"Do you know Nephera's story? With the... Blue Moon Clan?"
"Yes, Liam told me everything. About how Nephera was sent here by her mother, the Fire Witch, Danica..."
"Her adoptive mother, apparently," adds Liam.
I nod.
"Yeah, to help the Blue Moon Clan settle here and make sure your parents would be safe, your grandmother, Queen Diane, sent Nephera and members of her clan to Silver City."
"That's right, but things didn't go according to plan. The Blue Moon Clan was... killed, and only Selena and I survived. Sylviana saved me, and Selena was brought here by an older werewolf called Reagan."
"I understand all that, but what does that have to do with Nephera's partner? I mean, your... the Blue Moon Pack is the only one to use the name Blue, right? The other... part of the clan settled here is called the Sapphire Moon. I don't understand how it's related, your last name is Bluemoon too, not Blue..."
Nora takes a deep breath, and strangely, she now has a very sad expression on. She glances at her son, taking another deep breath.
"The name Bluemoon... in werewolves’ families, only the leaders are allowed to use the names of their packs. For example, Selena's last name is Whitewood because she was adopted by the Alpha's family of her pack. In the case of Royals, though, Royal werewolves are always the leading Alphas, and as such, they take on the names of their pack. That's why my last name is Bluemoon. However, you remember Diane had a younger sister, right?"
My heart's speed increases a bit. I remember it all.
The story of the Blue Moon and Sapphire Moon Clans. Another pair of sisters separated young, who never saw each other again; I focused on the witches when Liam told me their story, like how Diane sent her younger sister here to Silver City…
"...Cynthia,” I mutter.
Nora smiles gently, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"That's right, Cynthia. Diane's younger sister, my grand-aunt, came here and established the Sapphire Moon Clan. She did a lot for her people, even without Nephera's help. It probably wasn't easy... Cynthia eventually established a family of her own, but she didn't want to take her older sister's name. Unlike Diane, Cynthia was born like a... regular Alpha werewolf."
For some reason, my heart is starting to thump like crazy in my chest. I don't like where this is going, but I need to hear it. I'm glad I can feel Liam's warmth against my legs, because I'm growing colder with each word Nora says. I don't like any of this...
"She took the name... Blue?" I ask.
Nora slowly nods.
"That's right. The group who had left the Blue Moon Clan established themselves as the Sapphire Moon Clan in Silver City, but Cynthia and her family kept their last names as simply Blue."
"So you're saying, Cynthia Blue could be my... I mean, Mara's grandmother?"
Once again, Nora and Selena exchange a glance.
"It could be," says Selena. "She had a son, a man named Alcott Blue. I never met him personally, but he was... old enough to have been Nephera's partner."
"...Actually, it would make sense," sighs Nora.
She gets up to grab Lily. I didn't even realize the baby girl was getting a little bit fussy. She calms down as soon as she's in her mother's arms and grabs one of Nora's black curls in her little fist, frowning and staring at it.
"Nephera mentioned briefly that... she was trying to get over Judah Black, wasn’t she?" she says, looking at Selena.
Selena nods.
"She said something like she was moving on. She was getting a new life of her own... I never imagined she had actually found a new partner, though."
"Not just a new partner," says Nora. "Someone from the Sapphire Moon Clan. If... if all of this is true, Nephera really was trying to go back to the Sapphire Moon Clan. Cynthia was already dead then, but Nephera was going back to her position as the Sapphire Moon Clan's witch... Moon Goddess, it would have changed so many things."
They both look shocked by these revelations.
A part of me is a bit relieved about clearing Nephera’s name. Is it Mara's spirit inside of me who's happy about this? I can't tell. I'm a messy, heavy bundle of emotions right now. I just want to have a definitive answer to this, to know who Nephera's new man was.
"So... Cynthia's son..." I ask, a bit unsure.
