Chapter 267: Chapter 267

She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper. "They still tell that story in the wolf packs. They say, ’A witch’s heart beats with the blood of betrayal.’ And because of that, witches learned to hide. To move through shadow, to never love a wolf again."

Her words hung in the air, heavy and cold.

I looked down, my voice barely audible. "But my mother... she did."

"Yes," Lira said softly. "Your mother was brave or foolish, depending on who tells the story. She loved a wolf, and that love brought the fire back into the war."

I couldn’t stop myself. "So my mother fell in love with one of them? With a werewolf? After all that?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. Your mother, Silva, was stubborn like you. She believed peace could return. She said love could heal what bloodshed had broken."

"Did he love her too?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Lira looked away. "He did. Or at least, I think he did. He was no ordinary wolf. He was the son of a powerful Alpha, he was strong, noble, and brave. But he lived in two worlds, one where his heart belonged to Silva, and one where his duty belonged to his pack."

I pressed my lips together. "What happened to them?"

Lira’s face tightened. "They tried to keep their love secret. But secrets, child, have wings. One of the coven sisters saw them together under the old willow by the river. She told the council. And from there, everything broke."

I stared at the fire, afraid to ask, but I did anyway. "What did they do to her?"

Lira closed her eyes. "The council warned her to end it. They said love between witch and wolf would bring ruin. But she refused. She said love was not sin, and that the stars themselves would forgive her."

Lira sighed deeply before continuing, her voice softer now, as if the words themselves carried too much weight.

"Your mother... Silva," she said, her lips trembling a little as she spoke the name, "was unlike anyone I had ever met. She was wise beyond her years, and powerful, so powerful that the coven elders had already chosen her to rise among them when the moon turned full that year. She was meant to lead us one day, to guide the next generation of witches. But love..." She gave a sad smile. "Love has a way of changing everything, doesn’t it?"

I stayed still, afraid to even breathe. The firelight danced against Lira’s lined face, and for a moment, it looked like she was staring into the past. Official source ıs novel•fire.net

"She met him by chance," she went on. "It was a night like any other, a night of gathering moon herbs near the forest borders. He was there, a wolf... your father."

"She should have killed him on sight," Lira whispered. "That was the law. But she didn’t. Instead, she saw him wounded, bleeding from a silver arrow. She knew if she left him there, he would die. So she did the forbidden, she healed him."

Lira gave a quiet, bitter laugh. "That was how it began. A moment of mercy that grew into a story the coven would call betrayal."

I listened, wide-eyed, as she painted the picture before me. "For weeks, Silva returned to the same forest edge. At first, it was just to make sure he lived. But you know how hearts are, child, they never listen to reason. Soon, they began to speak. At first from a distance. Then closer. She laughed with him, shared stories, learned his name. He called her his ’star flame.’ And she called him her ’moonfire.’ They were opposites, light and dark, but they fit, just like the Moon and the stars once did."

"She loved him that much?" I asked softly.

Lira nodded slowly. "More than her duty, more than her power, even more than her destiny. When the elders discovered her secret, they gave her a choice, to renounce him or be cast out forever. She didn’t hesitate. She left everything behind that night, her wand, her title, her sisters. She walked into the forest with nothing but the clothes on her back... and the heart that belonged to him."

My throat felt tight. "And my father? He didn’t stop her?"

"He tried," Lira said with a faint smile. "He told her he didn’t deserve such sacrifice, that her world was brighter than his. But she told him that love wasn’t about worth, it was about choice. And she had chosen him."

Tears burned my eyes before I realized I was crying. "They must have been happy together."

Lira’s face softened, and she reached out to hold my hand. "They were, for a time. They built a quiet life on the edge of the valley, far from both coven and pack. No one knew they existed except me. I was her guide, her watcher from afar. I made sure no witch or wolf discovered them. Silva wrote to me when she could, using the wind’s whispers. She told me how he would bring her wildflowers, how they would dance under the moon and count stars until dawn. It was a love both cursed and blessed."

"They were lovely together," she said, almost in a whisper. "Not just in looks, child, but in spirit. Your mother, Silva, was light itself, gentle, wise, and full of laughter. And your father... he was strength, quiet, patient, yet fierce in the way he loved her. When they were together, you could feel it, that bond that makes even the winds pause to listen."

I leaned closer unconsciously. "You mean he truly loved her too?"

Lira chuckled softly. "Oh, he did, Lisa. He loved her more than his own blood, more than the name he carried as a wolf. He would brush the hair from her face as though she were made of moonlight, and she would smile at him like he was the only thing keeping her heart beating. They didn’t need words. The way they looked at each other said everything."

I swallowed hard. "So... he also left his pack for her?"

Lira’s gaze lifted to mine, and she nodded slowly. "Yes, child. He left it all. His pack, his title, even his family name. He was the Alpha’s son, next in line to lead, but when they found out about Silva, they called her a curse, a temptress, a star-born witch who wanted to weaken their bloodline. They told him to kill her to prove his loyalty."