resting against mine, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this day," he added and then, his lips met mine, familiar, warm and safe.
I melted into the kiss like I always did.
"Tonight," he said against my lips, "everything changes, you'll shift, and I'll be right there, I'm praying to the goddess to make you mine. That way… we'll never have to hide us from the pack again."
He kissed me deeper, slower, his fingers slipping into my hair.
"My parents are waiting too," he added, breathless against my skin. "They pray the goddess gives you to me, you're everything they want in a Luna. Everything I want."
He kissed me again, this time deeper his tongue slipped in, coaxing a sigh from me, my fingers curled into his shirt and my body betrayed me...as always.
Tears welled up in my eyes, this time from something that felt like hope, maybe this was why I never left.
Maybe this was why I hadn't run, even when I had every reason to.
Because here, right here wrapped in Kaelen's arms, I felt seen, wanted, safe and in a world like mine… that was everything.