The Alpha's Hidden Moon

Episode3

"Nobody escapes from the mansion!

The command thundered through the entrance hall just as another horn split the afternoon air.

For one frozen heartbeat, nobody moved.

Then the panic began.

Servants shrieked and fled in every direction. Someone stumbled, a silver vase went crashing across the marble floor, splintering into glittering shards. Another group of armed guards burst in, their boots skidding streaks of mud and blood across the polished floor as the heavy front doors slammed against the walls.

I couldn't breathe.

The quiet afternoon had disappeared so quickly my mind could hardly keep up.

'What did you do?' I whispered.

Nobody answered.

From the top of the stairs I saw the courtyard fall into chaos. A dark cloud of smoke curled above the front gates and covered the afternoon sun. Behind the smoke, steel clanged against steel and the cries of fighting wolves echoed across the estate.

They weren't simply attacking.

They were breaking open.

I gripped the bannister until it hurt. "They're inside!" someone shouted from below.

"We've lost the eastern wall!"

Another guard lurched through the door, armour ripped open across his shoulder. Blood stained the sleeve of his uniform, dripping to the marble floor with each step.

Victor Voss rushed toward him. "How many are there?"

We... we don't know.

The guard gasped for breath. "They came out of the forest. "More are on the way.

Lady Marcy grasped the front of her dress, and her face was as white as death.

"This is not happening."

Victor seized the injured guard by the shoulders. "Who are they?

The answer came in gasps. "They want one person."

My heartrate slowed.

For just a second.

The guard looked around the hall and lowered his voice. "They're looking for... the Moon Child."

The words spread through the room like winter's frost.

No one said a word.

And even those who did not understand the name were frightened by the silence that followed it.

I scowled.

> Moon Child?

I didn't care about the title.

But something in me clenched deep in my chest, as if those words had woken a memory I couldn't get to.

A strange heat was under my collarbone.

I instinctively pressed my hand to the crescent-shaped birthmark hidden beneath my dress.

It was warm.

Not painful, at all.

Just... being.

I jerked my hand back.

“Must have been my imagination.

Did it not? "You.

The sharp voice made me raise my head.

Lady Marcy was at the foot of the stairs, staring right at me. "What are you still doing here?"

"I...

"Back to your room."

This time her voice was harsher than before, lacking any trace of the false kindness she'd given in front of Kael. "Now.

I stopped.

But everyone –“

I don’t like all.”

She took two steps toward me. “I care that no one sees you.”

The words stung more than they ought to have.

Before I could reply another voice interrupted.

“That won’t be necessary.

Alpha Kael.

As soon as he spoke the room seemed to fall quiet.

He made his way across the hall, measured steps, a face unreadable in the middle of the battle outside. Debris powdered one shoulder of his black coat, but otherwise he appeared untouched by the chaos.

His eyes, golden, met mine.

"You stay where I can see you."

Lady Marcy forced another smile. “Alpha, she’s safer upstairs.

I don't think so.

He spoke in a low voice.

It needn’t have been.

Every word found its natural authority.

Victor took a step forward, carefully. "Alpha Kael, perhaps we can have this conversation somewhere else."

Kael stared at him for some time.

"Your gates are down."

Another distant explosion rumbled through the mansion.

"Your guards are pulling back."

Almost immediately there was another explosion, this time nearer.

"And someone's going through your estate looking for a girl you've kept hidden for twenty years."

His eyes grew cold.

“I think this conversation is already at the right place.

Victor’s mouth came open.

Shut it again."

He had no reply.

My stomach went cold.

Secret.

Why did everybody keep using that word?

I wasn’t hiding.

Was I?

No,

I had only lived upstairs.

For...

Because...

The thought slipped away before I could finish it.

Had anyone ever actually explained why I wasn't allowed beyond the estate?

Why I had never been to school with other children?

Why was every festival happening without me?

I searched my memory.

Zip.

Just locked doors.

The curtains were shut.

Lame excuses.

Excuses all the time.

Then a loud crash broke in upon my thoughts.

The front doors burst inward.

A guard stumbled into the hall before collapsing onto one knee. "Alpha!"

Kael turned immediately. "Report." "They've broken through the outer courtyard."

"And the attackers?" "They're moving straight toward the mansion."

The guard swallowed hard. "They're ignoring everyone else."

He looked up with frightened eyes.

They want only the girl.

There was silence.

I could feel all the eyes turn on me.

Confusion twisted in my chest.

Why?

I had not met these people before.

I'd never left this estate.

What could strangers want with me?

Then...

From the broken doorway there was a sound.

Not yelling.

Not metal.

The cry of a wolf.

Low

long

Strong enough to silence every voice in the mansion.

I got goosebumps on my arm hair.

Kael's face changed for the first time since he'd come.

Not afraid.

Acknowledge.

He knew the scream.

He came up in front of me, slow.

Not a lot.

Not that he was seeking praise.

Just… like it was the most ordinary thing in the world to protect me.

The howl came once more.

Further

This time, someone else answered it.

Then another one.

Till even the forest seemed alive with voices.

One of Kael’s guards dashed to his side. “Alpha…”

Kael kept his eyes on the entrance.

"I know." "They've brought more than soldiers.

His jaw hardened. "They've brought wolves.

It seemed to reduce the temperature of the room.

Something huge moved past the screen of smoke outside.

The remaining guards began to draw back from the gates.

One at a time.

As if they knew just what was coming.

Then...

A great shadow stepped through the smoke.

It walked on two feet.

Its eyes were an unnatural silver, shining.

And when it grinned...

It was an icy certainty that settled in my bones.

It wasn't here to seize the estate.

It had arrived...

For myself,

The creature paused just outside the crumbling entrance.

For a long moment no one moved.

Even the fight outside seemed to die down.

I didn't want to take my eyes off.

It was larger than any man I’d ever seen, robed in dark cloth that whipped in the wind. There was a hood that covered most of its face, but two silver eyes burnt below it, glowing with a weird light that made my skin crawl.

It grinned.

Not warm.

Like someone who had finally found what they'd been looking for for years. "Interesting," it said.

The hall swallowed its voice.

"So this is where you were hiding.

I looked behind me, expecting someone else to come forward.

Nobody had.

The creature looked at me.

My mouth went dry. “I... I don’t know you.”

"No," it answered. But I’ve known about you since the night you were born.

I got chills down my spine.

Kael stepped in front of me again, completely blocking the creature from sight before I could ask what he meant.

You will not go any further.

The stranger laughed softly. "I knew you would say that."

His eyes never left Kael. “The infamous Alpha Ashthorne.

I've heard you're difficult.

Kael's face was expressionless. "And I hear you're a fool."

The smile faded from the stranger's face.

The air around him started to shimmer. Shadows swarmed around his boots, rippling over the broken marble like water, black water.

The guards immediately tightened their ranks.

I saw something at that time.

They weren’t protecting Victor.

They were not protecting Lady Marcy.

Kael had made a circle around each of them...

And me."

I felt my heart pound.

Why ?

Why would total strangers risk their lives for someone they just met a few minutes ago?

The stranger turned his head a little. "Do you even know who you are protecting?

Without a moment’s hesitation Kael replied.

"I know enough."

"You don't,"

His silver eyes moved to me. "Ask her if she knows her real name."

I was confused. “Lyra. That's my real name.”

The stranger laughed. "That's what they called you.

His words dropped like a stone into still water.

They buried your past before you could even remember it

I glanced at Victor.

His face had turned white.

Lady Marcy would not look me in the eyes.

Something tightened inside me. "What does he mean?"

Neither of them answered. “Victor.”

Kael's voice was calm, but heavy enough to make the elder man flinch.

Tell her.

Victor swallowed thickly. “I…”

“Now.” “Now.

"I was trying to save her."

"By lying?" "It wasn't so simple."

Then make it simple.

Stillness.

The kind that squeezes your chest until you can barely breathe.

I stared at the man I'd called Father for twenty years. "Please.

My voice sounded small. “If you know something…”

"...say it."

Finally, he looked at me.

For a moment I thought I saw guilt in his eyes.

And then fear swallowed it. "I can't.

The stranger gave a theatrical sigh.

"I suppose I'll do it for you.

He took a slow step forward.

Every guard lifted their weapons up. “I said stop.

Kael's voice rang in the hall as steel.

The stranger did as he was told.

Not because of fear.

Because it amused him. "You know," he said, "this whole battle could end right now." "No."

"It might."

He lifted a hand, pointed right at me. "Give me the girl."

“I won’t kill no one else.

The room was still.

Kael didn't even look in my direction. "No."

"Too many lives..."

The stranger shook his head. "...all for one girl.

"I said no," I said.

The stranger smiled again. “You’ve always had that trouble.

“You save people who can't save themselves.

A flicker of something in the gold of Kael's eyes.

Suffering.

It was gone as suddenly as it had come. 'You ought to have learnt your lesson twenty years ago.

The words felt like a punch in the

For the first time ....

Kael snapped.

Just a little.

His shoulders tensed.

The stranger saw. 'You remember.

My heart jumped.

What remember?

Then, before anyone could say another word, a tremendous roar came from outside.

The mansion shuddered.

One of the stained glass windows blew out.

The wind blew down the hall, smelling of rain and pine.

Then I heard it.

A yowl.

Deep.

Strong.

Antique.

Every wolf in the room stopped.

Even the stranger's smile stopped.

Kael raised his head.

His golden eyes were more luminous now, almost glowing.

The air around him shifted.

It grew heavier.

Warmer

Living.

I could feel it on my skin.

Above my heart beat.

So . . ." whispered the stranger, half to himself.

"...you are willing to change.

I drew my breath.

Change?

Right here?

Kael rolled the cuffs out, never breaking eye contact with the enemy.

His voice was softer when he spoke again. "Lyra."

I looked at him. "Whatever happens next..."

He turned his head just enough for our eyes to meet. "Don't leave me."

Something in the way he said it tightened my chest.

Not a command.

Like a vow.

Or maybe not…

See you. Bye.

Then his golden eyes flashed with blinding light.

The ground beneath our feet split open.

A blast of energy so immense it ripped open every last window in the mansion.

I automatically covered my face.

I looked up again...

Kael was no more.

And stood where he once stood...

Was the largest black wolf I had ever seen.