A Broken Alpha Heiress' Revenge novel Chapter 345

Chapter 345

Third Person’ POV

The manor of the Duckgrave Pack lay shrouded in the stillness of night, though not even the shadows could smother the rumors that ran like wildfire through its halls. Word had spread-Lucien had returned from the West with a woman in his arms. A woman who bore the sacred bond of a second chance mate.

At first, few believed it. Wolves whispered in disbelief, some with hope, others with dread. But in the high chamber where the Matriarchs gathered, silence weighed heavier than any rumor.

Matriarch Duskgrave sat rigid in her chair, her silver hair braided back like a crown of winter thorns, her eyes sharp as the moon’s edge. Beside her, Mrs. Beck wrung her hands, worry creasing her brow. Mia lingered close, her expression softer, younger, but no less troubled.

“Another mate,” Mia whispered. “The Moon Goddess has answered after all…”

Matriarch Duskgrave’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Perhaps. Or perhaps the Goddess has tested him. We prayed Lucien might rise from the ashes of grief and take hold of a second bond-but not like this. Not with a wolf of an enemy pack.” with

Mrs. Beck gave a quiet whimper. “He will not even allow us to see her. Says she is… healing. Says he will bring her when the time is right. But what if—”

“He guards her too fiercely,” the Matriarch cut in. “And a wolf who guards too tightly often guards because of fear.”

Her words settled over the chamber like frost.

Above their heads, in the highest room of the manor, the woman slept. Lucien kept her door locked, guarded by silence and shadows. None of them had seen her, not yet.

But one had grown restless.

Aurora’s wolf blood sang with curiosity, her heart beating fast with a child’s need to know. Lucien had shown her pictures once, when he had thought the past safe to share-faded photographs of a woman with a smile soft as dawnlight. Your mother, he had said, voice heavy with sorrow. The one who was taken from us.

And now, upstairs, a woman slept who was said to be her father’s second mate. A woman from the West. A woman Lucien would not let anyone near.

Aurora’s young wolf bristled. She could not ignore the truth that tugged at her bones. She had to see.

So, beneath the cloak of moonlight, Aurora crept from her chamber and padded barefoot down the long corridor. The door to the forbidden room loomed before her. Her heart thundered as she reached for the handle-unlocked, this time, as if fate herself had left the path open.

The air inside was thick with the scent of wolf magic and herbs, of Maeryn’s healing spells and Lucien’s presence. But all Aurora saw was the bed-and the woman upon it.

Her breath caught.

1/3

The woman’s face was pale, lips parted in shallow breaths, but the lines of her jaw, the fall of her dark lashes, the curve of her mouth-Aurora knew them. She knew them as she knew her own reflection.

“She’s… she’s the same,” Aurora whispered to herself, trembling. “Exactly the same.”

Her father had not lied. The woman in the photographs, the mother she had long dreamed of-was here. Alive.

Aurora stumbled back, tears pricking her eyes. She could not keep this to herself. She fled down the stairs, the hem of her nightgown brushing the stone steps, and burst into the chamber where Matriarch Duskgrave, Mrs. Beck, and Mia still sat in their circle of worry.

“Come!” she cried, voice breathless. “Come quickly! You must see her!”

“Child, what nonsense-” the Matriarch began, but Aurora seized her hand, pulling with all the urgency of her small wolf heart.

“No time to explain. Please. Please!”

Confusion gave way to alarm, and the three women followed her, their feet heavy upon the stairs, hearts pounding. Aurora flung open the door and led them inside.

And then silence.

The Matriarch’s breath left her in a sharp gasp. Mrs. Beck clutched at her chest. Mia’s hand flew to her lips.

On the bed lay Aria-Riley to those who had known her before-her chest rising and falling in fragile rhythm, her face like a ghost pulled back from the grave.

“She…” Mrs. Beck’s voice cracked. “It cannot be…”

“It is,” the Matriarch whispered, her hands trembling for the first time in years. Her eyes filled, silver tears sliding down her wrinkled cheeks. “By the Goddess… it is her.”

They moved closer, reverent, desperate. Mia reached out as if to brush Aria’s hair back, her breath breaking on a sob.

“Wake, child,” Mrs. Beck whispered. “Wake and look at us. Wake and return to your family.”

But before her fingers touched, the door slammed behind them.

Lucien stood there, his wolf aura flooding the room with raw power. His eyes blazed, his chest heaving.

“Enough.”

His voice was a growl, sharp as steel. He crossed the room in two strides and placed himself between the bed and the women, his body a living barrier.

“You cannot,” he said, voice low but fierce. “Not yet.”

“Lucien,” the Matriarch began, her tears falling openly now. “Why keep us from her? She is here—alive, breathing. After all these years…”

1-akad hack at the fragile

figure on the bed. “I know. And if I thought she could bear it, if I thought she would not shatter again, I would let you call her name. But she is not whole. Not yet. Her body heals, but her mind-her memories

He broke off, closing his eyes. “If you push too soon, you could break her forever.”

The chamber fell silent, the women staring at him in disbelief.

Aurora clutched her grandmother’s skirts, wide-eyed. “Father… is she truly my mother?”

Lucien’s breath hitched. Slowly, he nodded. “Yes, little wolf. She is. But she has walked through fire and shadow to return. Until she is strong enough, she must rest.”

The Matriarch’s face crumpled. She pressed her hand to her mouth and sobbed, raw and unrestrained. Mrs. Beck leaned against Mia, both of them weeping openly..

“Moon Goddess,” Mrs. Beck whispered, tears spilling. “You have returned her to us. After all the prayers, after all the grief… you have given her back.”

“And Maeryn,” Mia said softly, her voice trembling. “Without her magic, without her wisdom… perhaps this miracle would never have come.”

They wept together in the hallway, clinging to one another, their grief and their gratitude mingling.

Lucien stood apart, his back to the door, his eyes fixed on the floor. His wolf clawed at him, restless, aching to go back to the woman who slept within.

He whispered to himself, too low for the others to hear: “I will protect you. I will protect us. And when you wake… when you finally wake… the world will know you were never lost.”

3/3