The Missing Lunas
1027 Words
Ava couldn't stop looking at the portrait.
Beneath the warm glow of the chandelier, Evelyn Blackwood seemed almost alive. The artist had captured a quiet intelligence in her expression, the kind that made it difficult to look away. There was nothing frightening about the painting itself, yet the longer Ava stared at it, the more unsettled she became. Part of that discomfort came from knowing the woman had vanished without a trace. The rest came from a strange feeling Ava couldn't explain—a persistent sense that she had seen that face somewhere before.
"Twenty-three years ago?" she asked softly.
Ryker kept his attention on the portrait.
"She was twenty-seven."
The detail surprised her. Most people remembered dates or circumstances. They rarely remembered an exact age unless the person had occupied an important place in their life.
"She was family."
"My aunt."
His voice remained steady, but something older lingered beneath the surface. Whatever grief had once existed had settled into something quieter over the years, a sorrow that had become part of him.
Ava studied the painting again. Now that she knew who Evelyn was, the resemblance became impossible to ignore. The shape of the eyes and the strong line of the jaw carried clear traces of the Blackwood family.
"What happened to her?"
"No one knows."
The answer arrived immediately.
When Ava frowned, he continued.
"The family hired investigators. The Council conducted its own search. Trackers were brought in from neighboring territories. None of them found anything useful."
That was the part Ava found most disturbing. People did not simply disappear from heavily protected estates. Even the most carefully planned disappearance usually left something behind. A witness. A mistake. A clue. Yet twenty-three years later, Evelyn Blackwood remained a mystery.
Ryker eventually turned away from the portrait and continued down the hallway. Ava followed him through the quiet estate, neither of them speaking. The silence felt thoughtful rather than uncomfortable, as though they were both trying to understand a puzzle that had suddenly become larger than either of them expected.
At the end of the corridor, Ryker stopped outside a heavy oak door and pushed it open.
"Come in."
The room beyond felt completely different from the rest of the estate.
It wasn't grand or intimidating. Instead, it felt lived in.
Bookshelves covered the walls from floor to ceiling. A fire burned quietly in the hearth. Framed photographs rested on a nearby cabinet, their silver edges catching the light.
Almost immediately, Ava recognized the woman in them.
Every photograph featured Evelyn.
One picture showed her standing beside a stern-looking man Ava assumed was Ryker's father. Another captured her sitting beneath an enormous oak tree with a young boy leaning comfortably against her shoulder.
Recognition struck a moment later.
The boy was Ryker.
She turned toward him.
"You were close."
His gaze settled briefly on the photograph.
"Very."
The simple answer carried more meaning than a long explanation could have.
For the first time since meeting him, Ava saw something beyond the Alpha King and public figure. She saw someone who had lost a person he loved and had never been given an answer.
"What do you think happened to her?"
Ryker moved toward the window where rain traced slow paths across the glass.
"I don't know."
For the second time that evening, she believed him completely.
After a pause, he added, "People don't spend twenty-three years searching for someone if they've accepted they're gone."
Ava couldn't argue with that.
Her attention drifted around the room until it settled on a thick leather folder resting on a mahogany desk. The Blackwood crest had been stamped deeply into the cover.
More importantly, Ryker's expression changed the moment he noticed where she was looking.
"What is that?"
His gaze followed hers.
For the first time all evening, genuine reluctance appeared on his face.
"You should leave it alone."
Ava raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds exactly like something I should look at."
A quiet sigh escaped him.
Crossing the room, Ryker picked up the folder and held it for several seconds before finally handing it over.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Ava opened the clasp and flipped to the first page.
A photograph stared back at her. A young woman stood in front of Blackwood Estate. Beneath the image was a name, a date, and a title.
Contract Luna.
Ava turned the page.
Another woman.
Different face.
Same title.
As she continued reading, an uncomfortable feeling settled in her chest. The women came from different backgrounds and different periods of Blackwood history, yet the files all shared one disturbing similarity. Every record ended abruptly. The investigations stopped. The paper trail vanished. The story simply ended.
Ava slowly lifted her eyes.
"What exactly am I looking at?"
Ryker's expression darkened.
"The women who signed contracts before you."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Ava lowered her gaze back to the folder and continued reading. Search efforts, witness interviews, and investigation reports filled the pages, but none of them provided answers. The details changed from case to case, yet the outcome never did. Every file ended with another missing woman and another mystery nobody had managed to solve.
By the time she reached the final page, a knot had formed in her stomach.
Part of her wanted to close the folder.
Instead, she turned the page.
Then froze.
Unlike the others, this file contained almost nothing. The space where a photograph should have been remained empty, and the supporting documents that filled the earlier records were missing.
Only a blank frame remained.
And beneath it was a name.
Ava Winters.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
The letters seemed unreal.
As though they belonged to someone else.
Then she heard a sharp intake of breath beside her.
Ava looked up.
The color had drained from Ryker's face. His attention remained fixed on the page, and the shock in his expression was impossible to mistake.
That reaction frightened her far more than seeing her own name.
Because if Ryker Blackwood was this surprised, it meant he hadn't expected the page to be there.
And if he hadn't created it...
Someone else had.
- Writer
