The Unwilling Luna And Her Three Mates

Everyone knew my name. Not because I was powerful. Not because I had done something great. Not because I was important. They knew my name because of the man who gave it to me. Iris Thorn. Daughter of Alpha Rowan Thorn. The daughter of the Alpha who murdered his own mate. That was the story everyone knew. The story they whispered whenever they thought I wasn't listening. The story they believed without question. I was three years old when my mother died, so I didn't remember much about that night. I didn't remember the screams. I didn't remember the blood. I didn't remember the chaos that followed. But I remembered my father. I remembered the way he used to carry me around the pack house when I was too small to walk. I remembered the way my mother smiled whenever he entered the room. I remembered the way they looked at each other. Like they were the only two people in the world. That was why I never believed the story. A man who looked at my mother like she was his entire world could not have taken her life. At least, that was what I told myself. The problem was that everyone else had already decided he was guilty. My father disappeared the same night my mother was killed. He didn't leave a message. He didn't return. He didn't defend himself. He simply vanished. And when an Alpha disappears after his mate is found murdered, people don't search for explanations. They search for someone to blame. The pack found theirs. Rowan Thorn. My father. I stood in front of the large training grounds, tightening the straps around my wrists as the morning wind moved through the trees. The sun had barely risen, but I was already exhausted. Not because training was difficult. Because I had spent years making sure I would never be weak. Weak people depended on others. Weak people got hurt. I had learned that lesson before I was old enough to understand it. "Again?" I looked over my shoulder. Beta Kael stood there with his arms crossed, watching me with the same worried expression he had worn for years. He was one of the few people who never looked at me like I was my father's daughter. To him, I was just Iris. "You've been training for three hours," he said. "I know." "You haven't eaten." "I'm not hungry." He sighed. "You always say that." I turned back to the training dummy and prepared to strike again. Kael had been the Beta of Thornvale Pack before everything happened. After my father disappeared, he became the acting Alpha until the pack could decide what came next. But he never treated me like an obligation. Neither did his wife, Elara. They raised me when they didn't have to. They protected me when the entire world was judging me. They were the closest thing I had to parents. Which was why I hated disappointing them. "Iris." I stopped when I heard the seriousness in his voice. "What?" Kael walked closer. "You know I understand why you want answers." I looked away. "Do you?" "Yes." The answer came too quickly. I studied his face. "You believe him too." A shadow crossed his expression. "I believe your father was not the man people claim he was." My chest tightened. "But you don't know." "No," he admitted. "I don't." That honesty hurt more than a lie would have. Kael had always been honest with me. Even when the truth was painful. "The night your mother died, everything happened too quickly," he continued. "Your father disappeared. Your mother was dead. And everyone wanted someone to blame." "Everyone except me." His eyes softened. "Because you knew them." I swallowed. "Yes." I knew them. I knew my parents loved each other. I knew my mother was happy. I knew my father was not perfect, but he was not a murderer. Something happened that night. Something nobody wanted to talk about. And I was going to find out what. "You're really leaving." I turned toward the voice behind me. Elara stood at the edge of the training field, holding a basket of food. My heart softened immediately. She always looked the same. Warm. Kind. Like the world had never given her a reason to become bitter. "I have to." She placed the basket down. "You don't." "Yes, I do." She looked at me sadly. "You're my daughter, Iris. I know when you've made up your mind." I smiled slightly. "Then you know nothing will change it." She sighed. "No. It won't." For a moment, none of us spoke. The three of us knew this day would come. I had spent my entire life preparing for it. Learning how to fight. Learning how to survive. Learning how to control my wolf. Because one day, I would leave. One day, I would find Rowan Thorn. And I would finally ask him why. Why did he leave? Why did he let everyone believe he was a murderer? Why did he abandon me? "I need to know the truth," I whispered. Elara stepped forward and touched my cheek. "I know." A tear almost escaped her eyes, but she blinked it away. "The world outside these borders is cruel, Iris." "I know." "There are rogues who would hurt you because of your name." "I know." "There are wolves who will see a lone female and think you are an easy target." I held her gaze. "I'm not." She smiled sadly. "No. You're not." That night, the pack gathered to say goodbye. Some wolves looked at me with pity. Others looked at me with suspicion. The daughter of the murderer. That was what they saw. Not Iris. Never just Iris. Kael handed me a small leather pouch before I left. "What is this?" "Something your mother left behind." I froze. "My mother?" He nodded. "She gave it to me before everything happened. She told me to give it to you when you were ready." My fingers tightened around it. "Why didn't you give it to me before?" His expression changed. "Because she told me not to." A cold feeling settled in my stomach. "What did she say?" Kael looked toward the dark forest beyond the pack borders. Then back at me. "She said that when you opened it, you would start asking questions you might not be ready to answer." I stared at the pouch in my hand. For the first time in years... I wondered if finding the truth would be worse than living with the lie. I untied the string slowly. Inside was a necklace. A silver moon pendant. And beneath it... A folded piece of paper. My hands shook slightly as I opened it. There was only one sentence written. One sentence that made my blood run cold. "Iris, if you are reading this, it means they failed to protect you." I stopped breathing. Because beneath my mother's words was something else. A symbol. A symbol I had never seen before. But somehow... My wolf recognized it. And she was terrified.