Chapter 15: The Council's Hidden Hand

Isla's POV

I returned to my room with the recording still playing in my mind.

Someone inside the Blackwood Council.

For five years, I had believed Seraphina was the person who destroyed everything.

Now I wasn't so sure.

I opened the file Evelyn had given me again.

There were three names connected to the altered Blood Moon report.

Seraphina's uncle.

Damien's former Beta.

And the Head Councilor of the Blackwood Pack.

My blood ran cold.

The same Head Councilor who had pressured me to continue the Mating Ceremony.

The same man who had repeatedly told me that my marriage to Damien was essential for the pack's political alliance.

I suddenly understood why he had been so desperate to keep me in Blackwood.

If I left, whatever they had been hiding might finally come to light.

My phone rang again.

It was the unknown number from earlier.

I answered immediately.

"You said you were there five years ago."

"I was."

"Then tell me who was behind it."

The man hesitated.

"Not over the phone."

"Why?"

"Because your phone is being monitored."

My eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Adrian Vale. I was one of the border guards that night."

I froze.

The name sounded familiar.

"I thought everyone from that patrol disappeared."

"Most of them did."

"And you survived?"

"Barely."

His voice became quieter.

"I saw Seraphina meet someone before the attack began."

"Who?"

"The Head Councilor."

My grip tightened around the phone.

"Are you certain?"

"I saw them with my own eyes."

"What were they discussing?"

"You."

My breath caught.

"Me?"

"They were talking about your position beside Damien. They knew Damien intended to announce you as his future Luna after the Blood Moon ceremony."

I closed my eyes.

"So they wanted me gone."

"Yes."

Adrian paused.

"But that's not all."

"What else?"

"The attack wasn't supposed to kill Damien."

I stood up.

"Then what was the purpose?"

"To make him vulnerable."

A chill traveled down my spine.

"Vulnerable to what?"

"Memory magic."

Everything suddenly clicked.

The attack had weakened Damien's soul.

That made him vulnerable to someone manipulating his memories.

And after that, Seraphina could step into the role of savior.

Adrian continued.

"They wanted Damien to remember Seraphina as the person who saved him."

"But I actually saved him."

"I know."

His voice softened.

"I saw you arrive. You were covered in blood. You used your own energy to keep him alive."

My throat tightened.

I remembered that night too clearly.

I had been terrified.

But I hadn't hesitated.

Because I loved him.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" I asked.

"I tried."

Silence followed.

"The next morning, my entire patrol was declared dead. I was warned to keep quiet if I wanted to live."

My stomach twisted.

"And now?"

"Now the people who did it are becoming careless."

"Why?"

"Because Damien is investigating."

My heart skipped.

"He's looking into the Blood Moon attack?"

"Yes."

"Does he know about the memory manipulation?"

"Not yet."

I sat down slowly.

Part of me wanted to say that Damien deserved whatever happened to him.

But another part remembered the man I had loved for five years.

The man who had once held me through nightmares.

The man who had promised me that I would always be his only Luna.

Then I remembered Seraphina's white robe.

The pregnancy report.

The obsidian pendant.

The way he had looked at me when he accused me of attacking her.

My heart hardened again.

"What do you want from me, Adrian?"

"I want you to help expose them."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only healer powerful enough to reverse the memory spell."

I went silent.

"If Damien's memories were altered, I can restore them?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"The spell is old. Breaking it could be dangerous."

I looked out the window at the mountains.

"How dangerous?"

"It could kill him."

My fingers went cold.

For several seconds, I said nothing.

Then I asked the question I had been avoiding.

"Where is he now?"

"On his way to the old Blood Moon territory."

I immediately stood.

"Why?"

"He found the same evidence you did."

My heart began racing.

"He's going there alone?"

"Yes."

"That's stupid."

"It is."

I grabbed my coat.

Adrian's voice sharpened.

"Isla, wait."

"What?"

"If you go there, don't trust anyone from the Blackwood Council."

"I know."

"And if you see Damien..."

He hesitated.

"What?"

"Remember that he may not know what is real anymore."

The call ended.

I stood there, frozen.

I had promised myself I would never return.

I had promised myself that Damien was no longer my responsibility.

But if someone had altered his memories, then the man who betrayed me might not have known the full truth.

That didn't excuse what he had done.

It didn't erase the pain.

But it changed one thing.

I couldn't let him walk blindly into another trap.

I turned toward Evelyn's office.

"I need access to the Guild's fastest transport."

She looked at my expression and immediately understood.

"You're going back."

"Only temporarily."

"You know what happens when you go back to the place where you were hurt."

"Yes."

I picked up my healer's case.

"But this time, I'm not going back as Damien's Luna."

I looked toward the darkening sky.

"I'm going back as the woman who finally knows the truth."

And somewhere far away, Damien was walking straight into the same darkness that had nearly destroyed us five years ago.