Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 164: One More Question

**Tiana’s POV**

I stayed silent, letting her continue.

"He didn’t teach me everything, but what he did… It stuck with me. Even after he disappeared, I carried his teachings with me. That’s how I learned to fight. How I learned the importance of silence. How I learned that the world is not as kind as we wish it to be."

I glanced at her, feeling a strange pull in my chest. "Do you miss him?"

She didn’t answer right away. "Sometimes. But I’m stronger now. I’ve learned to move on."

I nodded slowly, understanding more than I let on. The pain of loss was something I knew too well. I still had not gotten over my mother's death.

Cecilia stood, dusting off her hands. "Enough talk. You need your rest. Tomorrow, we train again. There’s no time to waste."

"Tell me something else," I said, shifting on my blanket to face Cecilia. "Another story from when you were young. Or wait, why was your father not welcome to the pack?" I asked, the thought just registering in my mind. "If he had stayed, what would have happened to you and your mother?"

She raised a brow at me, her lips curving into a knowing smile. "You’re insatiable, you know that?"

I shrugged. "You tell good stories. And I’d rather listen than lay here overthinking everything."

Cecilia sighed, leaning back on her elbows as she gazed up at the sky. For a long moment, I thought she might refuse, but then she chuckled softly.

"Alright," she murmured. "Let me think of one."

I waited, watching her closely. Her face, even when relaxed, always seemed slightly tensed up. Like she was seeing something no one else could in that moment. I wasn't surprised by it though. After all, she was a woman who had seen too much, lived too long, and still somehow managed to keep her secrets buried deep.

"You know, Tiana," she started, her voice softer than usual, "when I was younger, I never really felt like I belonged anywhere. I was born into a wolf pack, but I wasn’t… like the others."

I tilted my head, intrigued. "What do you mean?"

She exhaled through her nose as if debating how much to say. Then, finally, she said, "I had magic."

I blinked. "Yes, I know. I've seen it. It's strange though, because you’re a wolf."

She turned her gaze to me, something unreadable in her expression. "Yes, I am. But I’m also a sorceress."

That caught me completely off guard. I sat up straighter. "How? I thought wolves and sorcerers were separate. You’re either one or the other."

"Normally, yes," Cecilia admitted. "Wolves are born with a connection to the moon, to the physical strength of our kind. Sorcerers… they are connected to the raw forces of nature. Fire, wind, water, spirit. The two don’t usually mix."

"Then how did you—?"

"My mother," she interrupted a small, nostalgic smile on her lips. "She was a wolf. My father was a sorcerer."

I inhaled sharply. That wasn’t something you hear every day. Wolves and sorcerers had existed alongside each other for centuries, but they rarely mixed. The balance of power between the two was too different and too unstable. And there were sorcerers who were too dangerous to live with.

"That’s possible?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around it.

"Rarely," she admitted. "Most of the time, a child born from such a union inherits only one side. They either become a wolf or a sorcerer. But sometimes, in rare cases… they get both."

"And you were one of those cases?" I questioned, staring at her.

Cecilia nodded. "I had my wolf instincts, my enhanced strength and senses. But I also had magic, though it took me years to control it. My father tried to teach me, but sorcery isn’t something you just… master overnight. It’s unpredictable, wild." She paused, then added, "And dangerous, if you don’t know what you’re doing."

I thought about that for a moment. It made sense now—why she was so different, why she had always seemed more than just a wolf.

"So… what happened?" I asked. "Did your pack accept you?"

Cecilia laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Some did. Most didn’t. They feared me, Tiana. A wolf with magic was unheard of, and anything unheard of is usually considered a threat."

I frowned. "But they didn’t drive you out?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I left on my own. I knew I’d never truly fit in. So I sought out my father’s people instead. The sorcerers."

"And did they accept you?"

She gave me a wry smile. "Not exactly. To them, I was still a wolf—an outsider. My magic made me different, but not enough to make me one of them."

I hesitated. "So… where did that leave you?"

"Alone," she said simply. "For a long time, I was just… alone."

A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t know why, but the thought of Cecilia wandering the world, neither wolf nor sorcerer, made something ache inside me.

"I learned to survive," she continued, her voice quiet now. "To use both parts of myself. I stopped trying to be just one thing and embraced being both. That’s why I can teach you the way I do. I understand what it means to walk between worlds, Tiana. And that’s exactly what you’ll have to do in Shadowclaw."

I swallowed, letting her words sink in. "So you think I can do it?"

She looked at me then, her golden eyes steady. "I know you can."

I nodded slowly.

Cecilia suddenly stretched and stood up, dusting off her hands. "That’s enough for tonight. You need rest."

I smiled slightly. "You always cut the stories short just when they get good."

She smirked. "That’s how you keep people wanting more."

I shook my head, lying back down. "Just one more question. It's the last one I promise."

"Go ahead, child."

"How then did you give birth to Lady Althea and her sister who then became Luna?”