Page 87 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

Silence settles around the chamber, but Cassandra nods slowly. “It’s possible. We can’t see them with the naked eye, but they’re there. I’m sure of it.”

Cyrus folds his arms. “Then we’ve narrowed it down.”

Before anyone can respond, the doors behind us open.

Every conversation dies immediately.

The Golden Raven Sisters file quietly into the chamber, their white robes flowing softly behind them as though carried by a breeze that doesn’t touch the rest of us. Sister Aoife walks at the front, her expression calmer than it has been since the ritual, and the moment Dorian rises to greet her, she offers him a respectful incline of her head.

“The wards have been completed around Fort Smit,” she announces.

Relief visibly settles over several faces around the table.

“The protection will hold against corrupted magic for as long as the runes remain intact. At sunrise tomorrow, our sisters leave for Cedar Valley. After that, we shall continue through every allied territory until every pack falls beneath the Moon Goddess’s protection.”

“Thank you,” Dorian says sincerely. “You’ve done more for our people than we can ever repay.”

Aoife simply smiles. “We are stronger together.” Her gaze drifts around the room before stopping on me.

More specifically, on the necklace resting against my chest.

Her smile suddenly disappears, confusion replacing it.

Then disbelief.

She slowly steps toward me without saying a word, her eyes never leaving the familiar gold pendant that had belonged to my mother.

Instinctively, my fingers wrap around it, almost protectively. “Sister Aoife?”

She doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, she takes another careful step closer, her eyes glistening with tears that seem to appear from nowhere.

“May I…?” she asks softly, gesturing toward the pendant.

I nod slowly, still confused, but knowing I can trust her as I unclasp my fingers from around the pendant.

The moment she lifts the pendant into her trembling hand, a broken breath escapes her.

“No…” she whispers, closing her eyes. “Oh, Cerci…”

The familiar name makes my heart skip a beat. “You…you knew my mother?”

Aoife opens her eyes again, and when she looks at me this time, it isn’t as though she’s looking at Luna Poppy.

She’s looking at someone’s daughter. The daughter of someone she knows all too well.

“I made this necklace,” she whispers, carefully tracing the engraving on the back with her thumb. “My sister asked me to.” Aoife frowns as she stares at the back of the pendant. “But she added one small phrase to this. A spell. It’s probably why your powers didn’t emerge for a long time. How long have you had this necklace?”

“All my life…” I whisper, feeling Damian’s grip tighten around my hand beneath the table as the room goes awfully silent. All I can hear is my own heartbeat as it quickens.

“My sister…” Aoife repeats, her voice thick with emotion. “Cerci Evans.”

My lips part. “My mother was your sister?”

Aoife nods slowly. “You never met her, did you? You didn’t know who she was?”

I shake my head. “My father hardly spoke about her. He only told me she died in childbirth.”

Pain flashes across Aoife’s face. “Perhaps he didn’t know she was a witch. She didn’t die in childbirth, Poppy.” Her fingers remain curled around the pendant as though she’s afraid to let it go. She takes a slow breath before returning the pendant to my chest.