Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

"She’s after the twin born with a crescent mark. It’s said she’s been hunting them down since the very beginning of her time, and she believes you’re one of them." Ivy explained to her seeing her frustration. "But I already told Aunt Natasha you don’t carry that mark, that the sea witch is wasting her time chasing you, and that we need to clear up this misunderstanding somehow, right aunt?."

Viola’s brows drew together at her sister’s words and Natasha’s firm nod. "The crescent mark?" She asked. Wasn’t that the very same mark on Victoria’s neck, the one used to identify her as Sebastian’s mate? How could it be the same the Sea witch was after?

"Yes. The mark means something enormously important to the sea witch, important enough that she’s been hunting for anyone who bears it for over a century. Some rumors say it’s something that could help the werewolves, whom she despises more than any other merfolk. Others claim that anyone born with the mark is destined to kill her in the future. I believe many mermaids and mermen have helped her search for people born with the mark, hoping to receive something in return for helping her." Yasmin explained.

"However, she hasn’t found anyone from this generation yet, and I don’t know why she’s after you when you weren’t born with it," Yasmin added. Unlike the older generations of mermaids, none of them had ever been told exactly why the sea witch was so obsessed with the mark. They had only heard so many conflicting rumors over the years that they could no longer tell which ones held any truth.

"Victoria has that mark," Viola said, but before she could continue, Natasha cut in.

"That’s impossible. Only one person is destined to bear the mark in each generation, and the sea witch has killed every one of them from every generation before yours. This generation is the only exception because she hasn’t found its bearer yet. Whoever you’re describing, she isn’t the one."

Viola turned toward her aunt, her eyes narrowing. "How do you know Victoria isn’t the one? I haven’t even told you that part yet."

Natasha realized her slip a beat too late, noticing everyone’s eyes now fixed on her, including her own daughter’s. She hadn’t meant to let that slip, but after carrying the secret all her life, it had become an unbearable burden in her heart, one that was making it increasingly difficult to keep the truth buried. Still, she knew she had to take it to her grave, so she tried to play it off casually.

"We shouldn’t be lingering here like this. Let’s head back to the royal cave. Ivy, hold your sister’s hand. She can’t swim against the current without a tail."

As Natasha began swimming ahead, Viola reached out and caught her hand. "I’m not going anywhere. Tell me how you knew Victoria is an imposter. What makes you come to that conclusion when I said she has the mark?"

For some reason, Viola sensed this particular mermaid Aunt was hiding something, evident in how quickly, how evasively, she’d turned away from the topic of the mark. And if only one person in each generation was ever meant to carry that mark, she shouldn’t have been so quick to assume Victoria was a fake, not without Viola even confirming that she had found out the shewolf was an imposter.

Natasha felt her niece’s grip tighten around her hand, felt her gaze, felt the others waiting silently for whatever she had to say, and knew there was no way out of this now when she had allowed her mouth to speak out those words.

"It’s because I know the real person born with the mark. It isn’t Victoria, or whatever she’s calling herself. Can we please move back now?" She asked, looking anxiously at the kids.

"No. Not until I hear everything. How do you know the real mark bearer? This person matters enormously to my husband, and Victoria is making a mockery of it. The werewolves have a prophecy, someone born with that mark is meant to break the Silver Alpha’s curse, end his suffering. If you know who this person really is, you need to tell me right now."

As much as Viola dreaded the idea of the real prophesied mate entering the picture while she was already fighting a fake one, she couldn’t help but need to know, especially now that her aunt clearly already did.

"Who is she, Mama?" Yasmin asked, having no idea about any of this until now, since all this time they’d all believed the sea witch was simply searching in the wrong place, not realizing her own mother had known the real person all along and kept it hidden from them.

When every eye turned to Natasha, she swallowed hard. "I made a promise. To keep this to myself and to protect her."

"I’m sorry you have to break that promise to whoever you made it to, but I need to know. Victoria is destroying my world, destroying my husband’s life and trying to make him kill our unborn child." Viola said firmly, watching guilt flood her aunt’s eyes before she finally parted her lips.

"She was born with the mark on her shoulder, right before me. The moment we saw it, it brought fear into both me and her mother, because we knew what it meant, that she’d be hunted for the rest of her life. So we did something, to protect her..."

Viola felt a sharp sense of dread rising in her chest, but still asked, "What did you do?"

Natasha looked at her, almost apologetically. "We gave her a lifetime suppressant. Something to keep all her powers dormant, to make sure she never woke into her full potential, not in this lifetime. To keep her safe."

All the color drained from Viola’s face as realization slowly dawned on her, and she stared at the mermaid. "You mean... I was born with the mark, and you’re the one who gave me the suppressant. The one that made me wolfless."

Natasha nodded, guilt written across her face as she realized the girl already paced everything together. "But it was only ever to protect you, Serena. Your mother gave birth to the two of you without any support from your father, and our own parents were furious with her for defying them, for falling in love with a werewolf in the first place. She didn’t want anything to happen to you, and—"

"Was that why she wanted me dead? Why she gave us to the orphanage, so no one would ever know she’d given birth to someone carrying the mark?" Viola asked, even as none of it fully made sense, even as other pieces suddenly clicked into place with brutal clarity. Her whole life of being considered a the curse one.

So this whole time, she had been the prophecy. But because her wolf lay dormant, buried beneath the suppressant, nobody had ever known it was her, she had been the only one meant to break his curse, all along, and none of them had ever realized it. Viola felt a storm of mixed emotions rising inside her, because so much time had been wasted, because her own mother had given her away, partly because of this too.

"She didn’t give you away. I did." Natasha announced, shocking Viola even further, forcing her to look up sharply. "Your mother would never have given you away, not even with a knife pressed to her throat. But I did it, believing I was helping her, believing the two of you would bring nothing but pain and danger into her life."

"Mama..." Yasmin said, disbelief thick in her voice.

"Aunt Natasha." Ivy whispered, and Viola only stared at the mermaid, remembering now the pair of blue eyes she’d always mistaken for her mother’s, cold eyes ordering her death, only to realize now it had been her mother’s twin all along.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!