Elder Sage's POV
The holy herbs fell from my trembling hands as the vision hit me like lightning. I gripped the edge of my table, gasping as pictures flashed through my mind - a young girl with dark hair standing by rushing water, but this time I could see what really happened that terrible day.
"No," I whispered, my heart racing. "It can't be."
The vision faded, leaving me shaking in my small healing room. For seventy years, I'd had the gift of sight, but this vision changed everything I thought I knew about Aria Keen and her sister's death.
A soft knock stopped my racing thoughts. "Elder Sage? Are you okay? I heard something fall."
Aria's gentle voice made my chest ache. I quickly swept up the spread herbs, trying to compose myself before she saw how upset I was.
"Come in, child," I called.
She entered holding a basket of dirty laundry, her face tired and sad. Purple bruises covered her arms from fight training, and I could see fresh tears on her cheeks.
"Let me help you with that," I said, taking the heavy basket from her small hands.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Jessica said I had to wash everyone's clothes by hand because I ruined dinner again."
My anger flared at Jessica's rudeness, but I kept my voice calm. "Sit down, dear. You look exhausted."
Aria fell into the chair by my herb table, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "I can't do anything right, Elder Sage. I try so hard, but everything I touch breaks or burns or fails."
I wanted to tell her the truth right then. I wanted to explain that she wasn't the monster everyone thought she was. But I'd kept this secret for ten years, and admitting it now could destroy more than just one life.
"Child," I said carefully, "sometimes the hardest battles we fight are against the lies we tell ourselves."
She looked up at me with confused eyes. "What do you mean?"
Before I could answer, angry voices exploded from outside. Through my window, I could see Damon taking Aria's father, Alpha Richard, away from the pack house. The man was drunk again, shouting about killers and dead daughters.
Aria heard her father's words and went pale. "He came here?"
"Don't listen to him," I said strongly, moving to block her view of the window. "He's lost in sadness and alcohol. His words mean nothing."
But the damage was done. Aria was crying again, harder now. "He's right though. I killed Maya. I dared her to cross that river, and she died because of me."
"Did she?" I asked quietly.
Aria's head snapped up. "What?"
I stared into her tear-filled eyes, weighing my words carefully. The vision I'd just had changed everything, but was I ready to share what I'd seen?
"Tell me exactly what you remember from that day," I said instead.
Aria wiped her nose with her sleeve. "We were playing by the banned river. I dared Maya to cross on the slippery rocks. She fell in, and I tried to save her, but I wasn't strong enough. When help came, it was too late."
"And after that?"
"Father blamed me. The pack whispered about the killer child. So I left." Her voice broke. "I've been punishing myself ever since."
I mixed plants for a calming tea, my mind racing. The vision had shown me the truth, but it also showed something much more dangerous. Maya hadn't just survived that day - she'd been taken by someone with dark plans.
"Aria," I said slowly, "what if I told you that sometimes our memories can be... clouded by guilt and pain?"
She frowned. "I don't understand."
"What if what you remember isn't exactly what happened?"
Before she could reply, Beta Marcus burst through my door without knocking. His face was white with fear.
"Elder Sage! Is Aria here?" He spotted her and relief filled his features. "Thank the Moon Goddess. We need to talk. Both of you."
"What's wrong?" I asked, though my gift was already showing me flashes of danger.
"Someone's been watching the pack house," Marcus said grimly. "We found tracks around the border, and they're not from any pack we know."
Aria stood up quickly. "What kind of tracks?"
"The kind that belong to wolves who practice dark magic," Marcus said. "Shadow Pack wolves."
My blood turned to ice. The Shadow Pack. I'd hoped they were just tales, stories to scare children. But if they were real, and if they were here... "Why would they be watching us?" Aria asked.
Marcus looked at me meaningfully. "Elder Sage, you need to tell her."
"Tell me what?" Aria demanded, looking between us.
I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of ten years of lies pressing down on me. The vision, the dark magic tracks, the danger coming - it was all connected. And at the center of it all was the truth about Maya's death.
Or rather, her life.
"Sit down, child," I said heavily. "There are things about that day at the river that you don't remember. Things that were hidden to protect you."
Aria sank back into her chair, her face pale. "What things?"
I walked to my locked cabinet and pulled out an old leather notebook. Inside were pressed flowers, dried herbs, and most importantly, photos I'd hidden for a decade.
"Your sister didn't die that day," I said quietly.
The words hung in the air like a bomb waiting to burst.
Aria stared at me in shock. "What did you say?"
"Maya didn't drown in that river," I repeated, opening the journal to show her a faded picture. "She was pulled out by Shadow Pack wolves who'd been watching your family."
The picture showed a group of dark-robed figures carrying a small, unconscious girl away from the riverbank. Even though the picture was blurry, Maya's face was unmistakable.
"No," Aria whispered, grabbing for the photo with shaking hands. "This can't be real. Maya died. I felt her go limp in the water. I watched them pull her body out-"
"You watched them pull out someone else," I said gently. "The Shadow Pack used magic to make you see what they wanted you to see. They needed everyone to believe Maya was dead so they could take her."
Marcus leaned forward. "Take her for what?"
I looked at both of them, knowing that once I said the next words, there would be no going back.
"To raise her as a weapon," I said. "The Shadow Pack has been planning to destroy the best packs for years. They needed someone who could get close to strong Alphas, someone innocent and beautiful who could be trusted."
Aria's face went from pale to green. "You're saying Maya is alive? That she's been with evil wolves this whole time?"
"I'm saying she's not the innocent child you remember," I said sadly. "Ten years of dark magic can change a person's heart."
Before anyone could respond, a howl echoed through the forest - long, haunting, and certainly not from our pack.
Marcus jumped to his feet. "That's the warning scream. We're under attack."
Another howl answered the first, then another. Soon the air was filled with the sound of strange wolves surrounding our area.
"The Shadow Pack," I breathed. "They're here."
Aria stood up, her legs shaking. "Are they here for me? Because they know I remember Maya?"
I started to answer, but then I heard something that made my heart stop. A voice calling from the trees, sweet and familiar.
"Aria! Big sister, where are you?"
Aria's face went white as death. "That's Maya's voice. But she's supposed to be dead."
The voice called again, closer now. "I've missed you so much, Aria. Come outside so we can be together again."
Through my window, I could see a figure coming from the tree line. Even from a distance, I could tell it was Maya - but there was something wrong about the way she moved, something strange about her smile.
"Don't go to her," I told Aria urgently. "That's not the sister you remember."
But Aria was already moving toward the door, tears running down her face. "Maya! She's living! My sister is alive!"
"Aria, wait!" Marcus called, but she was already running outside.
I watched through my window as Aria ran toward the figure in the forest. Maya opened her arms like she was welcoming her sister home.
But I could see what Aria couldn't - the dark magic swirling around Maya like smoke, and the cruel smile that had nothing sweet about it.
"Moon Goddess help us all," I whispered as the two sisters hugged in the moonlight.
Because I knew this meeting would destroy everything Aria had left to lose.