Chapter 54
Lisa’s POV
The moment Jared said, “She is here,” my heart skipped a beat.
The seer.
She was the one who had sent us to Nightcrest. She was the one who had the vision before I even knew what I was searching for. And now she was back, because I badly needed her help.
I stood slowly from the table. My stomach was suddenly tight with nerves. The food I had just eaten felt heavy.
“Come,” Rylan said gently. He stood as well. “She is waiting.”
I followed him and Alexandra down the hallway toward the main hall. The air felt different. It was heavier and thicker, as if the house itself knew something important was about to happen. My hands were clammy. My heart thudded in my chest.
As we entered the hall, I saw her.
The seer.
She stood in front of the long windows, her cloak a deep shade of moss green, embroidered with tiny silver moons. Her eyes, strange and cloudy, locked onto mine the second I stepped into the room.
“Lisa,” she said softly. She already knew what I was about to say. “You’ve seen her, haven’t you?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes.”
She motioned for me to come closer. I did. Alexandra and Rylan stood quietly beside me.
The seer tilted her head. “Tell me everything.”
I swallowed and took a deep breath. Then, I told her.
“I touched the statue. At the ruins. At Nightcrest,” I began. “It was cracked… and old. But when I touched it, some of my own blood mixed with it. I had cut my palm. And then…
I closed my eyes for a second. The memory still felt like a dream.
“It started to glow. A strange white light. And then it burst. There was this huge blast of energy, like wind and fire and moonlight all at once. It knocked me back. I think I fainted, or… drifted away.”
The seer’s eyes darkened. She didn’t speak, just waited.
“And I saw her,” I whispered. “A woman in white. With long brown hair. Her eyes… they looked like mine.
She said her name was Althea.”
The seer exhaled slowly. “And what did she say?”
“She said…” My voice caught. “She said, ‘I am your mother.””
Rylan moved closer. His presence was comforting.
I forced myself to keep going. “She said she had been trying to reach me. That she has been sending dreams. And that I have to be careful. She said someone is coming. A man. A dangerous man. She was
trying to warn me.”
“Could it be the masked man?” Alexandra asked softly.
I looked at the seer. “Do you think it’s him? The one who tried to attack me?”
The seer gave a slow, solemn nod. “It’s very likely. Your mother is trying to protect you. But the fact that she keeps appearing in dreams and visions… it means she is no longer alive.”
I felt a deep ache in my chest. I had already suspected it. But hearing it aloud made it real.
“I think… she died when the Nightcrest Pack was destroyed,” I said quietly. “Everything was burnt to ashes. Maybe she… maybe she died in that fire.”
The seer closed her eyes, as if honoring her. “Yes. But her spirit lingers. That means her love for you is strong. Strong enough to cross realms. She wants you to be safe. And she wants you to know the truth.”
Rylan stepped forward. “I’ll try to find out more. About Althea. I’ll speak to the Alphas of the surrounding territories. Maybe some pack records still exist. Someone must remember her.”
The seer nodded. “Good. That may help. But Lisa,” she said, turning back to me. “There is another place
where answers may be buried.”
I already knew what she was going to say.
“Your adoptive parents,” she said gently. “The ones who raised you. They may know something. Maybe
they’ve hidden the truth from you all these years.”
I clenched my hands. “I asked my mother once,” I said. “I asked if I was really hers. She didn’t say anything.
Just stared at me. It felt like… like silence was her answer.”
The seer’s gaze sharpened, but not unkindly.
“Then we must bring her silence to an end,” she said.
She reached into the folds of her cloak and pulled out a small cloth pouch. From it, she removed a tiny wooden square wrapped in clear, enchanted plastic. The wood was dark, with strange silver swirls in the
grain.
She held it out to me. “Take this.”
I stared at it. “What is it?”
“This,” she said, “is a truthwood shard. It comes from an ancient tree known as the Veralis Oak. A sacred tree that once grew deep within the High Moon Glade, where the oldest seers would go to speak with the
spirits of the stars. It’s a rare tree, believed to bloom only once every hundred years under the light of a blood moon. Very few remain in the world.”
I took the shard from her gently. It was warm to the touch.
“It has been enchanted,” she explained. “Before you confront your parents, before you ask them about your past, place this under your tongue. It will not harm you. But it will bind the words around you with truth. Anyone who answers your questions will be compelled to speak honestly. They won’t even realize it’s
happening.”
I blinked. “So they won’t know they’re under its influence?”
The seer shook her head. “No. It won’t hurt them. And you must not tell them what you’ve done. Simply ask your questions. The truth will come to you.”
I held the shard carefully in my palm. “Why does it feel… alive?”
“Because it is,” the seer said softly. “The Veralis Oak listens. And it remembers. Just like your mother does.
Something tightened in my throat. I nodded, my voice caught behind it.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, Lisa. Ask the questions. You deserve to know
where you came from. You deserve to know who you are.”
I nodded again. My fingers curled tightly around the shard.
I thanked her one more time. Then she turned and walked away, her cloak sweeping behind her like mist.
The hall was quiet after she left.
I stood still, staring down at the truthwood in my palm. I could feel my heart thudding against my ribs.
I was going back.
Back to Nightshade.
Back to the place where everything had started.
I would have to face my parents… the people who raised me but may have lied to me, I would have to look into my mother’s eyes and ask her if she had ever loved me…or if I had just been a secret she wanted to keep buried.
I would have to see Roxanne again. My sister. The one who had everything. The one who took Kael from
And Kael.
The mate who rejected me without even giving me a chance.
A part of me still burned when I thought of him.
But now… I wasn’t the same girl he left behind.
I had seen magic. I had seen visions. I had heard the voice of a mother who loved me even in death.
And soon, I would know the truth.
No matter what it cost.
