Claimed by a vampire prince

Chapter 7: The Secret Chamber

Lucian's POV

I couldn't stop thinking about the letter.

Victor had lied.

Not once.

Not twice.

For twenty years.

The letter confirmed what I had suspected from the moment I stepped into the Blue Moon Pack.

Emerald's parents hadn't simply died in battle.

Someone had buried the truth with them.

I folded the letter carefully and slipped it inside my coat.

"We're leaving," I said.

Emerald looked up.

"Leaving?"

"Not the pack. Not yet."

I met her eyes.

"We're going to your father's office."

Her brows knitted together.

"My father's office was sealed after he died."

"Exactly."

"If someone wanted to hide the truth, that's the first place they would have searched."

She nodded slowly.

"I want to come."

"You will."

---

The hallway leading to the former Alpha's office was silent.

Dust covered the stone floor.

The torches along the walls had long since burned out.

No one had entered this part of the manor for years.

Emerald ran her fingers across the wall.

"I used to come here with my father."

A small smile appeared on her face.

"He would sit me on his desk while he finished his work."

The smile faded just as quickly.

"I haven't been back since..."

She couldn't finish the sentence.

I gently squeezed her hand.

"You don't have to face this alone."

Together, we pushed open the heavy wooden door.

It groaned loudly.

Inside, everything was covered in dust.

Bookshelves lined the walls.

Maps of pack territories hung crookedly.

A large wooden desk stood near the window.

Nothing looked unusual.

But something felt...

Wrong.

I stepped farther into the room.

My wolf became restless.

"Look carefully."

Emerald wandered toward a portrait hanging above the fireplace.

It showed her parents standing side by side.

Alpha Luke looked proud.

His wife smiled as she held a little girl in her arms.

Emerald.

Tears shimmered in Emerald's eyes.

"I barely remember her face."

Before I could answer, I heard a faint click.

I turned.

"Emerald, don't move."

She froze.

"What is it?"

I walked toward the fireplace.

Behind the portrait...

A small metal lever was hidden in the stone.

Someone had carefully concealed it.

I pulled it.

The room trembled.

With a deep rumble, one of the bookshelves slowly slid aside.

A narrow staircase appeared behind it.

Emerald gasped.

"A secret passage..."

I drew my sword.

"Stay close."

The air inside was cold and damp.

We descended carefully.

At the bottom was a hidden chamber.

It wasn't large.

But every wall was filled with old scrolls, journals, and maps.

In the center stood a stone table.

On top of it rested a single leather-bound journal.

Its cover bore the Blue Moon crest.

Emerald reached for it with trembling hands.

She opened the first page.

Her breath caught.

"It's my father's handwriting."

Before she could read another word...

A loud crash echoed above us.

Someone had entered the office.

Several footsteps followed.

Then Victor's furious voice rang through the room.

"Search everywhere!"

"They must not find the chamber!"

Emerald's face turned pale.

She looked at me.

"He knows we're here."

I extinguished the lantern.

The hidden chamber fell into darkness.

Only the sound of approaching footsteps remained.

Victor wasn't searching for us.

He was searching for the truth.

And judging by the fear in his voice...

Whatever was written in Alpha Luke's journal was powerful enough to destroy everything he had built.