Chapter 4 ​WHISPERS UNDER THE ASHES

(IVY’S POV)

When I closed the door to my room, my knees buckled. I slumped to the floor with my back against the wood. As the adrenaline ebbed away, the pain began to stab like a knife. Only then did I realize that while trying to protect Liam, I had burned my left arm and shoulder. It seethed as if I were still trapped within the flames.

From downstairs, in the main hall, I could hear the doctor’s voice. Everyone was mobilized for the "little prince." I sat alone in my room, cast aside like a piece of discarded junk. No one had called a doctor for me. Then again, I hadn't expected them to.

With great effort, I made my way to the sink and looked at my reflection. The old scar on my face and the fresh, red burns on my shoulder... "Endure," I whispered to myself. I turned on the cold water, soaked a towel, and pressed it to my shoulder. I gritted my teeth.

At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor. Leo’s footsteps. He paused in front of my door. I held my breath. Would he come in? Would he apologize? Or would he tell me I was fired?

His shadow seeped under the door. He waited for a few seconds. Then, without a single word, he walked away.

In that moment, I understood. To him, I wasn't a human being. I was merely a "thing" his son wanted. A single tear rolled down my cheek, but it wasn't from the pain.

(LUNA BEATRICE’S POV)

Silence had fallen over the mansion, but the screams inside my head would not subside. Liam had spoken. He had said "Mom." For two years, the child hadn't uttered a single word, yet he had called that simple maid "Mom."

This wasn't normal. This couldn't be a coincidence.

I threw my shawl over my head and slipped out the back door, heading for the path leading deep into the forest. My destination was Seer Elara’s hut.

When I stepped inside, the air was thick with a pungent scent of incense. Elara sat by the fire, watching the flames.

"I knew you would come, Beatrice," she said without looking at me.

"Don’t speak to me in riddles, Elara," I snapped, though I couldn't hide the tremor in my voice. "Things are happening in that house. That girl... Ivy. I’ve been uneasy since the day she arrived. My grandson has formed a bond with her. Who is she?"

Elara gave a low, silent laugh and reached toward the fire. The flames turned an eerie green.

"It is not who that girl is that scares you," she said. "It is what you have done."

"I did what was necessary!" I defended myself. "I saved the pack. That girl was a nobody. I couldn't let Leo marry a nothing. The fire... the fire was an accident."

"An accident?" Elara turned to look at me. Her eyes were milky white—she was blind, yet she saw my soul. "Fire burns the flesh, Beatrice. But it cannot burn the blood tie."

"What do you mean?" I took a step back.

"The seed you thought you buried in the earth," Elara whispered, "sometimes sprouts in the most arid season. You took that girl’s face. You took her memory. But you could not tear out her heart."

"She’s dead!" I shouted. "I saw the ashes!"

"Ashes..." Elara said, tossing a powder into the flames. "Ashes are the soil of rebirth. Go and watch your house well, Luna. Ghosts do not pass through walls; they walk through the front door."

I didn’t know how I made it out of that hut. Walking back through the forest, I couldn't breathe.

Could she be alive?

Impossible. That night... everything had ended that night. We had sent the girl far away. The Seer had wiped her memory.

When I returned home, my hands were shaking. I had to lean against the wall for support as I walked down the hall. I saw Leo at the drawing-room door. He was sitting by the fireplace, staring into his glass of whiskey. He looked distracted.

"Leo?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

He looked up. There was a deep confusion in his eyes.

"Mother," he said. "I thought you were asleep."

"How is Liam?"

"He’s asleep," Leo replied. He paused, looking back at his glass. "Something strange happened."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "What happened?"

"When I was putting him to bed... he wanted to lie down next to Ivy. I let him. And while he was falling asleep... she hummed a song to him."

I held my breath. "A song?"

"Yes. A strange melody. You’ve probably never heard it before. But..." Leo placed his hand over his chest. "But when I heard it, the wolf inside me grew restless. As if... as if it were something I knew a long time ago. It felt so familiar."

I turned my head away, not wanting him to see my face. "Maybe she heard it on TV," I muttered, trying to dismiss it.

Leo shook his head. "No. This was an old song. About the forest. About wolves."

He stood up. "I’m going to go talk to Ivy. I’m going to ask her who taught her that song."

"NO!" I shouted suddenly.

Leo looked at me in shock. "Why?"

"I mean..." I tried to compose myself. "The girl is sleeping. She’s injured. Don’t disturb her now. Speak to her in the morning."

Leo didn't look convinced, but he said, "Fine. I'll ask her tomorrow."

When Leo went up to his room, I remained where I stood. My knees could no longer carry me. Slowly, I climbed to the floor where the nursery was. As I passed Ivy’s room, I stopped. The door was slightly ajar.

From inside, I heard the sound of sobbing. She was crying. And as she wept, she was murmuring something to herself.

I moved closer. I pressed my ear to the door. And in that moment, I felt my blood turn to ice.

She wasn't just crying. To soothe her pain, she was—without realizing it—humming that melody from the depths of her memory.

"Sleep now, little star... the night is your friend..."

I covered my mouth with my hand. I bit my lips until they bled to stifle my scream.

That melody.

The same melody I had heard on those nights my son used to secretly meet with that girl two years ago. The old, forgotten lullaby of the pack... the lullaby only she knew.

I stumbled back, my back hitting the wall. Elara was right.

She hadn't died.

The woman whose life I had destroyed, the mother of my grandson... had returned to my home as a servant with a burnt face and a wiped memory.

And Leo... when Leo asked her about that song in the morning, everything would end.

I collapsed to the floor in the dark corridor. My eyes were locked on Ivy’s door. I had stained my hands with blood to take this secret to the grave.

And now, that grave had opened.