Chapter 14: The Blood Moon Secret

Isla's POV

I barely slept that night.

The photograph lay on my desk, its edges worn from years of being hidden.

Phase One: Separate Isla from Damien.

Those six words had changed everything I thought I knew.

At sunrise, I went directly to the Guild's restricted archives.

Evelyn was already waiting for me.

"You found something," she said.

"I need the records from the Blood Moon attack five years ago."

Her expression became serious.

"Those records are classified."

"Then unclassify them."

She stared at me for several seconds before giving a small nod.

"Follow me."

We descended three levels beneath the Guild headquarters.

The air became colder with every step.

At the bottom was a chamber protected by ancient runes.

Evelyn placed her palm against the door.

The runes glowed silver, and the door slowly opened.

"Everything involving the Blood Moon incident is here," she said.

Rows of crystal tablets filled the room.

I searched for Damien's name.

Then I found it.

Blood Moon Incident — Blackwood Territory.

I opened the first record.

The official report said Damien had been attacked by a group of rogues while inspecting the eastern border.

Seraphina had supposedly discovered him and alerted the pack guards.

That was the story I had heard for five years.

But the original healer's report told a different story.

I read it slowly.

The rogue attack had been unusually coordinated.

Someone had disabled three of the territory's warning wards shortly before the attack.

Someone had also redirected the patrol wolves away from the area.

My heart pounded.

This wasn't random.

It had been planned.

I opened the next file.

A list of people present near the eastern border appeared.

Seraphina's name was there.

So was the name of her uncle.

But there was one more name.

Damien's former Beta.

The man who had disappeared from the pack shortly after the attack.

I stared at the name.

Why had nobody ever mentioned him?

Evelyn came closer.

"Because he was believed to be dead."

"Believed?"

"His body was never found."

I opened the final record.

A single surveillance crystal had survived the attack.

The image quality was terrible, but the figures were recognizable.

Seraphina was standing beside the disabled ward.

Her uncle was speaking to someone.

I zoomed in.

My blood froze.

It was Damien's former Beta.

Then the recording changed.

Seraphina handed him something.

A small vial.

The screen went dark.

I whispered, "She was there."

"Yes," Evelyn said.

"She helped arrange the attack."

My hands clenched.

Five years ago, I had arrived at the scene just after Damien was injured.

I had used nearly all my healing energy to keep him alive.

I remembered his body covered in blood.

I remembered thinking I couldn't lose him.

I remembered Seraphina crying beside him.

She had told everyone that she had found him.

She had told Damien that she had saved him.

And he had believed her.

Then another document caught my attention.

It was a healer's private note.

"Patient Damien Blackwood was stabilized by Isla Harper. Her healing intervention prevented fatal soul collapse."

I stared at the sentence.

I had saved him.

Not Seraphina.

Me.

Yet somehow, she had taken the credit.

My eyes burned, but I refused to cry.

"Why didn't Damien know?"

Evelyn sighed.

"The official report was changed three days after the attack."

"By whom?"

She pointed to the authorization seal.

The order had come from the Blackwood Council.

But there was something else.

The alteration had been approved by Damien himself.

I went completely still.

"No."

Evelyn looked at me carefully.

"He was unconscious when the first report was written. The amended version was approved after he woke up."

I shook my head.

"Then he must have been manipulated."

Evelyn didn't answer.

I knew what she was thinking.

Maybe he had chosen to believe Seraphina.

Maybe it had been easier to accept her story than to admit that Isla had saved him.

I closed the file.

I didn't want to know anymore.

But then Evelyn placed another document in front of me.

"There's one final record."

I looked down.

It was a private letter written by Damien five years ago.

My heart stopped.

I recognized his handwriting immediately.

"Isla saved my life tonight. I don't know what I would have done without her. I owe her everything."

I read the sentence again.

He knew.

He had always known.

Then why had he allowed Seraphina to take the credit?

Why had he spent five years believing he owed her his life?

Why had he sacrificed our relationship for her?

I turned the page.

The rest of the letter had been torn away.

Only one sentence remained.

"Someone is trying to make me forget what happened that night."

A chill ran through me.

This wasn't just betrayal.

Something had been done to Damien.

Something powerful enough to alter memories.

Evelyn's expression darkened.

"There are very few supernatural abilities capable of interfering with an Alpha's memories."

"Memory magic," I whispered.

"Exactly."

I looked at the photograph again.

Seraphina hadn't simply manipulated Damien emotionally.

She might have tampered with his memories.

And if that was true, there was only one reason she would need to do it.

Because Damien had known the truth.

He had known that I saved him.

He had known Seraphina was involved.

And someone had made him forget.

My phone suddenly rang.

It was an unknown number.

I answered cautiously.

"Hello?"

A man's voice came through the line.

"Isla Harper?"

"Who is this?"

There was a pause.

Then he said quietly, "Someone who was there on the Blood Moon."

My heart began pounding.

"What do you want?"

"To tell you what really happened to Damien."

The line went silent for a moment.

"And to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Seraphina wasn't the mastermind."

I froze.

"Then who was?"

The man answered with five words.

"Someone inside the Blackwood Council."

The call ended.

I slowly lowered my phone.

The betrayal had started five years ago.

But now I understood something even more frightening.

Seraphina had never been acting alone.