The Alpha's Last Witness

Chapter 3 - The Ceremony

Chapter Three

The Ceremony

I should have walked away.

That was the thought that followed me all the way home.

Why did your father die investigating the Alpha Court?

Cassian hadn't sounded curious.

He had sounded like a man testing the edge of a wound.

And I hated that he had found one.

For eight years, I had trained myself not to ask questions about my father's death.

The official story was simple.

An accident.

A terrible one.

Unfortunate.

Final.

But my father had never been careless.

He had spent his entire life preserving other people's histories. He believed records mattered because once the truth disappeared, people could rewrite the past however they wanted.

The night before he died, he'd told my mother something she never repeated to me.

Some histories are dangerous to uncover.

Then he was gone.

I had learned to live with the unanswered questions.

Until Cassian.

---

The succession ceremony was held three days later.

I stood before the mirror in my room, staring at the ceremonial dress my mother had insisted I wear.

It was simple—cream fabric with silver embroidery around the sleeves.

"You look beautiful," she said from behind me.

I smiled faintly.

"Thank you."

She adjusted the collar.

Her hands suddenly stopped.

"What?"

She was looking at the silver pendant around my neck.

It had belonged to my father.

She touched it carefully.

"Where did you get this?"

"You gave it to me."

"I know."

Her expression had changed.

"Why?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing."

I turned toward her.

"Mother."

She forced a smile.

"You're going to be late."

That wasn't an answer.

But before I could question her, she kissed my forehead.

"Be careful."

Two simple words.

Yet something about the way she said them made me uneasy.

---

The Moon Court was already full when I arrived.

Hundreds of people had gathered beneath the enormous glass dome.

Representatives from all seven territories stood around the ceremonial platform.

At the center was the Moon Altar.

I'd seen drawings of it in the archives.

Nothing had prepared me for seeing it in person.

It was carved from a pale stone that seemed to glow beneath the moonlight.

Ancient symbols covered its surface.

I stared at them.

Something felt wrong.

Not frightening.

Familiar.

I couldn't explain it.

Then I heard the ceremonial bells.

Everyone fell silent.

I looked toward the entrance.

Cassian walked into the chamber.

My breath caught.

He was dressed in formal black, silver embroidery crossing his shoulders.

There was no trace of the man who had teased me in the Council chamber.

This was the Alpha.

Everyone bowed.

I remained standing.

His eyes found mine immediately.

For one strange moment, the entire room seemed to disappear.

There was only him.

And me.

His gaze lingered.

Something shifted in his expression.

Recognition.

Curiosity.

Something else I couldn't name.

Then he looked away.

The ceremony began.

---

I stepped toward the Moon Altar.

My heart was beating too quickly.

The High Elder began reciting the ancient words.

I had read them countless times.

I knew every line.

Every pause.

Every response.

But hearing them spoken inside the Moon Court was different.

"Before the Moon, before the seven territories, before the bloodlines that came before us..."

My fingers tightened around the ceremonial scroll.

I looked at Cassian.

He was watching me.

Not the Elder.

Me.

I tried to focus.

The Elder continued.

"The Witness shall observe without fear."

I almost laughed.

Without fear.

That was becoming difficult.

"The Witness shall remember what others seek to forget."

Something cold moved through me.

Remember.

The word seemed to echo.

I looked down at the altar.

And froze.

There it was.

A symbol carved into the stone.

A crescent moon surrounded by seven small marks.

I'd seen it before.

Not in the archives.

Somewhere else.

I couldn't remember where.

My eyes narrowed.

The ceremony continued around me, but I barely heard it.

I stepped closer.

Cassian noticed.

His expression changed.

"Mara?"

I ignored him.

The symbol seemed to pull at something buried deep inside my memory.

I reached toward it.

My fingertips hovered above the stone.

"Don't."

Cassian's voice was low.

I looked at him.

He had moved closer.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Then why are you telling me not to touch it?"

His jaw tightened.

"I said don't."

For some reason, that made me want to do it even more.

I looked back at the symbol.

Then touched it.

The world disappeared.

---

I was standing somewhere else.

Somewhere dark.

There were voices.

A man's voice.

My father's.

My breath caught.

"She cannot know yet."

Another voice answered.

A woman.

"We don't have much time."

I turned.

But I couldn't see their faces.

I tried to move toward them.

My feet wouldn't obey.

My father's voice came again.

"If they discover who she is, they'll come for her."

My heart began pounding.

"Who?" I whispered.

Neither of them heard me.

Then the woman said something that made the blood drain from my face.

"Does Cassian know?"

Silence.

My father answered.

"Not yet."

A sharp pain struck my head.

The room seemed to spin.

I saw a flash of silver.

A young boy.

Dark hair.

Gray eyes.

Cassian.

But he was much younger.

He stood beside my father.

My father placed a hand on his shoulder.

Then everything shattered.

---

I gasped.

The Moon Court rushed back into focus.

I stumbled backward.

Cassian caught my arm before I fell.

"Mara."

His voice sounded distant.

I stared at him.

He was looking at me with something dangerously close to fear.

"What happened?"

I couldn't answer.

My fingers were still tingling.

I looked down at the symbol.

Then back at Cassian.

"You knew."

His face went completely still.

"Knew what?"

"My father."

Cassian's grip tightened slightly around my arm.

"What did you see?"

I swallowed.

Before I could answer, another image flashed through my mind.

My father.

Cassian.

The silver symbol.

And a sentence I hadn't heard before.

"When the last Witness awakens, the Alpha will have to choose."

Then darkness swallowed everything.

And I collapsed.